International and Arab News
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Russia Sponsors New Round of Talks between Damascus, Kurds
Russia will sponsor in coming days a new round of dialogue between the Kurds and the Damascus regime. Just days ago, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with head of the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), Ilham Ahmad. Envoys of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American cou
Lebanon’s Economic Crises Affect Fertility Rates
Lebanese mother, Hiyam, in her twenties, preferred to undergo an abortion rather than having a second child in a country torn apart by crises, as she told Asharq Al-Awsat. Despite what she described as a “rational” decision, she expressed her “deep sadness and fear of violating the Sharia.” Bu
How Worried Should We Be about the Omicron Variant?
The new Omicron coronavirus variant - identified first in South Africa, but also detected in Europe and Asia - is raising concern worldwide given the number of mutations, which might help it spread or even evade antibodies from prior infection or vaccination. News of the variant prompted countrie
The Consequences of ‘Normalization’ with Damascus
Key Arab countries are expected to take more steps towards the normalization of ties with Syria before re-admitting Damascus into the Arab League by a more significant political initiative next spring when the regional organization holds its scheduled summit in Algeria.
‘We Don’t Deserve This’: Inflation Hits Turkish People Hard
Market-stand owner Kadriye Dogru makes do with stale, sesame-covered bagels, known as simit, for lunch these days.
Europe and the Growing Challenge of Iran’s ‘Hostage Taking'
Richard Ratcliffe, who has been campaigning to bring his wife home for over five years, ended a three-week hunger strike today. He spent the last 20 nights in a tent opposite the Foreign Office building in central London, in an attempt to ramp up pressure on the government to secure the release o
Nearly 20 Years on, Israeli Barrier Shapes Palestinian Lives
Three days a week, Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank village of Qaffin line up at a yellow gate and show military permits to soldiers in order to tend their crops on the other side of Israel's separation barrier. The farmers say that because of increasingly onerous Israeli restriction