Garissa, Kenya, Reuters—Somali militants vowed on Saturday to wage a long war against Kenya and run its cities “red with blood” after the group’s fighters killed nearly 150 people during an assault on a Kenyan university. In the worst bloodshed in Kenya in nearly two decades, four
Aden, Reuters—Houthi forces pulled back from a central Aden district on Friday and warplanes from the Saudi-led coalition dropped weapons and medical aid to fighters defending the southern Yemeni city, a last symbolic foothold of the country’s absent president. The Shi’ite Houthi f
Yemen’s ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh used to claim boastfully that ruling Yemen is “like dancing on the heads of snakes.” He bragged about being skilled at playing this game and unilaterally ruling Yemen for decades. This was the equation that an “elected” president relied on to rule a “democ
Paris, AP—The co-pilot of the doomed Germanwings flight repeatedly sped up the plane as he used the automatic pilot to descend the A320 into the Alps, the French air accident investigation agency said Friday. The chilling new detail from the BEA agency is based on an initial reading of the pla
Lausanne, Switzerland, Reuters—Iranians celebrated in the streets after negotiators reached a framework for a nuclear deal that could bring their country in from the cold, hailed by US President Barack Obama as an “historic understanding” with an old adversary. The tentative agreem
Who is in charge of Iran’s foreign policy? Over the years the question has been posed by almost everyone who has had to deal with the Islamic Republic but no consensus on an answer has been reached. The question was constantly present in filigree during the latest over-hyped marathon talks on Iran’s
Salah Al-Din and Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi lifted the Iraqi flag over the Salah Al-Din governorate building in the provincial capital Tikrit on Wednesday, declaring a victory for Iraqi forces over the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which seized the city
A mixture of nationalities, sects and ethnicities has been working in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf since early last century. Just as millions of migrant workers have played a role in the development of the Gulf states, so have Yemeni workers, who are among the first migrants to have worked in Saudi Ara
Riyadh, Al-Hudaydah and Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat—Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies have targeted the stronghold of the Iran-backed Shi’ite Houthi movement in Yemen, the Saudi Defense Ministry said on Wednesday. Defense Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri said coalition warplanes had intensified
Beirut, Reuters—Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters seized most of a vast camp for Palestinian refugees on the outskirts of Damascus from other insurgents on Wednesday in a bid to capture a major foothold close to President Bashar Al-Assad’s seat of power. In a separate advance, re
Nairobi, Reuters—At least four people were killed and scores wounded on Thursday when masked gunmen stormed a university campus near Kenya’s border with Somalia, taking students hostage and exchanging fire with security forces over several hours. Police and soldiers surrounded and sealed off G
Abuja, Reuters—Nigerian election winner Muhammadu Buhari congratulated outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan for peacefully relinquishing power on Wednesday, a day after becoming the first politician in Nigeria’s history to unseat a sitting leader at the ballot box. In an unprecedented step, Jo
Only firm action works with those who understand nothing but the language of force, respect no agreements and treat dialogue as a maneuver to gain time. The outcomes of the Yemen National Dialogue Conference have been turned into a travesty in the eyes of most Yemenis and those interested in the aff
No war in the world can be without its losses. Even when the police want to preserve the security of the people, damages can be inflicted. Like all wars, Operation Decisive Storm unfortunately will cause losses. Of course this is not to justify the shortcomings of what is expected to be a campaign o
Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat—Warships from the Saudi-led Arab coalition targeting the Houthi movement in Yemen have successfully secured all the country’s ports, Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said on Monday. In his daily briefing to reporters, Defense Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri said coal
No one can deny that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has been the best example of pan-Arab efforts to achieve unity. But the GCC has always been at the receiving end of criticism from the people of the Gulf. Rarely have they been satisfied with its performance; they often underestimate its benefi
Ali Abdullah Saleh’s son Ahmed has seen his political future go up in smoke this week, and ultimately it is his father, the former president, who is responsible for this. Saleh, who is allied with the Iranian-backed Houthis, is the mastermind behind the current mayhem engulfing Yemen. Saleh, t
Lausanne, Switzerland, Reuters—Iran and six world powers ramped up the pace at Tuesday’s negotiations over a preliminary deal on the Iranian nuclear program, as their self-imposed deadline approached and both sides warned it was crucial to overcome differences that could wreck an agreement. Fo
Fate has decreed that Mr. Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia—and everybody knows what Russia is— shares the same logic of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Hezbollah militia. Both these men, who are involved one way or another with the fighting in Syria, the killing of its unarmed people, and
London, Reuters—Campaigning in Britain’s closest election in decades began on Monday after Prime Minister David Cameron met Queen Elizabeth II to tell her parliament had been dissolved, teeing up a fraught battle to govern a 2.8 trillion US dollar economy. Cameron made the journey to Buckingha
