Srinagar, India, AP—Thousands of villagers in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have fled their homes because of artillery battles between Indian and Pakistani soldiers along the highly militarized border, officials said Tuesday. Authorities have evacuated more than 6,000 people to relief cam
Paris, Reuters—Western states are focusing too much on tackling the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and are forgetting the daily suffering of ordinary Syrians in areas of the country where the medical situation has become catastrophic, a group of Syrian doctors said. Some 200,000 people have
Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat—In a speech inaugurating Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz hailed the Kingdom as an “oasis of peace” in the middle of a “chaotic” region. The speech was delivered on behalf of King Abdullah on Tuesday before Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council, or Consu
Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat—The newly elected president of the Syrian opposition’s main umbrella group, the Syrian National Coalition, has cast doubt over the possibility of the organization meeting with the Assad government in Moscow later this month. Speaking just hours after his election at a news co
Geneva, AP—FIFA Vice President Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein of Jordan will stand for election in a bid to oust Sepp Blatter as leader of football’s scandal-hit world governing body. The 39-year-old Prince Ali declared his intention on Tuesday to run as a candidate in the FIFA presidential electio
Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat—Yemen’s embattled President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi sent a delegation of advisers to meet with Houthi leader Abdul Malik Al-Houthi on Tuesday to discuss the deteriorating security situation in the country. The Yemeni presidential advisers are meeting with the Shi’ite mil
Calls from Muslims for fellow members of their faith to abandon the widespread boycott on visiting Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites, are nothing new. Such calls have been made in the past by a number of Palestinian political and religious leaders, but they have fallen o
Dresden, Germany, Reuters—Top-selling German tabloid Bild and 50 prominent Germans called on Tuesday for an end to what they see as rising xenophobia, a day after thousands of protesters in several German cities rallied against Muslim immigration. Monday’s rallies, organized by a new grassroot
Though foreign missions in the Iraqi capital face the danger of attack, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs has decided to send a technical team to choose a new location for its embassy in Iraq, which closed its doors 24 years ago. The visit aims to break the ice in a relationship that has been [&
Jeddah, Asharq Al-Awsat—Saudi Arabia’s stock market, the Tadawul, could be placed on a world-leading index of emerging markets two years after it opens to global investors in April this year, sources have told Asharq Al-Awsat. Financial analyst Abdulaziz Al-Fahad said the choice of April was a “very
Bauchi, AP—Boko Haram Islamic extremists have seized the headquarters of a multinational military force near Nigeria’s border with Chad, just days after foreign troops abandoned the base, according to a community leader and residents who took to canoes to escape. Following Saturday’s act
Beirut and London, Asharq Al-Awsat—The main Syrian umbrella opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, has elected a new president. Khaled Khoja, a 49-year-old doctor and businessman, and one of the founding members of the Coalition, won 56 out of 106 votes cast by members of the Coalition in
Khartoum, Asharq Al-Awsat—Sudan’s parliament approved changes to the country’s constitution on Sunday, giving President Omar Al-Bashir additional powers to appoint and remove senior officials, as well as expanding the role of the intelligence service. A total of 18 articles in Sudan’s 2005 Interim N
Tunis, Reuters—A former Tunisian interior minister has been nominated as prime minister to form a new government after an agreement among political parties in the newly elected parliament, congress speaker Mohamed Nacer said on Monday. The nominee, Habib Essid, worked in the government of autocrat Z
Dubai, Reuters—Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called for curbs on the state’s involvement in business and an end to Tehran’s international isolation on Sunday to help rescue an economy hurt by sanctions, corruption and mismanagement. His appeal in a speech to 1,500 economists appeared
Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat—Oil and gas reserves and facilities in Yemen’s main oil and gas hub are “in danger,” according to the governor of the Ma’rib province, as the Houthi movement continues its attempts to advance on the region. Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, the province’s governor, Sheikh Sultan A
Pangkalan Bun, Reuters—An Indonesian naval patrol vessel found on Monday what the captain said could be the tail of a missing AirAsia jet, the section where the crucial black box voice and flight data recorders are located. Ships and aircraft seeking debris and bodies from the Airbus A320-200 widene
Riyadh, Reuters—A suicide bomb and gun attack killed two Saudi border guards on the frontier with Iraq early on Monday, the interior ministry said, in what one security analyst called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria’s (ISIS) first assault on the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia’s border with Iraq,
Who would have believed it? Iran needs a savior, but seeks help not from its main strategic ally Russia, nor from its friend and partner Iraq, nor from Venezuela, Turkey, or even Oman or Qatar; no, from its old rival, Saudi Arabia. Speaking to Reuters last week, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hosse
Dabiq magazine, which is published by supporters of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), recently ran an interview with the captive Jordanian pilot Muadh Al-Kassasbeh. Perhaps the most striking feature of the whole thing was ISIS’s keenness to publish a picture of this young pilot with a stri
