Islamabad, AP—Pakistani jets and ground forces killed 67 militants in a northwestern tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said Friday, days after Taliban fighters killed 148 people—most of them children—in a school massacre. Meanwhile, a Pakistani prosecutor said the government will try t
Zumar, Iraq, Reuters—Kurdish Peshmerga fighters have fought their way to Iraq’s Sinjar mountain and freed hundreds of people trapped there by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters, a Kurdish leader said on Thursday. “The Peshmerga have managed to reach the mountain. A vast area
The size of recent stock market losses, a fall in oil prices for the first time in years, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) massacres, terrorist attacks in Riyadh and its suburbs, and football fever have all faded in Saudi Arabia this week, overshadowed by a single story. Sheikh Ahmed Al-Ghamdi
By all accounts, the United States is in need of new leadership capable of providing it with some direction in an age of uncertainty. Led by President Barack Obama into a dense fog of incertitude about its place in the world, the US today vacillates between the perceived comfort of isolation and the
Maiduguri, Nigeria, AP—Islamic extremists killed 35 people and kidnapped at least 185, fleeing residents said Thursday of an attack near the town where nearly 300 schoolgirls were taken hostage in April. Teenager Aji Ibrahim said he was lucky to escape into the bushes. “No doubt they were Boko
Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat—The Lebanese Army has boosted its presence along the Syrian border after receiving intelligence that Islamist militants were planning to launch attacks on Lebanese villages in the run up to the end of the year, a security source told Asharq Al-Awsat on Tuesday. Speaking to As
Dubai and United Arab Emirates, Asharq Al-Awsat and AP—Gulf equity markets made massive gains Thursday with Dubai’s main stock market rising 13 percent, just two days after closing at its lowest point of the year. Abu Dhabi’s stock market closed 6.7 percent higher on Thursday while the S
Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—Libya’s internationally recognized parliament is set to promote the leader of the Libyan National Army group, Khalifa Haftar, to the rank of full general within the next few days, making him the highest-ranking army officer in the North African country, Asharq Al-Awsat has lea
Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat—Yemen’s Houthi movement seized control of key government institutions in Sana’a on Wednesday, including the Central Bank and the Department of Civil Status and Civil Registration, directing a new blow to the already floundering authority of the central government headed by Pr
United Nations, Reuters—Jordan formally submitted to the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday a draft resolution calling for peace between Israel and the Palestinians within one year and an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories by the end of 2017. The Palestinian-drafte
Moscow, Reuters—President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday Russia’s economy would inevitably rebound after the rouble’s dramatic slide this year but offered no remedy to a deepening financial crisis. Under pressure to show he has a plan to fix the economy, Putin told an end-of-year news c
Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is boosting its presence in Iraq’s restive Al-Anbar province in a bid to turn Baghdad’s attention away from the liberation of Mosul, a senior Iraqi military commander said on Wednesday. The senior Iraqi military officer, who s
To understand the recent changes in Syria, we may have to re-evaluate the political and military situation there. We may also have to ask the following question: if Russia hadn’t decided to support Bashar Al-Assad’s regime, would this have changed the course of the Syrian revolution? In regards to S
The public relations efforts on behalf of Damascus of former Lebanese government minister Michel Samaha reveal a lot about nature of the Syrian regime. Samaha, who is currently facing trial after being accused of conspiring with Syrian intelligence chief Ali Mamlouk to carry out bombings in Lebanon,
Havana and Washington, Reuters—The United States is planning to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba more than 50 years after they were severed, a major policy shift after decades of hostile ties with the communist-ruled island. President Barack Obama was set to announce the changes in an announce
Khobar, Asharq Al-Awsat—The price of oil fell to below 59 US dollars per barrel on Tuesday, the lowest since July 2009, helping kick off an international currency crisis which has seen the Russian ruble lose 20 percent of its value in just a few days and the Norwegian krone drop to a five year
Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—Iraqi President Fuad Massoum reaffirmed his intention to push forward a process of national political reconciliation on Tuesday, following a meeting with the UN Special Envoy to Iraq Nikolay Mladenov. “[The Iraqi government] is seeking to take decisive and resolute steps and
Brussels, Reuters—The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas should be removed from the European Union’s terrorist list, an EU court ruled on Wednesday, saying the decision to include it was based on media reports not considered analysis. However, in its ruling, the bloc’s second highest tribu
Peshawar, AP—Pakistanis mourned as mass funerals got underway Wednesday for 142 people, most of them children, killed the day before in a massacre by the Taliban at a military-run school in the country’s troubled northwest. Prayer vigils were held across the nation and in other schools, studen
Dammam, Asharq Al-Awsat—Clerics, businessmen and other dignitaries from the city of Qatif in the Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province issued a statement condemning the “treacherous” killing of a Saudi soldier by unknown gunmen near the town of Al-Awamiyah on Sunday. “We condemn the treacherous attack tha
