Sana’a, AP—An American photojournalist held by Al-Qaeda militants in Yemen has been killed in a failed US rescue attempt, authorities said Saturday. Lucy Somers told The Associated Press that she and her father learned of her 33-year-old brother Luke Somers’ death from FBI agents at 12:0
Manila, AP—A Swiss hostage made a dramatic escape Saturday from Abu Sayyaf extremists when he hacked a rebel commander then got shot as he dashed to freedom amid a military artillery assault, ending more than two years of jungle captivity in the southern Philippines, officials said. Lorenzo Vincigue
Erbil, Asharq Al-Awsat—Kurdish Peshmerga forces have cleared as many as 3,000 bombs in the areas they liberated from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a military official told Asharq Al-Awsat. “[The Peshmerga] have disabled more than 3,000 bombs on frontlines, cities and houses in the area
The situation in Syria is going from bad to worse. The major strategy shift the US administration announced months ago to primarily focus on defeating the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and postpone addressing the other complex aspects of the crisis has not made any fundamental change to the
There is a prevailing belief that Iran wants someone to save it from itself, not from Arabs or the West. Iran’s problem comes from within Iran itself and not from outside its borders. This seems to have been signaled by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who said: “I confirm to you that because
Amsterdam and Nairobi, Reuters—Prosecutors dropped charges of crimes against humanity against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday, marking a failure for the International Criminal Court in the highest-profile case in its eleven-year history. Judges in The Hague had on Wednesday given prosecuto
Washington, Asharq Al-Awsat—Sunni tribal forces must unite within the framework of a National Guard force in order to effectively confront the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Nineveh Governor Atheel Al-Nujaifi said. The Nineveh governor, brother of Iraqi Parliamentary Speaker and Mutah
Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat—Yemen’s former president and leader of the ruling General People’s Congress (GPC), Ali Abdullah Saleh, is facing strong opposition from within the party over his alleged support of the Houthi insurgency, GPC sources told Asharq Al-Awsat. Ousted from power following a po
Sana’a, AP—Al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen threatened an American hostage who was the target of a rescue attempt by US special forces last month, warning Washington in a video released Thursday not to try again, and giving it three days to meet unspecified demands. “My life is in danger
Manila, Reuters—Tens of thousands of people fled coastal villages and landslide-prone areas in the central Philippines on Friday, a day before a powerful typhoon was expected to hit the island nation where thousands were killed in a devastating storm 13 months ago. Typhoon Hagupit had weakened sligh
Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—The near future will see increased counter-terrorism cooperation and coordination between Egypt and Iran according to Ahmad Moballeghi, Iran’s representative at this week’s anti-terror conference in Cairo. Asharq Al-Awsat spoke with Moballeghi, head of the Is
Khartoum, Asharq Al-Awsat—One of the more strange thefts in the history of the Sudan National Museum took place when a sandalwood tree worth more than half a million US dollars was stolen from the museum’s garden last weekend. The thief used an electric saw to cut the tree into pieces before carryin
One of the myths woven around Vladimir Putin’s personality cult is based on the narrative of his first visit to “the Holy Land” as a young man, where he is supposed to have been inspired to assume “a special mission” in the service of Mother Russia. The Putin system is often spelled out
Moscow, AP—In an annual speech ranging from economy to school tests, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday evoked religious imagery and defended the Kremlin’s aggressive foreign policy as necessary for his country’s sheer survival. Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula
Al-Khobar, Asharq Al-Awsat—Saudi Aramco may offer further discounts to Asian buyers of its oil in January, traders in Asia and analysts have said, as energy markets awaits the Kingdom’s announcement of official selling prices (OSPs) for the new year later this week. Assessments by energy analyst Pla
Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat—No members of staff at Iran’s embassy in the Yemeni capital Sana’a were harmed during the attack that targeted the residence of ambassador Hussein Niknam on Wednesday, according to Iranian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham. While no embassy staff were kn
Abu Dhabi, Asharq Al-Awsat—Abu Dhabi police announced on Thursday they had arrested the prime suspect in the killing of an American teacher in the emirate earlier this week. The victim, named on Thursday as 37-year old mother of two Ibolya Ryan, was stabbed to death in a bathroom at Boutik Mal
Brussels and Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat—Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal has said the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) cannot be waged by aerial bombing alone, during a speech to representatives of the US-led anti-ISIS coalition on Wednesday. Speaking to diplom
As I was writing this article, the suffering of the Lebanese military personnel taken hostage by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the Al-Nusra Front took a dramatic turn. The hostages’ families suspended their street protest upon hearing the news that a woman and child alleged to be th
Washington, Reuters—The US military is closely monitoring a nascent effort by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the militant group that has overrun parts of Syria and Iraq, to train a couple of hundred fighters in eastern Libya, the commander of US forces in Africa said on Wednesday. Army Gen.
