London, Asharq Al-Awsat—A slim, but innocuous-looking man with ashen skin and dark circles under his eyes studies himself in the mirror of his Hong Kong hotel room, where he has been hiding out for over a week. The TV screen by him is playing the day’s leading world news story: the identity of
Following President Barack Obama’s refusal to take any action against the escalation of the brutal war the Syrian regime is conducting against its own people, observers in the Arab world have begun to re-evaluate Washington’s Middle East policies. These policies are expected to change after the midt
Erbil, Asharq Al-Awsat—Kurdish Peshmerga forces continue to advance and recapture territory held by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the north of the country, Chancellor of the Kurdistan Region Security Council Masrour Barzani told Asharq Al-Awsat. “The situation on the battlefron
Tunisia’s Islamist Ennahda Party admitted defeat in the recent parliamentary elections. It’s true that the group hasn’t lost much—it continues to hold a one-third share of the seats in parliament—but it does means that the the group has certainly failed to secure new supporters. Not only
Jeddah, Asharq Al-Awsat—Total assets of Saudi Arabia’s main sovereign wealth fund, SAMA Foreign Holdings (SAMA), have jumped 9 percent since January, allowing it to maintain its position as the world’s third-largest, according to a report by the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute (SWFI). In its most re
Jerusalem, Reuters—A Palestinian rammed his car into pedestrians in central Jerusalem on Wednesday in the second attack of its kind in two weeks, killing one person and fueling concerns of another Palestinian uprising. The driver, who was shot dead by police, was identified by an Israeli security of
Beirut, Reuters/Asharq Al-Awsat—Lebanon’s parliament extended its own mandate until 2017 on Wednesday, a move protesters camped outside parliament and rights groups say denies citizens their democratic privileges. Lebanese politics has become deadlocked amid security concerns resulting from th
Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is practicing a “policy of genocide” against the Anbar province’s Albunimr tribe, taking “indiscriminate revenge” on its members, many of whom have participated in the Awakening movements fighting the extremist group in the western,
Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia, Asharq Al-Awsat—Saudi security forces responded quickly to the terrorist attack in the Al-Ahsa governorate in the Eastern Province on Tuesday, carrying out simultaneous raids across the Kingdom to arrest 15 terror suspects believed to have been involved in attacks on Mon
Beirut, Reuters—The leader of Syria’s Al-Qaeda rebel wing threatened attacks against the Shi’ite Muslim militant movement Hezbollah in Lebanon in the coming days, which he said would make it regret fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. Lebanon hosts around a million refuge
New York, Reuters—Republican governors triumphed in key races on Tuesday in the political heavyweight states of Florida, Michigan and Wisconsin, joining the partisan tide that gave Republicans control of the US Senate. In races shaped by voters’ worries about the uneven economic recovery, Repu
From the Gulf to the Atlantic, the UN has appointed official envoys, representatives and mediators to tackle the region’s urgent crises, fires which are spreading widely and which no one seems to be able to put out, and show that this region has become one of the world’s worst trouble spots. I
Donetsk, Reuters—Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine staged swearing in ceremonies for their leaders on Tuesday after votes dismissed as a farce by Kiev, which says they violated terms of a peace plan to end a war that has killed more than 4,000 people. NATO’s highest ranking officer, a
London, Asharq Al-Awsat—An American newspaper revealed details of the Pentagon’s plans for an Iraqi military counteroffensive against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on Sunday. The New York Times quoted a number of anonymous American and Iraqi officials, who said that the US was planning
Tobruk, Tunis and Algiers, Asharq Al-Awsat—Algerian officials are continuing to meet with different political factions in Libya in preparation for a “comprehensive reconciliation dialogue” expected to be hosted later this month in the Algerian capital in order to solve the crisis that is currently t
Karbala, Reuters—More than one million Shi’ite Muslims gathered at shrines and mosques across Iraq on Tuesday for the Ashura religious ritual with Iraqi security forces on alert for any repeat of the attacks that have inflicted mass casualties during past pilgrimages. The presence in the count
Washington, Reuters—Republicans are poised to make major gains and possibly recapture control of the US Senate on Tuesday in midterm elections that could serve as a public referendum on President Barack Obama’s job performance. Millions of Americans will cast ballots to elect 36 senators, 36 g
A recent video from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in which a group of fighters brag as they discuss enslaving women and selling them as if they were cattle begs once again the question about the group’s barbarism, from beheadings to using children as suicide bombers. No women were shown
Benghazi, Reuters—A Libyan navy ship was hit during heavy fighting with aircraft and tanks on Monday between the army and Islamist militants near the port of Benghazi, residents of the major city on Libya’s eastern Mediterranean coast said. The battle was part of a wider conflict in the North
Tunis, Asharq Al-Awsat—Following the Nidaa Tounes party’s victory in last week’s parliamentary elections, party leader Beji Caid El-Sebsi launched his presidential campaign on Sunday in the coastal city of Monastir, birthplace of the first president of the modern Tunisian republic, Habib Bourguiba.
