Bamako, Reuters—A two-year-old girl who was Mali’s first case of Ebola died on Friday, shortly after the World Health Organization warned that many people had potentially been exposed to the virus because she was taken across the country while ill. The girl had travelled with her grandmother h
A Canadian national named Michael Zahaf-Bibeau, aged 32, made the headlines this week when he carried out a terrorist attack in Ottawa, killing one soldier standing guard at a war memorial before storming the nearby parliament. He was killed in the subsequent firefight with security officers. Is the
Why was the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) eager to promote a video showing its fighters stoning a girl to death as her father stands by, unwilling to forgive her alleged adultery? This video is one of the most dreadful videos to emerge that debases Islam. At the same time, the footage does
London, Asharq Al-Awsat—According to reports, Iranian border guards fired 5 mortar shells on the Pakistani town of Mashkail in Baluchistan province on Friday. Responding to the attack, Pakistani forces fired two rockets into Iranian territory. Reports differed regarding the number of people in
El-Arish, Egypt, AP—An attack on an army post in the restive northern part of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula caused a large explosion and killed 25 people, according to security and medical officials, making it one of the deadliest attacks on security forces since violence spiked following the
Hong Kong, AP—Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong plan to hold a spot referendum Sunday on whether to stay in the streets or accept government offers for more talks and clear their protest camps. The three main groups behind the demonstrations said Thursday they would register public opinion at th
Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat—Far at the western end of the Arab world, Morocco has appeared relatively politically safe and stable since the start of the Arab uprisings in 2011, and recently despite the turmoil raging in nearby countries such as Libya. However, the economic ramifications of the glo
Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat—Kurds fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the Syrian town of Kobani need heavy weaponry more than reinforcements, senior members of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) told Asharq Al-Awsat. Responding to the decision by Erbil to deploy its forces
Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat—As officials consult with the Houthi leadership over forming a new government, Yemen’s presidency is “frustrated” by the Shi’ite militia’s ongoing advance across a number of Yemeni provinces, a source told Asharq Al-Awsat. A source within Yemen’s presidency, speak
New York, Reuters—A doctor who worked in West Africa with Ebola patients was in an isolation unit in New York on Friday after testing positive for the deadly virus, becoming the fourth person diagnosed with the disease in the United States and the first in its largest city. The worst Ebola outbreak
Given the media’s focus on the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), some “experts” claim that the crisis in Syria, now heading into its fourth year, has become a sideshow. The truth, however, is that Syria remains at the center of the crisis shaking the political architecture of the Middle East.
Damascus, Asharq Al-Awsat—As the Syrian crisis drags on into its fourth, agonizing year, the toll it is taking on the country’s cultural heritage is becoming more and more apparent, alongside the terrible human cost of the war for control of the country. In one corner of Damascus, a purveyor of hand
The welcome extended by Syrian state media to the US airstrikes on the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and its subsequent remarks about Washington being in one trench with the Syrian government forces may seem a ridiculous and embarrassing joke to Washington. But indeed it reflects how ISIS h
Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—Recent advances by Yemen’s Houthi movement will ultimately backfire against the Shi’ite group, a former Yemeni prime ministerial candidate has said, asserting that the most important issue during the current difficult period the country is passing through is that o
Kano, Nigeria, Bloomberg News—Suspected Boko Haram militants abducted 60 women from two villages in northeastern Nigeria, a security official said, less than a week after the government announced it had reached a truce with the Islamist group. The women were taken over the weekend from the Madagali
Khobar, Asharq Al-Awsat—Libya should be exempted from any measures to reduce oil production output among OPEC countries, the country’s governor at the organization told Asharq Al-Awsat. Samir Kamal said he agreed with the need for an output cut among the organization’s member states, saying the mark
Beirut, AP—US-led coalition airstrikes on Syria have killed more than 500 people, mainly Islamic militants, since they began last month, activists said Thursday, as warplanes targeted an oil field in the eastern Deir Ezzor province near Iraq. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, wh
Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat—Houthi fighters continued to advance across Yemen on Wednesday and Thursday, storming a government building in the capital Sana’a amid fears of sectarian violence and a breakdown of the fragile truce between President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi’s government and the Sh
Erbil and Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat—The parliament of the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq voted on Wednesday to send Kurdish Peshmerga forces to the Syrian town of Kobani, where Syrian–Kurdish fighters have been battling for control of the border town with Islamic State of
Ottawa, Reuters—Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper vowed to redouble the country’s fight against “terrorist organizations” abroad after a reported convert to Islam rampaged through parliament, shocking the usually tranquil capital city. Shortly after a gunman shot dead a soldie
