Pretoria, AP—The chief prosecutor in Oscar Pistorius’ murder trial said Thursday that the double-amputee athlete’s lawyers have floated more than one theory in a dishonest attempt to defend against a murder charge for his killing of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Prosecutor Gerrie Nel
Khartoum, Asharq Al-Awsat—With instability on its borders and simmering domestic conflicts, Sudan was one of the Arab world’s biggest hotspots before the wave of revolutions that swept across the Middle East in 2011. Today, Khartoum faces numerous additional problems on the foreign policy front, inc
It would be either an understatement or an overstatement to determine the winning side in the current war in Gaza by the body count and the number of destroyed homes and government buildings on the Palestinian side, or the ability of Israel’s “Iron Dome” to intercept Qassam rockets on the Israeli si
Saudi monarch King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud issued an important speech to the Arab and Islamic world during the Eid Al-Fitr celebrations. In this statement, King Abdullah summed up the position of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia towards the bloody events that are taking place in our region, includ
Abuja, AP—A Nigerian nurse who treated a man with Ebola is now dead and five others are sick with one of the world’s most virulent diseases, authorities said on Wednesday, as the death toll rose to at least 932 people in four West African countries. The growing number of cases in Lagos, a mega
Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—Egypt launched a project on Tuesday which includes building a new Suez Canal waterway in a bid to increase revenues from the trade route—a vital source of foreign currency to the country whose economy has been rocked since the overthrow of former president Hosni Mubarak
Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat—It appears that the Baalbeck International Festival will once again have to move out of its impressive setting among the Roman temple ruins in the Beqaa Valley, to which it returned on July 30 this year. As the security situation in Lebanon continued to deteriorate, the festi
Baghdad and London, Asharq Al-Awsat—A spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki’s State of Law coalition said on Tuesday it was pressing ahead with the nomination of Maliki for a third term as premier, and denied reports that he had demanded immunity from prosecution as the price for steppin
Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat—Saudi Arabia is not responsible for any delay in the delivery of French military equipment to the Lebanese military, the Kingdom’s ambassador to Lebanon told Asharq Al-Awsat, as former Lebanese prime minister Saad Al-Hariri announced that Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz has
Msaed (eastern Libya), Asharq Al-Awsat—No one could imagine how a simple car mechanic, working at a garage in the eastern city of Benghazi, could in just a few short years find himself in command of thousands of armed fighters. Wissam Bin Hamid, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Libya Shie
Gaza and Cairo, Reuters—A Gaza truce was holding on Wednesday as Egyptian mediators pursued talks with Israeli and Palestinian representatives on an enduring end to a war that has devastated the Hamas Islamist-dominated enclave. Egyptian intelligence officials met in Cairo with a high-level Israeli
Baghdad, Reuters—Kurdish forces attacked Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters just 25 miles (40 kilometers) southwest of the Kurdish regional capital of Erbil in northern Iraq, a senior Kurdish official told Reuters on Wednesday. “We have changed our tactics from being defensive to
Reuters—A city in China’s restive western region of Xinjiang has banned people with head scarves, veils and long beards from boarding buses, as the government battles unrest with a policy that critics said discriminates against Muslims. Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur people who speak a Tu
Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat—The recent steep drop in oil prices and the continued unrest in oil-producing countries such as Libya and Iraq will not have a direct effect on Saudi Arabia’s current budget, despite possibly impacting its oil revenues, a number of economic and petroleum experts have told Ash
The world is commemorating the centenary of the First World War, a conflict that claimed millions of lives, in an attempt to make sense of the fateful decisions that led to that war. The superpowers of the day sent their soldiers to fight in the belief that they would return in a few months’ time
Gaza’s crisis will not succeed in diverting attention away from the wars in Syria and Iraq. Indeed, these two wars, particularly Iraq, may alter the course of the region, and Iraqis may finally succeed in achieving a safe and smooth transition to a new government which has the support of the majorit
Rabat, Asharq Al-Awsat—Moroccan Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar blamed Algeria for the ongoing “stagnation” and “obstruction” within the Arab Maghreb Union, warning that Algeria’s position towards the issue of the Western Sahara is threatening the future of the North African region. Mezou
Kabul, AP—A man dressed in an Afghan army uniform opened fire on foreign troops at a military base outside Kabul on Tuesday, killing at least one US soldier and wounding 15 people, among them a German brigadier general and “about a dozen” Americans, authorities said. Details about the at
Baalbek, Asharq Al-Awsat—The Lebanese army pressed ahead on Tuesday with its campaign to dislodge Islamist militants from the eastern city of Arsal, amid reports that Shi’ite militia Hezbollah is also mobilizing fighters in anticipation of the conflict spreading to the surrounding region. Two
Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat—The southern Yemeni Hadhramaut governorate is under the total control of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a military source told Asharq Al-Awsat on Monday. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said: “Local authorities in Hadhramaut are non-existent and Al-Q
