Not long after NBC presenter Ayman Mohyeldin ended his emotive live report about the tragic killing of four Palestinian children as they were playing football on Gaza beach, the NBC hierarchy ordered him home. Mohyeldin himself had kicked the ball around with the four Palestinian children before the
Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat—Late at night, during the holy month of Ramadan, a mesaharati makes his way through the alleyways of Sidon in Lebanon. He bangs his drum, recites poetry, and calls out to the people to wake them for their pre-dawn suhoor meal, their final chance to have a snack and a drink be
It almost seems like the inescapable destiny of the Gazan people is that every two years a war breaks out in their country, with airstrikes and an Israeli ground offensive that takes a heavy toll on civilians. They must repeatedly suffer material losses and destroyed homes as well as the loss of lif
Erbil, Asharq Al-Awsat—The few remaining Christian families in the Iraqi city of Mosul have been told to ‘convert or die’ by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants following the end of a controversial deadline to flee the city. The Al-Qaeda breakaway group, which recently annou
Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat—Saudi Arabia’s ‘big three’ wireless carriers will be launching aggressive marketing campaigns this Hajj season in a bid to capture a larger share of the prepaid SIM card market, which booms each year in the Kingdom with the arrival of the annual Muslim pilgrimage. Asharq Al-A
Jakarta, Reuters—Joko “Jokowi” Widodo was declared the winner of Indonesia’s presidential election on Tuesday, bringing the promise of major reforms to the world’s third largest democracy. The Elections Commission, known as KPU, said the Jakarta governor had won by just over
London, Asharq Al-Awsat—Saudi Arabia will open its stock market to foreign financial institutions by mid-2015—a long-awaited move that sent the Arab world’s largest exchange surging to its highest levels since 2008 on Tuesday. A statement on the website of the exchange, known as the Tadawul, s
Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat—Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has announced plans to establish an “Islamic emirate” in the Hadhramaut region of Yemen, according to sources in the area. Sources in Hadhramaut speaking on the condition of anonymity told Asharq Al-Awsat that the organization had dist
Istanbul, Reuters—Dozens of police, including high-ranking officers, were detained in Turkey on Tuesday, accused of spying and illegal wire-tapping of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his inner circle in what the chief prosecutor said was a concocted probe of an alleged terrorist group. The f
Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat—Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) are coming under increasing pressure from other Syrian rebel groups in areas around the Syrian capital, according to opposition activists. The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdulrahman, told Asha
Cairo, AP—Egypt’s foreign minister raised the possibility on Tuesday of restarting stalled peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians as part of negotiating a cease-fire in the war that has broken out on the Gaza Strip. At the start of a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry, Foreig
Donetsk, Reuters—A train carrying the remains of some of the nearly 300 victims of the Malaysia Airlines plane downed over Ukraine was heading for Ukrainian government territory on Tuesday as a separatist leader handed over the plane’s black boxes to Malaysian experts. Dutch Prime Minist
The Houthis are nothing more than a rebel movement in Yemen that has gotten out of control, attempting to become a state within a state. Recently, the movement found the opportunity to seize more territory as a result of internal and external political circumstances too tempting to resist, occupying
Abu Dhabi, Reuters—Asian and Western firms have bid to help operate the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) biggest oilfields after a deal with oil majors expired this year, but the Gulf Arab state is yet to decide whether to let Asian oil buyers in for the long haul, sources said. A final decision on
Has the West become accustomed to crises taking place in the Middle East, no longer caring about them (with the Syrian conflict serving as a prime example here)? The truth is that the real crisis which everyone has to learn to live with is that of President Obama himself, and not those of the region
Reuters, Brazzaville—The Central African Republic’s interim president appealed on Monday to Muslim Seleka rebels and ‘anti-balaka’ Christian militia to agree a ceasefire at the start of talks in the neighboring Congo Republic. The three-day forum in Brazzaville, mediated by Congole
London, Asharq Al-Awsat—Amid continuing political deadlock in Iraq, the selection of the country’s next president remains mired in confusion despite the return of incumbent president Jalal Talabani from medical treatment abroad on Saturday. Reports say that Iraq’s Kurdish parties were unable to agre
Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—Several Egyptian politicians have announced that they will contest upcoming parliamentary elections as part of a new coalition called the 25–30 Alliance. At a news conference at the headquarters of the Egyptian Journalists’ Union on Sunday, former MP Mustafa El-Guindy sa
Gaza, Asharq Al-Awsat—Palestinians who fled the Israeli bombardment of the Shejaia district of Gaza City on Sunday have spoken to Asharq Al-Awsat of their ordeal as they fled to safety. At least 87 Gazans were killed on Sunday—60 of them in the district of Shejaia alone, reportedly including 1
Gaza/Jerusalem, Reuters—Israeli forces killed at least 10 Palestinian militants on Monday after they crossed the border from Gaza through two tunnels, the military said, as the death toll from the two-week conflict passed 500. With the UN Security Council calling for an immediate ceasefire, Israeli
