Ramallah, Asharq Al-Awsat—Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has begun negotiations to form a national unity government following the recent reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas. Azzam Ahmad, who leads the five-member reconciliation delegation and is a member of Fatah’s Executive Commit
Abuja, AP—A Nigerian government official said “all options are open” in the search for missing schoolgirls that’s now being actively supported by US surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft. Boko Haram, the militant group that is holding some 276 female students kidnapped, says in
New Delhi, AP—Millions of Indian voters wrapped up the country’s mammoth national election on Monday and exit polls indicated that Hindu nationalist opposition leader Narendra Modi was the front-runner for prime minister. With 814 million eligible voters, India voted in phases over six weeks, with r
Although the Iraqi elections have ended, the situation in Anbar—Iraq’s largest province—is getting worse, according to reports. Fighting has escalated in the city of Fallujah and elsewhere, in places which have not seen peace since 2003. Following the US invasion, Anbar only experienced
#BringBackOurGirls. It is the hashtag that is occupying the entire world right now, emerging on Twitter following the kidnapping of dozens of schoolgirls in Nigeria by Boko Haram militants. The leader of the group vowed to sell the kidnapped girls in a slave market. The news was shocking, but the in
Donetsk and Slaviansk, Reuters—Pro-Moscow rebel leaders in eastern Ukraine called on Monday for their region to become part of Russia after declaring victory in a weekend referendum on self-rule. The separatist region of Donetsk appealed to Moscow to consider its absorption into the Russian Federati
Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat—Lebanese politicians remained at odds over the country’s next president on Sunday, as the end of incumbent Michel Suleiman’s term on May 25 approaches. Despite the wishes of all political parties to avoid a political vacuum, a leading political figure involved in the talks to
Abuja, Reuters—The leader of the Nigerian Islamist rebel group Boko Haram said he will release more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by his fighters last month in exchange for prisoners, in a video uploaded onto YouTube on Monday. Around 100 girls are also shown in an undisclosed location wearing full
Baghdad, AP—Militants in Iraq launched an audacious attack on a military barracks in a remote area in the country’s north and killed 20 troops overnight, including some who had been bound and shot at close range, authorities said Sunday as other attacks killed 18. The killings at the military
Damascus, AP—On billboards and in posters taped to car windows, new portraits of President Bashar Al-Assad filled the streets of Damascus on Sunday as Syria officially opened its presidential campaign despite a crippling civil war that has devastated the country and left large chunks of territory ou
Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—The Egyptian Museum held an exhibition of recovered stolen artifacts on Saturday organized by the country’s antiquities ministry, with Minister of Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim Ali calling on the international community to do more to tackle the stolen antiquities trade worldwide
Amman, Asharq Al-Awsat—Over the past few decades, the town of Ma’an in southern Jordan has gained a reputation in the rest of the country as a hotbed of violent disorder. A city steeped in history, it was the launchpad for the Arab Revolt at the beginning of the 20th century and has witnessed
Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—An Egyptian soldier was killed and another injured in clashes in Sinai on Sunday, a day after Egyptian authorities charged 200 alleged members of a militant group with terrorist offenses. According to Egyptian state TV, a military operation took place at Sheikh Zuweid in North
Donetsk, AP—The Kremlin urged the Ukrainian government Monday to engage in talks with representatives of the eastern part of the country following the controversial referendums where about 90 percent of voters said they backed their regions’ sovereignty. The statement signaled that Russia has
For fifty years during the second half of the twentieth century, the Soviet Union and the West were locked in a Cold War, a period of mostly static adversity marked by ideological and military posturing mainly in Europe, but including financial and military support for proxies around the globe. Inde
Marrakesh, Asharq Al-Awsat—Of all the countries in North Africa, Morocco is perhaps the least associated with fossil fuel production, in contrast to neighboring Algeria—a major gas exporter—and oil-rich Libya. As things currently stand, Morocco relies on imports for the vast majority of
Now that Syrian government forces have entered Homs—the cradle of the Syrian revolution and a model of justice and freedom whose people have made supreme sacrifices for the sake of the Syrian uprising—some frank remarks must be made. Over the past three and a half years, the population o
The Tunisian National Constituent Assembly’s vote against an article in new draft electoral legislation banning Ben Ali-era officials from participating in politics was so significant it attracted much attention last week. Had it been passed it would now be part of the country’s electoral law.
Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat—Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stormed out of an event celebrating the creation of Turkey’s highest administrative court in Ankara on Saturday, during a speech critical of his government by a senior lawyer. The Turkish prime minister interrupted a speech by the h
Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat—The Lebanese government will be taking steps to control the flow of Syrian refugees into the country in the coming days, Minister of Social Affairs Rashid Darbas told Asharq Al-Awsat on Saturday. Darbas said the government would strengthen humanitarian measures to help refuge
