Features

Features Displaced Palestinians walk past a large pool of standing water in Gaza City. Heavy winter rains have have made an already precarious life worse for displaced Gazans © Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP

'Shivering from Cold and Fear': Winter Rains Batter Displaced Gazans

It only took a matter of minutes after the heavy overnight rain first began to fall for Jamil al-Sharafi's tent in southern Gaza to flood, drenching his food…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features A Russian service member stands guard at a checkpoint near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant before the arrival of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expert mission in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict outside Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, June 15, 2023. (Reuters)

What Lies Ahead for Ukraine’s Contested Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant?

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, is one of the main sticking points in US President Donald Trump's peace plan to end the nearly four…

Features Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi meets President Donald Trump ahead of a world leaders' summit on ending the Gaza war, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, October 13, 2025. (Reuters)

Egypt, Trump Reaffirm Strategic Alliance in 2025 amid Regional Turmoil

After months of speculation over the trajectory of Egyptian-US relations, fueled by persistent talk of strain and an impending rift, a high-level meeting…

Fathiya al-Dakhakhni (Cairo)
Features A salesman displays gold chains at an Indian jewelry store in September. Idrees MOHAMMED / AFP

Why Metal Prices are Soaring to Record Highs

Precious and industrial metals are surging to record highs as the year ends, driven by economic and geopolitical uncertainty, robust industrial demand and, in…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features A photo of US President Donald Trump meeting Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Washington on Nov. 10 (AFP)

How Trump’s Decisions Reshaped Syria

In a crowded regional and international landscape shaped by overlapping security, strategic, economic, and political pressures, the administration of US…

Sultan al-Kanj
Features  Palestinian scout bands parade toward the Manger Square near the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, on Christmas Eve, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Thousands Flock to Bethlehem to Revive Christmas Spirit after 2 Years of War in Gaza

Thousands of people flocked to Bethlehem's Manger Square on Christmas Eve as families heralded a much-needed boost of holiday spirit. The giant Christmas tree…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features Head of the Military Council, Tareq al-Shoufi, is seen with his fighters.

Israel Planning to Exploit Druze File to Weaken Sharaa’s Rule in Syria

After the ouster of former president Bashar al-Assad, Israel supported Druze fighters in the south, in an effort to weaken Syria’s new government under the…

Asharq Al Awsat (Washington)
Features A woman sits next to her tent on an alley of a makeshift tent camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. (AP)

‘No Male Visitors’: Gaza Rents Soar Under Tight Restrictions

For weeks, Nafez al-Ghorani has moved from one lead to another, spending long, punishing days searching for an apartment to rent, clinging to the hope of…

Asharq Al Awsat (Gaza)
Features Russian Yars ICBMs travel through central Moscow, Russia, May 3, 2025. (AFP)

Global Nuclear Arms Control under Pressure in 2026 

The fragile global legal framework for nuclear weapons control faces further setbacks in 2026, eroding guardrails to avoid a nuclear crisis. The first half…

Features FILED - 02 November 2025, Iraq, Najaf: Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani delivers a speech during a campaign rally of his Reconstruction and Development Coalition in Najaf, ahead of the Iraqi parliamentary elections, scheduled to be held on 11 November 2025. Photo: Ameer Al-Mohammedawi/dpa

Iraq's Political Future in Limbo as Factions Vie for Power

Political factions in Iraq have been maneuvering since the parliamentary election more than a month ago to form alliances that will shape the next government. …

Asharq Al Awsat
Features Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi holds talks with Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in Cairo on Thursday (Egyptian Presidency)

What Egypt’s Red Lines Mean for Sudan’s War

In unusually blunt language, and following a visit by Sudan’s Sovereignty Council Chairman and army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to Cairo, the Egyptian…

Asharq Al Awsat (Port Sudan)
Features Election workers count ballots as they close a polling station, during the parliamentary elections in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP)

Iraq Negotiates New Coalition Under US Pressure

More than a month after Iraq's parliamentary elections, the country's top leaders remain locked in talks to form a government while facing pressure from…

Most Viewed

 
 

Features  Displaced Palestinian youths take part in a training session at the Aida Refugee Camp's football pitch, next to the separation wall outside Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, on December 16, 2025, a few weeks after an Israeli military decision to demolish the field. (AFP)

Bethlehem Camp's 'Lifeline' Football Field Faces Israeli Demolition

Earlier this month a group of Palestinian boys turned out to train at their local football pitch in the shadow of the wall separating Israel from the West Bank…

Features Palestinians shop amid the rubble in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, February last year (DPA)

Worn Banknotes, Tobacco Taxes: How Hamas Pays Its Members

More than two months after a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect in Gaza, the group has steadily reasserted some security control in areas…

Asharq Al Awsat (Gaza)
Features An aerial photograph shows thousands of people celebrating the first anniversary since the ousting of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad near The Damascus Sword monument in Umayyad Square, in the Syrian capital Damascus on December 8, 2025. (AFP)

Shadow Battles in Syria: Fighting ISIS, Rebuilding the State 

At the entrances to Damascus branching off the Mezzeh highway, just before Umayyad Square, young men with a quasi-military appearance line both sides of the…

Bissane El-Cheikh (Damascus)
Features A drone view shows a circular wheat field in the desert of Basra, Iraq, November 27, 2025. (Reuters)

Iraq’s Dreams of Wheat Independence Dashed by Water Crisis 

Iraqi wheat farmer Ma'an al-Fatlawi has long depended on the nearby Euphrates River to feed his fields near the city of Najaf. But this year, those waters,…

Features Bashar al-Assad with his wife, Asma, walk with their children in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo in 2022. (Former Syrian presidency Facebook page/AFP/Getty Images)

Report: Assad Returns to Ophthalmology, His Family Lives in Russian Luxury  

A year after his regime was toppled in Syria, Bashar al-Assad's family is living an isolated, quiet life of luxury in Moscow. A friend of the family,…

Asharq Al Awsat (London) Asharq Al Awsat (Moscow)
Features Soldiers and police officers from the former Syrian regime handing in weapons last year to new security forces in Latakia, Syria. (Ivor Prickett for The New York Times)

Rebuilding the Army: One of the Syrian Govt’s Greatest Challenges

When opposition factions in Syria came to power a year ago, one of their first acts was to dismiss all of the country’s military forces, which had been used as…

Features Palestinians cross a flooded street following heavy rain in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Winter Storm Rips through Gaza, Exposing Failure to Deliver Enough Aid to Territory

Rains drenched Gaza’s tent camps and dropping temperatures chilled Palestinians huddling inside them Thursday as storm Byron descended on the war-battered…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to press before his meeting with President of Cyprus in Kyiv on December 4, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Genya SAVILOV / AFP)

Ukraine Hasn’t Held Elections since Russia’s Full-scale Invasion. Here’s Why

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected suggestions that he is using the war as an excuse to cling to power, saying he is ready to hold elections…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features A drone view shows Palestinians walking past the rubble, following Israeli forces' withdrawal from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City, October 11, 2025. (Reuters)

From Israeli-Held Zones in Gaza, Foes of Hamas Seek Lasting Role 

Groups operating from Israeli-held areas of Gaza say they will continue to fight Hamas despite the killing of their most prominent commander, reporting more…

Features Hama residents set fire to a large banner of Bashar al Assad after armed factions seized the city last December (AFP)

What Syria’s Military Map Looks Like One Year After Assad Ouster

Syria’s map of control has been shaken to its core since late 2024, when the Deterrence of Aggression offensive erupted and the Assad government fell,…

Asharq Al Awsat (London)
Features A defaced portrait of Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad hangs on a wall in the capital Damascus on June 2, 2025. (AFP)

Assad’s ‘Trap’: A Night That Shook Tehran’s Allies in Baghdad

A senior Iraqi security official urged his driver to pick up speed as they raced toward Damascus airport. He needed to catch a flight back to Baghdad, while…

Ali Saray (London)
Features People raise the Syrian flag during the one-year anniversary marking the ouster of Bashar al-Assad in Tripoli, Lebanon.

New Political, Military Reality in Lebanon a Year after Assad’s Ouster 

The collapse of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria in December 2024 created major political, security and economic changes in Lebanon. Beirut also rid itself of…

Youssef Diab (Beirut)