Features

Features Some shops reopen despite extensive damage (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Sudanese Return to Khartoum, Reviving a Shattered Capital

Thousands of displaced Sudanese are returning to Khartoum, where destruction is widespread, explosive drones fill the skies, disease is spreading, and basic…

Asharq Al Awsat (Khartoum)
Features Palestinians use donkey carts to cross a rain-flooded street in Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Saturday (DPA)

Gaza Residents Face ‘Winter War’ with No Aid

Palestinian territories, particularly the Gaza Strip, were hit by a winter storm that piled new hardship on residents, especially those living in tents that…

Asharq Al Awsat (Gaza)
Features Supporters of the incumbent Iraqi prime minister celebrate following the announcement of preliminary election results in Baghdad on November 12, 2025. (AFP)

What Lies Ahead in Iraq: The Hard Task of Forming a Govt

Following Iraq's parliamentary election this week, the complex and often lengthy task of choosing the country's next leader is set to begin. Incumbent Prime…

Features The success of Turkish shows in Bangladesh, challenging the popularity of Indian television dramas, shows signs of shifting alliances. Syed Mahamudur RAHMAN / AFP

TV Soaps and Diplomacy as Bangladesh and Türkiye Grow Closer

In a recording studio in Dhaka, voiceover artist Rubaiya Matin Gity dubs the latest Turkish soap opera to become a megahit in Bangladesh -- a pop-culture trend…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features People shop water storage tanks following a drought crisis in Tehran, Iran, November 10, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Tehran Taps Run Dry as Water Crisis Deepens Across Iran

Iran is grappling with its worst water crisis in decades, with officials warning that Tehran — a city of more than 10 million — may soon be uninhabitable if…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features A Syrian man inspects cells at the prison of Sednaya, north of Damascus, Syria, Dec. 16, 2024. (AFP)

Exiled Syrian Opens up About Death-Defying Smuggling Operation That Showed Proof of Assad’s Cruelty

He waited for his brother-in-law to cross the front line smuggling documents stolen from the Syrian dictatorship’s archives. Detection could mean dismemberment…

Features A person votes at a polling station during the parliamentary election in Kirkuk, Iraq, November 11, 2025. (Reuters)

What’s at Stake in Iraq’s Parliamentary Election 

Iraqis were voting on Tuesday in a parliamentary election that comes at a crucial moment for the country and the region. The outcome of the vote will influence…

Features  
Al-Bashir and al-Turabi (right) after the coup (AP)

El-Mahboub Abdul Salam to Asharq Al-Awsat: Al-Turabi Tasted the Betrayal of his Disciples, Foremost Among them Omar al-Bashir

Dr. Hassan Abdullah al-Turabi once tasted a bitter truth: that a man’s own disciples may one day betray him. It is almost a law of political life that students…

Ghassan Charbel (Cairo)
Features An undated photo from 2023 provided by a whistleblower shows Palestinian prisoners captured in the Gaza Strip at the Sde Teiman detention facility. (AP)

Palestinians Recount ‘Black Hole’ of Israeli Detention

Denied contact with his lawyer for months, now freed Palestinian prisoner Shady Abu Sedo said he lost all sense of time while he was held in Israeli jails…

Features Carlos' wanted photos as released by Interpol. (AFP)

El-Mahboub Abdul Salam to Asharq Al-Awsat: Al-Turabi Viewed Carlos as a Poisonous Present from Jordan

An attractive foreigner once entered a store in Khartoum. The owner never once imagined who it could possibly be. The foreigner noticed the portrait of a…

Ghassan Charbel (Cairo)
Features A young Iraqi worker walks past election campaigning posters ahead of the parliamentary elections in Baghdad, Iraq, 07 November 2025. (EPA)

What’s at Stake in Iraq’s Parliamentary Election?

Iraqis will elect a new parliament on November 11, in a key test for Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and for a system seen by the country's young…

Features Salah Abu Ali, 52, official guardian of Palestinians alleged oldest olive tree, between 3,000 and 5,000 years old poses for a portrait under it in Al-Walajah, occupied West Bank on November 4, 2025. (AFP)

West Bank’s Ancient Olive Tree a ‘Symbol of Palestinian Endurance’ 

As guardian of the occupied West Bank's oldest olive tree, Salah Abu Ali prunes its branches and gathers its fruit even as violence plagues the Palestinian…

Features A circulated image shows the Ghuraba camp in Harem in Idlib’s countryside

French Migrant Unit Faces Quiet Standoff With Damascus

The latest clashes in Idlib’s countryside between a French armed faction known as the Ghuraba and Syrian government forces have revived one of the most…

Sultan al-Kanj
Features A view shows electricity pylons in Kiswah, Damascus suburbs, Syria September 8, 2021. Picture taken September 8, 2021. REUTERS/Yamam al Shaar/File Photo

Syrians Furious at Major Hike in Electricity Prices

In his workshop near the Syrian capital, Ghassan Aama is at a loss following a recent decision to massively hike electricity prices, even as much of the…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features Palestinian detainees at Israel’s Sde Teiman military base in southern Israel, winter 2023 (AP)

Israel’s Notorious Prison: Survivors Speak of ‘Cemetery for the Living’

by Bahaa Melhem After hearing and reading much about the horrors taking place inside Israel’s Sde Teiman detention center, Palestinian journalist Shadi Abu…

Features Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani speaks during a press conference at the Unisphere on November 05, 2025 in the Queens borough of New York City. (Getty Images via AFP)

Mamdani Victory Fires up Europe’s Left Against Right-Wing Surge at Home

The blistering rise of Zohran Mamdani to become mayor of New York City has offered encouragement to left-wing parties across Europe that an unabashedly radical…

Features People walk past an anti-US billboard on a street in Tehran, Iran, November 5, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

'Hostage Diplomacy': Longstanding Iran Tactic Presenting Dilemma for West

Iran since the revolution has employed the tactic of arresting Westerners in a bid to extract concessions from its foes, in a strategy of "hostage diplomacy"…

Features Supporters of the Association Mouv'Enfants hold placards in front of French police during a protest against the opening of the first physical space of Chinese online fast-fashion retailer Shein at the Le BHV Marais department store, the Bazar de l'Hotel de Ville, in Paris, France - The AP news

Fast-fashion Giant Shein Draws Shoppers and Protesters as it Opens its First Store in Paris

Crowds of shoppers — and protesters — turned out Wednesday for the opening of fast-fashion giant Shein's first permanent store in Paris inside one of the city…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features Al-Shabaab fighters display weapons as they conduct military exercises in northern Mogadishu, Somalia, October 21, 2010. (AP file photo)

'Blood Emirate' Expands Across Sahel in Hunt for Gold, Power  

In the Libyan city of Sabha, known as the “Bride of the South,” authorities dismantled three terrorist networks in August, revealing links stretching across…

Jamal Jawhar (Cairo)
Features Democratic candidate for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani waves to his supporters after winning the 2025 New York City Mayoral race, at an election night rally in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York, US, November 4, 2025. (Reuters)

Zohran Mamdani’s Rise: From Queens Lawmaker to New York City Mayor 

When he announced his run for mayor last October, Zohran Mamdani was a state lawmaker unknown to most New York City residents. But that was before the 34…

Features France's Army personnel from the combat engineering corps maneuver a motorized floating bridge (PFM) across the Mures River during the "Dacian Fall" military exercise in Santimbru on November 3, 2025. (AFP)

NATO Tests War Preparedness on Eastern Flank Facing Russia

On the Mures river in central Romania, French armored vehicles and Romanian trucks board a motorized floating bridge, part of a large military exercise to…

Features  Palestinian children watch a cartoon movie during an activity held by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, aimed at easing the psychological stress caused by the war, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, October 28, 2025. (Reuters)

Gaza’s Psychological Trauma Brings Large Numbers to Seek Help

Gaza residents are suffering "a volcano" of psychological trauma from Israel's devastating military campaign that has become clear since last month's truce,…

Features A Palestinian boy pushes a cart loaded with water containers in a displacement camp in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, on Saturday (AP Photo)

A Rosy Life on Social Media Masks Gaza’s Bleak Reality

Anyone scrolling through social media and seeing the posts of some Gaza residents, including activists, influencers, and shop owners, might think the enclave…

Asharq Al Awsat (Gaza)
Features An Israeli missile lays on the rubble in the middle of a street next to destroyed houses in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 30 October 2025, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. (EPA)

Unexploded Bombs Sow Fear Among Gazans Under Fragile Truce

Moein al-Hattu's home has been ripped apart, its cinder block walls blown out into the street and a dusty grey bomb hangs menacingly from a damaged pillar, its…