Features

Features The Saudi riyal serves as a living record of three centuries of progress, representing not merely a unit of value but a document of the nation’s journey and renaissance. (SPA)

The Saudi Riyal: Tracing Three Centuries from Diriyah’s Markets to Global Financial Icon

The history of the Saudi riyal is deeply intertwined with the evolution of the Saudi state, evolving from its early days as a fluctuating medium of exchange to…

Features A man walks past snow-covered plants at the Gryshko National Botanical Garden of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Kyiv on February 11, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  (Photo by Genya SAVILOV / AFP)

Ukrainians, Scattered across Europe, Trapped in Limbo by War

Maryna Bondarenko says she has three suitcases packed in her apartment in Poland, waiting for the day when peace returns to Ukraine. The 51-year-old…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump speaks during a press briefing at the White House, following the Supreme Court's ruling that Trump had exceeded his authority when he imposed tariffs, in Washington, D.C., US, February 20, 2026. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz REFILE

Trump Pushes US Toward War with Iran as Advisers Urge Focus on Economy

President Donald Trump has pushed the United States to the brink of war with Iran even as aides urge him to focus more on voters' economic worries,…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features A handout picture made available by Iran's Supreme Leader Office shows Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei addressing a ceremony in Tehran, Iran, 17 February 2026, amid heightened regional tensions following an increased US military presence in the Middle East. (EPA/Iran’s Supreme Leader Office Handout)

Iran’s Khamenei Faces Gravest Crisis of His Rule as US Strike Force Gathers

Ali Khamenei has crushed unrest and survived foreign pressure before but, with his envoys racing to avert threatened American airstrikes through ongoing talks,…

Features  People walk at Tajrish traditional bazaar in northern Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP)

US Strikes on Iran Could Target Individual Leaders, Officials Say

US military planning on Iran has reached an advanced stage with options including targeting individuals as part of an attack and even pursuing regime change in…

Features Worshippers perform evening Tarawih prayer on the first night of the holy fasting month of Ramadan at the Al-Kanz Mosque, which was damaged during the Israel-Hamas war, in Gaza City, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP)

First Ramadan After Truce Brings Flicker of Joy in Devastated Gaza 

Little Ramadan lanterns and string lights appeared on streets lined with collapsed buildings and piles of rubble in Gaza City, bringing joy and respite as…

Features Private tutoring makes up some, but not all of the teaching shortfall for the Hajj twins. Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP

Bleak Future for West Bank Pupils as Budget Cuts Bite

At an hour when Ahmad and Mohammed should have been in the classroom, the two brothers sat idle at home in the northern West Bank city of Nablus. The 10-year…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features Fighters from the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Feb. 20, 2025. (dpa)

Security Issues Complicate Tasks of ‘Technocratic Committee’ in Gaza Strip

The Palestinian National Committee tasked with administering the Gaza Strip is facing a number of challenges that go beyond Israel’s continued veto on its…

Asharq Al Awsat (Gaza)
Features FILE PHOTO: Smoke rises following an explosion, within the "yellow line" zone, which is controlled by Israel, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, February 10, 2026. Picture taken with a phone. REUTERS/Haseeb Alwazeer/File Photo

What is the Two-state Solution to the Israel-Palestinian Conflict?

Israel has taken steps ‌to help settlers acquire land in the occupied West Bank and widen its powers in parts of the territory where Palestinians have…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features A view of the historic Pasha Palace in Gaza City after an Israeli airstrike badly damaged the building during the war in the Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians Look to Salvage Gaza's History from the Ruins of Israel's Military Offensive

Muneer Elbaz remembers the joy of visiting the Great Omari Mosque in Gaza with his family, praying at a site where people have worshipped over centuries as…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features Satellite imagery shows new construction and drone support infrastructure at Asosa airport in Benishangul-Gumuz, Ethiopia, January 28, 2026. (Vantor/Handout via Reuters)

Ethiopia Builds Secret Camp to Train Sudan RSF Fighters 

Ethiopia is hosting a secret camp to train thousands of fighters for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in neighboring Sudan, Reuters reporting has found,…

Asharq Al Awsat (Nairobi)
Features Palestinian girls and young women attend a boxing training session between displacement tents in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on February 9, 2026. (AFP)

Gaza Girls Take Up Boxing to Heal War’s Scars

In a makeshift boxing ring etched into the sand between the tens of displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza, a dozen young girls warmed up before delivering…

Features Houthis continue mobilization, fundraising, and declare combat readiness (AP) 

Is Iran Pushing Houthis Toward Military Action Against Washington?

As US military movements intensify in the Middle East and the possibility of strikes on Iran looms, Yemen’s Houthi group has continued military preparations,…

Waddah Aljaleel (Aden)
Features Israeli soldiers and tanks stand in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, in Israel, February 4, 2026. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

The Gaza Ceasefire Began Months Ago. Here’s Why the Fighting Persists

As the bodies of two dozen Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes arrived at hospitals in Gaza on Wednesday, the director of one asked a question that has…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features The flags of USA and Iran are displayed in Muscat, Oman, 25 April 2025. EPA/ALI HAIDER

What to Know as Iran and US Set for Nuclear Talks in Oman

Iran and the United States will hold talks Friday in Oman, their latest over Tehran's nuclear program after Israel launched a 12-day war on the country in June…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features Ruins of buildings destroyed in Israeli shelling during two years of war... Gaza City on February 4, 2026 (Reuters)

A Look at the Violence Flaring in Gaza Months into an Israel-Hamas Ceasefire

As the bodies of two dozen Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes arrived at hospitals in Gaza on Wednesday, the director of one asked a question that has…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features Seif al-Islam al-Gadhafi speaks during a news conference in Tripoli on Aug. 4, 2010 (EPA)

Seif al-Islam al-Gadhafi: Why Shouldn’t I Trust Them?

“Why shouldn’t I trust them?” That was Seif al-Islam al-Gadhafi’s blunt reply when asked why he had placed his confidence in Islamist prisoners held in his…

Camille Tawil (London)
Features 11 February 2008, Berlin: Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, son of then Libya's leader Moammar Gadhafi, arrives at the charity gala "Cinema for Peace" at the Konzerthaus am Gendarmenmarkt. (dpa)

Who Is Behind the Killing of Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, and Why Now?

Seif al-Islam, the son of Libya's slain longtime ruler Moammar al-Gadhafi and once seen by some as his likely heir, has been killed. Targeted by a warrant…

Features This photo released by the US Air Force shows a B-52H Stratofortress approaching a KC-10 Extender for refueling over the Middle East, Sept. 4, 2022. (US Air Force/Staff Sgt. Shannon Bowman, via AP, File)

The Last US-Russian Nuclear Pact Is About to Expire, Ending a Half-Century of Arms Control

The last remaining nuclear arms pact between Russia and the United States is set to expire Thursday, removing any caps on the two largest atomic arsenals for…

Features Iranians walk in a street in Tehran, Iran, 02 February 2026. (EPA)

'Unprecedented Mass Killing': NGOs Battle to Quantify Iran Crackdown Scale

When the first pieces of information circumvented a near-total blackout during Iran's protests last month, rights defender Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam was already…

Features A man walk past a mural depicting the Statue of Liberty with the torch-bearing arm broken, painted on the outer walls of the former US embassy in Tehran, colloquially-referred to as the "Spy Den,"on February 1, 2026. (AFP)

Report: Iran Fears US Strike May Reignite Protests, Imperil Rule

Iran’s leadership is increasingly worried a US strike could break its grip on power by driving an already enraged public back onto the streets, following a…

Features Ambulances wait on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip in northeastern Egypt on February 1, 2026. (Photo by AFP)

What to Know about Gaza's Rafah Border Crossing

Pedestrians are set to begin passing through the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt on Monday, after it was largely shut for close to two…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features A photo shows a residential area near the airport at the city of Nuuk, western Greenland, with a slightly snow covered mountain in the background, on January 28, 2026. (AFP)

NATO's Ability to Deter Russia Has Taken a Hit with Trans-Atlantic Infighting

European allies and Canada are pouring billions of dollars into helping Ukraine, and they have pledged to massively boost their budgets to defend their…

Features Islam Saleh, who was injured in her left leg in an Israeli strike on a school shelter in Jabalia in 2024, sits in a wheelchair inside her family’s tent in Zawaida, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, as she awaits permission to travel outside Gaza for treatment. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A Bullet Shattered Her Knee. Now a Gaza Teen's Chances of Walking Depend on Rafah Border Crossing

Rimas Abu Lehia was wounded five months ago when Israeli troops opened fired toward a crowd of hungry people mobbing an aid truck for food in Gaza and a bullet…

Asharq Al Awsat