Features

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
Features An Iranian woman walks next to an anti-US mural in Tehran, Iran, 29 January 2026. (EPA)

How Far Will He Go? Trump’s Options for US Action Against Iran

US President Donald Trump has threatened military action against Iran over its crackdown on protesters, while still for now appearing to leave the door open…

Features Military equipment, including helicopters, on board the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln (AP)

Deal or Strike: Is Military Action Against Iran Drawing Closer?

Despite reports of mediation and back-channel exchanges between Washington and Tehran, what is being described as “negotiations” so far looks more like a bid…

Elie Youssef (Washington )
Features US President Donald Trump waves as he walks upon arrival on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, US, January 27, 2026. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon

Unmentioned but Present, Trump is a Common Denominator in Efforts to Strengthen Asia-Europe Ties

Stability. Consistency. Ever-changing complexity. With language like that, deployed in separate meetings in three Asian capitals this week, government…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features Iranians walk along a street in Tehran, Iran, 27 January 2026. (EPA)

‘Too Dangerous to Go to Hospital’: A Glimpse into Iran’s Protest Crackdown

Young protesters shot in the back, shotgun pellets fired in a doctor's face, wounded people afraid to go to hospital: "Every family has been affected" by the…

Features US fighter jets aboard the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln (AFP)

Trump Balances War Threats and Brinkmanship with Iran

All indications suggest that US military action against Iran may be imminent. Yet the paradox is that edging toward the brink of confrontation may itself be…

Elie Youssef (Washington )
Features A gate at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Egypt, January 27, 2026. (Reuters)

Gazans Long for Reopening of ‘Lifeline’ Rafah Crossing

With Gaza's vital Rafah border crossing expected to soon reopen, residents of the war-shattered territory are hoping to reunite with family members, or are…

Features This picture taken on August 27, 2023 shows a view of the entrance of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt in the southern Gaza Strip. (AFP)

The Rafah Crossing Is Gaza’s Lifeline to the World and Could Open Soon

Palestinians are eagerly awaiting the reopening of the Rafah border crossing, which is Gaza’s lifeline and only gateway to the outside world that wasn’t…

Features Israeli police officer Ran Gvili (Bring Them Home Now/Handout via REUTERS)

Behind Israel’s Recovery of Last Hostage Body in Gaza

In an unexpected move, Israeli forces carried out a direct search operation to recover the body of the last Israeli hostage in Gaza, police officer Ran Gvili. …

Asharq Al Awsat (Gaza)
Features  Sunlight reflects off the windows of homes set against snow covered mountains in Nuuk, Greenland, on January 24, 2026. (AFP)

Trump’s Greenland Ambitions Strain MAGA Ties with Europe’s Far-Right

Tensions over US President Donald Trump's plans to take control of Greenland have driven a wedge in the once iron-clad link between MAGA and Europe's far-right…

Features US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (AFP)

US Buildup Balances Iran Deterrence, Day-After Risks

As the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, several destroyers, and fighter aircraft, are expected to arrive in the Middle East in the coming days, a familiar…

Mohamed Mahmoud (Cairo)
Features Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani meets with US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack in Baghdad, January 22, 2026 (Reuters)

ISIS Detainees at the Crossroads of Security Pressures and Politics in Iraq

The issue of ISIS detainees transferred from prisons in northeastern Syria to Iraq has moved to the forefront of Baghdad’s security and political agenda,…

Hamza Mustafa
Features Apartment buildings and houses light up the city of Nuuk, Greenland on January 22, 2026. (AFP)

Greenland Galvanizes Europe to Confront New US Reality

Europe may have rallied to see off President Donald Trump over Greenland, but its leaders recognize the confrontation is unlikely to be the last in dealings…

Features An Iraqi man carrying the Iranian flag passes in front of security forces outside the Iranian embassy in Baghdad during a demonstration to show solidarity against US threats (DPA). 

Possible ‘Emergency Exit’ for Iraqi Factions, But Not for Everyone

Since protests erupted in Iran, political elites in Iraq have quietly debated whether the “Islamic Revolution” in Tehran might be nearing a rapid collapse. Yet…

Ali Saray (London)
Features In this frame grab from video taken by an individual not employed by The Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran shows people blocking an intersection during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Thursday Jan. 8, 2026. (UGC via AP)

'Too Dangerous to Go to Hospital': A Glimpse into Iran's Protest Crackdown

Young protesters shot in the back, shotgun pellets fired in a doctor's face, wounded people afraid to go to hospital: "Every family has been affected" by the…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features  Syrian government forces patrol inside the al-Hol camp as smoke rises from an arms depot explosion in northeastern Syria's Hasakeh province, Syria, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, after the withdrawal of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). (AP)

A US Shift Marked Kurdish-Led Forces’ Fall from Power in Syria

Two tumultuous weeks saw the fall from power in Syria of the Kurdish-led force that was once the main US partner there, as Washington shifts its backing to the…

Features Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, center, strides through the newly-legalized Jewish settlement of Yatziv, adjacent to the Palestinian town of Beit Sahour, in the West Bank, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP)

Israeli Settler Outpost Becomes a Settlement within a Month

Celebratory music blasting from loudspeakers mixed with the sounds of construction, almost drowning out calls to prayer from a mosque in the Palestinian town…

Features A Palestinian man carries the body of his three-month-old daughter on Tuesday after she died from the cold in Gaza City. (AFP)

Respiratory Virus Claims Lives in Gaza amid Limited Capacity for Testing

Gaza resident Yusra al-Hajjar, 32, went through harrowing moments after she was shocked by a sharp rise in the temperature of her five-month-old infant, Nidal,…

Asharq Al Awsat (Gaza)
Features Men walk along a street past destroyed high-rise building, as efforts to restore the city's infrastructure resumes after nearly three years of devastation caused by war, in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on January 17, 2025. (AFP)

Khartoum Markets Back to Life but 'Nothing Like Before'

The hustle and bustle of buyers and sellers has returned to Khartoum's central market, but "it's nothing like before," fruit vendor Hashim Mohamed told AFP,…