Destruction in Kharkiv after Russian shelling. (Reuters)
It is noon in Kharkiv. Ukrainian artillery near the western parts of the city launches several howitzers, setting off dozens of car alarms. They ring for several minutes before their owners can silence them. This happens every hour or so in the almost deserted city.
In central Kharkiv, a bank was destroyed overnight and no one is longer around to turn off its alarm. Less than a kilometer away, three members of the Ukrainian army inspect the identities of pedestrians. They have set up cement barriers aimed at impeding the advance of tanks. One speaks fluent English and spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat about the developments in the central part of the city.
The central shopping district of Kharkiv was a source of massive pride for the locals due to its beauty. Every day, it gets its daily dose of Russian rockets. Not much glass remains in the city center. Most of it has been blown away by the bombardment. Only the military museum appears intact. It is difficult to discern the shattered glass on the ground from the ice that still covers the pavements.
You can walk for several minutes in Kharkiv without coming across a single soul. The city is almost deserted. A policeman on Poltavskyi Shliakh Street points to a small souvenir stall, saying: "This is all that's left on this street. Everyone is gone."
At a train station, several residents have gathered to leave the city. Waves of people are leaving as battles edge closer to the outskirts of Kharkiv. The attacks have struck neighborhoods indiscriminately.
At the main train station, hundreds are waiting for their ride to take them to Kyiv and from the capital to other cities or European countries.
The villages to the west and south of Kharkiv are still busy with people. Long lines form in front of shops as people wait to buy essentials. In Kharkiv, however, there are no lines, you hardly find a small grocer to buy some food. You barely even find anything to buy.
Stray and abandoned cats and dogs roam the streets after their owners fled the strikes and advancing Russian tanks. The pets have become the daily entertainment for policemen as they await pedestrians to inspect their IDs.
The sound of shelling can be heard throughout the day. "Some parts of the city have been completely destroyed," said Vitaly, 28. He identified himself as a military volunteer. He revealed that he is facing financial difficulties after he lost his job due to the war. He lives with fellow fighters and makes do with whatever food and water that is available.
Many things are now free in Kharkiv. You can get a hotel room for free if you are lucky to find a hotel that is not destroyed or still receiving guests. You can get food, tea or coffee at train or metro stations. Free clothes are available at several volunteer gathering points if you can stand out in line in the biting cold for long enough.
Obtaining essentials for free does not mean that the city is doing well. Several goods are unavailable and prices have varied from city to city. The price of bread has doubled in recent days in Kharkiv.
The remaining residents of Kharkiv are also suffering from a lack of hard cash. The ATMs have stopped working and those that are, are not being replenished.
Local authorities have sought to remove the traces of the shelling as soon as it is safe. They work on reopening streets and removing rubble, but they cannot always keep up with the Russian attacks. In the central part of the city, electricity lines are left dangling on their poles and piles of shattered glass and destroyed cement blocks are scattered around. Several neighborhoods in eastern and northern Kharkiv, even its center, are without electricity after the network malfunctioned, forcing many residents to leave.
Ali al-Taher Ridge Emerges as Flashpoint in Israel-Hezbollah Warhttps://english.aawsat.com/features/5314179-ali-al-taher-ridge-emerges-flashpoint-israel-hezbollah-war
A photograph taken from the southern Lebanese area of Nabatieh shows smoke as it rises from the site of Israeli strikes that targeted the hilltops of the mountainous area of the strategic Ali al-Taher Ridge on August 14, 2026. (Photo by AFP) /
Ali al-Taher Ridge Emerges as Flashpoint in Israel-Hezbollah War
A photograph taken from the southern Lebanese area of Nabatieh shows smoke as it rises from the site of Israeli strikes that targeted the hilltops of the mountainous area of the strategic Ali al-Taher Ridge on August 14, 2026. (Photo by AFP) /
The Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon, which is named after a Shi'ite Muslim scholar whose shrine sits at its summit, has become one of the most contested pieces of ground in the Israel-Hezbollah war.
The cluster of hills is not especially large. But what it overlooks in southern Lebanon — and what Hezbollah is suspected to have built beneath it — thrust it to the center of the fight between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group.
WHERE IS IT?
Located about 15 km (10 miles) from the Israeli border, the Ali al-Taher ridge has a commanding view of a broad sweep of southeastern Lebanon. Israel held it during a 22-year occupation of south Lebanon that ended in 2000.
After the current war erupted on March 2, Israeli troops pushed deep into southern Lebanon and seized key hilltops, including the historic Beaufort Castle on the route to Ali al-Taher.
In June, Israel's military described the ridge as one of its "primary operational focuses," and included it in a map of an expanded, self-declared buffer zone where its troops are operating.
The ridge has effectively become a dividing point between a swathe of Lebanese territory occupied by Israeli troops to the south, and towns to the north that Israel's air force has bombed heavily, including Nabatieh.
WHY IS IT STRATEGIC?
Hezbollah is believed to have built an underground command center and weapons stores within the ridge itself, Lebanese security sources told Reuters in July. At 600 meters above sea level, it granted Hezbollah an advantage in launching short-range missiles and drones towards northern Israel, according to analysts.
Ali al-Taher also connects border areas in southern Lebanon to the hilly Iqlim al-Tuffah region further north, which has long served as a key logistical and operational base for Hezbollah, the Lebanese security sources said.
The Israeli air force has struck the ridge heavily in recent months.
In June, an Israeli military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters that Hezbollah fighters were stuck underground without food or water. The Times of Israel, citing a military probe, said on June 20 that one Israeli soldier was killed and 13 wounded during operations to capture a major underground Hezbollah facility beneath the ridge.
Hezbollah has said that Israel has sought to advance but that its fighters still had "full control over the area and are at complete readiness to confront any attempt by the enemy forces to advance or infiltrate."
In July, the Israeli military said it would "not allow Hezbollah terrorists to emerge from the underground terrorist infrastructure and operate in the area or pose a threat" to Israeli soldiers.
WHAT IS THE POLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE?
Ali al-Taher lies near Zawtar Al Gharbiyeh, a town from which Israeli troops withdrew in July as part of a US-brokered roadmap that would see Israeli troops gradually withdraw from southern Lebanon as Lebanese troops disarm Hezbollah.
But with Hezbollah refusing to give up its weapons — and Israel saying it won't withdraw until the group disarms — that plan has ground to a halt.
As Israeli elections planned for October draw closer, capturing Ali al-Taher could be an attractive prize for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
"Before the elections, Israel needs a big win in an area that has always been seen as a Hezbollah stronghold," said Andrea Tenenti, a strategic communications expert and former spokesperson for the UN force in Lebanon, UNIFIL.
Still, it may prefer a slow siege to avoid Israeli troop casualties, said Hassan Jouni, a Lebanese analyst and retired army general.
"Israel is hesitant to storm Ali al-Taher for fear of casualties, especially at this sensitive moment before elections," Jouni told Reuters.
The deadlock in Lebanon mirrors the wider Middle East standoff — negotiations between the United States and Iran remain stalled, with no breakthrough in sight.
Not Just Nvidia: These Power and Cooling Firms Are Riding the Trillion-Dollar Data Center Boomhttps://english.aawsat.com/features/5313790-not-just-nvidia-these-power-and-cooling-firms-are-riding-trillion-dollar-data
An aerial view of an Amazon Web Services IAD10 data center on August 26, 2026 in Sterling, Virginia. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Not Just Nvidia: These Power and Cooling Firms Are Riding the Trillion-Dollar Data Center Boom
An aerial view of an Amazon Web Services IAD10 data center on August 26, 2026 in Sterling, Virginia. (Getty Images/AFP)
While Nvidia is synonymous with the AI boom, a lesser-known group of power and cooling equipment suppliers is cashing in on a global data center construction spree as developers race to avoid infrastructure bottlenecks.
Energy-hungry data centers have triggered a surge in demand for equipment ranging from transformers to advanced cooling systems, creating winners across Asia's supply chain, though earlier stock-price gains have moderated.
McKinsey forecasts nearly $7 trillion in data-center investment globally by 2030; Nvidia last week said it expects AI spending to remain robust for years.
But building data centers fast enough to meet demand is becoming more difficult. Hyperscalers often want facilities delivered within six months, but grid connection delays can stretch as long as 24 months in some emerging markets and more than eight years in major developed markets, according to consultancy Pivotale AI.
"Outside the industry circle, people are talking about (graphics processing units), but within the circle, people most certainly question you about the lead time for generators and transformers," said Wing Kin Cheung, the CEO of digital infrastructure service provider BodaData.
Transformers convert high-voltage electricity from grids into levels suitable for servers, cooling systems and power distribution units.
AI SCRUTINY DEEPENS
Leading transformer suppliers including South Korea's HD Hyundai Electric and China's Hainan Jinpan Smart Technology reported surging demand in the first half of 2026 tied to AI infrastructure projects, particularly in North America.
HD Hyundai Electric recently said demand in Europe was rising as US hyperscalers expanded investments in markets like Finland, Germany and Britain, while Middle Eastern demand remained strong.
Its order backlog rose 23% to $8.5 billion at the end of June from six months earlier, and it said it expects data center demand to remain robust.
"We currently have an order backlog covering more than three years, with a substantial portion of production capacity for major power equipment secured for the coming three years," the company told Reuters.
"We are also in order discussions with some key customers for volumes scheduled for delivery as far out as 2030."
For Jinpan, new data-center orders in the first half more than quadrupled from a year earlier, while its related backlog nearly tripled.
As AI chips consume more electricity, equipment makers are also betting on technologies aimed at improving efficiency and reducing environmental impacts, amid growing public scrutiny over data centers' consumption of water and electricity.
Bank of America estimates power consumption per AI rack could climb to more than 1.5 megawatts by the end of 2030, nearly 100 times that of a conventional rack, citing Nvidia's roadmap.
One technology attracting greater attention is the solid-state transformer (SST), a device that replaces bulky magnetic coils and copper windings with semiconductors to transform and route electricity.
UBS estimates SSTs will increase power efficiency by around 4% and reduce costs. While commercial adoption remains in its early stages, the bank expects their penetration to climb to 40% in 2030 and forecasts that Chinese companies will gain share thanks to technological expertise and cost advantages.
HD Hyundai Electric and Jinpan said they are deepening SST development, while Taiwan's Delta Electronics, a major supplier of power infrastructure, said a small data center is using its SSTs.
Delta told Reuters that demand for AI power, cooling and data center infrastructure solutions remains a growth engine and it is expanding its production footprint across Thailand, the US and China to meet increased demand.
COOLING RACE
Cooling systems are emerging as another growth area as operators struggle to manage the heat generated by powerful AI chips.
"Power and cooling basically go hand in hand; so basically the more power you use, the more cooling you need to use because you generate heat," said Matty Zhao, Bank of America's Asia-Pacific head of research for basic materials, oil and gas.
The bank forecasts liquid cooling will account for 70% of new AI data-center installations versus air cooling by 2030, up from about 30% today. Liquid cooling can reduce energy consumption by over 27%, McKinsey says.
Developers are also exploring unconventional approaches, including floating facilities, underwater data centers and servers in caves or tunnels.
That is creating opportunities for a broader range of suppliers.
"With the expansion of data center self-generation and the floating data center market, opportunities are also opening up to enter new markets for marine medium-speed engines," HD Hyundai Electric said.
Strong demand for thermal-management products is lifting Delta and local peers Asia Vital Components and Auras Technology, as well as China's Shenzhen Envicool Technology. All are suppliers in Nvidia's ecosystem.
SUPPLY CHAIN CONSTRAINTS
Despite surging orders, the stock-price gains of suppliers have moderated as investors question elevated valuations amid intensifying competition.
Delta's shares are up more than 90% this year, while HD Hyundai Electric has stayed largely flat, cooling from gains of more than 100% last year. China's Jinpan and Envicool have fallen nearly 30% and 20%, respectively, after surging 118% and 244% in 2025.
"Even if revenue increases, I think gross margin will probably remain at roughly this level," Delta Chairman Ping Cheng said in July.
"There are many variables in the market, including new product platforms, deployment delays and component shortages. These issues may become somewhat more serious in the second half of this year."
Bank of America's Zhao said investors should be aware of potential risks.
"Not everyone can win," she said. "You have to be cherry-picked for the leaders who actually get the customers."
What Al-Gaddafi’s Inner Circle Said about Musa Al-Sadr’s Disappearancehttps://english.aawsat.com/features/5313568-what-al-gaddafi%E2%80%99s-inner-circle-said-about-musa-al-sadr%E2%80%99s-disappearance
What Al-Gaddafi’s Inner Circle Said about Musa Al-Sadr’s Disappearance
Imam Musa al-al-Sadr. (File photo)
Fifteen years after the fall of Moammar al-Gaddafi’s regime, the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of Imam Musa al-Sadr, head of Lebanon’s Supreme Islamic Shiite Council, during a visit to Libya on Aug. 31, 1978, remain unclear. Al-Sadr was accompanied by Sheikh Mohammed Yacoub and journalist Abbas Badreddine. No trace of the three men has ever been found. To date, Lebanese authorities have not disclosed the outcome of contacts they held with the forces that governed Libya after al-Gaddafi’s fall in 2011.
The disappearance of Imam al-Sadr was among the subjects I raised with Libyan officials during conversations about al-Gaddafi, his rule and the abuses committed under his regime. What follows are accounts I heard from them.
Moammar al-Gaddafi. (Reuters file)
Abdel Moneim al-Houni: The killing of al-Gaddafi’s pilot
After the Sept. 1, 1969, coup that brought al-Gaddafi to power, Abdel Moneim al-Houni held several senior posts. He was a member of the Libyan Revolutionary Command Council, headed the intelligence service and served as both interior and foreign minister.
I asked Houni about the case of the Lebanese Shiite leader.
“It is clear that Imam al-Sadr was eliminated,” he said. “This is certain, and it is the conviction of every Libyan I have met.”
“I will tell you something. My brother-in-law was a pilot who flew al-Gaddafi’s plane. His name was Najm al-Din al-Yaziji, and he held the rank of lieutenant colonel. Shortly after Imam al-Sadr disappeared, my brother-in-law was eliminated.”
“Family members said his killing was connected to the al-Sadr case. He had transported the imam’s body for burial in southern Libya, in the Sabha area. Relatives say his knowledge of what happened to Musa al-Sadr prompted the Libyan security services to kill him to conceal the secret. These are things that happen in crimes of this kind.”
Jalloud: "I alluded to the disappearance once. He merely replied, ‘Are you accusing me?’ The conversation ended there.”
Jalloud: Khomeini asked only for an explanation
Days after the triumph of Iran’s 1979 revolution, a Libyan delegation led by Abdessalam Jalloud, the Libyan regime’s “number two,” visited Tehran to offer congratulations and met Khomeini.
I asked Jalloud whether Khomeini had raised al-Sadr’s disappearance during the meeting.
“Yes,” he replied. “He expressed the hope that an explanation would be released about the circumstances of the case so that there would be no obstacle to cooperation between the two revolutions.”
“While I was at the hotel, a demonstration was organized outside involving 37 people, led by al-Sadr’s sister and her husband. They chanted slogans, but security personnel affiliated with the revolution quickly removed and dispersed them.”
I asked whether the al-Sadr case later became an obstacle in relations with Tehran.
“No,” Jalloud said. “As I told you before, we gave Iran missiles and played a central role in helping it obtain weapons” during its war with Iraq in the 1980s.
“I met al-Sadr once, in Lebanon in the mid-1970s,” he recalled.
“I did not even know that he was visiting Libya. When I learned of his disappearance, I was deeply distressed for two reasons. The first concerned the man himself and what he represented. The second was that I considered the act vile. It is not an Arab custom to invite someone into your home or country and then turn on him. Such conduct goes against Arab morals and Islamic values. The whole affair was strange and subjected to a severe blackout.”
I asked whether he had ever confronted al-Gaddafi about al-Sadr.
“I alluded to the matter once,” he said. “He merely replied, ‘Are you accusing me?’ The conversation ended there.”
Asked about reports of an altercation between al-Gaddafi and al-Sadr, Jalloud said: “I do not know the details. But I heard years ago that the police officer who impersonated al-Sadr and traveled to Italy using his passport after his disappearance had been placed under heavy guard by Moammar, who feared that he might be abducted after people began talking about his role.”
Asked whether he believed al-Sadr had been killed and buried, he said: “That is what reason tells me. It is impossible that he has remained hidden until now. Before the incident, of course, I had heard al-Gaddafi express annoyance that Iran was sending clerics who wielded influence among Arab Shiites. The truth is that I never imagined matters would go this far.”
Imam al-Sadr speaks at a press conference. (Imam Moussa al-Sadr Center for Research & Studies)
Shalgham: He came to Libya on Boumediene’s recommendation
I asked former Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Shalgham about al-Sadr’s case.
He said he had met al-Sadr once, when the imam came to Cairo to deliver a lecture while Shalgham was a student there. Shalgham said he was under house arrest when al-Sadr came to Libya.
“There were reports that he came to Libya on the recommendation of Algerian President Houari Boumediene,” Shalgham said. “It was said that he had asked the Algerian president for assistance and that Boumediene advised him to meet al-Gaddafi.”
“It was also said that a dispute arose between al-Gaddafi and al-Sadr over religious issues. That is possible: al-Gaddafi was a Sunni of the Maliki school, while al-Sadr was a Shiite. The claim later emerged that someone had impersonated al-Sadr and traveled to Italy,” he added.
Shalgham continued: “One day, when I was foreign minister, al-Gaddafi and I were walking in Bab al-Aziziya. He said to me, ‘Abdel Rahman, the Italians are your friends, including the foreign and interior ministers. I only want to know the truth about the Musa al-al-Sadr affair.’
“After al-Gaddafi’s regime fell, numerous scenarios circulated. Some spoke of a possible role in al-Sadr’s elimination by Sabri al-Banna, better known as Abu Nidal, the leader of what was called Fatah – the Revolutionary Council,” he said.
“Many wondered whether al-Sadr had received a sum of money and whether that money led to what happened to him. I asked around, but no one confirmed the story about the money. Abdel Moneim al-Houni says al-Sadr was killed in Libya.”
Former Libyan Foreign Minister Ali Abdussalam Treki. (AFP file photo)
Treki: A strange crime
I put the same question to former Libyan Foreign Minister Ali Abdussalam Treki.
“Let us speak honestly: I have no knowledge of the details,” he said.
“Imam al-Sadr did not come to Libya through the Foreign Ministry. The ministry’s only role was to convey an invitation to al-Sadr through the Libyan chargé d’affaires in Beirut. Coordination was subsequently handled by other parties,” Treki explained.
“I did not meet al-Sadr. What I heard was that he was a man of struggle who held Arab nationalist views,” he added.
Treki noted: “We at the Foreign Ministry did not know how or when he arrived. Later, after I left the post of foreign minister, the ministry contacted the Italians. The authorities said at the time that he had left Tripoli for Rome.
“It was later rumored that a heated argument had taken place between al-Gaddafi and al-Sadr, and led to what followed. The story is strange. This serious and regrettable incident brought no benefit to Libya or the Arab nationalist cause and caused extensive damage. It was a strange crime, and I do not know whose interests it served or in what context it occurred,” he stated.
The account of Mismari, the protocol chief and ‘the colonel’s shadow’
Nouri al-Mismari served as chief of protocol with the rank of minister of state and was regarded as “the colonel’s shadow,” accompanying al-Gaddafi at home and on his travels.
I asked him about al-Sadr and let him tell the story.
“Something happened whose significance I did not appreciate at the time,” he said.
“Abdullah Senussi called me. At the time, he was a junior officer in the Military Intelligence Department, whose office was on Shatt Street. The department was headed by Capt. Abdullah al-Hijazi. That was his rank at the time, of course, and he was among those al-Gaddafi called the ‘Free Officers.’”
“Senussi asked me: ‘Is it necessary for the Italian authorities to stamp the passport of someone seeking to enter their territory?’ I replied: ‘Of course. It has to be stamped. Those are the rules followed in every country.’ He ended the call,” said al-Mismari.
“Senussi contacted me later and said: ‘I will send you some passports, and you are required to secure Italian visas for their holders.’ I believe there were three passports, but we are talking about something that happened decades ago. A soldier sent by Senussi came to me and handed me the passports.”
“I had no reason to be suspicious, but I opened them and found that one belonged to Imam Musa al-al-Sadr, may God have mercy on him. I do not recall the other names,” continued al-Mismari.
“I called the Italian ambassador and said we wanted visas for guests who were staying with us. He welcomed the request. I sent the passports, but Senussi soon called again and asked, ‘Is it done?’ I told him the process needed some time and that I would send the passports to him as soon as they were returned to me. That is what happened.”
“I later heard about Imam al-Sadr’s disappearance, and the incident remained in my memory, particularly because it was Senussi who had sent the passports,” he added.
Al-Mismari said al-Sadr never left Libya and that the Italians were innocent and had been deceived. Three people entered Italy, including a tall officer who wore al-Sadr’s clothes. They deliberately left the passports of al-Sadr and his two companions at the hotel, along with the imam’s prayer rug, and later departed using Libyan diplomatic passports.
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