Shahab Ahmad

Over a 100 people have died in a recent flurry of attacks by the Afghan Taliban across the country. A suicide bombing on Saturday outside a bank in the southern city of Kandahar, which killed six people and wounded at least 24, was the latest…

Certain commentators have recently made the argument that Iran might back off should the U.S. decide to intervene in Syria. Up until now, it has been widely acknowledged that Iran has been supporting the Assad regime by providing diplomatic and…

Officials in Pakistan have overturned the jail sentence and ordered a retrial of a doctor who helped the CIA in their search for Osama bin Laden. Dr. Shakeel Afridi was charged with treason and tried under the tribal justice system, and was…

They say music transcends borders and boundaries. Who would have predicted that South Korean pop star Psy's hit "Gangnam Style" would one day make Palestinians and Israeli soldiers dance in union? While on their routine patrol of the city of Hebron…

The bulk of evidence proving the Assad regime's deployment of chemical weapons, which would provide legal justification for any western military action, has been been provided by Israeli military intelligence, the German magazine Focus reported. In…

Follow @policymic When she first became known to the world, Asma al-Assad, first lady of Syria, stood out for her efforts to put a twenty-first-century gloss on Middle Eastern dictatorship, a profession widely seen as hidebound and heavily…

On March 11 2012, American soldier Robert Bales stepped outside his base late at night and killed 16 civilians in Afghanistan's southern city of Kandahar. Nine children were among the dead. On Friday, he was sentenced to life in prison with no…

As the U.S. prepares to respond to Assad’s alleged use of chemical weapons, an exclusive report published by Foreign Policy has brought to light the fact that the CIA knew about and did nothing to stop a series of nerve gas attacks by Saddam Hussein…

Matthew Schrier was working as a freelance photographer when he was captured by Al-Qaeda-linked rebels last December. He was beaten and given electric shocks by the rebels, who also emptied his bank accounts and pretended to be by writing emails to…

On Tuesday, August 20 at 12 noon European time, the first tickets went on sale for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The number of tickets demanded in just the first 24 hours shocked even those who had predicted massive sales. Over 2.3 million…

A “Hijab Outcry” campaign broke out in Sweden over the past few days as several women have posted online photos of themselves wearing hijabs (Muslim headscarves) after a pregnant Muslim woman was allegedly attacked near Stockholm on Saturday for…

Amusing posts regarding Russia such as this collection of pictures from Russia on 9gag have become a fairly common occurrence on the internet ... all in good spirit though. In another bizarre and rather amusing incident, a huge 550 ton military…

Expectations that Ban Ki Moon's Pakistan visit could possibly pacify the recent wave of Indo-Pak tensions across the Line of Control in Kashmir have proved to be false. Both sides have continuously accused each other of unprovoked firing across the…

U.S. nuclear power plants are not adequately protected to defend themselves against terrorist attacks, according to the Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Project (NPPP) at the University of Texas. The NPPP report also stated that plants do not have…

China's "trial of the century," that of expelled Communist party member Bo Xilai, takes place tomorrow in China’s Shandong province. Xilai faces charges of corruption, accepting bribes, and abuse of power. The result of the trial is almost certainly…

Pakistan's former military leader Pervez Musharraf was formally charged by a court on Tuesday with murdering Benazir Bhutto, the ex-prime minister who was assassinated at a political campaign rally in 2007. While Musharraf is no longer favored by…

The interim Egyptian government has hinted that substantial changes may be made to the constitution, including clauses banning all religious parties. Significant articles of former President Mohammed Morsi's Islam-friendly constitution have…

Afghanistan will host its first soccer match in 10 years. Neighboring Pakistan will be the visiting team and the match will be played in Kabul on Tuesday. “The fact that we are hosting our first international game in 10 years, and the first against…

North Korea and South Korea agreed Wednesday to reopen the Kaesong Industrial Complex, a joint manufacturing zone that the North shuttered amid high tensions in April. Both countries, especially North Korea, have greatly benefited from the…

The Ecuadorian government has announced its intention to start drilling for oil in the Yasuni area of the Amazon basin. The decision comes as a major setback to environmentalists trying to protect one of the world's most biodiverse regions from…