Kioo17 Journal

Jeddah, SAUDI ARABIA: On the corner couch of a spacious room, a woman wearing a brightly patterned robe sits expectantly. The red hijab that covers her hair is reflected in a glass-fronted cabinet; inside, a framed photograph of her firstborn son takes pride of place between family heirlooms and valuables. A smiling, bearded figure wearing a military jacket, he features in photographs around the room: propped against the wall at her feet, resting on a mantlepiece. A supper of Saudi meze and a lemon cheesecake has been spread out on a large wooden dining table. Alia Ghanem is Osama bin Laden’s mother, and she commands the attention of everyone in the room. On chairs nearby sit two of her surviving sons, Ahmad and Hassan, and her second husband, Mohammed al-Attas, the man who raised all three brothers. Everyone in the family has their own story to tell about the man linked to the rise of global terrorism; but it is Ghanem who holds court today, describing a man who is, to he...

Harare, ZIMBABWE: Emmerson Mnangagwa, who seized power from President Robert Mugabe in a coup last year after serving as his enforcer for decades, was declared the winner early Friday of Zimbabwe’s disputed presidential election, continuing nearly four decades of rule by the nation’s dominant party. Officials began announcing the results late Thursday night after a largely peaceful campaign that was marred by an outbreak of violence this week that claimed six lives in Harare, the capital. President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe after casting his ballot in Kwekwe on Monday. Image: Getty. The main opposition coalition, which had accused election officials of trying to rob it of victory in Monday’s voting, did not immediately respond to the announcement by election officials. The opposition’s response will influence greatly how the vote is assessed by Western election observers and governments, whose endorsement is necessary for the resumption of desperately needed e...