Turkish elections results reinforce Erdogan’s reign
Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, secured a surprise win at the polls Sunday. The conservative party of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won nearly half the votes to regain its parliamentary majority. With nearly all the votes counted, the AKP, led by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, won 49.41% of the votes (316 seats), […]
Russian plane crash in Sinai kills 224 passengers
Russian and Egyptian investigators are investigating the crash of a Russian airliner in Sinai that killed all 224 people on board. The plane crashed 23 minutes into its flight from Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg on Saturday 31st of October. The Kogalymavia Airbus A321 came down early on Saturday, shortly after leaving the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh […]
f(x) come back as “4 walls”
As their first release after becoming a quartet, the girls of f(x) release their latest album “4 walls.” It was announced in August 2015 that Sulli would be leaving f(x) group to focus on her acting career, while the remaining four girls resuming their musical career as a quartet. “4 walls” is their fourth album, […]
“I.Seoul.U” debuts as Seoul’s new slogan
Replacing the previous Seoul city’s Slogan “Hi Seoul” which has been used for 13 years, Seoul Metropolitan Government selected a new slogan, seeking to revamp its brand image and entice more tourists. Beating two other candidates, “Seoulmate” and “SEOULing”, the new slogan they chose was “I.Seoul.U”. Some 58% of voters supported “I. SEOUL. U” in a poll that […]
Saudi Raif Badawi wins EU Sakharov rights prize
Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, who was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison for insulting Islam, was awarded the European Parliament’s prestigious Sakharov human rights prize on Thursday 29th October. The 31-year-old blogger, who was arrested in 2012, is an advocate of free speech whose public flogging in January triggered international outrage when […]
Seoul awards 17 foreigners with honorary citizenship
On Wednesday 28th October, Seoul awarded 17 foreigners with honorary citizenship as an appreciation for their efforts. Among them was the billionaire Nicolas Berggruen, famously known as “the homeless billionaire”. The government said that Berggruen, the investor who’s known to live in hotels with no home to go to, was awarded the honorary citizenship for his work as […]
South Korean prefer Jeju and Gangwon for internal flights
A new study shows that South Korean women prefer travelling to Jeju island, while men prefer Gangwon province for internal flights. The “Cheil” report shows that 25% of South Korean women have searched for info on travelling to Jeju island, in the farthest Southern part of the country. On the other hand, 25.6% of South […]
Right activists dismiss Qatar labor reforms
Rights groups on Wednesday criticized reforms of Qatar’s “kafala” labor system for foreign workers, which critics have likened to modern-day slavery, as an AFP report shows. Qatar’s prince, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, approved on Tuesday a new law overseeing the sponsorship “kafala” system – which currently only allows workers to leave the country with the […]
Animate Dubai festival offers more opportunities to the region
Animate Dubai launches this December and the team are proudly announcing the festival schedule and new initiatives which are set to engage with their global following. A wonderful addition to the program of events is the ‘Works in Progress’ (WiP) component of the festival, a section that is now open for submissions. Animate Dubai’s program will […]
Unspeakable taboo: alcohol in Middle East
Alcohol or liquors are one of the unspeakable taboos around the Middle Eastern countries, with their Muslim majority. Quran prohibits Muslims from drinking alcohol or being intoxicated in any way, but has it always been that way? And does that ever stop them? And who says what’s considered intoxicated and what’s not? Regular drinker in […]
Egypt, Managing Editor of the AsiaN's Middle East Bureau, Graduate Student of Mass Communication and Journalism at Ahram Canadian University 
Trump, Kim, and the Three P’s of Summit Diplomacy: 
