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[Books] An Afghan Odyssey from Within

[Books] An Afghan Odyssey from Within

A Fort of Nine Towers: An Afghan Family Story By Qais Akbar Omar | Farrar, Straus and Giroux | 2013 Unlike many books on Afghanistan written by foreigners and Afghan expatriates, A Fort of Nine Towers is a memoir of native Afghan Qais Akbar Omar. Omar presents a rare first hand account of one of […]

A forgotten story of rebellion in British Raj

A forgotten story of rebellion in British Raj

“Once upon a time” the British ruled in the Indian sub-continent. I find this phrase “once upon a time” rather interesting in our context. It creates a distance between the events of the story and the reader: distance in time, connection or direct relevancy. Today, the history of the sub-continent is talked about like some […]

[Asia Round-up] Taiwan’s challenges over its sovereignty

[Asia Round-up] Taiwan’s challenges over its sovereignty

By the NUMBERS Taiwan’s challenges over its sovereignty The debate over Taiwan’s sovereignty, status as a nation-state or part of China is being rekindled with its recent loss of diplomatic ties with Gambia. Many speculate about Taiwan’s position and role in the international community. In light of this, Taiwan’s “soft power” becomes even more important […]

[Asia Round-up] Samuragochi’s shameful deception

[Asia Round-up] Samuragochi’s shameful deception

Editor’s note: Followings are summaries of editorials from major Asian media on current issues. Samuragochi’s shameful deception The deception by the supposedly deaf composer Mamoru Samuragochi is twofold. Takashi Niigaki, a lecturer at Toho Gakuen School of Music, disclosed he had ghostwritten 20 music scores credited to Samuragochi for the past 18 years and cast […]

[Asia Round-up] Polls not likely to solve Thai crisis

[Asia Round-up] Polls not likely to solve Thai crisis

Cajoling wild jumbos The Island, Sri Lanka The last few months have seen several protests against the government’s failure to prevent wild elephant attacks on far-flung villages. Affected people demand electric fences. But they won’t help so long as villages sit on elephant migration paths and forests continue to shrink, depriving animals of food and […]

[Books] Mental map of local India and China

Inside Out, India and China: Local Politics Go Global By William Antholis | Brookings Institution Press | 2013 The world has its eyes on the two emerging Asian giants, India and China, which not only contain one-third of the world’s population, but also have been steadily growing at amazing rates during the past decade, even […]

“See you in Pyeong Chang!” Russia closes costly Sochi Olympics

“See you in Pyeong Chang!”    Russia closes costly Sochi Olympics

  The Mayor of PyeongChang Lee Seok-rae (2nd R) waves the Olympic flag at the closing ceremony for the 22nd Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. (Xinhua Flushed with pride after its athletes’ spectacular showing at the costliest Olympics ever, Russia celebrated Sunday night with a visually stunning finale that handed off a smooth but […]

Excavation likely to locate Kapilavastu, the ancient Shakya kingdom in Nepal

The ongoing excavation in Tilaurakot, the capital of ancient Shakya kingdom, is likely to prove with scientific evidences that the palace of king Suddhodhana was in Kapilvastu of Nepal. Lord Buddha was born to Shakya king Suddhodhana of Kapilvastu some 2600 years ago. At a time when a section of Indian scholars have been claiming […]

[Books] Israel, living on the edge

[Books] Israel, living on the edge

  [BOOKS] My Promised Land The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel By Ari Shavit | Spiegel & Grau | 2013 Winner of the Natan Book Award, My Promised Land, by esteemed Israeli journalist Ari Shavit presents an honest, balanced and comprehensive view of Israel. Shavit uses the past to shed new light on the present […]

Egyptian workshop on Korean poems

Egyptian workshop on Korean poems

The very first question addressed to me was: “Why did you choose to translate the book of the Korean monk and poet Cho Oh-hyun?” I was sitting surrounded by an elite audience of Egyptian writers, poets, novelists, critics and journalists. It seemed like a testing start, but I was keen to answer it. “I do […]

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