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World
The Two Middle Easts!
The term “Middle East” used to combine two different regions both inhabited by Arabs: Egypt and North Africa countries along with Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq and Yemen, on the one hand, and the rest of the Arabian Peninsula states: Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and UAE on the other. Differentiating…
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East Asia
Asian Startups and the Platform Business Model
2017 has seen some amazing new Asian startups rising in the technology and business sector that have taken full use of digital advancements without losing the human touch in the process. Such companies have in common a unique networking platform for linking information and people, suggesting that the modern business…
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East Asia
Mom’s zucchini and bean paste soup
Original Publication Date: 2008 Publishing house: Changbi Published in English: 2011, Alfred A. Knopf “It’s been one week since Mom went missing,” and two daughters, two sons, and a bereaved father are left to pick up the pieces to an unexpected mystery of the woman they had all needed…
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East Asia
Understanding the Plight of the Rohingya
“We have to take care of our citizens, we have to take care of everybody who is in our country, whether or not they are our citizens”: the words of Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on September 7, 2017, in the wake of more than 18,000 Rohingya fleeing…
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East Asia
“Salt of the Jungle” Exhibition to commemorate Korea-Vietnam diplomatic relations
Salt of the Jungle Exhibition, (open August-October) created to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Korea-Vietnam diplomatic relations, is hosted by the Korea Foundation Gallery in Seoul, focusing on the perspectives of young Korean and Vietnamese artists who shared similar historical moments and experiences. Both countries faced rapid changes in…
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South Asia
Dabbawalas’ Mission: Delivery Food On Time, Every Time
Dabbawala delivery system Around 5,000 workers distribute more than 200,000 tiffins (Indian English word for the light meal during midday) every workday in Mumbai. Founded in 1890, the Dabbawala service begins with picking up lunches from families’ homes and then delivering them to people’s offices. The service is very cheap…
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Culture
Marguerite Duras’ Universe of Love
Title: The Lover Author: Marguerite Duras Publication information: Les Éditions de Minuit, 1984 (first edition) It won the Goncourt Prize in 1984 as the semi-autobiographical novel-turned-movie directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud in 1992. Set around the backdrop of French colonial Vietnam, The Lover reveals the intimacies of a clandestine romance…
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East Asia
Ximen Nao’s six reincarnations under the Chinese Communist Party
Life and death are wearing me out Mo Yan, Arcade Publishing (Eng. trans.), 2008, In 1948, Ximen Nao, a rich landowner, was executed by the sharecroppers who were working for him. He felt he had been unjustly murdered since he thought he had been an excellent landlord. After…
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East Asia
CPC demonstrates strong resolution to root out corruption ahead of 19th National Congress
China has bolstered efforts in its nationwide anti-corruption drive over the past five years and major achievements have been made. Before the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the Party is again demonstrating its strong resolution to root out corruption. On Saturday, the four-day Seventh Plenary…
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East Asia
E-commerce changes life in rural China
E-commerce is helping revitalize China’s rural areas and improve people’s lives. It has also emerged as a new growth driver for consumer spending in the country. One example of this is in Guangshan County, in mountainous part of central China’s Henan province, and a famously impoverished site. In 2014, it…
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