• Column

    Singapore icon who wanted to be feared, yet was loved

    Within and without the island-state, his name has been synonymous with Singapore. His demise touched hearts and triggered a seldom-witnessed catharsis as Singaporeans felt the profound loss of their national icon. The spontaneous overflow of emotions for the late elder statesman, whose paternalistic dominance spanning over 30 years was beginning…

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  • South Asia

    India heat wave kills 800, melts roads

        At least 800 people have died because of the recent heat wave that has swept across India, as the temperature rise to near 50 degrees. Hospitals were on high alert to treat the victims of heatstroke. While the authorities have advised people to stay indoors, the roads are…

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  • Central Asia

    Georgia celebrates Independence Day, talks Korean partnership

    Independence Day of Georgia On May 26, Georgia celebrates its Independence Day, commemorating the Act of Independence of 1918, which outlined the main principles of the nation’s democracy and established its first Democratic Republic. After being a part of the former Soviet Union, the country regained its sovereignty on April…

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  • South Asia

    Ghosts haunt public sector education system in Pakistan

    Pakistan is more familiar to the word ‘ghost’ than the other countries of the world. It’s not because we really have ghosts here, but since the word is more often used to identify non-existent or non-functional schools, and also the teachers absent from the duties, drawing salaries sitting at home,…

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  • South Asia

    Pakistan produces first ever animated feature ‘3 Bahadur’

    Pakistani film industry has been steadily growing in the past few years. With numerous films gaining attention and (some) appreciation from local moviegoers, those films had one thing going against them: English language. While the films switched between English and Urdu (Pakistan’s national language), it made it difficult for the…

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  • Column

    Art or fine art: A look into usages

    What is fine art? Some people say fine art is a way to express their perspectives through the form of colors and shapes. Then, what about art? Explaining art is indeed a complicated matter. The explanation of art can go far back to art theories from ancient Greece, the Middle…

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  • South Asia

    The resurrection, depiction and an encounter with Sultan Akbar Part 1

    On the journey from Delhi to Agra, I stopped at several locations during which I read pages from the book written by Nizamuddin Ahmad Bakhshi, which gives an account of great conquests and outstanding events of the holy royal presence revealing the icon of the caliphate; the happy Sultan, the…

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  • Politics

    MENA Experts’ Open Letter to Obama about Tunisia  

        On the eve of President Obama’s meeting with Beji Caid Essebsi, President of Tunisia, at the White House, Sixty Tunisia and MENA region experts sent the following OPEN LETTER to President Obama urging him and his administration to provide much support to Tunisia; the one country undertaking a…

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  • East Asia

    Saudi Arabia advertises jobs for executioners

        The number of executions in Saudi Arabia has increased lately. With that, the demand for executioners has increased which has led the government to post advertisements to hire eight more executioners. While the advertisement placed on Saudi civil services portal does not list any special qualification needed for…

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  • South Asia

    Thousands drifting at sea: migrant problem needs int’l solution

    DHAKA: About 8,000 migrants have been drifting in boats at the Andaman Sea and the Straits of Malacca for the last two months. These migrants are mostly Rohingyas of Myanmar and fortune-seeker poor people of south-eastern region of Bangladesh. All these people are victims of organized human traffickers who lured…

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