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West Asia
Abu Dhabi’s Festival of Lights approaches
With only a few days to go, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi is getting ready to light up its iconic red roof for its popular “Festival of Lights”. A colorful line-up of Bollywood-inspired dance acts, Dhol drummers and family friendly activities that include henna and Rangoli art work is awaiting guests.…
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West Asia
Protests ahead of Sisi’s visit to the UK
As Egypt’s president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi arrives in London for planned discussions with Prime minister David Cameron on 4th November, a broad coalition of Egyptian and British groups calls for demonstrations against him on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Hundreds of people are expected to join protests outside Downing Street against the visit…
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West Asia
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…
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South Asia
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…
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West Asia
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…
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South Asia
Nepal elects first female president
Nepal’s parliament, on Wednesday, elected communist lawmaker Bidhya Bhandari as the country’s first female president after the adoption of a landmark constitution last month. The former defense minister and the vice-chair of the ruling Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) defeated her opponent Kul Bahadur Gurung by 327 to…
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West Asia
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…
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South Asia
A way for change in blasphemy law of Pakistan
The Supreme Court in Pakistan on Tuesday urged the state to ensure that no one is forced to endure an investigation or trial on the basis of false blasphemy allegations. The court also rejected the appeal against death sentence of Mumtaz Qadri, who has received death sentence for killing the…
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South Asia
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…
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West Asia
Iran could join Syria talks with US and Russia
Iran is likely to be invited for the first time to international talks with the US and Russia over the Syrian conflict after a longstanding opposition, the US says. US state department spokesman John Kirby said it was unclear if Iran’s leaders would attend the talks, starting in Vienna on…
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