• The Other Five Ban Ki-moon’s Remarks: Hidden or Missing?

    I am very optimistic about the future, and reading the UN Secretary-General Five-year Action Agenda presented to General Assembly, confirms and supports my optimism. But I am not going to comment on what were mentioned in Mr. Ban Ki-moon’s precious Remarks “The Future We Want”, as all positive facts and…

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  • Column

    Catalonian Airline Shutdown

    People read the notice that Spain’s Spanair airlines left in the closed costumer service at the Terminal 2 of Barajas Airport in Spain, Madrid, on Jan. 28, 2012. The collapse of Spanish airline Spanair on Friday night has resulted in the cancellation of 220 flights this weekend and has affected…

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  • The Legacy

    By and large, the so-called television ‘news’ channels in India have their own mind…when choosing to focus on a story… no matter what is happening around the world or the country. Surprisingly, the other day, while surfing news channels, I came across a gentleman from Odisha, interacting with the anchor…

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  • Energy Security in the South China Sea & China’s Growing Ownership

    Energy Security in the South China Sea and China’s Growing Ownership Disputes over the Oil/Gas-Rich Islands The countries sharing coastlines with the South China Sea (SCS) have been engaged in disputes over the ownership of many small islands, particularly the Spratly and Paracel Islands for decades. The availability of oil…

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  • ColumnMediabias On North Korea

    Mediabias On North Korea

    North Korea does not get much good press in the global media. Its image is that of a bizarre, irrational and dangerously unpredictable place which is run by control freaks who ensure that every North Korean is a master of goose stepping and grenade throwing. If these stories are to…

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  • [Ashraf’s Tales of Arabia] Borders and Smugglers

    Abu Hassan, the man of books, in the north Syrian city of is Al-Qusair, is fond of two things; cave and spring. His most endearing document is Al-Qusair’s cave which survived damage or destruction by quarry dynamite, thanks to the efforts of his city people. Abu Hassan sat on the…

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  • [Ashraf’s Tales of Arabia] Peace is better than war

    Early next morning, some 33 centuries ago, in the city of Kadesh, to the north of Damascus, near the Syro-Lebanese border. The young Egyptian king Ramses II launched a massive assault, but was outnumbered by the Hittites, and the assault was lacking in terms of chariots, and soldiers suffered from…

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  • Column

    “Its the Symbol of Economic Growth”

    Sri Lankan Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa (1st R) participates in a ceremony marking the start of construction of the 350 meter high Lotus Tower, in Colombo on Jan. 20, 2012. Sri Lanka began to work on the future tallest tower in South Asia here on Friday as another symbol…

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  • Column

    [Ashraf’s Tales of Arabia] Syria, ‘3000 Years Ago’

    You immediately fall in love with River Asi (Orontes) the moment you walk along either of its banks. After a brief introduction, you even think it is extending its hands to embrace you as it winds here and there, giving way to you for the plains it cultivated with love…

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  • Column

    Park v Chun, Where They Stayed

    On 25th anniversary of the death of student Park Jong-chul A cell in a police detention centre where a student died from torture. And a cell in a Buddhist temple where a general did his penance. In stark symbolic contrast, these sites have been associated with key episodes in the…

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