If it wasn't for the grey skies and the chilly drizzle, I would have thought I'm somewhere in the Middle East.

When an author of Oscar Wilde's stature could say, "A cheque is the only argument I recognise," he merely switched from his loyalty to philosophy over to the practicality of being money-wise. What would other mortals then do except follow in his footsteps!

The U.S.-led coalition military strategy in Afghanistan and the adjacent border areas of Pakistan has drawn huge criticisms for its over-reliance on the use of coercive force and utter negligence of peace, reconciliation, and reconstruction efforts.

What is the role of world leaders in the crisis? Instead of taking any effective initiative to stop the war, they are providing support to both the Syrian government and the opposition groups, militarily, logistically and diplomatically.

Aylan Kurdi, another sweet and innocent child, laid in eternal slumber on a Turkish beach, claimed by the horrendous cruelty, imbecilic greed, and unfathomable excesses of a world gone astray, a world nurtured by those who control it for profit and frolic.

Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.

The journey of a nation must be a holistic one. We must all collectively remember that promises need to be balanced with pragmatic route maps; plans need to be properly conveyed; regrets need to be coupled with hope.

As a lawyer, he earned a lot, but at the end, he died a pauper. He was never found lacking in helping workers of his party and friends. He was a man of character and great intellect.

Syrian refugees are crossing the Aegean in a bid to get to Europe and safety. They are pouring in through Greece, Serbia and Hungary, and countries that make up the European Union (EU) cannot agree on what to do with this sea of humanity.

What is encouraging to note is that this time the government has come forward to break the culture of secrecy. That's why the RTI law has a provision of pro-active disclosure.

The key lies in what a child is exposed to and for how long. It is important for grown-ups to acknowledge that they are responsible for what their children watch or see.

Pakistan has to undertake some serious confidence building measures with Kabul. President Ashraf Ghani, who is keen to stop the bloodletting, is still not sure whether Pakistan really wants the insurgency to cease or if it has other motives.

The annual 'Liveability Index', published by the Economist Intelligence Unit, listed Dhaka as the second least liveable city in the world.

Fear of angering the Buddhist nationalists – especially the Committee for the Protection of Nationality and Religion, which is better known by its Myanmar-language acronym Ma Ba Tha, which includes the outspoken monk Ashin Wirathu – convinced the party's leaders to exclude Muslims from their constituency list.

When I received my marching orders for Egypt, I knew it was meant to be a punishment posting. Based on unsubstantiated allegations of supporting her opponent, the then Prime Minister had decided my fate; I was to go to oblivion.

Many laypersons may not be aware that what is typically touted as a 'FTA' has often much less to do with free trade and more to do with preferential trade.

When India denied us our much-needed legitimate river water, they succumbed to the West Bengal logic that water was in short supply across the border, but stopping migration of excess cows defies all rationality.

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was adopted in December 1979 as a bill of rights for women. Till date, it has been ratified by 188 countries of the world.

Muslim Bangladeshis living in the UK recently became a focus of interest to all Bangladeshis living home and abroad when the news of some young Muslims of Bangladeshi origin joining the so-called Islamic State in Syria/Iraq struck the front page.

After the exhaustive de-Baathification process, disbandment of 300,000 Saddam's Sunni army, and imprisonment of many Sunni leaders, the occupying power, mainly the United States of America, flared up hatred and revenge among the Sunni group that governed Iraq since the Ottoman Empire.