Middle East

Asia shares slip on Middle East woes, higher yields

Asian shares hit one-year lows Monday as the risk of a wider conflict in the Middle East clouded sentiment in a week laden with data on U.S. growth and inflation as well as earnings from some of the world's largest tech companies.
23 October 2023, 05:18 AM

Covid-19 cases on the rise in Southeast Asia, Middle East and Europe

The number of new coronavirus cases rose in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe last week, while the number of deaths globally dropped by 16%, according to the World Health Organization’s latest weekly pandemic report issued Wednesday.
22 June 2022, 18:47 PM

Books that changed the world: Gilgamesh through the sands of time

The epic antedates even the depiction of the famous Trojan war; it is, in effect, the oldest epic found till date.
13 October 2021, 18:00 PM

Iran targets Israeli positions across Syrian frontier, Israel pounds Syria

Iranian forces in Syria shells Israeli army outposts across the Syrian frontier overnight, Israel says, prompting one of the heaviest Israeli strikes in Syria since its civil war began in 2011.
10 May 2018, 05:15 AM

Revive Middle East peace process

President Abdul Hamid yesterday urged all concerned to revive the Middle East peace process and adopt a constructive approach to it under a two-state solution.
13 December 2017, 18:00 PM

Transition in the Middle East: Transition to what?

Transition is the name of the game in the Middle East and North Africa. The question is, transition to what?
20 November 2017, 18:00 PM

Madness in the Middle East - Is Lebanon in the firing line?

Just as news started to come out that the Syrian Arab Army was on the verge of liberating the city of Abu Kamal, destroying the last Islamic State stronghold in Syria, rekindling hope that the region may yet see some semblance of stability...
14 November 2017, 18:00 PM

The Middle East: It will only get worse

As Saudi Arabia reels from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's crackdown on the kingdom's elite, indications are that the Saudi-Iranian proxy war is heating up.
9 November 2017, 18:00 PM

Is South Asia the new Middle East?

The Middle East is often viewed as a region waylaid by feelings of collective humiliation and violent rivalries, both between and within countries.
29 September 2017, 18:00 PM

Date palm shows hope

Cultivated in the Bengal region since time immemorial, the native sugar date palm, locally called 'khejurer gachh', is well-appreciated,
21 July 2017, 18:00 PM

Widening gulf between Gulf countries

Tension is again rising in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia and its allies (mainly other Gulf countries) abruptly cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism in the region.
11 June 2017, 18:00 PM

The fight for Jihadi leadership

The fight between al-Qa'ida and the Islamic State (IS) has been going on since 2006 when the latter split from al-Qa'ida and declared
15 August 2016, 18:00 PM

Iran general warns Bahrain after Shia cleric stripped of citizenship

The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards has suggested there could be armed resistance in Bahrain after the Sunni Muslim-ruled kingdom's top Shia cleric was stripped of his citizenship.
21 June 2016, 03:21 AM

Dead Sea drying: A new low-point for Earth

The Dead Sea, the salty lake located at the lowest point on Earth, is gradually shrinking under the heat of the Middle Eastern sun. For those who live on its shores it's a slow-motion crisis - but finding extra water to sustain the sea will be a huge challenge.
17 June 2016, 03:16 AM

The Middle East Iftar bonanza

Six days into Ramadan and the iftar bazaars are catching heat! Spoons flying, knives slicing and the heat rising. It is time to take our culinary skills a notch up. Try your hands at some Middle Eastern dishes for a change from the fried and crunchy delicacies.
12 June 2016, 09:09 AM

80% of world’s city dwellers breathing bad air: UN

Over 80 percent of the world’s city dwellers breathe poor quality air, with Dhaka being the third most polluted, increasing their risk of lung cancer and other life-threatening diseases, a new World Health Organization (WHO) report warns.
12 May 2016, 07:17 AM

Who really does Saudi Arabia's housework?

Disagreements about who should do housework blew up on Twitter in Saudi Arabia this week, and offered some insight into popular attitudes in the country.
25 April 2016, 06:22 AM

OIC Summit calls for unity

The Muslim world needs to develop a common denominator of issues over which no Muslim country will differ. Had the Muslim nations been united, the Palestinian issue would have been resolved long ago.
24 April 2016, 18:00 PM

Italy rescues 910 boat migrants in the Strait of Sicily

Nearly 600 migrants mostly from sub-Saharan African countries and Bangladesh are rescued by Libyan coast guards.
20 March 2016, 04:42 AM

Syria conflict: Attacks reported as truce comes into effect

The first major truce in Syria's five-year civil war comes into effect, but Syrian TV says shells hit residential areas of the capital, Damascus.
27 February 2016, 04:17 AM