Apr. 14 marks the first day of the Bengali calendar, a sidereal calendar secondarily used by people in West Bengal, India and in Bangladesh since its inception in the Mughal Empire (1520s). Called “Pohela Boishakh,” the entire region resounds immense festivities— flashing colors, processions, traditional music, dance and food. Ethnic […]

The French government reproved the American Government upon the publication of a recent report on The National Security Agency (N.S.A.) that showed evidence of extensive encroachment of the private data of French citizens. The report showed that the N.S.A. intercepted more than 70 million phone calls in France over a […]

Last week, President Barack Obama addressed the U.N. General Assembly, emphasizing U.S. policy in the Middle East. In a 50 minute speech he spoke at length on the enrichment of diplomatic relations with Iran under its new president, Hassan Rouhani. He also declared that the remainder of his term would […]

Dr. Mohammed Yunus’s  Nobel Prize-winning non-traditional microcredit bank  of Bangladesh is being brought under the direct control of  Bangladesh’s Central bank.  Currently the Grameen bank powers poor, rural borrowers— nearly 97 percent of whom are women— but the government of Bangladesh is threatening to take control of the bank. This […]

On Sept. 24, a massive earthquake shook Pakistan’s Balochistan area and claimed over 350 lives. Hundreds of people have already died due to previous tremors in the area. While Saturday’s earthquake was recorded as a separate event, there have been 16 aftershocks in the region of Awaran since the first […]

I can’t remember a time since the end of the Harry Potter books that I had such a withdrawal into an escapist universe. Although I left high school years ago, the 90’s TV gem Freaks and Geeks dropped me right back into that hot pot. With an IMDB rating of […]