KABUL: Like many teenagers, 19-year-old Negin Khpalwak from Kunar in eastern Afghanistan loves music, but few people of her age have battled as fiercely to pursue their passion in the face of family hostility and threats. Negin Ekhpulwak, leader of the Zohra orchestra, an ensemble of 35 women, practices on a piano at Afghanistan’s National Institute of Music. ─ Reuters ...

The Kohinoor, or “mountain of light,” diamond, set in the Maltese Cross at the front of the crown made for Britain’s late Queen Mother Elizabeth. ─AP/File NEW DELHI: The priceless Koh-i-Noor, which is a part of Queen Elizabeth’s crown, was given to Britain and not stolen, India’s government on Monday told the Supreme Court, which is hearing a suit seeking ...

A Saudi billionaire dubbed as ‘Saudi playboy’ has taken London by storm with his incredible lifestyle including the fleet of golden cars. A UK-based tabloid has featured the luxurious lifestyle of the billionaire in a report which has been released after the super-rich Saudi has caused quite a stir in west London in recent days. According to the report by ...

JALALABAD: A child suicide bomber, trained in a Peshawar-based seminary, surrendered to police before blowing himself up in eastern Nangarhar province, officials said on last Wednesday. The 12 years old boy, Abu Zar, is a resident of the Wazirbagh area of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The boy said he was trained on suicide bombing for two years. ...

ISLAMABAD: Awami National Party’s delegation visited the Embassy of Belgium in Islamabad to offer condolences and express solidarity with the families of the victims of the Brussels attacks and the people of Belgium. The delegation was including seniors ANP members Senator Afrasiab Khattak, Central Vice President Bushra Gohar, and Senator Zahid Khan. They expressed their deepest solidarity with the victims, their families and ...

The authorities in Netherlands are planning to close five more prisons as the falling crime rate leaves the cells empty, it has been reported. The decision by the authorities to close the prisons has been taken in a bid to prevent the useless cost incurred by empty cells, the country’s justice minister Ard van der Steur told parliament. Van der Steur ...

Located in Saidpur, the restaurant seasons its dishes with just salt, which brings out the flavour unique to Namak Mandi | BY SANAM ZEB   Customers can see mutton tikkas grilling on an open spit and chicken tossed with fresh tomatoes in block woks over smouldering charcoal – Photo by Khurram Amin ISLAMABAD: By flavouring their grilled meat and most karhai ...

LAGOS: Octogenarian Yewande Oyediran sits back in a comfy armchair in her living room in the “Campos” quarter of Lagos, with its fading Brazilian heritage. She talks about her great-grandfather Joao Esan da Rocha, from Osun state in southwest Nigeria, who was captured by slave traders in the 1850s, taken to South America and later freed. ‘Frejon’ — a coconut ...

For the first time in the history of Pakistan, the country will get public holidays on Holi, Diwali and Easter after its parliament on Tuesday adopted a resolution to this effect. The resolution, which was moved by lawmaker Dr.Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, was adopted by the National Assembly to take steps to declare the festivals as holidays for minorities. According to ...

As we today mark UN Women’s Day, it is worth considering what the inequality between men and women costs South Asian countries and what can be done about it. One big cost of inequality is that South Asian economies do not reach their full potential. In Bangladesh, for example, women account for most unpaid work, and are overrepresented in the ...