BEIRUT, Lebanon — The Syrian civil war, and the intense new ground battle in the divided city of Aleppo, is often seen as a contest between a chaotic array of rebel groups and the Russian-backed government of President Bashar al-Assad. But the reality is that Mr. Assad’s side is increasingly just as fragmented as its opponents, a panoply of forces …

Over the past several days, media headlines in Pakistan have been dominated by the Prime Minister’s UN speech focusing on Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir and the growing India-Pakistan tensions following the attack on the Indian military camp in Uri for which, in a knee-jerk reaction, India has predictably blamed Pakistan without any reliable evidence. But an equally important development …

HERE is a welcome change in attitudes to gender-based violence in Pakistan, but progress remains uneven and cautious for the most part. On Thursday, a joint sitting of both houses of parliament enacted two important, long-pending pieces of legislation, including the Anti-Honour Killing Laws (Criminal Amendment Bill) 2015 and Anti-Rape Laws (Criminal Amendment Bill) 2015. The first stipulates that an …

By Peter Koenig “Five million Syrian people have already been forced to leave their country. Now they are being scattered all over the Middle East: throughout Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, and Turkey. Some have even gone as far as Europe, Canada and Chile. How much more can one country endure? And how can the rest of the world just stand …

National Oct 06: The Supreme Court directed for the formation of a judicial commission to conduct an investigation into the Aug 8 Quetta bombing. Oct 06: The Anti-Honour Killing Laws (Criminal Amendment Bill) 2015 and the Anti-Rape Laws (Criminal Amendment Bill) 2015 were passed by the parliament. Anti-Honour Killing Laws The law directs judges to sentence someone accused of an …

For: his resolute efforts to bring the country’s more than 50-year-long civil war to an end, a war that has cost the lives of at least 220 000 Colombians and displaced close to six million people. The Nobel Peace Prize, worth 8 million Swedish crowns ($930,000), will be presented in Oslo on Dec. 10.

THE FIXHow Nations Survive and Thrive in a World in DeclineBy Jonathan Tepperman307 pp. Tim Duggan Books. $28. The timing of this book could not be better. Big Think has run into a ditch. No one appears to agree on fundamental ideas about governing anymore, and we’re not even sure what we’re arguing about. The grand ideological debates of the …

The cease-fire in Syria that the United States and Russia tortuously negotiated has, like the one before it, fallen apart. The trouble began when an errant American airstrike killed some 60 Syrian government soldiers. Then, Russia resumed its disingenuous grandstanding and the Syrian government, with Russia’s support, went back to indiscriminately bombing rebel-held areas of Aleppo. On Monday, less than …

He has built, at great expense, a narrow-gauge railway between two villages that figured in his childhood and where his family now owns homes. Soccer-obsessed, he also built a large sports stadium near his weekend house. He manipulates news coverage in many ways, including letting cronies snatch control of national media outlets that fell on bad times. When he created …

RIZWANA completed her Intermediate and then, having no other opportunities for jobs that her family would allow her to do, started teaching at a private school near her home. She enjoys teaching. Her family can do with the income she brings, and they felt that this was a good way of keeping her occupied until marriage.   Rizwana leaves for …