by Afrah Shawqi | Sep 10, 2014 | Lifestyle & Culture
Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—First Lt. Rasha Al-Tayar, the only policewoman in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, doesn’t hide her delight at people being shocked seeing her on her way to work every day. “At first, people were astonished when they saw me in my military...
by Afrah Shawqi | Aug 15, 2014 | Lifestyle & Culture
Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—Iraqi actors are expressing their solidarity with the country’s persecuted minority groups in a new play, titled N—or “Nun,” the initial letter of the Arabic word for Christians, Nasara, which the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) painted...
by Afrah Shawqi | Aug 8, 2014 | Lifestyle & Culture
Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—More than forty years have passed since he first stood in the street directing the traffic, and locals’ affection for him continues to grow despite the fact he has the authority to enforce the law against them. That’s because Baghdad’s most...
by Afrah Shawqi | Jul 13, 2014 | Lifestyle & Culture
Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—A coffeehouse that was damaged in a 2007 car bombing in Baghdad’s famed Al-Mutanabbi Street is still buzzing with intellectuals nearly a hundred years since it first opened its doors. Shabandar coffeehouse is located in the heart of...
by Afrah Shawqi | Jul 3, 2014 | Lifestyle & Culture
Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—It seems the only thing that Iraqi insurgents—whether they are affiliated with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or otherwise—share in common is their preoccupation with a dark side of history and their refusal to acknowledge the...
