Regional Voices

Regional Voices: Fear and exhaustion ripple through Gulf communities. The scent of dates and cardamom hung heavy in the air as old Manar prepared his stall at the Souq al-Mubarakiya in Kuwait City. Usually bustling with shoppers, the market was muted, the laughter less frequent. He meticulously arranged the glistening dates, but his eyes kept […]

Regional Voices: Uncertainty ripples with every political shockwave. The chipped ceramic of the çay glass warmed Ali’s hands as he watched the ferry boats drift across the Bosphorus. He runs a small import-export business in Istanbul, specialising in textiles. Normally, a summer afternoon like this would be for family, for planning a weekend getaway. But […]

Regional Voices: A Baker’s Worry, a Mother’s Resilience Old Man Khalil runs a small bakery just a few streets from the Four Seasons in Damascus. The scent of warm bread, normally a comfort, felt thin today, choked by the dust settling after the explosions. He wasn’t sure where they hit, only that the ground shook, […]

Regional Voices: A nation wrestles with the cost of global supply chains. The humidity hangs thick in Kuala Lumpur, even at 9 am. Outside Parliament, Fatimah, a retired schoolteacher, carefully adjusts the placard in her hands. It reads: “Rare Earths for Peace, Not for War.” She’s been coming to protests like this for months, ever […]

Regional Voices: Fishermen yearn for calm seas and a return to normalcy. The smell of salt and diesel hangs heavy in the air at Doha’s old fish market. Old Man Hassan, his face etched with decades under the Qatari sun, is carefully sorting his meagre catch. It’s barely a quarter of what he’d haul in […]

Regional Voices: Shared vulnerability, distant shores, and a longing for dignity. Old Man Hamza sits outside his carpentry shop in Rafah, Gaza, meticulously sanding a small wooden boat. It’s not for a fisherman, though fishing is a fading memory here. “A souvenir,” he says, his voice roughened by years of dust and worry. “For the […]

Regional Voices: Searching for safety, carrying untold stories. Old Man Khalil sits mending nets on the dusty quayside of Sousse, Tunisia, the Mediterranean sun beating down. He’s seen it all. Generations of fishermen come and go, but lately, he says, it’s the boats, not the fish, that fill his thoughts. “They’re desperate, you see,” he […]

Regional Voices: Grief, Vengeance, and a Fragile Hope for Peace The air in Tehran hangs heavy, not just with the summer heat, but with a collective grief. Hossein Moghadassi, a groundskeeper at the Grand Mosalla, wipes sweat from his brow as he tends to the flowers, his voice hushed. “We are preparing for the farewell […]

thought The Quiet Work of a Final Farewell Regional Voices: A gardener’s perspective amidst national mourning The Story Under a scorching Tehran sun, Hossein Moghadassi works in the gardens of the Grand Mosalla. Clad in a hat and a scarf to shield his face from the heat, Hossein isn’t thinking about geopolitical strategy or military […]

Regional Voices: Grief, uncertainty, and a quiet longing for peace. Old Man Hassan sits on a stool outside his spice shop in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, meticulously arranging saffron threads. His hands, worn smooth by decades of work, move with a practiced rhythm, but his eyes hold a distant sadness. He remembers a time before the […]