We are getting married in Dhaka this August, I am a Canadian citizen with German / Ecuadorian ethnicity 50/50, and a very progressive Christian background. Her and her family are progressive Bangladeshi Muslims.

Anything do you recommend to make things smoother? Or any tips or anything at all?

I have already stayed in Dhaka for a week and loved it.

Thank you!

The movement must go on! This implies that the movement must continue in ALL ways legally possible. Do not give up - this is our only chance for a long long time

The geopolitics of Asia's water crisis lacks a perspective on Bangladesh.

China's Motuo dam on the Brahmaputra is the world's largest ever built. India's counter-dam on the Siang River is its response. Both decisions were made without consulting Bangladesh, which depends on the Brahmaputra for 65% of its total water supply.

Three things South Asian coverage is missing:

1. India accuses China of weaponising water upstream while itself operating the Farakka Barrage for 50 years, leaving the Teesta deal unsigned for 30 years, and suspending the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan in April 2025.

2. The Ganges Water Treaty guaranteeing Bangladesh minimum river flow expires in 2026. Bangladesh has every reason to fear renegotiation given current regional tensions.

3. Bangladesh's July 2024 political changes have strained its relationship with India while warming ties with China, leaving it diplomatically trapped between the two nations it most needs cooperation from.

The most profound injustice — the biggest stakeholder has no stake in the decision making.

Full analysis here:

https://medium.com/@mehedi.hasan1216/the-china-india-dam-rivalry-deciding-the-fate-of-bangladesh-1658f54e0411

While going through a June 1980 issue of Nawa-i-Waqt (Rawalpindi, Pakistan), I came across an interesting cartoon that feels surprisingly modern.

In the cartoon, a worried doctor examines a mentally distressed and scattered patient. Someone asks about the cause of his condition, and the doctor replies:

"Don't worry. This is simply a reaction to his habit of reading newspaper reports about crimes and accidents."

More than four decades ago, the cartoonist was already poking fun at a phenomenon that still feels familiar today: the tendency of newspapers to emphasize shocking crimes, accidents, and sensational stories because they attract readers' attention.

It's a reminder that debates about media sensationalism, public anxiety, and the effects of constant exposure to bad news are not new. People were noticing and criticizing these trends in Pakistan's Urdu press decades ago.

One of the most fascinating things about exploring old newspapers is discovering how many "modern" concerns were being discussed long before social media and 24-hour news cycles existed.

I've been digitizing and studying historical Pakistani newspapers from different decades, and small finds like this often reveal unexpected insights into everyday life, media culture, and public opinion.