Sirjan / AFP The recent discovery of the tomb of Suleiman the Magnificent, considered the greatest Ottoman ruler, has raised hopes of a tourism boom in one of Hungary’s most impoverished areas. From hammam baths and crumbling minarets to battle site memorials and ruins of mosques, traces of the country’s 150-year-long stretch (1541-1699) in the Ottoman Empire are not …

  Kabul / AFP Its scarred lion Marjan was for years a symbol of Afghan survival. Now, more than a decade after his death, Afghanistan remains battered by war but Kabul zoo is buzzing again — a haven for women, children and young lovers in a capital city that has little public space for anyone but men. The carnival of …

  SHARJAH / WAM The Sharjah Islamic Bank PJSC (SIB) successfully issued a US$500 million sukuk (Islamic finance bond) in international capital markets, eliciting an outstanding response from investors and garnering orders to the tune of US$1.6 billion, thus resulting in being 3.2 times over-subscribed. With a maturity of five years, the sukuk was priced at a spread of 185 …