A fairly detailed article in a local English newspaper this week on the subject of teenagers seeking cosmetic surgery lies behind my words today. The article had to have caught the attention of many, and for more than one reason.

Pakistan's National Assembly elections on May 11 provided a significant victory to Nawaz Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League-N. Despite violence, turnout was approximately 60 percent. A peaceful power transition to this opposition party means progress from the nation's history of military coups.

The most feared and effective rebel group battling President Bashar al-Assad, the Islamist Nusra Front, is being eclipsed by a more radical jihadi force whose aims go far beyond overthrowing the Syrian leader.

Left adrift in the wake of President Barack Obama's November election victory, the anti-tax tea party is predicting renewed popularity and relevance — thanks to the scandal now rocking the IRS.

Decrying a rising death toll and an escalation of violence, the U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly called yet again for progress towards a political transition to defuse Syria's civil war, now in its third year. Though the resolution strongly condemns the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad for its increased use of heavy weapons, it equally condemns “widespread and systematic gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms,” on all sides.

During the four years I spent in the Philippines in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I developed a healthy distaste for the ruling elite, exemplified by the inept leadership of President Corazon Aquino, who dragged her feet on key reforms and left us without power for 10 hours a day.

The suggestion of compulsory mediation for warring neighbors unable to resolve their differences signals the difficulty faced by community peacemakers caught between a rock and a hard place.

U.S. companies are hiring more workers and home prices, stock markets and energy production are climbing. But a sudden narrowing in the U.S. budget deficit could trump all that — and provide another leg up for U.S. asset prices.

h no sign of an end to three mushrooming scandals, the White House acknowledged the rising political dangers on Wednesday by launching a concerted effort at damage control.

Japan's rightwing political leaders, including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, have raised the ire of neighboring countries with acts and remarks denying Tokyo's pre-1945 wartime atrocities.