international

Saido Berahino. You may not have heard the name before, but chances are you will soon. The 20-year-old attacker is lighting up English football at the moment with his eye for goal and an equally inspiring backstory. The former refugee from Burundi has had quite a month, scoring on his debut for the England Under-21 team before scoring the winning goal against Manchester United this weekend.

Born in Burundi, Berahino was forced to flee his war-torn homeland a decade ago when he was just 10-years-old. The story goes that his mother was already living in England after being granted political asylum, so he travelled to Heathrow on his own once she had saved enough money to pay for the flight. The family settled in an inner city area of Birmingham and young Saido started playing football.

After just a year in England, he was spotted by Premier League team West Bromwich Albion whilst he was playing for his local side Phoenix United. He joined the club at Under-12s level and started to make his way through the ranks.

The young striker signed his first professional contract in the summer of 2011, before being sent out on loan to various lower league clubs including Northampton Town, Brentford and Peterborough United.

So why wouldn't you want to expand your educational and cultural horizons through studying in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)? For this oil-rich Persian Gulf state has some of the finest universities in the whole Middle East region, with students from all corners of the world taking full advantage of the extensive range of degree courses on offer across a range of disciplines, from engineering, technology and science to business, arts and the media.

Who hasn't heard of fabulous Dubai, the largest city in the UAE? It's a city of around 2 million people with a deserved reputation as a glitzy tourist playground. But it's also a thriving and successful commercial hub where incredible fortunes can be made, and perhaps lost just as easily. It's therefore no surprise to find the universities in Dubai are cutting edge, too, reflecting and serving the needs of the city's rather diverse and cosmopolitan business community. They may not figure prominently in the top tier of world university rankings, but nevertheless Dubai's eclectic mix of higher educational establishments provide the levels of skills and expertise much sought after in today's well connected society.

After the first anniversary of Morsi's presidency, the protest movement Tamarod collected millions of signatures demanding the ousting of the president, accused of doing very little to help the stagnant economy, and criticized for his attempts to introduce a Muslim-orientated constitution in a secular country.

Since the army ousted Mr Morsi on 3rd July 2013, Egypt has been in turmoil as the pro Morsi protesters condemn the military coup d'état, and demand the reinstatement of the Muslim Brotherhood leader.

Wednesday 14th August was the most violent day since the protests started: violence erupted throughout the nation and caused the death of hundreds, including women and children.

Morsi supporters attacked and set ablaze tens of Christian properties including churches and schools; they set fire to a military buildings; they took over a police station and committed acts of violence against policemen and journalists.

Following the attacks, a state of emergency has been declared till the end of the month. Egyptians are also subjected to a curfew, with the risk of imprisonment for those who will not abide by it.

"In Bulgaria it is often impossible to know where organised crime ends and legitimate business begins. The nexus between the two is characterised by complex bureaucratic structures, opaque corporate accounting and a maze of offshore accounts." The journalist John O'Brennan gives us an explanatory view of the causes of the protests in Bulgaria, widely ignored by the media during the first week of manifestations across the nation.

Besides the economic stagnation, lack of jobs and youths' future undermined by incertitude in the poorest country in the EU, the principal cause of the outrage and malcontent that led civilians to the street is the corruption of the political elite, accused of being oligarchs and biased.

The escalated bribery, dotted by many episodes of embezzlements and elections of people whose lifestyles and morality are rather ambiguous, exasperates citizens. They are making demands that the current three-month-old, socialist-led government step down, for new and legitimate elections, for effective strategies to fight organized crime and for reforms to improve the stagnant economy.

After its 12-day sojourn in Cannes for the festival, the capital of World Cinema has moved back to its home in Paris. To mark the event an honorific award was made to the now most French of Persian filmmakers, Asghar Farhadi.

According to Bertrand Delanoë, the mayor of Paris, Farhadi is "a man who brings us closer to Iranian society, through his subtlety and refinement, full of delicate cultural observations".

"Your creation", he continues, "makes me think of Victor Hugo's words: "All human kind has rights to Paris" and you have a very special way of expressing things when you use Paris as a location."

Farhadi had recently returned from Cannes where he was celebrated for his new film Le Passé (The Past), a film shot entirely in the Paris area and in French. In Cannes, Le Passé received the best actress award for Bérénice Bejo and at the opulent salons of Paris city hall, Farhadi himself was awarded the city's gold medal, la Grande Médaille de Vermeil de la Ville de Paris.