PART I Driving east out of Almaty, skyscrapers and American-style malls gradually give way to modest apartment blocks, unassuming mom-and-pop shops and greasy-spoon restaurants. But every summer, the suburbs along the Ghulja Highway (Kūlja joly) transform into staging grounds for celebration. During the months filled with sunlight, the pulse of drums, the blare of brass and the roar of hundreds of revelers fill the area’s several dozen banquet halls. Ostensibly wedding ceremonies, these celebrations are full-scale extravaganzas – complete with orchestras, choreographed dancers and professional...

A recent discovery on Mars has revealed something truly fascinating: massive water-carved caves that might just be hiding evidence of ancient life. These caves, which formed when slightly acidic water dissolved the planet’s bedrock, could offer one of the best places to search for preserved biosignatures. According to a study published on October 30 inThe Astrophysical Journal Letters, future missions designed to explore these underground caves could provide a glimpse of life that existed on Mars billions of years ago, back when the planet was much warmer and wetter. Mars’ Mysterious Karstic C...

A recent discovery on Mars has revealed something truly fascinating: massive water-carved caves that might just be hiding evidence of ancient life. These caves, which formed when slightly acidic water dissolved the planet’s bedrock, could offer one of the best places to search for preserved biosignatures. According to a study published on October 30 inThe Astrophysical Journal Letters, future missions designed to explore these underground caves could provide a glimpse of life that existed on Mars billions of years ago, back when the planet was much warmer and wetter. Mars’ Mysterious Karstic C...

Mohali (Punjab) [India], November 25 (ANI): The Dream League of India (DLI), India's biggest Tennis Ball Cricket League conducted its Mohali trials last week, drawing an energetic turnout of 278 players across the junior and senior categories. The trials marked DLI's first major talent hunt in Punjab, further expanding its nationwide grassroots cricket footprint. Held at JP Sports Academy, Derabassi, Mohali, the trials witnessed the presence of several recognised tennis ball cricket stars, who also participated in the trials, according to the DLI release. Players aged 13-18 years (Junior categ...

"They were all taken very seriously. One very specific one was taken seriously. Which, in the end, was refuted," said Yoni Asher, father of freed Gaza hostages Raz and Aviv. Yoni Asher, father of freed Gaza hostages Raz and Aviv, revealed that he received several ransom demands while his daughters were held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas terrorists alongside his then-wife, Doron Katz-Asher. "They were all taken very seriously. One very specific one was taken seriously. And there was a week-long email correspondence. In the end, they refuted it," Asher told Walla, explaining that he cooperated with...