The World Council of Churches has called on Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to reverse his decision to turn the celebrated Hagia Sophia museum back into a mosque.

In a letter to Mr Erdogan, the Council, which counts 350 churches as members, said the move would sow division.

The Unesco World Heritage site in Istanbul has been a museum since ( Read more... )

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls must only be sold to adults, government says

Turkey has ruled that the million-selling book Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls should be partially banned and treated like pornography because it could have a “detrimental influence” on young people.

The book, which has been published in 47 languages, offers a series ( Read more... )

Slovakia:

This is an update to my post in February.

Slovak prosecutor may charge more people over journalist's murder

BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - More people may face charges for the murder of a Slovak investigative journalist, the country’s top prosecutor said on Monday, after police made their first arrests for the killing that rattled the nation ( Read more... )

Turkey jails 6 Turkish journalists for life, releases German reporter

(CNN)A Turkish court sentenced six journalists and other media professionals to life in prison Friday, Turkey's Anadolu state news agency reported, roughly an hour after another court freed a German-Turkish reporter who had been behind bars for a year.

The six were all ( Read more... )

Myanmar:

Reuters Reporters Are Charged in Myanmar With Obtaining State Secrets

BANGKOK - Two journalists for the Reuters news agency were formally charged in Myanmar with obtaining state secrets, prosecutors said Wednesday, in a case seen as a key test of the country’s nascent political freedoms.

The reporters, U Wa Lone and U Kyaw Soe Oo, have ( Read more... )

Turkey holds six rights activists on charges of aiding terror group

Amnesty International urged the British government to end its silence over Turkey’s slide into authoritarian rule on Tuesday after its local director and five other activists were remanded in custody on accusations of belonging to a terrorist organisation. It is possible the six ( Read more... )

Education official says students too young to understand 'controversial subject'

Evolution will no longer be taught in Turkish secondary schools after being described as a “controversial subject” by the government.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has personally approved the change, which will be part of a new national curriculum being published ( Read more... )

Ankara has attacked the US's decision to issue arrest warrants for Turkish security guards who assaulted protesters during President Erdogan's trip to Washington in May. The violence has been widely condemned.

"What kind of law is this, what kind of justice?" Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, according to Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency. "If ( Read more... )

OP: Another powderkeg of which we haven't heard that much in the west, is the Nagorno-Karabakh region, located in Azerbaijan but near Armenia.


( Read more... )

‘Sherlock Holmes of Armenian Genocide’ Uncovers Lost Evidence


( Read more... )