News archive of September 2015

The thorny “FYROM name issue” resulted in the Greek delegation’s decision to decline participation at the summit meeting held at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras did not attend, given that its neighbor was listed as the “Republic of Macedonia” rather than the provisional name recognized by the United Nations, i.e.

A new study from the Erciyes University in Kayseri, Turkey, found that men with larger bellies are better lovers. 200 men were surveyed as part of the research that calculated their body mass index (BMI) while also assessing their sexual performance.

Turkey's parliament will open its putative fall session on Oct. 1, but the end to the summer recess will be overshadowed by snap elections set for Nov. 1, as well as a spiral of violence between the state and outlawed militants.

The Istanbul State Opera and Ballet (IDOB) will open the 2015-2016 season on Oct. 2 with Beethoven's 9th Symphony. 

In the new season, a total of six new works will meet audiences. 

I?ve just taken the longest vacation in my journalism life, for a book writing session. I read a lot, thought a lot. I also observed what has been going on and came to the following conclusion once more:

The third quarter of 2015 is ending off and it can be regarded as certain now that we have lived a lost year. Even worse, there is a strong possibility that next year will also be another lost year.

You must have heard about the latest disaster in Mecca, Islam's holiest city, on Sept. 24. More than 700 pilgrims died in a stampede on the way to the ritual of "stoning the devil." And this was only a repetition of similar disasters that happened again in Mecca, and again during the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage that millions of Muslims come from all around the world to do.

Forget, for a moment, the death toll that comes in seven-digit numbers in Islamic lands where Muslims kill Muslims en masse, often by bombing mosques where the adherents of the ?other sect? pray. Forget, also, how and why to kill the infidel and die as a martyr is a proud jihadist pastime. 

It is as if a Cyprus settlement is completed and time has come to sell it to the people - and, of course, to the global sponsors who hopefully will finance its implementation.

This year?s New York City gathering of world leaders was the fifth U.N. General Assembly the defiant leader of Syria, President Bashar al-Assad, could survive despite numerous crimes he has committed against humanity since 2011. Under the shield of Russia and Iran, the Assad regime seems to have taken a deep breath as it has never been so close to fully collapsing as earlier this year.