Mujaddid

Zuhair Hassoun examines worrying cracks in a Crusader-era castle in Syria, a UNESCO World Heritage site that survived centuries of conflict only to be badly damaged by last month's deadly earthquake.

The Istanbul Municipality has brought the medallion depicting portraits of Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II made by Italian artist Costanza de Ferrara in 1481 from the U.K. to the country.

The municipality earlier purchased the medallion for 38,000 pounds at an auction in London.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan celebrated the 556th anniversary of the fall of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) to Ottoman Turk forces on May 29 in 1453.

'Ibn Khaldun, Life and Times' by Allen James Fromherz (Edinburgh University Press, 208 pages, £20)

Following the fall of Constantinople, the Greek Orthodox Church was both protected and restricted by the decrees of Fatih Sultan Mehmed The Feast of St. Andrew, one of the apostles of Christ and the founder of the Church in Byzantium in the 1st century, will be celebrated on Nov. 30. This year's celebration has special significance as Pope Francis will be attending.