Category: WORLDS

  • Turkey country profile

    Map of Turkey

    Once the centre of the Ottoman Empire, the fashionable secular republic used to be established within the twenties by nationalist chief Kemal Ataturk.

    Straddling the continents of Europe and Asia, Turkey’s strategically vital area has given it prime influence in the area – and control over the doorway to the Black Sea.

    Progress against democracy and a marketplace economic system used to be halting after Ataturk’s dying in 1938, and the army – seeing itself as guarantor of the constitution – again and again ousted governments observed as difficult secular values.

    Joining the european Union has been a longstanding ambition. Membership talks were introduced in 2005, however development has been slow, as a number of EU states have severe misgivings about Turkish EU club.

    Kurds make up a few 5th of the inhabitants. Kurdish separatists who accuse the Turkish state of trying to spoil their cultural id had been waging a guerrilla warfare because the eighties.

    Image copyright Getty Pictures

    Recep Tayyip Erdogan used to be sworn in as president in August 2014, cementing his position as Turkey’s most powerful chief.

    His victory in Turkey’s first fashionable presidential election capped 12 years as top minister during which the economy tripled in buck phrases, even as fuelling fears of growing authoritarianism.

    Turkey is a parliamentary republic and the presidency in large part ceremonial, so Mr Erdogan is looking for changes to the constitution to create an executive presidency.

    His targets were checked when his Islamist-rooted AK Birthday Party misplaced its parliamentary majority in June 2015, sooner than regaining it in snap elections in November, known as after efforts to form a coalition failed.

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    MEDIA

    Symbol copyright Getty Pictures Image caption Turkey has a terrible file on media freedom

    Turkey’s airwaves are lively, with hundreds of private TELEVISION and radio stations competing with the state broadcaster, TRT.

    Television is via a ways the most influential information medium; both press and broadcasting outlets are running via robust business operators.

    For newshounds, the army, Kurds and political Islam are highly-delicate subjects, protection of which will lead to arrest and prosecution.

    Some of essentially the most repressive restrictions have been lifted at the path to EUROPEAN entry, however it continues to be a crime to insult the Turkish nation and president, and a wave of prosecutions of journalists below Recep Tayyip Erdogan has brought about new worry for press freedom.

    Learn full media profile

    TIMELINE

    Some key dates in Turkey’s historical past:

    1453 – Sultan Mehmed II the Brilliant captures Constantinople, finishing Byzantine Empire and consolidating Ottoman Empire in Asia Minor and Balkans.

    15th-sixteenth centuries – Growth into Asia and Africa.

    Symbol copyright Getty Pictures Symbol caption Istanbul’s iconic Bosphorus Bridge hyperlinks Asia and Europe

    1683 – Ottoman strengthen into Europe halted at Struggle of Vienna. Long decline begins.

    1908 – Younger Turk Revolution establishes constitutional rule, but degenerates into military dictatorship right through First World Warfare, where Ottoman Empire fights in alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary.

    1918-22 – Partition of defeated Ottoman Empire ends up in eventual triumph of Turkish National Movement in conflict of independence against overseas profession and rule of Sultan.

    1923 – Turkey declared a republic with Kemal Ataturk as president. Quickly afterwards it turns into secular.

    1952 – Turkey abandons Ataturk’s neutralist policy and joins Nato.

    1960 – Army coup against ruling Democratic Celebration.

    1974 – Turkish troops occupy northern Cyprus, partitioning the island.

    1984 – Kurdish PKK group launches separatists guerrilla campaign which develops into a best civil conflict that simmers on for decades.

    2011 – Syrian civil warfare breaks out, leading to tension alongside the countries’ border and a huge influx of refugees into Turkey.

    2016 – Tried coup fails.

    Symbol copyright Getty Photographs Symbol caption Worshippers pray within the Blue Mosque in Istanbul Read complete timeline

  • Fatal prime-velocity educate crash in Ankara Turkey

    Scene of Ankara crash, 13 December Symbol copyright Getty Photographs Symbol caption The crash took place early within the morning

    A crash regarding a high-pace educate at a station within the Turkish capital Ankara has killed no less than four people and injured greater than FORTY, local media say.

    Images from the scene confirmed emergency products and services running to rescue folks from badly broken carriages on Thursday morning.

    Some reports, citing native officers, instructed that the high-pace educate had collided with every other educate.

    The accident passed off at approximately 06:30 native time (03:30 GMT).

    The train was once reportedly starting a adventure from the station in Ankara to town of Konya in western Turkey.

  • Parker Sun Probe: Sun-skimming undertaking begins calling home

    Streamer Image copyright NASA/NRL/Parker Solar Probe Symbol caption Parker took this symbol of a streamer, a dense part of the corona, on 8 November

    Simply weeks after making the closest ever flyby of the Solar, Nasa’s Parker Sun Probe is sending back its data.

    Included in the observations is this exceptional image of the energetic gasoline, or plasma, flowing out from the celebrity.

    The shiny dot is definitely a ways-far away Jupiter. The black dots are repeats that occur simply because of the best way the picture is constructed.

    Parker’s WISPR software bought the vista simply 27.2 million km from the skin of the Sun on EIGHT November.

    The imager was looking out sideways from behind the probe’s thick heat protect.

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    Bye bye snow: Why wintry weather is shrinking Space laser makes height maps of Earth Voyager 2 probe ‘leaves Solar System’ Symbol copyright NASA-JHU-APL Symbol caption Art Work: Parker should always stay its heatshield pointed at the Solar

    The Nasa project used to be introduced again in August to check the mysteries of the Sun’s outer environment, or corona.

    This area is unusually hotter than the celebrity’s “floor”, or photosphere. While this may be 6,000 levels, the outer environment may achieve temperatures of a few million levels.

    The mechanisms that produce this tremendous-heating are not absolutely understood.

    Parker targets to solve the puzzle by passing throughout the outer environment and right away sampling its particle, magnetic and electric fields.

    “we need to go into this region to be able to pattern the brand new plasma, the newly shaped material, to be able to see what techniques, what physics, is taking place in there,” defined Nicola Fox, director of the Heliophysics Department at Nasa HQ in Washington DC.

    “We Wish to grasp why there is that this temperature inversion, as in – you walk away from a sizzling star and the atmosphere will get warmer not colder as you would be expecting.”

    not just is Parker breaking information for proximity to the Solar, it is additionally setting new speed information for a spacecraft. on the latest flyby, it completed 375,000km/h. The quickest any previous probe managed was about 250,000km/h.

    Parker will move sooner nonetheless on long run close passes of the Solar..

    The contemporary technological know-how from the undertaking is being featured right here at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting – the most important annual accumulating of Earth and area scientists.

    Jonathan.Amos-WEB@bbc.co.uk and practice me on Twitter: @BBCAmos

  • North and South Korea infantrymen pass DMZ in peace

    North and South Korean soldiers shaking hands Symbol copyright Getty Photographs Symbol caption The historical moment was caught on digital camera through either side

    North and South Korean soldiers have made several friendly crossings into each other’s territory for the primary time since the countries had been divided.

    the boys were checking the dismantling of defend posts within the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) alongside the border as part of the 2 aspects’ recent rapprochement.

    Photos showed the warriors shaking fingers on the border prior to crossing.

    The Korean Warfare in the 1950s left the peninsula divided and no formal peace treaty has ever been signed.

    Image copyright Getty Pictures Image caption The conferences practice a diplomatic rapprochement among North and South Korea

    As part of the talks among the divided peninsula, the South’s President Moon Jae-in and the North’s Kim Jong-un agreed to take away some of the protect posts at the heavily fortified border.

    Image copyright EPA Symbol caption The DMZ is certainly one of the world’s such a lot heavily fortified borders

    When You Consider That November, each North and South have blown up or dismantled 10 in their border posts.

    On Wednesday, South Korean inspectors visited every of the protect posts at the North’s side while North Korean inspectors later inspected the similar procedure in the South.

    “This marks the primary time for the reason that division that the warriors of the North and South… are peacefully crossing the army demarcation line,” the South Korean defence ministry said in a statement.

    Both sides nonetheless have extra protect posts within the DMZ, both over and underground.

    North Korea’s sidelined human rights crisis North Korea crisis in 300 phrases Image copyright Alamy Symbol caption Diplomatic talks among North and South are ongoing

    ‘The insurmountable obstacle continues to be’

    Laura Bicker, BBC News, Seoul

    This may had been unthinkable three hundred and sixty five days ago.

    Closing November, photographs rung out around the DMZ after a North Korean soldier made a touch around the border. Now the 2 sides are shaking arms, replacing cigarettes and strolling into every other’s territory peacefully for the first time.

    Seoul hopes that those small steps will likely be irreversible and it will change into difficult for all sides to backtrack on what they suspect is a trail towards peace.

    but the insurmountable challenge remains – the North’s nuclear weapons.

    the united states continues it will never allow an settlement to formally finish the Korean struggle, nor will it lift economic sanctions imposed upon the North even as the Kim regime poses a nuclear danger.

    So yes, applaud these photographs and the development that they represent, but it is price holding in mind simply how very a long way this potential peace process has to move.

    North Korea’s teen footballers and the road to peace North Korea’s breakdown of communication Image copyright Getty Pictures Image caption The train needed to make its excess of one in every of the most closely guarded borders in the global

    Closing month a train travelled from South Korea across the border into North Korea for the first time in a long time, as a part of a dedication by the South to help the North modernise its rail network.

    There has been speculation Mr Kim could consult with Seoul this year but the South’s govt earlier this week mentioned that no such commute was anticipated earlier than 2019.

    Despite its misleading title, the DMZ is certainly one of the sector’s so much closely fortified puts.

    the area is a strip of land 250km (155 miles) long and 4km (2.5 miles) wide that runs around the peninsula.

    It is heavily mined and fortified with barbed cord, rows of surveillance cameras and electric fencing – and is guarded by tens of heaps of troops on all sides.

  • WHAT’S GOING on with Huawei?

    Huawei phones Symbol copyright Reuters Image caption Huawei is now the second one largest smartphone-maker after Samsung

    Chinese telecoms giant Huawei has been the focus of global scrutiny, with several international locations raising security issues about its merchandise.

    Then on 1 December, the corporate’s leader monetary officer, Meng Wanzhou, was arrested in Canada. At a courtroom listening to in Vancouver on 7 December it used to be revealed that she was once wanted within the US on fraud fees in relation to the alleged breaking people sanctions on Iran.

    It has also been suggested that Japan’s government will stop shopping for apparatus from Huawei, and rival Chinese Language producer ZTE.

    What are international locations concerned about?

    There are fears that China is using Huawei as a proxy so it might probably spy on rival nations and scoop up useful information. Huawei has mentioned it’s unbiased and offers not anything to the country’s government, except for related taxes.

    Critics question how loose any major Chinese industry will also be from Beijing’s influence. They indicate that its media-shy founder, Ren Zhengfei, was once a former engineer within the country’s army and joined the Communist Celebration in 1978.

    Symbol copyright Reuters Symbol caption Huawei equipment is getting used in rapid 5G mobile networks around the international

    Which nations have taken action?

    In November, New Zealand barred Huawei from providing a neighborhood mobile network with 5G apparatus The US and Australia had already closed the door on Huawei’s involvement in their next-technology cell networks Canada is finishing up a security assessment of Huawei’s merchandise UNITED KINGDOM merchant BT is casting off Huawei package from the core of its 5G community On 7 December, the ECU‘s technology commissioner Andrus Ansip stated countries “must be concerned” approximately Chinese manufacturers but the interior ministry of Germany says it opposes banning any providers from its 5G networks

    the uk has no longer enacted a ban on the use of Huawei equipment. Then Again, the company’s merchandise are incessantly subjected to safety checking out by means of the united kingdom’s GCHQ intelligence company.

    The co-operative agreement among the uk and Huawei includes a facility nicknamed the Cellphone in Banbury, Oxfordshire. There, staff employed by means of Huawei but answering to GCHQ look for safety flaws in the company’s merchandise.

    The last file GCHQ produced mentioned it discovered “shortcomings” in merchandise that meant it will best provide “restricted insurance” that the firm posed no threat.

    This week, the Monetary Instances stated that Huawei had agreed to a chain of technical demands via GCHQ that might harden its merchandise against attackers.

    Huawei mentioned the changes got here from its co-operation with the uk and did not sign that it had “caved in” to UNITED KINGDOM demands, as the Monetary Occasions had stated.

    Why used to be a Huawei government arrested?

    Symbol copyright Reuters Image caption Ms Meng faces extradition to the u.s. on fraud charges

    Ms Wanzhou used to be arrested whilst shifting between flights in Vancouver even if her detention was once not revealed by way of Canadian authorities till four days later, the day of her first court docket appearance.

    Details of the charges were additionally not found out on the time after she was granted a publication ban by means of a Canadian judge.

    However at a bail listening to on the Supreme Court Docket of British Columbia, a Canadian govt legal professional mentioned Ms Meng had used a Huawei subsidiary known as Skycom to avoid sanctions on Iran among 2009 and 2014.

    The court was once informed she had publicly misrepresented Skycom as being a separate corporate.

    Huawei finance chief arrested in Canada BT bars Huawei kit from middle of 5G community Why has the united kingdom now not blocked Huawei?

    China has demanded Ms Meng’s unencumber, insisting she has now not violated any regulations.

    In an announcement, Huawei said it was once not acutely aware of any wrongdoing by way of Ms Meng, including: “the corporate believes the Canadian and US prison techniques will in the end achieve a just conclusion. Huawei complies with all applicable regulations and laws the place it operates, together with acceptable export keep watch over and sanction laws and rules of the UN, US and ECU.”

  • Vahid Sayadi Nasiri: Jailed Iran activist dies on hunger strike

    Vahid Sayadi Nasiri Symbol copyright Iran Human Rights Screen Symbol caption The activist used to be protesting towards his conditions in jail

    An Iranian political activist jailed for his messages on social media has died after spending 60 days on hunger strike, his family says.

    Vahid Sayadi Nasiri had been accused of insulting Excellent Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and different offences.

    He was once launched closing March after serving two-and-a-part years in jail however detained again 5 months later.

    The activist demanded his switch from a prime-safety unit of a prison within the town of Qom to a special location.

    Vahid Sayadi Nasiri was to begin with arrested in September 2015 and sentenced to 8 years in prison for “insulting the excellent leader” and “propaganda in opposition to the state,” in line with the advocacy staff Iran Human Rights Monitor.

    the fees have been related to posts he had made on his Fb page. He used to be later pardoned and launched early.

    The ‘Rosa Parks’ of Iran? Iran u . s . profile

    On The Other Hand he used to be arrested once more in August, simply months after his release, reportedly on an identical fees.

    He started his hunger strike in October in protest at the prerequisites of his imprisonment and his lack of get admission to to a lawyer, according to Iran Human Rights Reveal.

    He also said the main of separation of prisoners’ crimes was being violated as he was once being held with ordinary criminals and was being attacked and pressured, the crowd stated.

    Conditions within the Qom prison are defined as harsh, correspondents say.

    The activist had reportedly been taken to sanatorium within the wake of his hunger strike.

    His sister, Elaheh, mentioned the circle of relatives have been informed through authorities of his dying. No other main points have been in an instant to be had.

  • Michael Spavor: Second Canadian ‘missing’ in China

    Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland (12 Dec 2018) Image copyright Reuters Symbol caption Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland mentioned Canada was urgently searching for knowledge at the two Canadians

    Canada’s overseas ministry says it’s seeking to make touch with a 2nd Canadian who is believed to have been detained in China.

    Michael Spavor, a businessman primarily based in Dandong close to the North Korean border, had contacted Canadian officers this week to mention he was being puzzled.

    International ministry spokesman Guillaume Bérubé mentioned Canada was once operating exhausting to determine Mr Spavor’s whereabouts.

    It comes after former diplomat Michael Kovrig used to be arrested in China this week.

    Canadian officers say the reason for Mr Kovrig’s detention is still unclear

    Symbol copyright AFP Image caption Michael Kovrig was running for a think tank that specializes in war reduction analysis

    She additionally said a second Canadian had contacted them in advance within the week because “he used to be being requested questions by Chinese Language authorities”.

    She didn’t title the individual, saying it used to be “refined scenario” and she wanted to admire his privacy.

    But Mr Bérubé later named the person in a statement as Mr Spavor and said he was once “right now lacking in China”.

    Mr Spavor runs an company known as Paektu Cultural Exchange, which organises industry, tradition and tourism trips to North Korea.

    He’s a standard customer to North Korea and used to be a well known commenter on Korean problems. His last tweet, on Sunday, said he was about to go back and forth to Seoul in South Korea, however he didn’t arrive on Monday as planned.

    The detentions have come after Canada arrested Chinese telecoms government Meng Wanzhou remaining week.

    Ms Meng is the manager monetary officer of Huawei, one in all China’s greatest telecoms companies, and the daughter of its founder.

    She was arrested on the request of the u.s. and is accused of violating sanctions on Iran. She was once granted bail on Tuesday for C$10m (£6m; $7.4m) bail however may well be extradited to the u.s..

    China has demanded that Canada free up Ms Meng, and has threatened unspecific consequences.

    Canada has mentioned there is recently no “specific indication” of any hyperlink between her arrest and Mr Kovrig’s detention.

  • Man trapped in Texas money system sends ‘help me’ notes

    handwritten note Image copyright KZTV Symbol caption The Person slipped handwritten notes pleading to bank shoppers to get assist

    A Texas guy who discovered himself trapped within a money machine slipped “assist me” notes throughout the receipt slot.

    The Person, who police say was working on a maintenance of the financial institution, left his phone in his car earlier than getting stuck in the force-through ATM’s vault.

    The unnamed workman was freed after shouting to ATM customers, who persevered withdrawing money all through his ordeal on Wednesday in Corpus Christi.

    Police concept it a hoax earlier than kicking in a door to withdraw him.

    Symbol copyright KZTV Symbol caption Corpus Christi Police Officer Richard Olden defined hearing the guy’s shouts

    “Sure sufficient, we can pay attention a bit voice coming from the machine, so we’re all thinking this is a joke, it is gotta be a funny story,” mentioned police officer Richard Olden.

    One handwritten word slipped via the trapped man to a customer stated: “Please Lend A Hand. I’m stuck in right here, and that i wouldn’t have my telephone. Please name my boss.” The message included the employer’s phone number.

    The Man was once freed after spending greater than hours inside the Financial Institution of America device.

    Officer Olden advised native media: “everyone is ok, however you’ll by no means see this on your life, that someone was once stuck in the ATM, it used to be just loopy.”

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  • California man freed after two days trapped in restaurant grease vent

    A man is seen trapped in a metal duct at a Chinese restaurant in California Symbol copyright Alameda County Sheriff Image caption The 29-yr-antique man was once stated to have been bodily exhausted whilst he was once rescued

    a man has been rescued after spending days trapped in a grease vent at a vacant Chinese eating place in California, police say.

    Emergency crews responded to stories of “a faint voice calling for assist” from the building within the San Francisco area.

    the person was once stated to have been exhausted and affected by dehydration, but he’s expected to make a full recovery.

    Police say he might had been trespassing, nevertheless it is doubtful whether or not the incident used to be a housebreaking attempt.

    Police and fireplace crews arriving on the scene in San Lorenzo near Oakland at about 09:30 local time (17:30 GMT) heard a voice and came upon that it used to be coming from a rooftop vent belonging to the restaurant.

    Image copyright Alameda County Sheriff Image caption Emergency services and products heard voices coming from the eating place’s rooftop vent

    A ladder used to be then used to get admission to the roof and find the 29-year-old man, who was once not able to transport regardless of being covered with grease and oil, the Alameda County Sheriff’s place of work said in a commentary.

    It took almost an hour to “extract” the person, who was once then taken to an area hospital for treatment, the observation introduced.

    Image copyright Alameda County Sheriff Image caption the man may not have survived another day trapped in the metal duct, police said

    An research is beneath manner into whether the man was trespassing or intended to vandalise or steal from the property, police said.

    They added that they were “very grateful” to the firefighters “for saving this man”, who “wouldn’t have survived any other day given the instances”.

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  • Canada is looking for consular get admission to to ex-diplomat detained in China

    Michael Kovrig Image copyright Global Problem Group Image caption The World Drawback Staff says it is running for Mr Kovrig’s unlock

    Canada says it’s in the hunt for consular get admission to as quickly as conceivable to a former Canadian diplomat who has been detained in China.

    Michael Kovrig was once hung on Monday by means of the Beijing National Safety Bureau.

    His current employers, the International Predicament Crew (ICG), say they are involved for his well being and protection.

    Canadian officers say the reason for his detention is still doubtful.

    They don’t realize the place he is being held.

    Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland mentioned on Wednesday the case has been raised straight away with Chinese officers.

    News of Mr Kovrig’s detention got here days after Canada arrested Chinese telecoms government Meng Wanzhou.

    Ms Meng, Huawei’s chief monetary officer, used to be launched in Vancouver, Canada on Tuesday on C$10m (£6m; $7.4m) bail.

    She was once arrested on 1 December and will be extradited to the us to face fraud fees linked to the alleged violation of sanctions on Iran.

    China has demanded that Canada unencumber Ms Meng or face outcomes.

    Ms Freeland says that Chinese authorities didn’t describe the situation with Mr Kovrig as a reprisal.

    She additionally showed right through a news convention that her department is aware of a 2nd Canadian who not too long ago reached out to Canadian officers because “he used to be being requested questions through Chinese Language authorities”.

    “We’ve no longer been in a position to make touch with him considering he let us learn about this,” she stated.

    “we’re working very laborious to ascertain his whereabouts and we’ve also raised this situation with the Chinese government.”

    Canadian ex-diplomat ‘held in China’ Huawei arrest places ‘bullseye’ on Apple

    Mr Kovrig has been running because February 2017 as a senior guide for ICG, a Brussels-primarily based suppose tank that focuses on conflict relief research.

    he’s on unique leave from Canada’s ministry of foreign affairs and does not have the benefit of diplomatic privileges. He was once posted as a diplomat in Hong Kong and Beijing among 2012-16.

    The state-run Beijing Information newspaper has said he is being held “on suspicion of conducting actions that harm China’s state safety”.

    A spokesman for China’s international ministry stated on Wednesday that he had “no knowledge to supply” on Mr Kovrig’s case.

    He additionally claimed that ICG “has now not legally registered nor submitted files for the file within the mainland of China”.

    ICG mentioned in a statement that Mr Kovrig is known for “his rigorous and impartial reporting” and is a “stated and sought after contributor on security issues in North East Asia, in particular relating to China, Japan and the Korean peninsula”.

    An ICG spokesman mentioned that the service provider has had a presence in China considering the fact that 2007 but closed their Beijing administrative center in 2016 as a result of adjustments in Chinese Language regulations round NGOs.

    Mr Kovrig is based in Hong Kong, however ICG says he steadily visits Beijing to satisfy with officers and to attend meetings at the invitation of Chinese Language businesses, and has made frequent appearances on Chinese Language media.