Eurosphere agenda: The most expensive cities in Europe: London and Copenhagen

Soft or hard Brexit: do the UK’s political parties know what they want? open Democracy News Analysis – by Kirsty Hughes On the single market, Labour, the Tories, and UKIP, appear to agree: good access to the single market not membership of it – in disagreement with the SNP, LibDems and Greens. Scottish Independence activists take … Read more

Not only the Gülen case, Turkey is also interested in Zarrab case, demanding his release…

  Turkish justice minister asks US Attorney General to release Zarrab A top Turkish government official recently met with Attorney General Loretta Lynch and told her the prosecution of Turkish-Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab was “based on no evidence,” according to a court filing unsealed on Nov. 15. Turkish President Erdoğan blasts foreign media outlets at TRT World … Read more

Eurosphere agenda: “EU agrees to boost defence and security…”Downing Street dismisses Brexit ‘divisions’ memo…

EU agrees to boost defence and security  BBC News | Europe | World Edition The EU is to boost its defence role, but a senior official says the bloc does not intend to compete with Nato. Downing Street dismisses Brexit ‘divisions’ memo BBC News | Europe | World Edition Downing Street “wholeheartedly” rejects a leaked memo describing … Read more

Anthro roundup: “Refugee sessions at the AAA in Minneapolis” #AAA2016 by @AmericanAnthro

To all: There has been a great deal of interest in refugee issues among many of us in anthropology. This is a quick, but probably not complete, list of sessions at the AAA next week in Minneapolis. There are also many, many other refugee-related papers that appear in other sessions. It will be impossible for … Read more

Istanbul’s 12 historical second-hand bookstores. Istanbul news roundup…

List of bookstores with photos. The text is in Turkish.  *********** Will Istanbul’s historic restaurant rise from its ashes again? One of Istanbul’s iconic names, the 115-year-old famous Pandeli Restaurant situated in the Spice Bazaar has been closed for the last three months.   Istanbul Photo Awards Istanbul Photo Awards Liu Heung Shing, Photojournalist founder of Shanghai Center … Read more

Cyberculture agenda: It took 40 minutes to be hacked for Unsecured Internet of Things gadgets…

Unsecured Internet of Things gadgets get hacked within 40 minutes of being connected to the net Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow The Atlantic’s Andrew McGill set up a virtual server on Amazon’s cloud that presented to the internet as a crappy, insecure Internet of Things toaster; 41 minutes later, a hacked IoT device connected to it … Read more

Journalism agenda: Turkey practically shut down all Kurdish media with the latest state of emergency decree…

Turkish government shuts down 15 media outletshttps://t.co/rBrlRkTXCo pic.twitter.com/NR6xlM3qcX — P24 (@P24Punto24) October 29, 2016 The rest of the Kurdish media in Turkey closed down by decree on top of days of no internet in the Southeast. https://t.co/p401np2FRz — Emma Sinclair-Webb (@esinclairwebb) October 29, 2016 The team set out to build a ‘truly integrated narrative’ and … Read more

Eurosphere agenda: An Interview with Birgitta Jónsdóttir, Iceland’s Pirate party figurehead…

‘The system is a reflection of who we are’: an interview with Birgitta Jónsdóttir  open Democracy News Analysis – by Ashish Ghadiali and Birgitta Jónsdóttir “It’s not only about us versus the system. The system is really us.” As Iceland’s radical Pirate party approaches the gates of power, we speak to its figurehead Birgitta Jónsdóttir. Birgitta … Read more

Cyberculture agenda: Will be hard to find a cooler President: “Joi Ito interviews Barack Obama for Wired: machine learning, neurodiversity, basic research and Star Trek

Joi Ito interviews Barack Obama for Wired: machine learning, neurodiversity, basic research and Star Trek Boing Boing Joi Ito (previously) — director of MIT Media Lab, former Creative Commons chief, investor, entrepreneur, and happy mutant — interviewed Barack Obama for a special, Obama-edited issue of Wired   Google Warns More Than a Dozen Russian Journalists and Activists … Read more

Eurosphere agenda: Czarny Protest…Brexit event.. Hungary and its crackdown on opposition press…

Czarny Protest: how Polish women took to the streets open Democracy News Analysis – by Kasia Narkowicz After two decades of feminist pressure, the people took to the streets. But why now? Polish women protest against a legislative proposal for a total ban on abortion in Poland. PAimages/Geert Vanden Wijngaert. All rights reserved. Joy and despair in … Read more

İstanbul’s contribution to World Animal Day: “Tombili” cat’s sculpture… Istanbul news roundup…

Sculpture of Istanbul’s cat phenomenon ‘Tombili’ to be inaugurated on Oct 4 A sculpture created in memory of “Tombili,” the portly cat who became a social media phenomenon after being photographed posing on a sidewalk in Istanbul’s Ziverbey neighborhood, will be inaugurated on Oct. 4 on World Animal Day Tombili Returns to Its Neighborhood on World Animal … Read more

Eurosphere agenda: Anti-Immigration Referendum in Hungary… “Polish women strike against abortion ban…

Black Monday: Polish women strike against abortion ban  BBC News | Europe | World Edition Some businesses in Poland close for the day as thousands of women go on strike to protest against proposals for a total ban on abortion. Anti-Immigration Referendum Sunday in Hungary open Democracy News Analysis – by G. M. Tamás Our first major … Read more

For the record, despite his “insulting poetry” Boris Johnson had a good time in Turkey.

Boris Johnson lauds his Turkish washing machine on first visit to Ankara World news: Turkey | guardian.co.uk British foreign secretary displays raffish style during first official trip since writing a poem about the Turkish president having sex with a goat Boris Johnson seeks to mend fences in talks with Turkish leadership  World news: Turkey | guardian.co.uk by … Read more

Eurosphere agenda: “The European Commission’s new anti-leak strategy has been leaked…

The Brief: Commission’s anti-leak strategy leaks EurActiv.com by James Crisp It’s almost too perfect. The European Commission’s new anti-leak strategy has been leaked. European refugees and Twitter open Democracy News Analysis – by Francisco Núñez, Román Martín and Aurora Labio The political parties, professions and media that were registered as the most active in the Twitter storm … Read more

Neo-Ottomanism doesn’t help; Topkapı Palace kiosk in danger… Istanbul news roundup…

Large cracks detected in Topkapı Palace basement, prompting evacuation Parts of Istanbul’s Topkapı Palace are slated to undergo a major restoration worth around 10 million Turkish Liras after deep crevices were found in the treasury room of the Ottoman-era palace in July, causing its closure to tourists Demo in Istanbul over assault of woman who wore … Read more