"It was surreal sitting there eating a Subway sandwich, listening to elevator music, and hearing explosions so loud they could knock your drink right off the table, and gunfire in the distance."

After 49 years in power, Fidel Castro has decided to step down from presidential office in Cuba. A newly-elected parliament will vote for a new president in March.

A project bringing together female journalists from nine Mediterranean countries wil result in 45 articles translated into seven languages.

Yesterday, the European Commission's Turkey Delegation organised a panel on democracy and human rights, where academics and the chair of the Prime Ministerial Human Rights Presidency discussed the current state of Turkey.

During a meeting with Macedonia’s Minister of Defense, Chief of General Staff Büyükanit also briefly answered questions about the current headscarf debate and the ultra-nationalist Ergenekon gang.

Why was it Hrant Dink’s death that made this distinction of ‘those’ and ‘they’ publicly visible? In other words, did he have to be killed? In order to find an answer, it is important to explore how the two groups view the question of "Armenian genocide".

Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis was the first Greek leader to visit Turkey for 49 years. The visit has been hailed as a sign of good will on both sides.

The new UNICEF report on the state of children in the world shows positive developments in child mortality and average life expectancy. However, too many children are still deprived of education or forced to marry underage.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has selected five new judges for the ECHR, four of them women. One of them is Prof. Dr. Karakas.

Erdogan spoke at the Forum of the Alliance of Civilisations in Madrid, discussing the headscarf and Article 301 in a press meeting.

According to research carried out by the WHO and the Iraqi government, 151,000 civilians died between March 2003 and June 2006. Non-violent deaths have increased by sixty percent.

A primary school student, Deniz Türkeş, who is a contributor to the children's magazine Minus 18 (Eksi 18) joined bianet's year-end investigation and evaluated the year 2007 for us.

In 2007, a law on nuclear power was passed, gold mining activities increased, and the Kyoto Protocol was not signed by Turkey.

In his last speech of 2007, Prime Minister Erdogan mainly spoke of the Kurdish question and violence. “We are aiming at a democratic, laicist and social legal state for 2008.”

Turks in Northern Cyprus have also formed a Conscientious Objectors' Initiative, opposing militarism and legislation which punishes "alienating the public from military service".

At a pre-election rally in Rawalpindi, opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was shot and later died. In an ensuing explosion at least 20 people died.

According to UNICEF, millions of children have been affected by the ongoing war in Iraq, suffering from malnutrition, illnesses, interrupted education and displacement.

Academic Ünlütürk Ulutas has researched women who migrate to Turkey from the former Eastern bloc. They miss their children, fear the police, work hard and live secretively.

Dr. Cengiz Aktar is pessimistic about Turkey's accession to the EU if the current atmosphere continues.

After a boat capsized off the Turkish Aegean coast, 46 refugees died. The search for survivors and bodies goes on. Six Palestinians were rescued.