Review coupe

Turkey has escalated its purge of government officials in the aftermath of the failed coup, with about 35,000 public servants affected by the end of the day despite a government spokesman insisting that the crackdown was being carried out in accordance with the rule of law. In the latest developments on Tuesday, the government fired more than 15,000 employees at the education ministry, sacked 257 officials at the prime minister’s office and 492 clerics at the directorate for religious affairs. Additionally, more than 1,500 university deans were asked to resign. It followed the firing of nearly 8,800 policemen, and the arrests of 6,000 soldiers, 2,700 judges and prosecutors, dozens of governors, and more than 100 generals – or just under one-third of the general corps. Some 20 news websites critical of the government have also been blocked. The Turkish government says it is carrying out a legitimate security operation to safeguard the country in the aftermath of a failed … [Read more...] about Turkey sacks 15,000 education workers in purge after failed coup

Jacques Demy’s 1964 movie The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is now revived in cinemas as part of the Musicals seasons at London’s BFI Southbank, and it has to be one of the most famous non-Hollywood musicals of all time: entirely sung through, like a light opera of the semi-swinging French 60s. Catherine Deneuve plays Geneviève, a beautiful 17-year-old (bafflingly, Demy’s lyrics describe her as not beautiful) demurely working for her mother (Anne Vernon) in a quaint umbrella shop in Cherbourg. She is dating handsome young auto mechanic Guy (Nino Castelnuovo) and they are very happy, but she is devastated when Guy is called up for military service in Algeria, and even more upset when he stops writing to her. Meanwhile, her mother has serious money worries and is steering poor, bewildered Geneviève into smiling on the wealthy young man, Roland (Marc Michel), who wants to marry her. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg ripples across the screen in a rainbow of pretty pastel … [Read more...] about The Umbrellas of Cherbourg review – delightful Deneuve reigns supreme

Germany’s foreign minister has announced a significant “reorientation” of its policy towards Turkey after a human rights activist became the latest German citizen to be detained for alleged terrorist activity. “We need our policies towards Turkey to go in a new direction ... we can’t continue as we have done until now,” Sigmar Gabriel told reporters at a press conference in Berlin on Thursday. “We need to be clearer than we have been until now so those responsible in Ankara understand that such policies are not without consequences.” Berlin has issued new travel warnings of risks in Turkey for German tourists, and Gabriel said his government could no longer guarantee German corporate investment in Turkey after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government accused several companies including Daimler and BASF of ties to the movement of his political enemy Fethullah Gülen. Gabriel also said he could not envisage talks on … [Read more...] about Berlin to change policy towards Turkey as German citizen is held