In the second quarter of 2010, the number of criminals of thought have doubled compared to the same period last year. Anti-terrorism law suspects have increased fivefold. As the war intensifies, freedom of expression weakens.

Many organisations with different backgrounds, have made a joint statement under the name, “Civil Society Initiatives” and called on the policy makers: "Stop the bloodshed, solve this problem already, find the solution that is fair for everyone.”

Turkey cannot protect women, who take shelter in the state. Women are dying. Coordinator Hacisalihoglu of the Hurriyet Campaign to End Domestic Violence is underlining the inadequacy of capacity in institutions. "Police officials, who take women from shelters and send them back to a violent environment, should be punished,” says Lawyer Arin.

Pedal Sound Bicycle Society has launched a petition campaign against the extra charge demanded for bicycles on sea buses. Ferries don’t require an extra charge for bicycles. IDO states that it requires the extra charge for bicycles because there is no room in sea buses. However, “They find the room after getting the three TL,” says bicycle-lover Nance. “They would not accept bicycles at all if the problem was about lack of room.”

General Hasan Igsiz, who was expected to get promoted in the Supreme Military Council, has been summoned for an interrogation within the framework of the investigation on allegations that the General Staff has used 400 Internet sites for psychological operations.

The Istanbul branch of the Contemporary Lawyers Association has spoken with 200 inmates in five prisons. According to their report, there are problems regarding the right to health; the complaints of the prisoners are being swept under the carpet, arbitrary disciplinary punishments violate basic rights.

The lawyer of Commander of Trabzon’s Provincial Command Post, Colonel Ali Öz, who is accused with neglecting to foil the Hrant Dink murder, has demanded for a recusation of the judge. The decision of the higher court is awaited. The trial will continue on 15 September.

The expert report stating that the three books in the “Sexual books” series by Sel Publishing are literary work and cannot be accused with obscenity, has not proved enough. The court is awaiting the opinion of The Prime Ministry Board for the Protection of Children from Harmful Publications.

Activists have called on the government and the parliament to ratify the international convention on cluster munitions. Turkey is among countries that produce and store cluster munitions.

Writers, journalists, artists, scholars and activists, who have stated that they will “neither say yes, nor no” on 12 September when the constitutional amendment package will be voted, call for a “boycott.” The activists have called on “the citizens not to go to polls at the referendum for the constitutional amendments that keeps the 12 September spirit.”

Good weather, stability and warm- hearted people. All sell well with the tourists but how do young Maltese people live? What do they make out of living on a tiny Euro-Med island with ambitions of becoming an international communications hub? How does it feel to be a young person living in densely populated Malta today?

Work and money seem to be the number one preoccupation of most of the Maltese between twenty to thirty years of age. Subsistence, precarious employment and living up to one’s expectations are however only part of the complexities which define youths in present day Malta. Relationships, single-parenthood, immigration and education are still very much on the agenda.

Prof. Balkır, Dean of the Kocaeli University Faculty of Law, was sentenced to a monetary fine of TL 3,000 in compensation on the grounds of a complaint filed by Assoc. Prof Çakır because of harassment.

The Sledgehammer investigation was apparently "halted" after a meeting of Prime Minister Erdoğan and General Başbuğ, as reported by Taraf newspaper. The Hürriyet daily sees the reason in expected promotions of 11 generals and admirals part of the group of army officers subject to arrest warrants in the course of the investigation.

An Istanbul court handed a 1year and 3 months prison sentence to Fehmi Kılıç, editorial manager of the Revolutionary Movement magazine because of "spreading propaganda for a terror organization".

Hundreds of supporters came to the first hearing of the case against sociologist Beşikçi and lawyer Şimşek. Both defendants face imprisonment under charges of "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization". The case was postponed to 12 November.

Palestinian youth in the Gaza Strip make up the biggest segment of society trapped in a strip of land with the highest population density. Overview on the situation of youth in Gaza.

The active blogs of a few years ago, which scrutinised social violence and confrontations between the opposition and the police, seem to have waned in popularity today. Their success was attained neither by Facebook nor by mini-blogs, like dormant volcanoes whose eruption has been postponed eternally.

What do young Egyptians aspire for today? The generation between 18-29 years of age is ageing prematurely. Young Egyptians don’t dream of fulfilling their dreams anymore or travelling to discover the world. Their ambitions are threatened and their dreams are diminishing due to increasingly bad economic conditions, which haven’t spared any field.

“Tiaret: the town hall’s headquarters besieged by dozens of Young people” is the title of the newspaper ‘Liberté’ of the 1st of February 2009. In this locality, situated in the East of the capital city, young people have stormed the town hall to protest against their life conditions and particularly against unemployment.