25-10-2025

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Here are five things about Turkey’s Hagia Sophia

ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be among the hundreds of people on Friday who will participate in the first prayers at Hagia Sophia since the country’s top court revoked the Istanbul landmark’s museum status.

Here are five things to know about the Hagia Sophia:

What is the Hagia Sophia?

The edifice was first built as an Orthodox Christian cathedral between 532 and 537 AD under emperor Justinian I and is considered the most important Byzantine structure.

After the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople (now Istanbul) in 1453, it was converted into a mosque before being opened as a museum in 1935 after the secular modern Turkish republic was established in 1923.

It was added to the list of UNESCO world heritage sites in 1985.

Until now it has been the principal tourist attraction in Turkey, hosting millions of visitors every year — 3.8 million in 2019.

What is its official status?

Following the July 10 decision, it reverts from being a museum to a mosque.

The Council of State, Turkey’s highest administrative court, unanimously cancelled a 1934 cabinet decision and said Hagia Sophia was registered as a mosque in its property deeds.

There has been more religious activity inside the museum in recent years — Erdogan recited the first verse of the Quran there in 2018.

As early as 1994 when he was running for mayor of Istanbul, Erdogan had promised to open the building to Muslim worshippers.

The main opposition party has accused the government of using the issue to distract voters from economic woes and other issues during the coronavirus pandemic.

What about Byzantine heritage?

Experts were concerned after the ruling for the future of the Byzantine mosaics depicting Christian figures, but the government has sought to offer reassurances that they will be protected.

Turkey’s religious affairs agency said the mosaics would be hidden during prayers with curtains since Islam prohibits any figurative representation.

Outside of worship hours, they will be visible to visitors.

What will change for visitors?

Turkish officials insist tourists will still be able to visit the Hagia Sophia, just as they are able to see the Blue Mosque nearby.

Erdogan said the building would remain open to all, including non-Muslims.

Tourists will now even be able to visit the building for free, compared to previously when they had to pay for entry to the museum.

What is the international community’s position?

The landmark ruling has already inflamed tensions not just with the West and Turkey’s historic foe Greece, but also Russia, with which Erdogan has forged an increasingly close partnership in recent years.

Turkey-Greece relations are already strained over migration and drilling in the eastern Mediterranean.

Greece branded the move an “open provocation to the civilised world”, while the Russian Orthodox Church said Turkey had ignored “millions of Christians” with its move.

The United States had also urged against altering its status. Pope Francis said he was “very distressed” over the change.

The UN’s cultural agency UNESCO said it deeply regretted Turkey’s decision, which was “taken without prior dialogue”.

KP govt still clueless about Peshawar BRT project’s inauguration

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is yet to announce the exact date for the inauguration of its flagship Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project despite two-and-a half years of its launch, reported The News.

According to the publication, the government at the BRT’s launch in October 2017 had set the deadline for the project’s completion in July 2018 despite the PC-1 report suggesting that it would be completed by April 2021.

After the first deadline was missed, the government had set three more in 2018 and 2019, with former minister Shaukat Yousafzai also claiming that the BRT would become operational by April of the ongoing year.

Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Information and Local Government Kamran Bangash did not respond to The News about questions regarding the project.

Meanwhile, Peshawar Development Authority Director General Syed Zafar Ali Shah told The News that he could not share the exact launch date of the project as its operational issues do not fall under the PDA’s jurisdiction.

When asked about the protest camp organised by people who claimed to be performing security duties for the project, Shah said he did know about the issue and had asked the contractor for details of the problem.

According to The News, protesting workers have said that their contracts were terminated and their employees were not paying salaries for the past five months. They have also alleged that contractors had hired their replacements for twice the salary.

Shah also said that the cost of the project was below Rs66 billion with an additional Rs35 billion expected to be spent on finishing and establishing two depots, one in Hayatabad and another in Dabgari. He added that most of the expenses would be off the corridor and cannot be considered as the project’s cost.

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) in December 2017 had ruled that the BRT was in accordance with the law. However, in a detailed judgement, it ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to probe the project.

The provincial government and the PDA filed a civil petition for leave to appeal in the apex court, requesting to set aside the court order. A bench of the apex court headed by then Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar suspended the high court order.

Another high court bench had directed the FIA in November 2019 to probe the project. However, the Supreme Court stopped the Federal Investigation Agency from probing alleged irregularities in the project.

Elton John’s ex-wife demands £3m over memoir

Sir Elton John’s ex-wife , who was married to the sunfer from 1984 until 1988, is suing the 73-year-old singer for writing about their relationship in his 2019 memoir ‘Me’.

Renate Blauel is seeking an estimated £3m in damages amid claims Elton John broke the terms of their divorce deal.

The 67-year-old The sound engineer previously filed for an injunction against her ex-husband back in June. New documents filed on 16 July claim that comments made by the ‘Rocket Man’ singer in his 2019 autobiography ‘Me’ about his relationship with Renate, which reportedly broke the terms of an agreement they made when they split up.

The disclosures triggered long-standing mental health problems, she claimed.

In response, Sir Elton’s defence acknowledged the existence of the divorce agreement, which both parties signed, but denied any breaches or causing “psychological harm”.

Sir Elton, according to papers filed at the High Court in London, agreed to remove certain passages from his autobiography before it was published last year, and in the final draft, Ms Blauel only appears on eight pages.

Sir Elton describes her in positive terms throughout the book, calling her “dignified”, “decent” and “someone I couldn’t fault in any way”.

Amitabh Bachchan breaks silence on reports about him testing negative for COVID-19

Amitabh Bachchan has repeatedly denied testing negative for coronavirus, as reported by Times of India.

The veteran actor has refuted such reports even after rumours of a plausible recovery surfaced all over social media.

A source close to the veteran actor had confirmed that he had not tested negative for COVID-19, and later on, Amitabh confirmed the same.

He was reportedly admitted to a local Mumbai hospital on July 12, after he tested positive for COVID-19 along with his son Abhishek.

A few days later, Aishwarya Rai and her daughter Aaradhya also tested positive for the deadly virus.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates rubbishes theory he created coronavirus

Microsoft founder Bill Gates slammed conspiracy theories on social media that accuse him of inventing the coronavirus that has killed more than 600,000 across the globe.

“It’s a bad combination of pandemic and social media and people looking for a very simple explanation,” he said during a CNN Town Hall interview.

Doctored photos and fabricated news articles crafted by conspiracy theorists — shared thousands of times on social media platforms and messaging apps, in various languages — targeting Gates have gained traction online since the start of the pandemic.

A video accusing Gates of wanting “to eliminate 15% of the population” through vaccination and electronic microchips has racked up millions of views on YouTube.

“Our foundation has given more money to buy vaccines to save lives than any group,” Gates said, referring to his eponymous foundation.

He has pledged $250 million in efforts to fight the pandemic, and his foundation has spent billions of dollars improving health care in developing countries over the past 20 years.

“So you just turn that around. You say, okay, we’re making money and we’re trying to kill people with vaccines or by inventing something,” Gates continued.

“And at least it’s true, we’re associated with vaccines, but you actually have sort of flipped the connection,” he said, adding he hopes the conspiracies don’t generate “vaccine hesitancy.”

Since the start of the crisis, AFP Fact Check has debunked dozens of anti-Gates rumors circulating on platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram in languages including English, French, Spanish, Polish and Czech.

A number of accusations, including posts claiming that the FBI arrested Gates for biological terrorism or that he supports a Western plot to poison Africans, share a common thread.

They accuse the tycoon of exploiting the crisis, whether it is to “control people” or make money from selling vaccines.

“I’m a big believer in getting the truth out,” Gates told CNN.

It is not the first time Gates has found himself targeted by conspiracy theorists. When Zika virus broke out in 2015 in Brazil, he was one of several powerful Western figures blamed for the disease.

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COVID-19: Zulfikar Bukhari leaves for UAE to address issues of Pakistani expats

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development (OP&HRD) Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari on Wednesday left for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to address and resolve the issue of Pakistani expats stranded in foreign country due to coronavirus.

According to the statement issued by the OP&HRD ministry, the SAPM, in his two-day visit, would also meet the UAE Labour Minister for the redressal of the issues being faced by the Pakistani workers in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

“This is the first interaction of UAE labour ministry with a representative of any country with such a large diaspora to address workforce issues and post-COVID reintegration plan,” read the official news release.

Apart from holding meetings with the consulate staff involved in the process of facilitating the overseas Pakistanis during the pandemic, the SAPM would also have press interaction during his visit and would meet with PTI overseas office bearers to encourage them for assisting the Pakistanis in the Gulf state.

The premier’s aide is also scheduled to hold an interaction with the Dubai-based Pakistani donors who had carried out philanthropic activities and made huge contributions.

The SAPM would pay gratitude to them on behalf of Prime Minister Imran Khan and the entire nation for looking after their countrymen in the hour of need.

“This is the first visit after reopening of airspace to address overseas Pakistanis’ issues since the onset of coronavirus pandemic,” the ministry noted.

Pakistan is a big labour supplier to the UAE, with more than a million Pakistanis living and working in the country, according to Pakistani diplomats.

Shahzad Akbar appointed PM’s Adviser on Accountability and Interior

ISLAMABAD: Barrister Mirza Shahzad Akbar has been appointed as Adviser to the Prime Minister on Accountability and Interior with the status of a federal minister with immediate effect, a notification from the Cabinet Division issued Wednesday read.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Communications Shahbaz Gill shared the notification, which stated that Akbar “shall cease to hold the office of the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability and Interior” consequent to upon his appointment as the adviser.

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