Helsinki

A lawsuit filed against a Greek author and historian under Greece's anti-racism legislation over claims she defamed Islam and incited violence via a comment in one of her articles is testing the boundaries between free speech and what could be considered offensive language.

Author Soti Triantafyllou is to stand trial this summer after she was accused of using racist language in an article.

Triantafyllou included a quote in her piece, which she attributed to Marco Polo, that described a moderate Muslim as "someone who holds your head while they cut it off."

I was born the citizen of a country that frequently boasts of its rich history and its ability to transform a multicultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious empire into a secular republic. My country of birth is proud of its heroes - rulers, military men and, often, military men who became rulers. 

Anti-racist and anti-homophobia groups including the Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) and Athens Pride, have joined forces in filing suit against a teacher of religious education in Xanthi, northern Greece, for distributing homophobic material.

A Serbian veterans' [40-plus] team "Drvene nogice" [Little Wooden Legs] and Helsinki's "Midnight Bats" will cross swords - literally - on Thursday evening in an ice hockey match organized to mark the centenary of the independence of Finland.

Ethiopian-born Turkish athlete Elvan Abeylegesse has been stripped of the two silver medals she claimed at the Beijing 2008 Olympics over 5,000m and 10,000m, along with her 10,000m silver medal from the 2007 World Championships, for doping violations.

Greece's plan for a one-off payout to pensioners before Christmas has not been consulted with the country's lenders and raises questions if Athens can return to markets before the end of the bailout, the head of the eurozone bailout fund ESM said.

ISTANBUL - The Serbia men's national basketball team was on Tuesday drawn to play Turkey, Russia, Latvia, Belgium and Great Britain in Group D of EuroBasket 2017 in Istanbul.

The draw ceremony was held in Istanbul, which will also host the final stage of the competition.

Basketball team of SerbiaPhoto: FIBA

ISTANBUL - The Serbia men's national basketball team was on Tuesday drawn to play Turkey, Russia, Latvia, Belgium and Great Britain in Group D of EuroBasket 2017 in Istanbul.

The draw ceremony was held in Istanbul, which will also host the final stage of the competition.

Russia is due to conduct an unarmed observation flight over Turkish territory following the normalization of relations between the two countries, a Turkish diplomatic source said Oct. 24.