ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s Constitutional Court said yesterday it was a crime to comment on ongoing court cases in an apparent warning to politicians engaged in a war of words over a legal bid to close the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). “We condemn the reckless statements and criticisms, which lack any human or moral value, of the rulings made by the court,” the court statement said. “It is clear that what is being said and done about cases under consideration is a crime under the Turkish Penal Code. It is troubling that officials and those in authority are inactive on this subject,” it said.

ZAGREB (AFP) – The UN refugee agency yesterday urged Croatia and Serbia to work together to resolve the fate of tens of thousands of war refugees. “The two governments have an interest and a responsibility to sit together to look at where the (refugee) issues still are and how best to cooperate,” Erika Feller, of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, told AFP. “We hope that it would happen and we are happy to do whatever we can to encourage this,” said Feller, the UNHCR’s assistant high commissioner for protection. There are some 70,000 Croatian Serb refugees living in Serbia.

Turkey and Syria are considering setting up a joint energy company and could build joint nuclear power plants for electricity, Syria’s oil minister was quoted as saying yesterday. Turkey’s Antolia agency quoted Oil Minister Sufian Alao as saying the two countries will announce the establishment of a joint energy company in the coming days, which could explore for oil in Turkey, Syria and in third countries. “We could also enter into cooperation in the nuclear field. I spoke to (Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Guler) on cooperation. In the future we could found joint nuclear power plants for electricity production,” he was quoted as saying. (Reuters)

The Serb Orthodox Church in Bosnia began yesterday to relocate a church built on the site of a mosque destroyed during the country’s war, SRNA news agency reported. The church, built in the final year of Bosnia’s 1992-1995 war at Divic village, near the eastern town of Zvornik, was to be relocated 1 kilometer away from the current site. The mosque was destroyed by Serb forces who captured large swathes of eastern Bosnia at the outbreak of the conflict, expelling almost all Croats and Muslims. (AFP)

Tapestries stitched in Libyan jail cells by Bulgarian medics freed from death row last year go on display in Paris next week as the group desperately seeks ways of raising cash. The works, embroidered during eight-and-a-half-years spent in jail by the five Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian doctor, are to be shown at the Bulgarian Cultural Center in Paris from June 16 to 20. “Embroidering helped us pass these difficult times more quickly,” nurse Valia Cherveniashka told AFP in Sofia. “Today I live in misery,” she added. “The euphoria of our return is over and we are alone.” (AFP)

A replica of the Argo, the mythical ship that bore Jason and the Argonauts on their heroic quest for the Golden Fleece, sets sail again after six years of preparation, organizers said yesterday. Built with Bronze Age tools to the specifications of a 14th-century BC vessel of the Mycenaean era, the 28.5-meter (93-foot) wooden ship will sail from the central Greek port of Volos on Saturday. The 50-oar ship will carry a crew from all 27 European Union member states and sail a total distance of 1,200 nautical miles (2,222 kilometers) from Volos to Venice, project member Vangelis Constantinou told AFP. The Argo will sail to the Adriatic and make port calls in Albania, Montenegro and Slovenia before reaching Venice on August 12. (AFP)

The Romanian Orthodox Church has welcomed the decision of the country’s top court to allow religious icons to remain in schools. The Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a 2007 appeal court ruling that icons should be removed from schools because they discriminated against atheists and people of other religions. (AP)

An Interior Ministry official says 20 people are being investigated for allegedly accepting bribes in exchange for issuing Romanian driving permits. Gabriel Preda says the investigation into alleged corruption involves several ministry employees. Romanian news agencies say police seized computers and documents yesterday from the department that issues driving permits and car registration documents in the southern town of Pitesti. (AP)