? UNHCR/Andrew McConnell
TORBALI, Turkey – One man can change lives. Just ask the Syrian refugees in Torbali, near Izmir, about the work of Levent Topçu. Levent, known to the refugees simply by his first name, is the 52-year-old general manager of Ege, a Turkish company that makes leather goods and employs 60 people. More important, he is part of a group of Facebook friends who created an association to help people in need, including some of the 2.7 million Syrian refugees in Turkey. Levent and his friends, with some help from UNHCR, have transformed the existence of more than 100 people here. Three months ago, his group renovated an abandoned building, making it suitable for several families to live in. Then Levent went to the miserable shelters and tents put up by refugees next to the fields where they worked.
Though the New Orleans Pelicans finished with a mediocre 30-52 record, there is always hope for a brighter tomorrow with Anthony Davis on the roster. However, chances are his job would be significantly easier were he not weighted down by several teammates. One such player standing front and center is Omer Asik. Now that the NBA season has crowned a champion, it is officially the start of the off-season for all 30 teams. All locker rooms outside of Cleveland will look to improve on their recent campaigns in hopes of challenging the Cavaliers starting next October.
Nearly $206 million poured into organizations promoting hate against Muslim in the U.S. in 2008-2013, a report released Monday revealed. Released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Center for Race and Gender at University of California Berkeley, the report lists 33 Islamophobic organizations as the inner-core groups funded with at least $205,838,077 in total revenue as they “promote prejudice against and hatred of Islam and Muslims.”
