The civil war in Syria is not only causing human suffering, it is also endangering the nation's historic legacy. Most recently, extensive damage was inflicted on Aleppo's ancient bazaar. Björn Zimprich discusses the consequences of this destruction with Stefan Knost, who took part in historic excavations in Aleppo several years ago
Despite short phases of relative freedom for Iran's press, the scope for journalists who are critical of the government has narrowed steadily. Ghasem Toulany looks back over the last thirty years
Despite all the harassment by religious moral watchdogs, Iran has been witness to the development of a vital music scene. Although strongly popular among the country's youth, many bands still live in the shadows even today. By Arian Fariborz
Together with German and Persian musicians, the baritone opera singer Holger Falk further developed German music by Johannes Brahms and Robert Schumann that was composed based on Hafez' poetry. By Ali Attar
The "Islamic Cultural Center" in Dublin has taken on a very ambitious project in order to bring a segment of the Irish population a little closer to Islam: the translation of the Koran into Gaelic. Arian Fariborz reports on the project