For the Native Americans living in tiny settlements scattered across the vast reaches of the Navajo Nation, getting an education isn’t easy, but it is an opportunity guaranteed to them by American laws and treaties.  Alden Woods of the Arizona Republic and Pro Publica notes, providing that schooling isn’t easy for the Bureau of Indian Education.  But that’s no excuse for BIE’s many failings, which include often-poor academic standards and an addiction to extreme un-transparency.

Hagia Sophia, the 6^th century architectural masterpiece at the heart of Istanbul, Turkey was built as a Roman Catholic cathedral.  It has, over 1500 years, been devoted to the Eastern Orthodox Church, Islam and the Turkish secular state.  Now, it’s been reclaimed for Islam and the political interests of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the re-opening of the mosque has been celebrated by selected Muslims and selected political supporters. Pinar Tremblay of Al-Monitor has the story.