Turkish Airlines’ red-lipstick ban aims to further company’s “visual integrity”

Europe’s fourth-largest carrier, Turkish Airlines, has banded its female flight attendants from wearing red lipstick and nail polish—but they may wear pastel tones. Turkish said the purpose of the makeup ban is to improve communication with passengers. But, Reuters and USA Today reported the change might be representative of how Turkey is molding into a more secular country. The Guardian World News reported that Turkey is 99 percent Muslim. Reuters cited a believer of this so-called Islamisation, the president of the Hava-Is labor union Atilay Aycin.

“No one can deny that Turkey has become a more conservative, religious country,” Aycin told Reuters. The Guardian included a quote from a Turkey Airlines passenger who does not believe Turkey is becoming more secular.

“I’ve never heard of a plane crashing because of women’s lipstick,” passenger Ahmet Yerli, 33, said before boarding the plane.

Chavez’s successor claims former Colombian president plots to kill him 

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he has evidence former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is involved in a plot to kill him, according to BBC World News. Maduro also reportedly accused Uribe of being partly behind the death of a Venezuelan journalist. Maduro—who won the disputed Venezuelan elections last April to succeed the late Hugo Chavez said the right-winged sector of Venezuela was also involved. Uribe said he will take Maduro’s accusations to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, calling the accusations “immature.” Uribe also wants a libel investigation; he said the accusations have put his life at risk. Uribe said Maduro was a “desperate person who holds power illegitimately … (who wanted to) divert the attention from the corruption and illegality sponsored by the dictatorship he runs.”

Obama tells Mexico that U.S. shares blame in drug-fueled violence 

President Barack Obama visited Mexico last Friday, where he spoke about drug-related violence and “the impressive progress in today’s Mexico.” Obama spoke Spanish to his audience, telling them it was a pleasure to be among friends, according to Reuters. Obama said the Mexican drug wars are not entirely to blame on the Mexican people. He said the violence comes from U.S. demand for illegal drugs and the weapons smuggled into Mexico from the U.S. That evening, Obama dined with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and 10 other guests at the Miguel Aleman house, according to Mexican blog Animal Politico. According to BBC Mundo, part of Obama’s agenda was to talk to Peña Nieto about the new Mexican regime’s approach on the war on drugs.