Berlin outcry over Christmas 'ban' at Istanbul school

Berlin voiced outrage Sunday over an alleged decision by a German-backed international school in Istanbul to scrap Christmas festivities, although the claim was swiftly denied in Turkey. "We don't understand the surprising decision by the management of the Istanbul Lisesi," said the German foreign ministry. Set up in 1884, Istanbul Lisesi is a Turkish-German bilingual state school but is partly backed by the German government.