The attack happened during "Heartbeat: Silence after the Explosion", written and performed by the Parwaz theatre group and the group Awaz at the French Cultural Centre in Kabul. The subject of the musical play was the aftermath of a bombing. The theatre group and the audience was clearly the target of the suicide terrorist. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the performance underway was immoral.
http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/17435-foreigner-killed-inside-istiqlal-high-school
Please, read the testimonial by Joana Sherman from the Bond Street Theatre, New York which we got via the network from our colleagues from Theatre without Borders (http://www.theatrewithoutborders.com).
ITI's secretary of the Executive Board, Ali Mahdi, has offered his support as UNESCO Artist for Peace.

A new study published by EY (formerly Ernst & Young) to the European Commission shows that cultural and creative industries are among the EU’s biggest employers and have experienced sustained growth even through recession. Jean-Noël Tronc, CEO of French authors’ society Sacem, commented that “The creative and cultural sectors are an integral part of the digital economy." No doubt that culture will kept as far as possible as an integral part of the Trans Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations between the US and the EU!
Over 1,1 Million people in the EU have already signed the Stop TTIP campaign.

The 34 ITI World Congress in Yerevan is over. ACAR will go on and was happy to welcome new people during the meetings. We aim to have one contact person for artists rights at every ITI centre. The official congress report will take some time. In between the keynote for the congress opening by Alfons Karabuda (UN Human Rights Council) is accessible at the ACAR website. As well we have some motions and declarations which have been adopted by the congress: the declaration on artists’ visa and the motion to support the consolidated UNESCO report on the status of the artists which ACAR both brought to the congress. See also the congress declaration “On the international trade negotiations concerning free intellectual exchange and their implications for the performing arts” (English and French).

The International Theatre Festival Baltic Circle was forced to censor the final scene of the piece Ceci n’est pas… (This is not my body) by Dries Verhoeven at Lasipalatsi square in Helsinki on Sunday November 16. The police denied permission to present the artwork in its original form. “As a festival festival director, I am ashamed that Helsinki is the only one of the eight cities where this artwork has been censored” – Eva Neklyaeva, the director of the Baltic Circle Festival.

ACAR is an active part of the 34th World Congress programm in Yerevan/Armenia. We have invited an UN expert on Human Rights Council as keyword speaker and an open seminar will inform about recent obstacles and challenges in artists mobility.

Via the ITI International Playwright Forum (IPF) we received a staggering report on the recent events on the streets of Hong Kong.

Many European culture organisations and political groups made clear statements against the nomination of the Hungarian politician Navracsics to the new Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth, and citizenship. The "Stop Tibor Navracsics" campaign on change.org campaign has collected 1850 supporters. Update: MEPs rejected Navracsics, but he could still be commissioner for other resorts.
The Hungarian Association of Independent Performing Artists wrote an open letter to the Members of the European Paliament which we received via the International Theatre Critics Association (IACT):

Global expenditure on development over the next 15 years will be defined by the final goal document to be agreed by UN Member States in coming months. If culture is not mentioned, it will be extremely difficult for countries to elaborate policies and provide funds for projects that rely on culture's role as a driver and an enabler of sustainable development.'Culture' was completely absent from the Millennium Development Goals document. ITI and many other culture NGOs have signed already, you can join the campaign online.

ITI Sweden received an urgent call for help from the Theatre Day Productions in Gaza. Please, read the letter and spread the information.

Teatro Valle Occupato, awarded with Princes-Margriet-Award of the European Cultureal Foundation this year, proposed a new model of a city theatre for the next three years based on an open and transparent process involving the City, the Teatro di Roma and the 5600 members of the Fondazione Bene Comune (the Foundation for the Commons). Now, the theatre is close before eviction by police. AVAAZ started a campaign, please, sign here

Via the Danish ITI centre (thank you, Susanne) we received a report about the present situation of theatre and theatre artists in Greece.  Read "Greeak Art in State of Emergency" by Elli Papakonstantinou, artistic director of "Vyrsodepseio" network and performance space, Athens/Greece.