Violent scuffles erupted in Ukraine's parliament on Thursday evening over a bill that would allow the use of the Russian language in courts, hospitals and other institutions in the Russian-speaking regions of the country. (May 25) Continue reading →
ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (AP) -- For Egypt's most conservative Islamists, the country's first competitive presidential election has been a test of their political savvy as they try to plant the seeds for turning the country into an Islamic state. The Salafis, known for their no-compromise, literal interpretation of the faith, are political newcomers. They long concentrated on preaching and many of them shunned involvement in politics, believing it would require sinful concessions. Some of their clerics even said Western-style democracy itself is dangerous since it could override God's rule and laws. But in the landmark presidential vote, the first round of which was held Wednesday and Thursday, Egypt's Salafis tested the waters of electoral maneuvering as they tried to choose which of two main Islamist candidates ... Continue reading →
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Recent rapes blamed on African migrants have ignited a political and emotional backlash against their ballooning numbers, with Israelis and their leaders stridently - and in an alarming new development, violently - calling for their expulsion. Israel, bound by an international refugees treaty it ardently promoted, doesn't seem to have that option, and the gap between rhetoric and reality threatens to send simmering social antagonisms boiling over into open conflict. It has raised questions, relevant all over the developed world, about how much is owed to the impoverished migrants who manage to sneak in. Over the past seven years, as many as 60,000 African migrants, most from Sudan and Eritrea, have slipped across Israel's border with Egypt, exploiting the lack of a ... Continue reading →
