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Contents contributed and discussions participated by qkirkpatrick

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qkirkpatrick

Israel PM Netanyahu attacks Orange boss for pulling deal - BBC News - 0 views

www.bbc.com/...world-middle-east-33013390

israel palestine history crisis culture

shared by qkirkpatrick on 05 Jun 15 - No Cached
  • Israel's Prime Minister has attacked the boss of the French telecom giant Orange for looking to pull out of a deal with an Israeli partner.
  • Partner controls close to 28% of Israel's mobile market and while Orange has a licensing deal with Partner, allowing it to use the Orange brand name, it does not have a controlling stake in the company.
  • On 6 May, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), a Paris-based NGO, said: "Partner is building infrastructure on confiscated Palestinian land and offers services to settlers and the Israeli army."
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • Jewish settlements on occupied territory are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this. Neither Israel nor Partner commented on the FIDH report.
  • At a conference in Cairo on Wednesday, Mr Richard said: "I am ready to abandon this [partnership] tomorrow morning but the point is that I want to secure the legal risk for the company.
  • "We want to be one of the trustful partners of all Arab countries."
  • "Simultaneously, I call on our friends to say in a clear and loud voice that they object to any kind of boycott against the Jewish state."
  • qkirkpatrick on 05 Jun 15
     
    Company pulls deal with Partner Communications after finding out they build infrastructure on confiscated Palestinian land
qkirkpatrick

Ukraine's Poroshenko warns of 'full-scale' Russia invasion - BBC News - 0 views

www.bbc.com/...world-europe-33003237

ukraine russia history politics

shared by qkirkpatrick on 04 Jun 15 - No Cached
  • Russia has denied that its military is involved in Ukraine, but Mr Poroshenko said 9,000 of its troops were deployed.
  • The outbreak of violence, in the government-held towns of Maryinka and Krasnohorivka, was among the worst in eastern Ukraine since a ceasefire was signed in Minsk in February.
  • If there is a spike in fighting, like the battle in the town of Maryinka on Wednesday, then both sides know they cannot be seen as the aggressor, because they lose credibility and damage the negotiating position of their allies in either Moscow, or in European capitals.
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  • Neither side wants to be seen as responsible for breaking the highly publicised, but so far unsuccessful, Minsk peace agreement.
  • "Ukraine's military should be ready for a new offensive by the enemy, as well as a full-scale invasion along the entire border with the Russian Federation," he said. "We must be really prepared for this."
  • More than 6,400 people have been killed in eastern Ukraine since the conflict began in April 2014 when rebels seized large parts of the two eastern regions, following Russia's annexation of the Crimea peninsula.
  • Mr Poroshenko said Ukraine had 50,000 troops in the east who were able to defend the country.
  • qkirkpatrick on 04 Jun 15
     
    Tensions rise in Ukraine and Russia
qkirkpatrick

Ratings of Muslims rise in France after Charlie Hebdo, just as in U.S. after 9/11 | Pew... - 0 views

www.pewresearch.org/...gs-of-muslims-in-france-and-us

politics history culture muslims religion

shared by qkirkpatrick on 04 Jun 15 - No Cached
  • The attack on the Paris offices of the satirical publication Charlie Hebdo in January was the most devastating terrorist incident in France since the Algerian War more than five decades ago
  • In the aftermath, there has been considerable debate in France about the extent of radicalization among the country’s nearly 5 million Muslim
  • attitudes toward Muslims have become slightly more positive over the past year
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • A new Pew Research Center survey finds that 76% in France say they have a favorable view of Muslims living in their country, similar to the 72% registered in 2014.
  • The pattern is similar to what we found in the U.S. following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Favorable views of Muslim Americans rose from 45% in March 2001 to 59% in November of that year. The increase took place across partisan and ideological groups, with the biggest improvement occurring among conservative Republicans.
  • To many, these changes may seem counterintuitive, especially since much social science research suggests that the more people feel threatened by a minority group, the more likely they are to have negative attitudes toward that group.
  • However, following the attacks in both countries there were widespread calls for national unity, and important statements by national leaders (including presidents Bush and Hollande) making it clear that violent extremists do not represent Islam
  • It is also worth noting that favorable ratings of Muslim Americans declined slightly following the post-9/11 bounce. By 2007, just 53% of Americans expressed a positive view, down 6 percentage points from the November 2001 survey though still significantly higher than the 45% in the March 2001 poll.
  • qkirkpatrick on 04 Jun 15
     
    Ratings of Muslims in France go up after attack
qkirkpatrick

Turkey's Elections Will Test Power of the President - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...-tayyip-erdogan-kurds-hdp.html

turkey history culture politics

shared by qkirkpatrick on 04 Jun 15 - No Cached
  • ISTANBUL — Fighter jets raced across the Istanbul sky, painting the Turkish flag with ribbons of colored smoke, as a military band with nearly 600 musicians marched below. Hundreds of thousands of people looked on, in an event that quickly took on the fervor of a religiously infused political rally.
  • The event being celebrated so lavishly last Saturday occurred 562 years ago, when the Ottomans conquered what was then called Constantinople
  • Never mind that when Turkish voters choose a new Parliament on Sunday, Mr. Erdogan will not be on the ballot. The election will still largely be a referendum on him, and on his plans to transform Turkey’s Constitution and concentrate more power in an executive presidency
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  • Mr. Erdogan’s power has seemed to grow in the presidency, as he consolidated his grip on the judiciary, tightened restrictions on the news media and moved into an immense new presidential palace.
  • Mr. Erdogan was once lauded as a reformer for pushing for minority rights, peace with Turkey’s restive Kurds, an overhaul of the economy and membership in the European Union.
  • Mr. Erdogan began his speech at the rally by reciting verses from the Quran, bringing tears to the eyes of many supporters. He challenged secular Turks who are uncomfortable with his government by saying, “We will not give way to those who speak out against our call to prayer,” and the audience responded with shouts of “Allahu akbar” — God is great.
  • The polls indicate that the party’s support has slipped a bit from the last election in 2011, when it received almost half the vote. With economic growth slowing and many liberals who once backed Mr. Erdogan now critical of his authoritarian bent, support for his party is running in the range of 43 to 45 percent, on average.
  • The election campaign has been marred by violence, with bombings at the offices of the Kurdish party, and by plenty of vitriol, some of it directed at Mr. Erdogan’s new palace.
  • qkirkpatrick on 04 Jun 15
     
    Turkey has elections coming up, and it could bring major change. 
qkirkpatrick

'Defending the Faith' in the Middle East - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...-faith-in-the-middle-east.html

middle east history culture

shared by qkirkpatrick on 04 Jun 15 - No Cached
  • THE last several months have brought a dramatic escalation in conflict across the Middle East, almost all of it involving tensions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims
  • The kingdom has sent planeloads of weapons and millions of dollars to Sunni militants in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, many of them Salafi extremists. In contrast to Tehran, Riyadh has no compunction ab
  • And yet, as new and disturbing as these developments may appear, the linkage of sectarian and secular interests is a return to the classic geopolitics of religion in the Middle East
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  • Consider Imperial Russia’s claim to be the patron of Orthodox Christendom, a claim mainly targeted at its major regional rival, the Ottoman Empire. Following the Ottoman defeat in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768 to 1774, the Treaty of Kutchuk Kainardji allowed Russia to represent Orthodox Christians in Ottoman lands.
  • The most spectacular efforts to employ the geopolitics of religion were made by the Ottoman Empire during World War I. In 1914, the sheikh al-Islam, who oversaw the empire’s religious affairs, issued five fatwas, translated into numerous languages, urging Muslims in the British, French and Russian empires to revolt.
  • The politics of religion undermined the Westphalian order, based on the principles of state sovereignty and territorial integrity.
  • To weaken the order of transnational sectarian protectorates in the region, their underlying conflicts need to be resolved. The clients — Sunni or Shiite — must be sensibly accommodated in their states’ power structures, which will reduce the appeal of foreign patronage.
  • More important, the international community must prevent any further escalation of the struggle between their main protectors, Iran and Saudi Arabia.
  • qkirkpatrick on 04 Jun 15
     
    History of Middle East and how it has affected the events today.
qkirkpatrick

Turkey's Kurdish party at the threshold - The Washington Post - 0 views

www.washingtonpost.com/...kurdish-party-at-the-threshold

turkey history politics

shared by qkirkpatrick on 04 Jun 15 - No Cached
  • Turkey’s voters head to the polls June 7 in a critical test of the future of the country’s democratic system.
  • his year’s election campaign has been different: It is the ruling AKP which has doubled down on religious and ethnic identity issues, while its opponents have scaled back their traditional attention to those concerns in favor of economic issues
  • Instead, opposition parties are veering away from identity politics, with the secular-religious divide and (Kurdish) ethnic identity taking backseat vis-à-vis bread and butter issues.
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  • The AKP, in other words, has all but invited its opponents to pursue a secular, anti-religion or Kurdish ethnic identity oriented campaign.
  • In contrast to previous election campaigns, where aggressively secular or Kurdish electoral platforms alienated conservative Turkish voters, both parties have this year gone out of their way to avoid attacks on religion (CHP) or Turkish identity (HDP).
  • Recent public opinion surveys suggest that AKP hovers between 38 and 44 percent of the votes – far from its desired supermajority.
  • qkirkpatrick on 04 Jun 15
     
    Kurds moving up in Turkish Politics
qkirkpatrick

​Israel could lose 'credibility' over Netanyahu's stance on Palestine - Obama... - 0 views

rt.com/...-israel-lose-credibility-obama

israel palestine US history

shared by qkirkpatrick on 04 Jun 15 - No Cached
  • sraeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s inconsistent views on Palestine could cost Israel its world “credibility,” US President Barack Obama has warned. This is the latest jab at Netanyahu in the ongoing US-Israeli rift over Palestinian statehood.
  • Obama was responding to a question regarding Netanyahu’s contradictory comments made about the creation of a Palestinian state before and after the March’s general electio
  • From Obama’s point of view, Netanyahu is someone who is driven by fear. He is “predisposed to think of security first. To think perhaps that peace is naive … To see the worst possibilities, as opposed to the best possibilities in Arab partners or Palestinian partners, and so I do think that right now, those politics, and those fears are driving the government’s response," Obama said.
  • qkirkpatrick on 04 Jun 15
     
    Israeli Palestine conflcit
qkirkpatrick

Separatists say 15 people killed in clashes in east Ukraine: report | Reuters - 0 views

www.reuters.com/...sualties-idUSKBN0OJ1OU20150603

ukraine russia politics history

shared by qkirkpatrick on 04 Jun 15 - No Cached
  • A senior rebel commander said around 15 fighters and civilians had been killed as a result of clashes between Ukrainian government forces and separatists near rebel-controlled Donetsk on Wednesday, separatist press service DAN reporte
  • "At the moment around fifteen people have been killed, these are the Donetsk People's Republic's losses," rebel military official Vladimir Kononov was quoted as telling journalists in Donetsk. The report could not be independently verified.
  • Earlier, Ukraine's defense minister said an attempt by pro-Russian separatists to advance on Ukrainian troop positions near the town of Maryinka west of Donetsk had been halted for now. Rebels denied launching an offensive.
  • qkirkpatrick on 04 Jun 15
     
    Ukraine and Russia 
qkirkpatrick

Germany Offers Lukewarm Welcome to Egypt's Leader | Al Jazeera America - 0 views

america.aljazeera.com/...s-egyptian-president-sisi.html

egypt germany politics history

shared by qkirkpatrick on 04 Jun 15 - No Cached
  • The uneasy relationship between European economic interests and foreign policy ideals was on full display Wednesday in the German capital.
  • Standing by Sisi at a joint news conference in Berlin, Merkel said that Germany and Egypt have many common interests but maintain different views on issues such as the death sentence and other human rights matters. “I think that if one wants to be partners and solve complex issues, we have to be able talk about these things,” she said.
  • Despite Merkel’s criticism and the ideological sparring, the the trip has been a big success for Sisi, whose regime “presides over the gravest human rights crisis Egypt in decades,” according to a joint statement by Amnesty International and other nongovernmental organizations. She previously stated that she would not host him in Berlin until Egypt held fair parliamentary elections. Such elections have not yet taken place.
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  • Germany’s Parliament Speaker Norbert Lammert took a stand against the visit, saying there were no grounds for a meeting with Sisi because Sisi contributes neither to domestic peace nor to the democratization of his country.
  • “After El Sisi took over power in Egypt, they became a very strong partner of Israel —which is also a very important issue for Germany — containing the situation in Gaza,” Boehnke told Al Jazeera. “I think [Germany] wants to push Egypt to its more traditional role as one the stakeholders in the Middle East and one of the partners.”
  • qkirkpatrick on 04 Jun 15
     
    Egypt and European relations
qkirkpatrick

Middle East map carved up by caliphates, enclaves and fiefdoms - BBC News - 0 views

www.bbc.com/...world-middle-east-32930004

middle east history culture

shared by qkirkpatrick on 04 Jun 15 - No Cached
  • Nearly a century after the Middle East's frontiers were established by British and French colonialists, the maps delineating the region's nation states are being overtaken by events
  • Countries created to suit the imperial designs of London and Paris are being replaced by patches of territory carved out by jihadis, nationalists, rebels and warlords.
  • As some of the nation states disintegrate, once powerful capital cities become ever more irrelevant. The rest of the world may have embassies in the Middle East but, increasingly, there are no effective ministries for them to interact with.
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  • The Iraqi Kurds have been creating a legal infrastructure for oil exports for nearly a decade, while rebel forces in Libya and the Islamic State group have both accrued revenues from the oil industry
  • Even the most precious Middle Eastern resource of all - oil - is slipping out of government control.
  • Israel's borders remain a matter of impassioned debate. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new Deputy Foreign Minister, Tzipi Hotovely, recently told members of the Israeli diplomatic corps that they should tell the world that the West Bank belongs to the Jews.
  • The Middle East is facing years of turmoil. Many in the region are increasingly driven by religion and ideology rather than nationalism. For them - whether conservative or liberal, religious or secular - the priority is not to change lines on the map but to advance their view of how society should be organised.
  • qkirkpatrick on 04 Jun 15
     
    Changes to the map of the Middle East
qkirkpatrick

Dutch MP Geert Wilders to show Muhammad cartoons on TV - BBC News - 0 views

www.bbc.com/...world-europe-32997038

Muhammed culture religion

shared by qkirkpatrick on 04 Jun 15 - No Cached
  • Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders has said he will show cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a TV slot allocated to his party.
  • The cartoons were shown at an event in Texas last month which was attacked by two gunmen. Mr Wilders was a keynote speaker at the event.
  • Mr Wilders, who leads the Party for Freedom (PVV), has often expressed his distaste for Islam and mass immigration and has called for the Koran to be banned in the Netherlands.
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  • In December 2014 it was announced he would be prosecuted over allegations that he incited racial hatred against the country's Moroccan community.
  • There were widespread protests in 2006 when the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad.
qkirkpatrick

Isis executes three gay men by dangling them from top of 100ft building and letting go ... - 0 views

www.independent.co.uk/...g-and-letting-go-10294966.html

ISIS religion middle east

shared by qkirkpatrick on 04 Jun 15 - No Cached
  • The Isis militant group has reportedly murdered three gay men in the Iraqi city of Mosul by dropping them from the top of a 100ft building.
  • The photographs come as Isis continues to push for new ways to shock with its propaganda. It has used the same building before to kill men “convicted” in its courts of being gay.
  • On this occasion, which could not be independently verified, the victims appeared to be dangled from the top of the building by at least one Isis executioner wearing a leather jacket.
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  • At the end of last year, Isis published its penal code which lists amputation, stoning and crucifixion as the required punishments for certain crimes.
  • But it came as a US official attending a Paris summit said that some 10,000 Isis fighters have been killed by US-led coalition air strikes since they began last year.
  • qkirkpatrick on 04 Jun 15
     
    ISIS 
qkirkpatrick

How Saudi Arabia's 79-year-old King Salman is shaking up the Middle East - The Washingt... - 0 views

www.washingtonpost.com/...4-a47c-e56f4db884ed_story.html

history Religion policy

shared by qkirkpatrick on 04 Jun 15 - No Cached
  • When King Salman became Saudi Arabia’s ruler this year, few people expected much change. He was 79 and reputedly in ill health
  • But since taking the throne in January, Salman has shaken up Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy and the royal family’s succession plans.
  • He has launched a bombing campaign against Shiite rebels in Yemen and increased support for rebels in Syria, signaling a more assertive role for an oil-rich kingdom that traditionally relied on the United States for security. Salman’s goal, analysts say, is to guard Sunni Muslims against what he sees as the growing influence of Shiite Iran.
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  • Saudi experts note that the rise of younger leaders doesn’t necessarily mean more liberal policies.
  • The younger generation came of age as the kingdom’s relations with Washington were evolving. For the older generation, the U.S.-led liberation of Kuwait from Iraqi troops in 1991 was a defining moment
  • qkirkpatrick on 04 Jun 15
     
    Saudi Arabia and Shia vs Sunni tensions
qkirkpatrick

Egypt demolishes former President Hosni Mubarak's party headquarters - BBC News - 0 views

www.bbc.com/...world-middle-east-32952088

egypt president history

shared by qkirkpatrick on 03 Jun 15 - No Cached
  • Egypt has begun demolishing the headquarters of the now-dissolved party of former President Hosni Mubarak.
  • The building in Cairo near Tahrir Square was torched in the 2011 uprising that toppled Mubarak.
  • Egypt's government approved the move in April and said that the land would be given to the neighbouring Egyptian Museum.
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  • But he says that many will be deeply disappointed that in other, more important ways, their revolution failed to fulfil their expectations.
  • The ex-leader remains in the Maadi Military Hospital in Cairo where he has been held amid his trials.
  • His two sons were also given four years in prison in the same case, which centres on the embezzlement of $14m (£9.2m) earmarked for renovation of presidential palaces.
  • qkirkpatrick on 03 Jun 15
     
    Egyptian Changing Politically
qkirkpatrick

Fears of Shia muscle in Iraq's Sunni heartland - BBC News - 0 views

www.bbc.com/...world-middle-east-32786138

shia sunni Religion history

shared by qkirkpatrick on 02 Jun 15 - No Cached
  • Its fall was a massive blow to the Iraqi army, to Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and to the US, who had encouraged his policy of relying on the official armed force
  • But Sunni opinion is deeply split and troubled. Many are greatly concerned about the penetration into their areas of the Shia militias
  • Their action so deep inside the Sunni heartlands would raise fears of sectarian repercussions.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • The Shia militias played a key role in "liberating" another mainly Sunni provincial capital, Tikrit, from IS militants at the end of March.
  • Disgruntled Sunni leaders complain that national resources are being channelled to the Shia militias instead of the state forces.
  • qkirkpatrick on 02 Jun 15
     
    Shia vs Sunni in Middle East
qkirkpatrick

Iraq: Islamic State bomb attack 'kills 45 police officers' - BBC News - 0 views

www.bbc.com/...world-middle-east-32961448

iraq politics history relgion culture

shared by qkirkpatrick on 02 Jun 15 - No Cached
  • At least 45 Iraqi police officers have been killed in an attack by Islamic State (IS) militants in Anbar province, security officials say.
  • Anbar has been the scene of fierce fighting between pro-government forces and IS militants in recent weeks.
  • Security forces reportedly regained control of the facility from IS several days ago and were using it to launch operations aimed at cutting IS supply lines from Samarra, in neighbouring Salahuddin province, to Anbar.
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  • Three-thousand fighters had also completed basic training near Habbaniya military base, east of Ramadi, in preparation for the assault on the city, the source added.
  • qkirkpatrick on 02 Jun 15
     
    Fighting in Iraq  and Syria continues between ISIS and opposition trying to take control of the government. Sunni vs Shia 
qkirkpatrick

Egypt's El-Sissi Heads to Germany, Seeking Western Support - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...ap-ml-egypt-germany.html

egypt western history culture politics

shared by qkirkpatrick on 02 Jun 15 - No Cached
  • Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi travels to Berlin on Tuesday, where German leaders are ready to roll out the red carpet for the ex-general despite his government's abysmal human rights record.
  • But with much of the Middle East plunged into violent chaos in the years since the Arab Spring uprisings, Western nations have once again come to see many of the region's autocrats as partners for stability.
  • Just this past Sunday, Egypt's state-sanctioned rights body criticized the practice of detaining suspects for extended periods pending the filing of formal charges and trial. It said that at least 2,600 people were killed in violence in the 18 months following Morsi's overthrow, nearly half of them his supporters.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Another point of contention is Germany's Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, a non-governmental organization linked to Merkel's political party
  • qkirkpatrick on 02 Jun 15
     
    Egypt and  its Western allies
qkirkpatrick

Can Kurds Shake Up Turkey's Politics? - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...shake-up-turkeys-politics.html

turkey politics middle east history culture

shared by qkirkpatrick on 02 Jun 15 - No Cached
  • On Sunday more than 50 million Turks will go to the polls in parliamentary elections. No one doubts that the Justice and Development Party, or A.K.P., which has been in power since 2002
  • The answer will define Turkey’s immediate political future.
  • most of its predecessors were shut down by Turkey’s draconian courts for “separatism” or “links to terrorism.”
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • If the H.D.P. passes the 10-percent threshold, the party will gain close to 60 seats — twice the number currently held by their supporters in Parliament
  • Turkey has already seen too many radical ideological movements that claim to have reformed themselves, but act otherwise when they taste power. If Mr. Demirtas and the H.D.P. win big on Sunday, their challenge will be to avoid this pitfall and exercise their power more responsibly than Turkey’s current leaders have done in recent years.
  • qkirkpatrick on 02 Jun 15
     
    Turkey and the Kurds
qkirkpatrick

America's Changing Religious Landscape | Pew Research Center - 0 views

www.pewforum.org/...s-changing-religious-landscape

Religion america

shared by qkirkpatrick on 12 May 15 - No Cached
  • The Christian share of the U.S. population is declining, while the number of U.S. adults who do not identify with any organized religion is growing, according to an extensive new survey by the Pew Research Center.
  • While the drop in Christian affiliation is particularly pronounced among young adults, it is occurring among Americans of all ages.
  • But the major new survey of more than 35,000 Americans by the Pew Research Center finds that the percentage of adults (ages 18 and older) who describe themselves as Christians has dropped by nearly eight percentage points in just seven years, from 78.4% in an equally massive Pew Research survey in 2007 to 70.6% in 2014.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • To provide a detailed account of the size of the religious groups that populate the U.S. landscape;
  • To describe the demographic characteristics, religious beliefs and practices, and social and political values of those religious groups; and
  • To document how the religious profile of the U.S. has changed since the first study was conducted in 2007. With more than 35,000 interviews each, both the 2007 and 2014 studies have margins of error of less than one percentage point, making it possible to identify even relatively small changes in religious groups’ share of the U.S. population.
  • The results of the 2014 Religious Landscape Study will be published in a series of reports over the coming year.
  • qkirkpatrick on 12 May 15
     
    The Religious landscape is changing in America
qkirkpatrick

Mourners call murder 'turning point' for Russia - 0 views

www.usatoday.com/...24225709

russia politics

shared by qkirkpatrick on 09 Mar 15 - No Cached
  • Carrying flowers and portraits, tens of thousands of people somberly marched Sunday in Moscow to mourn opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, whose slaying on the streets of the capital has shaken Russia's beleaguered opposition. (Mar. 1) AP
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