Germany to quash historic convictions of gay men, pay compensation: minister

A reveller waves the rainbow flag during the Christopher Street Day parade in Berlin, June 23, 2012. REUTERS/Thomas Peter BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany plans to annul the historic convictions of tens of thousands of men charged under a law that criminalized homosexuality and to grant them financial compensation, the justice minister said on Wednesday. The law originated in the 19th century, was toughened up by Hitler's Nazis and retained for decades in postwar West Germany, which used it to convict and jail some 50,000 men until 1969, when it finally decriminalized homosexuality. German homosexuals...

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Top Congo court says Kabila stays in power if election not held

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo's highest court ruled on Wednesday that President Joseph Kabila would stay in power beyond the end of his mandate if his government failed to hold an election due in November. The ruling is a blow to the opposition, which had argued that an interim president should serve after the end of Kabila's mandate if the election was delayed. Kabila took power in 2001 when his father, who was president, was assassinated, but is required by the constitution to step down in December after two five-year terms in office. In Congo's second city of...

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European rights watchdog complains about Greek migrant camps conditions

People queue for free food at a makeshift camp for migrants and refugees at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni, Greece, May 11, 2016. REUTERS/Marko Djurica STRASBOURG (Reuters) - Urgent measures are need to address overcrowding and poor living conditions in refugee and migrant camps in Greece, Europe's top rights watchdog warned on Wednesday. The Council of Europe, which brings together 47 countries, said some facilities were "sub-standard" and able to provide no more than the most basic needs such as food, hygiene products and blankets. The report echoes warnings...

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Political Deadlock Leaves Lebanon to Unravel

BEIRUT—On the surface, Lebanon appears to be weathering the mayhem that has engulfed the Middle East surprisingly well. Despite dire predictions of sectarian strife spreading from next-door Syria, there has been relatively little violence. Fancy restaurants on Beirut’s seafront remain packed with diners, the streets clogged with traffic. But it is also increasingly a country adrift, hostage to the regional conflict between Saudi Arabia, long a supporter of Lebanon’s Sunni political bloc, and Iran, sponsor of the Shiite bloc dominated by the Hezbollah militia. This zero-sum confrontation has...

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Difficult Political Decisions Ahead For Clinton, Trump

As a veteran political operative involved in campaigns going back to 1976 I can say that each one is different but has similar characteristics. I also feel safe in saying that this year is probably more dissimilar from any campaign I have ever been associated with or witnessed over the past four decades. Like most other observers and pundits, I have written several times of Mr. Trump’s imminent demise only to be abruptly slapped in the face by the reality of the contemporary exasperation, frustration and anger of an electorate that is as anti-establishment as any since the turmoil of the...

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Understanding terrorism: Attacks have a political logic, although they are usually ineffective, scholar says

The site of explosions in the suburb of Beir Hassan, Beirut, Lebanon, Feb. 19, 2014, where two suicide attackers from an al-Qaida-linked group blew themselves up. (Credit: AP/Hussein Malla) Terrorism is clearly reprehensible. Yet media reports and politicians often present terrorist attacks as if they are less calculated than they really are. Scientific research shows that this view is mistaken. Terrorism scholars have found that, leaving aside the question of immorality, there is an internal political logic to terrorist attacks — although they are frequently ineffective. A lot of what...

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Unconventional #10: This year’s conventions won’t be ‘contested.’ Here’s why they could still be crazy

1. Why this year’s conventions could still be crazy — even if they aren’t ‘contested’ May 3, 2016, will go down in history as the day that every political journalist’s most feverish fantasy — the fantasy of a contested GOP convention in Cleveland — finally slipped out of reach. With his commanding win in Indiana over Texas Sen. Ted Cruz — and with Cruz’s and John Kasich’s subsequent decisions to suspend their campaigns — tinsel-haired mogul Donald Trump cemented his status Tuesday night as the Republican Party’s likely nominee. Cruz’s supporters were shocked. As he delivered the news, cries...

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