Category Archives: Europe and North Eurasia

Pope Calls Out “Bad Shepherds” as Conservatives Prepare to Fight Change

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Jillian O'Connor

Just a day before gay marriage in the U.S. received a significant boost from the Supreme Court, the much-anticipated Extraordinary Synod on the Family opened in Rome yesterday with Pope Francis pointedly criticizing “bad shepherds” who seek money and power and “lay intolerable burdens … Continue reading →

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Spain decides to make up for its persecution of Jews, but won’t do the same for Muslims

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Jillian O'Connor

MADRID, Spain — Half a millennium ago, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand presented Jews living here with a stark choice: leave, convert or face burning at the stake. Some 50,000 Jews would eventually flee after passage of the Edict of Expulsion in … Continue reading →

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Vatican to debate teachings on divorce, birth control, gay unions

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Jillian O'Connor

  Contraception, cohabitation, divorce, remarriage and same-sex unions: They’re issues that pain and puzzle Roman Catholics who want to be true to both their church and themselves. Now those issues are about to be put up for debate by their … Continue reading →

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Secularism on the decline in France

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Jillian O'Connor

  PARIS — When 34 percent of surveyed voters admit they agree with the ideas of a political movement that is protectionist, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim and anti-Euro, France has a problem. France’s far-right political party, Front National, has surged in popularity … Continue reading →

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Covering the Long History of Ethnic, Religious Violence in Crimea

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Jillian O'Connor

by Heather McIlvaine Last week, armed men wearing military uniforms displaying no markings of nationality – but widely assumed to be Russian – seized control of Simferopol International Airport and a military airfield in Crimea, an autonomous peninsula in southern … Continue reading →

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Spanish court issues arrest warrant against former Chinese president over Tibet

Posted on November 20, 2013 by Jillian O'Connor

Spain’s relations with China are about to suffer a world of hurt. On Tuesday, a Spanish court issued an arrest warrant for five Chinese ex officials, including China’s former president Jiang Zemin, 87, on claims of genocide against the Tibetan … Continue reading →

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Belfast City Official Responds to Youth Discontent

Posted on November 18, 2013 by Jillian O'Connor

On the River Lagan in Northern Ireland lies Belfast, a city divided by religion and politics dating from the time referred to as “The Troubles.” Although the bloody conflict between Catholics and Protestants ended 15 years ago, political tension stills … Continue reading →

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Turkey: A Day in Fatih

Posted on November 1, 2013 by Jillian O'Connor

On weekday mornings the Fatih branch of Tekbir, a popular Istanbul-based Islamic fashion company, is quiet. One Thursday in early October Fatima, a Tekbir sales person, milled around the racks of clothes, smoothing down dress sleeves and tidying stacks of … Continue reading →

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Shutdown is Over, But There Will Be a Next time

Posted on October 18, 2013 by Jillian O'Connor

This morning, federal workers thronged back to work after a full 16 days of unpaid holiday. And while the political drama of the past few weeks has certainly received its share of airtime, few commenters have sketched a connection between … Continue reading →

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Push for national census reveals scars of Bosnia’s painful past

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Jillian O'Connor

The last official census in Bosnia was in 1991, when 4.4 million people lived there. But then a brutal war broke out, killing 100,000 people and driving away 2 million. Special correspondent Kira Kay reports on the need for and … Continue reading →

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