GLASGOW, Scotland — In what some here are calling a throwback to the electoral bedlam that surrounded U.S. President George W. Bush’s controversial win over Al Gore in 2000, Scotland’s recent election proved chaotic, with a divisive outcome that could threaten the future of the whole United Kingdom. As the dust settles around the May 4 vote for a new Scottish Parliament, the Scottish National Party (SNP), which attracted worldwide attention in the months leading up to the election by running on a call for Scotland to secede from the United Kingdom, has emerged victorious. Public wrangling over the fate [...]
When leaders of the two main rival factions in Palestinian politics signed a unity deal under Saudi auspices in February, the internal violence that had gripped the Palestinian Territories was supposed to come to an end. Instead, what came to an end was international news coverage of a crisis that has turned Palestinian society — particularly in the Gaza Strip — into a Hobbesian picture of lawlessness and despair.<<ad>>The Gaza Strip, which Israelis evacuated almost two years ago, is the scene of almost daily murders, kidnappings and shootouts, for reasons ranging from personal feuds to religious zealotry. Children are dying [...]
DENPASAR, Indonesia — As the 45 million Filipinos eligible to vote get ready to make a choice in their country’s May 14 mid-term election, the Philippines political landscape has been disturbed by the sound of guns, and filled with a mix of celebrities, rebels and political dynasties. Several actors, a current boxing world champion and a certain “Bin Laden” are among the nearly 87,000 candidates vying for 17,000 national and local positions, which include all of the 250 seats in the House of Representatives and half of the 24 Senate seats. In the meantime, reports indicate that up to 80 [...]
