The global financial crisis may have eliminated job opportunities around the world, but it has opened the door for a cultural boom on new shores.

Countries like Cyprus, Israel and Greece have high expectations of becoming players in world energy markets through natural gas production and export.

While the Catholic Church confronts contemporary issues with a modern face, the Orthodox Church remains stubbornly entrenched in its Byzantine heritage.

With Syria in crisis and Egypt in flux, Jordan is being forced to adopt energy policies that put the country on a path to sustainable development.

A New Yorker planned a sybaritic summer in a Turkish village by the sea, but didn't consider that she might have trouble fitting in.

In Turkey's upcoming presidential election, one man represents the country's two biggest opposition parties, and he is largely unknown.

Ukraine's crippling 55 percent tax on private gas producers threatens to damage the economy, scare off investors and decimate gas production.

Geneva — U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Thursday cast doubt on whether she will release a long-awaited report on the mass incarceration of Uyghurs in China's Xinjiang region before she leaves office on August 31. When she announced her departure in June, Bachelet said she would publish the report before her term ended. In her final briefing as high commissioner, she said she hoped it would be possible but indicated its release, once again, might be delayed. Bachelet said her office has received substantial input from the Chinese government that must be carefully reviewed before the report can be issued. She said that was normal procedure for all country reports published by her office. "In my meeting with high level national officials and regional authorities in Xinjiang, I raised concern about human rights violations, including reports of arbitrary detention and ill-treatment in institutions," she said. "And the report looks in depth on to these and other serious human rights violations concerning the Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities in Xinjiang." Human rights activists accuse China of the mass detention, torture, and cultural persecution of a million Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in so-called vocational camps. China denies the allegations, saying people in training centers receive skills they need to get good jobs. Bachelet said she raised many concerns with Chinese authorities during her visit to Xinjiang in May. In July, the Reuters news agency reported that China had sent Bachelet a letter asking her not to publish the report. She has confirmed receipt of that letter, which was signed by diplomats of some 40 countries. The high commissioner said such solicitations from countries under the human rights spotlight are not unusual, adding she does not give in to pressure. "I have been receiving pressures from countries who want to publish or not to publish," Bachelet said. "You cannot imagine the numbers of letters, meetings asking for the non-publication. Huge numbers … I have been under tremendous pressure to publish or not to publish. But I will not publish or withhold publication due to any such pressure. I can assure you of that." Work on the report has been ongoing for the past three years. The high commissioner has one week left on her mandate. She assured journalists that she was trying very hard to do what she had promised, namely to release the report before she leaves on August 31.

PORT AUX BASQUES, Newfoundland — It will take several months for Canada to restore critical infrastructure after the powerful storm Fiona left an "unprecedented" trail of destruction, officials said Sunday, as crews fanned out in five provinces to restore power and clean up fallen trees and debris.  "It's like a complete war zone," said Brian Button, mayor of Port aux Basques, one of the hardest hit towns on the southwest tip of Newfoundland with just over 4,000 residents. More than 20 homes were destroyed and the cost of damages "is in the millions (of dollars) here now," Button said in an interview.  No fatalities have been confirmed so far, but police in Newfoundland are searching for a 73-year-old woman they suspect was swept out to sea.  "The woman was last seen inside (her) residence just moments before a wave struck the home, tearing away a portion of the basement. She has not been seen since," police said in a statement.  Fiona slammed into eastern Canada Saturday, forcing evacuations as wind gusted up to 170 km per hour (106 miles per hour).  While the full scale of Fiona's devastation is not immediately clear, the storm could prove to be one of Canada's costliest natural disasters.  Scientists have not yet determined whether climate change influenced Fiona, but in general the warming of the planet is making hurricanes wetter, windier and altogether more intense.  Canada's federal government is sending in the armed forces Sunday to help clear fallen trees and debris, which will in turn open the way for crews to restore power, Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair told Reuters.  The province of Nova Scotia requested the troops and machinery to clear debris Saturday, "and we said yes, and so they're being deployed today," Blair said. Other provinces are also in discussions about federal aid, Blair said.  The Canadian Hurricane Center estimated that Fiona was the lowest-pressured storm to make landfall on record in Canada. In 2019, Dorian hit the region around Halifax, Nova Scotia, blowing down a construction crane and knocking out power. Fiona, on the other hand, appears to have caused major damage across at least five provinces.  "The scale of what we're dealing with, I think it's unprecedented," Blair said Sunday.  "There is going to be... several months' work in restoring some of the critical infrastructure - buildings and homes, rooftops that have been blown off community centers and schools," he said.  Hundreds of thousands of residents across Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island (PEI), Newfoundland, Quebec and New Brunswick remained without power Sunday. Blair said hundreds of utility crews had already been deployed to restore power.  "When it's all said and done... Fiona will turn out to have caused the most damage of any storm we've seen," Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston told the CBC.  Officials warned Saturday that in some cases it would take weeks before essential services are fully restored.  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had convened a meeting of his emergency response group for Sunday to coordinate the government's response, according to a statement.  "We do know that the damage is very extensive, quite likely the worst we have ever seen," Dennis King, PEI premier, told reporters Saturday.  "Islanders ... should know that our road to recovery will be weeks or longer. It will be an all-hands-on-deck approach," he added.  The storm also severely damaged fishing harbors in Atlantic Canada, which could hurt the country's C$3.2 billion lobster industry, unless it is fully restored before the season kicks off in a few weeks.  "Those fishers have a very immediate need to be able to access their livelihood once the storm passes," Dominic LeBlanc, minister of intergovernmental affairs of Canada, said Saturday. 

United Nations — The U.N. Secretary-General appealed Monday to developed nations to make good on their promise of $100 billion a year to support climate action in developing countries, ahead of a November climate review conference in Egypt.   “Funding for adaptation and resilience must represent at least half of all climate finance,” Antonio Guterres told reporters.    Ministers, climate experts and civil society representatives are meeting this week in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, to prepare the agenda for the November meeting, known as COP27, which will take place in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh from November 6 to 18.    The United Nations says G-20 countries account for 80% of global emissions, but they have been slow to deliver on their $100 billion annual pledge.   “Taken together, current pledges and policies are shutting the door on our chance to limit global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius, let alone meet the 1.5-degree goal,” he said of the benchmarks set in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.    The U.N. warns that failure to reach those goals would spell climate catastrophe.   “The world can’t wait,” he added. “Emissions are at an all-time high and rising.”   Guterres said every government, business, investor and institution must step up with concrete climate action plans.    “I am urging leaders at the highest level to take full part in COP27 and tell the world what climate action they will take nationally and globally,” the U.N. chief said.    U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry is among the leaders in Kinshasa this week.   

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu called a vote in parliament on his new government for Thursday Dec. 29, the speaker of the Knesset said on Monday, after almost two months of coalition wrangling.  Netanyahu's bloc of right-wing and religious parties won a clear victory in parliamentary elections last month, but the veteran leader has had a harder time than expected in finalizing deals with his partners.  Despite campaigning together, Netanyahu has struggled to meet the demands of his allies, who have demanded a significant slice of power in exchange for their support.   Ahead of the vote in parliament and a formal swearing in of the new government, Netanyahu will have to officially present the members of his cabinet.  Israel's longest serving prime minister has vowed to govern for all Israelis but he will head one of the most right-wing governments in the country's history with key ministries in the hands of hardliners.  Itamar Ben-Gvir, head of the Jewish Power party will have authority for police as security minister while Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionism party will have broad authority to allow the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.  Both oppose Palestinian statehood and support extending Israeli sovereignty into the West Bank, adding another obstacle to a two-state solution, the resolution backed by Palestinian leaders, the United States and European governments.  The finance ministry is expected to be shared by Smotrich and Aryeh Deri, from the religious Shas party, with each man serving for two years. Deri's appointment will depend on parliamentary support for a legal amendment allowing him to serve despite a conviction for tax fraud.  Liberal Israelis have also been alarmed by statements from a number of other members of coalition parties against gay rights and in favor of allowing some businesses to refuse services to people based on religious grounds.  President Isaac Herzog, the head of state who stands outside day-to-day politics, said on Sunday that any threat to the rights of Israeli citizens based on their identity or values would be counter to Israel's democratic and ethical traditions. 

Geneva — Former White House adviser Amy Pope won a vote in Geneva on Monday to head the U.N. migration agency, prevailing in a tense contest against a Portuguese incumbent who had the support of European countries. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Pope would become the first woman to lead the organization when she begins her five-year term on Oct. 1. Pope, who served as Deputy Director General for Management and Reform at IOM, took leave to campaign against her boss Antonio Vitorino, who has been in the position since 2018. Pope wrote on Twitter she was "humbled and honored" to be chosen by IOM's 175 member states as new director general. "I am ready to work with ALL our member states and global partners to unleash the opportunities provided by effective, orderly and humane migration," she wrote. In 2021, Pope served as Senior Advisor on Migration to U.S. President Joe Biden, who publicly backed her candidacy. "As IOM's largest bilateral donor, the United States strongly supports Ms. Pope's vision and looks forward to working with her to implement the critical reforms necessary to create a more effective, inclusive IOM," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. More than 100 million people are forcibly displaced around the world and IOM seeks to ensure humane and orderly migration and intervenes where needed. Vitorino, a former European Commissioner who is close to his compatriot United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, had touted an increase in the body's annual budget among his successes. Asked about the contest earlier this year, Vitorino described it as unprecedented. "We have never happened to have an incumbent director general that faces a competition with one of his deputy generals. Let's call it an innovation," Vitorino told journalists in March. He said at the time he had Portugal's backing as well as the "strong encouragement" of the European Union.

GENEVA — Conflicts and violence have pushed the number of internally displaced people around the world to a record-breaking high of 75.9 million, with nearly half living in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center. The report finds conflicts in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Palestinian territories accounted for nearly two-thirds of new displacements due to violence, which in total spanned 66 countries in 2023. “Over the past two years, we have seen alarming new levels of people having to flee their homes due to conflict and violence, even in regions where the trend had been improving,” Alexandra Bilak, IDMC director said. In a statement to coincide with the publication of the report Tuesday, she said that the millions of people forced to flee in 2023 were just “the tip of the iceberg.” “Conflict, and the devastation it leaves behind, is keeping millions from rebuilding their lives, often for years on end,” she said. WATCH: Wars in Sudan, Gaza, DRC drive internally displaced to record 76 million The report notes the number of internal displacements, that is the number of times people have been forced to move throughout the year to escape conflict within their country, has increased in the last couple of years. “While we hear a lot about refugees or asylum-seekers who cross the border, the majority of the displaced people actually stay within their country and they are internally displaced,” Christelle Cazabat, head of programs at IDMC, told journalists in Geneva Monday, in advance of the launch of the report. In its 2023 report on forcibly displaced populations, the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, reported that 62.5 million people had been internally displaced people at the end of 2022 compared to 36.4 million refugees who had fled conflict, violence and persecution that same year. According to the IDMC, new internal displacements last year were mostly due to the conflict in Ukraine, which started in 2022, as well as to the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the eruption of war in mid-April 2023 in Sudan. The war in Sudan resulted in 6 million internal displacements last year, which was “more than its previous 14 years combined” and the second most ever recorded in one country during a single year after Ukraine’s 16.9 million in 2022, according to the report. “As you know, it is more than a year that this new wave of conflict erupted (in Sudan) and as of the end of last year, the figure was 9.1 million” displaced in total by the conflict, said Vicente Anzellini, IDMCs global and regional analysis manager and lead author of the report. “This figure is the highest that we have ever reported for any country, this 9.1 million internally displaced people.” In the Gaza Strip, IDMC calculated 3.4 million displacements in the last three months of 2023, many of whom had been displaced multiple times during this period. It says this number represented 17% of total conflict displacements worldwide during the year, noting that a total of 1.7 million Palestinians were internally displaced in Gaza by the end of the year. The last quarter of 2023 is the period following the Hamas terrorists’ brutal attack on Israel on Oct. 7, eliciting a military response from Israel on the Palestinian enclave. “There are many other crises that are actually displacing even more people, but we hear a little bit less of them,” said Cazabat, noting that little is heard about the “acute humanitarian crisis in Sudan” though it has the highest number of people “living in internal displacement because of the conflict at the end of last year.” In the past five years, the report finds the number of people living in internal displacement because of conflict and violence has increased by 22.6 million. Sudan topped last year’s list of 66 countries with 9.1 million people displaced internally because of conflict, followed by Syria with more than 7 million, the DRC, Colombia and Yemen. Besides the total of 68.3 million people who were displaced globally by conflict and violence in 2023, the report says 7.7 million were displaced by natural disasters, including floods, storms, earthquakes and wildfires. As in previous years, the report notes that floods and storms caused the most disaster displacement, including in southeastern Africa, where cyclone Freddy triggered 1.4 million movements across six countries and territories. The earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria triggered 4.7 million displacements, one of the largest disaster displacement events since records began in 2008. Anzellini observed many countries that have experienced conflict displacement also have experienced disaster displacement. “In many situations, they are overlapping. This is the case in Sudan, in South Sudan, but also in Somalia, in the DRC, and other places,” he said. “So, you can imagine fleeing from violence to save your life and then having to escape to higher ground with whatever you can carry as the storm or a flood threatens to wash away your temporary shelter.” He said that no country is immune to disaster displacement. “Last year, we recorded disaster displacements in 148 countries and territories, and these include high-income countries such as Canada and New Zealand, which recorded their highest figures ever. “Climate change is making extreme weather events more frequent and more intense and that can lead to more displacement, but it does not have to,” he said, noting that climate change is one of many factors that contribute to displacement. “There are other economic, social and political factors that governments can address to actually minimize the impacts of displacement even in the face of climate change,” he said, including early warning systems and the evacuation of populations before a natural disaster is forecast to strike.

JOHANNESBURG — South Africa's four main political parties began the final weekend of campaigning Saturday before a possibly pivotal election that could bring the country's most important change in three decades. Supporters of the long-governing African National Congress, which has been in the government ever since the end of white minority rule in 1994, gathered at a soccer stadium in Johannesburg to hear party leader and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa speak. The ANC is under unprecedented pressure to keep hold of its parliamentary majority in Africa's most advanced country. Having seen its popularity steadily decline over the last two decades, Wednesday's vote could be a landmark moment when the party once led by Nelson Mandela drops below 50% of the vote for the first time. Several polls have the ANC's support at less than 50%, raising the possibility that it will have to form a national coalition. That would also be a first for South Africa's young democracy, which was only established 30 years ago with the first all-race vote that officially ended the apartheid system of racial segregation. As thousands of supporters in the ANC's black, green and gold colors attended its last major rally before the election, Ramaphosa recognized some of the grievances that have contributed to his party losing support, which include high levels of poverty and unemployment that mainly affect the country's Black majority. “We have a plan to get more South Africans to work," Ramaphosa said. “Throughout this campaign, in the homes of our people, in the workplaces, in the streets of our townships and villages, so many of our people told us of their struggles to find work and provide for their families.” The main opposition Democratic Alliance party had a rally in Cape Town, South Africa's second-biggest city and its stronghold. Party leader John Steenhuisen made a speech while supporters in the DA's blue colors held up blue umbrellas. “Democrats, friends, are you ready for change?” Steenhuisen said. The crowd shouted back “Yes!” "Are you ready to rescue South Africa?" Steenhuisen added. While the ANC's support has shrunk in three successive national elections and appears set to continue dropping, no party has emerged to overtake it — or even challenge it — and it is still widely expected to be the largest party by some way in this election. But losing its majority would be the clearest rejection yet of the famous party that led the anti-apartheid movement and is credited with leading South Africans to freedom. Some ANC supporters at the rally in Johannesburg also expressed their frustration with progress, as South Africa battles poverty, desperately high unemployment, some of the worst levels of inequality in the world, and other problems with corruption, violent crime and the failure of basic government services in some places. “We want to see job opportunities coming and basically general change in every aspect,” ANC supporter Ntombizonke Biyela said. “Since 1994 we have been waiting for ANC, it has been long. We have been voting and voting but we see very little progress as the people, only a special few seem to benefit.” While conceding to some failures, the ANC has maintained that South Africa is a better place than it was during apartheid, when a set of race-based laws oppressed the country's Black majority in favor of a small white minority. The ANC was also widely credited with success in expanding social support and housing and other services for millions of poor South Africans in the decade after apartheid, even if critics say it has lost its way recently. "There are many problems in South Africa, but nobody can deny the changes that have happened since 1994, and that was because of the ANC,” said 42-year-old Eric Phoolo, another supporter of the ruling party. “These other parties don’t have a track record of bringing change to the country." As some voters have turned away from the ANC, it has led to a slow fracturing of South African politics. They have changed allegiances to an array of different opposition parties, some of them new. South Africa has dozens of parties registered to contest next week's election. South Africans vote for parties and not directly for their president in national elections. Parties then get seats in Parliament according to their share of the vote and the lawmakers elect the president — which is why the ANC losing its majority would be so critical to the 71-year-old Ramaphosa's hope of being reelected for a second and final five-year term. If the ANC goes below 50, it would likely need a coalition or agreement with other parties to have the votes in Parliament to keep Ramaphosa, once a protege of Mandela, as president. The far-left Economic Freedom Fighters had their last big pre-election gathering in the northern city of Polokwane, the hometown of fiery leader Julius Malema. The new MK Party of former South African President and former ANC leader Jacob Zuma was also campaigning in a township just outside the east coast city of Durban, although Zuma didn't attend the event. The 82-year-old Zuma rocked South African politics when he announced late last year he was turning his back on the ANC and joining MK, while fiercely criticizing the ANC under Ramaphosa. Zuma has been disqualified from standing as a candidate for Parliament in the election because of a previous criminal conviction.

LONDON — Discontented, economically squeezed voters have turned against sitting governments on both right and left during many of the dozens of elections held this year, as global power blocs shift and political certainties crumble. From India to South Africa to Britain, voters dealt blows to long-governing parties. Elections to the European Parliament showed growing support for the continent's far right, while France's centrist president scrambled to fend off a similar surge at home. If there’s a global trend, Eurasia Group president Ian Bremmer said at a summit in Canada in June, it’s that “people are tired of the incumbents.” More than 40 countries have held elections already this year. More uncertainty awaits — nations home to over half the world’s population are going to the polls in 2024. The world is already anxiously turning to November’s presidential election in the U.S., where an acrimonious campaign was dealt a shocking blow by an assassination attempt against Republican nominee and former president, Donald Trump. Unpopular incumbents Aftershocks from the COVID-19 pandemic, conflicts in Africa, Europe and the Middle East, and spiking prices for food and fuel have left dissatisfied voters eager for change. “Voters really, really don’t like inflation,” said Rob Ford, professor of political science at the University of Manchester. “And they punish governments that deliver it, whether they are at fault or not.” Inflation and unemployment are rising in India, the world’s largest democracy, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party unexpectedly lost its parliamentary majority after a decade of dominance. Modi was forced to rely on coalition partners to govern as the opposition doubled its strength in parliament. In South Africa, sky-high rates of unemployment and inequality helped drive a dramatic loss of support for the African National Congress, which had governed ever since the end of the apartheid system of white minority rule in 1994. The party once led by Nelson Mandela lost its parliamentary majority for the first time and was forced to enter a coalition with opposition parties. In Britain, the center-left Labour Party won election in a landslide, ousting the Conservatives after 14 years. As in so many countries, Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces a jaded electorate that wants lower prices and better public services — but is deeply skeptical of politicians’ ability to deliver change. US-China tensions Caught between world powers China and the United States, Taiwan held one of the year's most significant elections. Lai Ching-te, of the Democratic Progressive Party, won a presidential election that was seen as a referendum on the island’s relationship with China, which claims Taiwan as its own. Beijing regards Lai as a separatist and ramped up military pressure with drills in the Taiwan Strait. Lai has promised to strengthen the defenses of the self-governing island, and the U.S. has pledged to help it defend itself, heightening tensions in one of the world’s flashpoints. In Bangladesh, an important partner of the U.S. that has drawn closer to China, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina won a fourth successive term in an election that opposition parties boycotted. The U.S. and U.K. said the vote was not credible, free or fair. Political dynasties In several countries, family ties helped secure or cement power. Pakistan held messy parliamentary elections – under the eye of the country’s powerful military — that saw well-established political figures vie to become prime minister. The winner, atop a coalition government, was Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, younger brother of three-time premier Nawaz Sharif. Opponents say the election was rigged in his favor, with opponent and former prime minister, Imran Khan, imprisoned and blocked from running. The situation remains unstable, with Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruling that Khan’s party was improperly denied some seats. In Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest democracy, former Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto was officially declared president more than two months after an election in which he won over 58% of the vote. His two losing rivals alleged fraud and nepotism — Subianto’s vice president-elect is outgoing leader Joko Widodo’s son, and Subianto was the son-in-law of Indonesia’s late dictator, Suharto. The country’s highest court rejected their arguments. Some outcomes were predictable. Russian President Vladimir Putin was reelected to a fifth term in a preordained election that followed his relentless crackdown on dissent. Rwanda's election extended the 30-year rule of President Paul Kagame, an authoritarian leader who ran almost unopposed. Far right's uneven march The far right has gained ground in Europe as the continent experiences economic instability and an influx of migrants from troubled lands. Elections for the parliament of the 27-nation European Union shifted the bloc’s center of gravity, with the far right rocking ruling parties in France and Germany, the EU’s traditional driving forces. The EU election triggered a political earthquake in France. After his centrist, pro-business party took a pasting, President Emmanuel Macron called a risky snap parliamentary election in hope of stemming a far-right surge. The anti-immigration National Rally party won the first round, but alliances and tactical voting by the center and left knocked it down to third place in the second round and left a divided legislature. New faces, daunting challenges A presidential election tested Senegal's reputation as a stable democracy in West Africa, a region rocked by a recent spate of coups. The surprise winner was little-known opposition figure Basirou Diomaye Faye, released from prison before polling day as part of a political amnesty. Faye is Africa’s youngest elected leader, and his rise reflects widespread frustration among Senegal’s youth with the country’s direction. Senegal has made new oil and gas discoveries in recent years, but the population has yet to see any real benefit. Mexico elected Claudia Sheinbaum as the first female president in the country’s 200-year history. A protege of outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the 61-year-old former Mexico City mayor vowed to continue in the direction set by the popular leftist leader. She faces a polarized electorate, daunting drug-related violence, an increasingly influential military and tensions over migration with the U.S. Uncertainty is the new normal On July 28, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro will seek to extend a decade-plus presidency marked by a complex political, social and economic crisis that has driven millions into poverty or out of the country. Opposition parties have banded together, but the ruling party has tight control over the voting process, and many doubt votes will be counted fairly. South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, is scheduled to hold its long-delayed first elections in December. That would represent a key milestone, but the vote is rife with danger and vulnerable to failure. Looming above all is the choice U.S. voters will make Nov. 5 in a tense and divided country. The July 13 shooting at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania, in which the former president was wounded and a rallygoer was killed, came as Democrats agonize over the fitness of President Joe Biden, who has resisted calls to step aside. The prospect of a second term for Trump, a protectionist wary of international entanglements, is evidence of the world’s shifting power blocs and crumbling political certainties. "The world is in the transition," said Neil Melvin, director of international security at defense think tank the Royal United Services Institute. “There are very broad processes on the way which are reshaping international order," he added. "It’s a kind of anti-globalization. It’s a growing return to the nation state and against multilateralism.”

STOCKHOLM — Lower voter turnout and increasingly contested results globally are threatening the credibility of elections, an intergovernmental watchdog warned on Tuesday, as its sub-index for free and fair elections suffered its biggest decline on record in 2023. In its report, the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) said 2023 was the eighth consecutive year with a net decline in overall democratic performance, the longest consecutive fall since records began in 1975. The watchdog bases its Global State of Democracy indexes on more than 100 variables and is using four main categories - representation, rights, rule of law and participation - to categorize performance. The category of democracy related to free and fair elections and parliamentary oversight, a sub-category of representation, suffered its worst year on record in 2023. "This report is a call for action to protect democratic elections," IDEA's Secretary-General Kevin Casas-Zamora said in the report. "The success of democracy depends on many things, but it becomes utterly impossible if elections fail." The think-tank said government intimidation and electoral process irregularities, such as fraudulent voter registration and vote-counting, were increasing. It also said that threats of foreign interference, disinformation and the use of artificial intelligence in campaigns added to challenges. It also said that global voter participation had fallen to 55.5% of eligible voters in 2023 from 65.2% in 2008. Globally, in almost 20% of elections between 2020 and 2024, one of the losing candidates or parties rejected the results. IDEA said that the democratic performance in the U.S., which holds a presidential election this year, had recovered somewhat in the past two years, but the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in July highlighted continued risks. "Less than half (47%) of the Americans said the 2020 election was 'free and fair' and the country remains deeply polarized," IDEA said.

The Egyptian Armed Forces' removal of President Morsi has created a number of challenges related to democracy, political stability and the role of Islam.

More than 110,000 civilians are dead. More than 2 million are refugees. The United States, France and Turkey are moving closer to military intervention.

Whether driven by humanitarian aims or not, a U.S. military strike on Syria would be perceived as yet another forceful grab for regional and global hegemony.

An anti-normalization boycott of educational organizations in Israel and Palestine is making much-needed education and dialogue more difficult.

Two decades of failed negotiations, perpetual conflict and an expanded occupation should encourage an alternative to the two-state solution.

Despite Israel's ongoing sabotage of peace talks, Turkey continues to work toward reconciliation between theocratic rivals in the Middle East.

Decades of Western military intervention and training have stoked the fires of sectarianism and warfare in Iraq and the broader region.

Standing between Palestinians and a two-state resolve are a militant Hamas, a militant Israel and a Middle East flooded with weaponry of all kinds.

A look into which countries use the most energy per capita reveals some surprising results, from the Middle East to the Caribbean.

Saudi Arabia has succeeded in maintaining its market share throughout the oil bust by continuing to ratchet up production.

Sectarian warfare in Iraq and a brutal regime in Syria have led to a level of violence and chaos that is extreme even by the Middle East's standards.

Mandela's work to end apartheid in South Africa and fight for peace and equality throughout the world has left an indelible imprint on the global community.

A string of U.N. successes against rebel groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo may not last unless the underlying cause of the conflict is addressed.

One of the issues being debated in Sierra Leone, as the country undergoes a constitutional review, is whether to keep in place presidential term limits.

The British government has banned the stimulant khat, which will have consequences for Kenyan farmers who had been fetching inflated prices for the crop.

Just before the teach-in, the school’s Jewish provost called him and asked if he wanted extra security.

During a recent tour of the US, Weller, a longtime advocate for leftwing causes, performed with a Palestinian flag draped over his guitar amplifier.

At the table: Maintaining the massive 12,000-square-foot compound amounts to many thousands of shekels a month, and the owners are eager for a return to normalcy.

Hagai Yodan premieres a daring piano-tech concerto at Jerusalem’s 2024 Piano Festival.

A member of the team, a water boy, accidentally stumbled upon a stone that turned out to be the first step of an ancient staircase.

The Jerusalem Post Podcast - Travel Edition, Episode 93

Dispatch teams gave hotline callers life-saving medical treatment advice over the phone on October 7. One such woman told children where to hide from terrorists.

Focusing on the positive aspects of eating, exercise, sleep, and social behaviors will “add hours to your days, days to your years, and years to your lives.”

The study surveyed 1,180 participants in Israel about their knowledge and attitudes regarding climate change and its effects on the environment.

The current conflict in the Middle East will leave a lasting environmental impact, prompting calls for urgent restoration and cross-border cooperation.

Israel showcases climate tech at COP29 but misses deeper environmental focus.

This is the first recorded sighting of an emperor penguin in Australia, experts say.

The bulk of these emissions are from burning coal, oil and gas. Those emissions would total 37.4 billion tons in 2024, up by 0.8% in 2023, the report said.

By staying silent, these bystanders betray themselves, their communities, and democratic ideals—abandoning Amsterdam’s Israeli and Jewish guests.

Demonstrators held flags with Nazi swastikas and reportedly chanted a pro-Donald Trump slogan.

Messianic community leaders declared Donald Trump a "trumpet of God."