A court in Madagascar has confirmed the presidential election victory of Hery Rajaonarimampianina, a candidate who was backed by the country's former strongman.
The special electoral court on Friday rejected allegations of vote-rigging and recount demands by rival Robinson Jean Louis...
Why Egypt’s new constitution may not turn out as badly as you think →
On Jan. 14 and 15, Egyptians voted on a heavily revised version of the December 2012 charter authored by President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood — an illiberal document that alienated the military and secular groups and helped precipitate a coup against Morsi last July. The constitution is expected to pass with resounding support.
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Yet the new charter heavily favors the military and undercuts Islamists. Religious parties such as the Muslim Brotherhood are banned from political participation. The military retains the right to try civilians in military courts. And the armed forces have a veto over the choice of defense minister for two presidential terms.
Is the U.S. secretly backing a Mexican drug cartel? Probably not. →
I posted the original article a couple days ago. This covers several good counterpoints to that earlier article's headline claim. Re-reading that one, I noticed there's very little evidence cited toward it, though there is a lot about bureaucratic coverup of international murder.
CONFIRMED: The DEA Struck A Deal With Mexico's Most Notorious Drug Cartel →
Playing one criminal against another's one thing, but heads should roll (sometimes I really wish *literally*) for this:
An investigation by El Universal found that between the years 2000 and 2012, the U.S. government had an arrangement with Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel that allowed the organization to smuggle billions of dollars of drugs while Sinaloa provided information on rival cartels.
Sinaloa, led by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, supplies 80% of the drugs entering the Chicago area and has a presence in cities across the U.S.
Academics Protest Bavaria's About-Face on Publishing 'Mein Kampf' →
The Bavarian government, which owns the copyright to the infamous tome, has unexpectedly withdrawn its funding for the project—some 500,000 euros. Moreover, it now says it will pursue legal action against any German publishers that release Mein Kampf after December 31, 2015, when the copyright expires, under laws banning hate speech and incitement.
How the NSA Threatens National Security →
Hard to find a quote to pull, the whole essay is so good, but this may be the ultimate take on the NSA's shenanigans:
... And it breaks our social systems; the loss of privacy, freedom, and liberty is much more damaging to our society than the occasional act of random violence.
We can't stop all political violence. We have to figure out how much we're willing to pay—in money and civil liberties—to stop as much as we can. There is always going to be a tradeoff.
Egypt: Activists Arrested for ‘No’ Campaign →
At least seven peaceful activists from the Strong Egypt party face criminal charges, apparently for hanging posters calling for a “no” vote in the forthcoming constitutional referendum.
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Prosecutors charged the three men under article 98(b) of the penal code. The section prescribes penalties of not more than five years imprisonment and fines of no less than 50,000 Egyptian pounds (USD$7180) to:
Whoever propagates in the Republic of Egypt, by any means, the call for changing the basic principles of the constitution or the basic system of the social body, or condemning a social class with regards to other classes or eliminating social classes or to overthrow the basic state economic or social system, or destroying any core institution to the social body when the use of force or terrorism, or any other illegal method, is noted during the act.
Obama will reportedly announce big changes to NSA on Friday →
He will also meet this week with members of the tech community that have been affected by the NSA's thirst for data. The NSA review panel convened by the President will also announce its findings this week.