Word: eastern
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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That Afghanistan is even holding an election is practically a miracle. The year is far from over, but it's already the bloodiest since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Large swaths of the southern and eastern regions of the country are under the control of militants, while some security analysts estimate that the Taliban has a permanent presence in at least 70% of the nation. As the election nears, the frequency and ferocity of attacks by insurgents have spiked. The U.N. reports that in the first six months of 2009, civilian casualties from such attacks - as well...
...Germany took an ugly turn last week when the country's far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) threatened a black member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party. Angolan-born Zeca Schall, who has German citizenship, was featured on CDU campaign posters in the eastern state of Thuringia, which is holding a regional election on Aug. 30. The posters went up on Aug. 1; 10 days later, the NPD attacked Schall on its website, calling him a "n_____ for the CDU party quota," telling him to "go back home to Angola" and urging its members...
...Ever since reunification, far-right violence has been on the rise in eastern Germany, and some places have virtually become no-go areas for people with an immigrant background. Recent figures from Germany's domestic intelligence agency show that the number of far-right crimes jumped about 16% from 2007 to 2008. "The Zeca Schall case is horrific, and it exposes the dangerous far-right ideology of the NPD, but there are hundreds of other people who've been attacked by far-right groups," says Timo Reinfrank, program director of the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, which helps victims of far-right...
...According to some opinion polls, the NPD has around 4% of the vote in Thuringia, just below the 5% needed to get into parliament. With less than two weeks to go, the party could still pull in enough votes. In a 2004 regional election in the eastern state of Saxony, observers wrote off the NPD's chances of getting into the state parliament, yet the party proved the pollsters wrong and went on to win 9.2% of the vote. The NPD's attacks on Schall are just the latest chilling reminder that the far right is still alive and kicking...
...pariah status once and for all, it still needs to balance a lot of conflicting regional relationships in doing so. "Syria's improved relations with France, as well as the U.S., is in many ways aimed at allowing it to operate more freely in the complex Middle Eastern system that requires having influential Western allies," Dalacoura says. "So it lowers its tone in Lebanon, sends signals to Israel via Turkey that it's willing to negotiate, and continues using its influence with Iran - all as a part of its increasing ties with the West. And this intervention in support...