It is more than a little ironic that gay marriage has emerged as the era’s defining civil-rights struggle even as marriage itself seems more endangered every day.
Americans are waiting longer to marry: according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median age of first marriage is 28 for men and 26 for women, up from 23 and 20, respectively, in 1950. Rates of cohabitation have risen swiftly and sharply, and more people than ever are living single. - More
The uproar over Malaysia’s disputed election shows few signs of abating after the government charged three outspoken opposition figures with sedition, an antiquated and much-maligned law primarily used to quell dissent.
The crackdown comes amid accusations of vote rigging during the May 5 ballot that saw the incumbent National Front coalition — in power since independence from Britain in 1957 — returned with Prime Minister Najib Razak still at the helm. - More
Rafsanjani's comments appeared to add to the political conflict between those loyal to the leadership and opposition groups who have been marginalized since post-election unrest in 2009.
"I don't think the country could have been run worse, even if it had been planned in advance," Rafsanjani said to members of his campaign team on Wednesday, according to the Kaleme report. - More
Missing University of Rhode Island student Matthew Royer has been located unharmed in North Carolina, according to authorities and his family, but how he got there remains a mystery. Royer, 21, had been last seen on May 16 on the University of Rhode Island campus.
The college junior had moved out of his apartment and returned the keys, according to ABC News' Philadelphia station WPVI. - More
In line with decades of opposition to casinos, the House turned aside lobbying by the governor and arguments that New Hampshire should compete with Massachusetts for gambling dollars to vote down yet another casino bill Wednesday.
After two hours of debate, the House voted 199-164 to kill a Senate bill that would allow 5,000 video slot machines and 150 table games at one facility.
Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan had lobbied heavily for its passage, and supporters said New Hampshire needed casino money for higher education, highways and other programs. - More
A fourth night of rioting in the Swedish capital saw groups of people, many of them young, setting fire to cars, breaking windows and clashing with authorities.
The violence, which began in the deprived northern suburb of Husby at the weekend, spread to several areas of the city on Wednesday, May 22.
One Pistorius brother is free of charges — acquitted Tuesday of culpable homicide in the death of a woman in a road accident. The famous younger brother, Olympian double-amputee Oscar Pistorius, still must face his day in court for shooting and killing his girlfriend.
Carl Pistorius cried tears of relief Tuesday as a magistrate acquitted him of culpable homicide and negligent driving for the woman's death. - More
It is utterly impossible to look at the delineation of a "Southern race" and not see the Civil War, the creation of an "Irish race" and not think of Cromwell's ethnic cleansing, the creation of a "Jewish race" and not see anti-Semitism.
There is no fixed sense of "whiteness" or "blackness," not even today. It is quite common for whites to point out that Barack Obama isn't really "black" but "half-white." One wonders if they would say this if Barack Obama were a notorious drug-lord. - More
Israel will continue to take military action to prevent the transfer of advanced weaponry to Syria, The New York Times quoted a senior Israeli official as saying Wednesday, a day after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi to discuss the troubled situation.
According to the Times, the Israeli official – who contacted the paper – said, “Israel is determined to continue to prevent the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah. - More
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