New Austrian Conservative-Green government doubles down on anti-immigration, anti-Islam stance

Sebastian Kurz, Austrian Chancellor and leader of the conservative Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) has pulled off a remarkable political feat: having governed in a coalition with the far-right nationalists of the Freedom Party (FPÖ) since 2017, he has not only emerged unscathed from the rubble of his ÖVP-FPÖ government, which collapsed amidst a corruption scandal.

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Amplifying the achievements of ‘good immigrants’: A political strategy under scrutiny in Germany and beyond

As immigration has taken centre stage in political debates across Europe in recent years, stories of brave deeds and outstanding achievements by immigrants have become a staple of reporting. Defenders of migrants’ rights in particular have crafted and amplified narratives of ‘exceptional’ individuals in order to combat rising anti-immigrant sentiment. Brave men, superheroes, and honorary

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Mesut Özil resigns from Germany national team, citing racism and disrespect

Several weeks after his controversial photo shoot with Turkish President Erdoğan, Germany international football player Mesut Özil has broken his silence. In the aftermath of an early exit from the World Cup, it had above all been Özil who had been blamed for the team’s poor performance. The racially charged recriminations against Özil mostly focused

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Blaming the Turk: World Cup elimination lays bare Germany’s fragilities and racisms

Germany’s early exit from the football World Cup was met with considerable surprise in the sports world. Having been expected to progress far in the tournament, the defending champions were knocked out already at the end of the group stage, after a string of poor performances against Mexico, Sweden, and South Korea. ‘There once was

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80% of U.S. Muslims say they observe Ramadan by fasting, Pew Research Center survey shows

A 2017 Pew Research Center survey reveals that 80% of U.S. Muslims say they observe Ramadan by fasting, including a large share of those who do not consider religion very significant in their lives.

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