| GOP challenge: Reforming widely accepted 'safety net' programs Posted: 19 Jul 2017 02:01 PM PDT ![GOP challenge: Reforming widely accepted 'safety net' programs]( "GOP challenge: Reforming widely accepted 'safety net' programs") The failure of Senate Republicans to close ranks on health-care reform this week put on display an old* challenge: How conservatives can reform social safety-net programs when there's a growing acceptance of them – even among Republican voters. Chastened, some GOP lawmakers are talking about trying to pivot toward other issues, notably tax reform, after failing to fulfill their pledge to "repeal and replace" Obamacare. If anything, the health-care debate is a reminder of its staying power, and of how the politics of social welfare have been shifting within the Republican Party.
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| Why the ground shifts under Venezuela's regime Posted: 19 Jul 2017 11:51 AM PDT ![Why the ground shifts under Venezuela's regime]( "Why the ground shifts under Venezuela's regime") A defining moment in a democratic revolution often comes when a nation's poor, who mostly focus on daily material needs, join others in demanding basic rights and uncorrupted governance. The Trump administration, for example, promises stiff sanctions if President Nicolás Maduro goes ahead with a pre-rigged vote on July 30 to rewrite the Constitution and move Venezuela closer toward Cuba-style authoritarian rule. The United States, says President Trump, "will not stand by as Venezuela crumbles." The Obama administration first imposed sanctions in 2015.
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| How cities are helping former felons get stable housing Posted: 19 Jul 2017 10:58 AM PDT ![How cities are helping former felons get stable housing]( "How cities are helping former felons get stable housing") Six months after Ronald Doyle's wife died, he got a call from a public housing officer. When Doyle got out of jail in 1991 after serving eight years, he had nowhere to go. Public housing wasn't an option for a felon like Doyle, so he drifted between addresses.
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| Europe's female imams challenge Muslim patriarchy – and fight Islamophobia Posted: 19 Jul 2017 09:38 AM PDT ![Europe's female imams challenge Muslim patriarchy – and fight Islamophobia]( "Europe's female imams challenge Muslim patriarchy – and fight Islamophobia") Sherin Khankan flits about the window sills, lighting wicks and placing bouquets of roses in just the right places as she prepares for Friday prayers. "We being women, there is always a lot of candles and flowers," explains Denmark's first female imam, placing a single, deep pink rose in a potted plant. A second-floor walk-up off an upscale street in Copenhagen, the Mariam mosque indeed feels as snug as it does spiritual, and is intended foremost as a faith community for Danish Muslims who've failed to find one at more traditional mosques.
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