Protests in Ukraine, U.S. Sephardic Jew seeks Spanish Citizenship and Portugal's Drug Policies

Protests in Ukraine have moved beyond Kiev and into the parts of the country. Mychailo Wynnyckyj, of National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Kiev, took part in the protests over the weekend. He gives an update.

In 1492, Columbus launched his journeys from Spain. 1492 was also the year when the Spanish Crown decreed that all Jews be expelled from the country. In 2012, Spain announced a measure of reparations for its 15th century expulsion of Jews - it would grant full citizenship to Jews of Sephardic origin. But The Jewish Daily Forward columnist, Josh Nathan-Kazis, himself a Sephardic Jew, says to date, Spain has not granted one Sephardic Jew a passport. Nathan-Kazis flew to Spain to explore his own claim to Spanish citizenship. He wrote an in-depth article about his experience.

Marijuana legalization in Washington and Colorado is uncharted territory for the U.S. That's similar to what happened in Portugal in 2001. The Portuguese didn’t legalize drugs, but they decriminalized just about everything. Since then, possession of small amounts of drugs, like heroin or marijuana, gets you a fine and an offer for rehab if you need it. Dr. João Castel-Branco Goulão, general director of the Service Intervention in Addictive Behaviors and Dependencies (SICAD) and Portuguese national drug coordinator, tells us how the policies have been working. (PHOTO: A protester stands guard at the barricades in front of riot police in Kiev, Ukraine, Jan. 27, 2014. AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)