A tiny school district in Pennsylvania decides to compete with the state’s growing charter movement—with great results.

Lithuania’s Prime Minister claims to have secured at least 20 percent lower prices for Russian natural gas. Lithuania’s position has strengthened recently, but this also may be the result of Russia overextending itself.

Butcher Assad, Russia, and Iran are slowly winning the Syrian civil war.

Chinese prime minister Li Keqiang just signed a deal to build an East African railway. The network could eventually connect South Sudan to Kenya’s coast, and offer the landlocked country another way to export its crude.

The recent Supreme Court ruling about prayer before town meetings is a setback for militant Kemalists in the United States.

People with outstanding student debt are less likely to own a home, says Vox. Since more people than ever are going into debt to pay for college, that’s a bad sign for the American economy.

A mid-week round-up of our favorite stories.

Energy efficiency can help the planet and save us money at the same time, but a bill to push through such measures failed in the Senate yesterday.

TAI board member Eliot A. Cohen takes the Obama Administration—along with the whole political establishment—to task for its adolescent posturing.

MOOCs have only begun to drive innovation in higher education, say researchers. Even if the technology is still in its early stages, the demand for flexible and cheap higher education will only grow.