If Russian intelligence was in contact with NSA leaker Edward Snowden and helped him before this martyr for freedom took up residence in the civil liberties paradise of Putin’s Russia, we’ve got problems.

Ukraine’s Victor Yanukovich is stuck between a rock and a hard place. How he responds to the latest violence could fatally deepen rifts in an already divided country.

Inflation is rising, capital is fleeing, and strikes, looting, riots and blackouts are spreading. 2013 did not end well for Argentina, but 2014 could be even worse. President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has a date with the US Supreme Court, which could deliver Kirchnerismo a knockout blow.

Rather than continue the passive-aggressive—and sometimes just aggressive—tit for tat between China and India, the Chinese ambassador to India has chosen a softer tack, penning a couple of choicey op-eds in mainstream Indian newspapers rather than the usual angry rants issued by the foreign office in Beijing.

Graduate programs have been churning out far more PhDs than there are available academic positions, and on top of a desperate job hunt aspiring PhDs increasingly have another problem to worry about: student debt. Unlike other degrees, PhD programs often allow students to attend school for free, receiving tuition waivers, stipends, and fellowships to cover their expenses. But in some disciplines, at least, this is beginning to change as programs accept more students without funding, or provide only meager stipends.

It hasn’t been a great day for India’s ruling Congress Party. First Rahul Gandhi, the popular scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that has ruled India off and on for decades, was ruled out of the running for the premiership in the country’s upcoming national election. Then tragedy struck: the wife of Shashi Tharoor, the Indian Minister of State for Human Resource Development who is well-liked inside and outside India, was found dead in a Delhi hotel room. She apparently took her own life.

While Obama is desperately trying to bring back the manufacturing economy of the mid-20th century, a completely different industry is taking off right under his nose. This industry is, of course, tech, where new startups providing all manner of services are appearing left and right, promising to radically reshape the workforce. As software development and new business formation has been streamlined, innovation is happening faster than ever before.

The protestors were marching past a university in central Bangkok toward the opposition leaders’ main rabble-rousing stage when the grenade exploded. 36 injured people were rushed to nearby hospitals. Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban was in the crowd but unhurt. Minutes later, on stage, Suthep railed against the government agents he says were responsible for the attack: “We are not afraid and we will fight on,” he thundered.

If you’re one of the 40 million Target shoppers whose credit card information was compromised last month, you’ve probably been wondering who, exactly has control of your data. Although we still have no conclusive data, a new report found that much of the code the hackers used was written in Russian, and many are speculating that the criminals in Eastern Europe and Central Asia may be behind this. If the Russian Mob is this good, just think what the world’s governments are up to.

Rather than passive-aggressive–and sometimes just aggressive–tit for tat between China and India, the Chinese ambassador to India has chosen a softer tack, penning a couple of soothing op-eds in mainstream Indian newspapers rather than the usual angry rants issued by the foreign office in Beijing.