America’s director of national intelligence had some sobering words on the current state of play in Syria yesterday, suggesting that the recent chemical weapons agreement has actually strengthened Assad’s position. Iran is watching closely, and taking notes:

Research suggests that telework can not only save companies money and cut out workers’ commutes, but it can also raise productivity. Bottom line: telework is good for the bottom line.

The long-awaited State Department report on Keystone XL was released last Friday, and it confirmed what common sense already told us: Building this pipeline won’t significantly affect emissions. What that means for the feckless green movement depends on how it interprets defeat.

Good evening, readers! We hope you’ve had a restful weekend. Take a break from your Super Bowl preparations to read what you may have missed over the past week:

EU industries pay double what their American counterparts pay for electricity, and the International Energy Agency is warning that this is not a one-off phenomenon. Green policies are an anchor around Europe’s economies.

Plunging temperatures have sent natural gas prices up past $5 per million BTU for the first time in more than three years. That’s still much cheaper than most people elsewhere in the world pay for their natural gas, and here’s the thing: if it weren’t for the shale boom, that price would likely be much higher.

China’s toxic air pollution is both deadly and expensive, but it also might be a party-ruiner. As the country gears up to celebrate the Lunar New Year, some experts are asking cities to do their part to curb smog by canceling traditional fireworks displays.

The world got a little smarter about fishing this week, thanks to developments on both sides of the Atlantic. First, Michael Bloomberg’s philanthropic foundation issued a $53 million grant to combat overfishing off the coasts of Asia and South America. Second, the European Union finalized a nearly $9 billion plan to combat overfishing in its member states’ waters.

Scientists have developed a new kind of pesticide that can disrupt the genetic sequences of the intended targets. The new method goes after the RNA of unwanted organisms—and could be used to target a mite “believed to be at least partly responsible for the mass die-offs of honeybees in recent years.”

Just about every aspect of the robot-driven car of the future lends itself to marketing. Is it a coincidence, then, that Google—maybe the dominant advertiser in the information age—is so keen on developing the technology? Doubtful.