It’s looking less and less likely that Obama can stay out of Syria.BBC: “The UN Security Council has called for immediate access for UN investigators on the ground in Damascus,” Downing Street said in a statement.“The fact that President Assad has failed to co-operate with the UN suggests that the regime has something to hide.”It […]

A leftist NYC radio station is facing a serious problem: too much government. The Times reports on the financial crisis facing WBAI, “radio for the 99 percent” that only reaches “0.1 percent of the New York radio audience.” Struggling with massive losses for years now, the station has just laid off 19 out of its 29 staff members, […]

News from Asia this week was dominated by the trial of Bo Xilai, who surprised observers by denying the charges against him and claiming before the court that he was framed. Yet despite the initial shock it appears the the Communist Party still has the situation under control. Elsewhere, Chinese President Xi Jinping continued his […]

AUGUST 22: A firefighter from the Colorado based Long Canyon Fire Department monitors a back fire while battling the Rim Fire on August 22, 2013 in Groveland, California. The Rim Fire continues to burn out of control and threatens 2,500 homes outside of Yosemite National Park. Over 1,000 firefighters are battling the blaze that was […]

In three years, Kenya hopes to add oil to its already strong exports of coffee and tea. A British-based oil firm hit it big in the East African country’s South Lokichar basin last year, and now Nairobi is hoping to ramp up production—potentially to more than 5,000 barrels a day—and begin exporting its oil.To do […]

The Egyptian military’s crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood was brutal and perhaps excessive, but it also appears to have been exceedingly effective. The Muslim Brotherhood had tried to pull together another day of mass rallies and protests on Friday, and the turnout was unimpressive: A group of about 1,000 people, some carrying Mr Morsi’s picture, […]

A minitruck driver and his teenage helper were on a routine trip along a highway in India’s northwest last weekend when, all of a sudden, three men forced the truck to a halt, overpowered the driver, and took off. The robbers’ booty? Onions.The onion thieves are still at large, but their motive is clear. “Onion […]

Americans countrywide are opting for a new kind of exotic fare, but, unlike quinoa and other imported delicacies, it’s locally sourced. The Times reports on our growing taste for roadkill, suggested by the pro-roadkill laws that over a dozen states are adopting:  In Colorado, people can take the edible portions of roadkill if they get permission from […]

Melting Arctic ice is bringing big changes to the world’s shipping and energy industries. It’s opening up access to new stores of oil and gas—the region is estimated to contain 13 percent of the world’s untapped oil reserves and 30 percent of its gas—that were previously inaccessible. And it’s also opening up a new shipping […]

The news recently had stories about three more interesting med-tech advances that might make health care both more efficient and more affordable down the line. First, a new study finds that doctors do a better job treating children when they have telemedicine at their disposal than when they don’t. The study looked at children who […]