Murder rates are up in many American cities. Criminal justice reformers: Proceed with caution.

A Chinese official says Beijing’s policy is to disallow foreign warships and airplanes from entering the territory it claims in the South China Sea. Since the U.S. doesn’t recognize the legitimacy of China’s far-reaching claims and promises to persist in sailing and flying through the area, that’s a very serious threat.

Mustard gas this time. But given what we don’t know about Assad’s supposedly-destroyed stores, what might be next?

Israel struck a deal this week to start production in its massive Leviathan offshore gas field.

ISIS has issued a fatwa that allows Christians, just as much as Yizidis, to be enslaved.

The deal, if real, could be a sign that the Sunnis and Israelis are getting seriously close to a united front against Iran.

Poland’s new president, Andrzej Duda, is decrying the map of NATO bases, which suggest that the alliance sees an eastern front falling along Cold War-era lines.

But the outlook is “stable”, says the ratings organization.

Long a client of Iran, Sudan is realigning itself with its co-religionists.

Britain’s shale struggles highlight an important and oft-overlooked facet of the American shale boom: our laws about mineral rights.