By Amy Davidson, Close Read @ newyorker.com, March 6, 2014
[...] “You have said that the Francis-mania will not last long,” the Corriere della Sera interviewer said. “Is there something in your public image that you don’t like?” The Pope replied, “I don’t like the ideological interpretations, a certain ‘mythology of Pope Francis’ ”:
By Bruce Drake, "Factank" @ Pew Research Center, March 3, 2014
[.....] about four-in-ten (39%) of Americans say the U.S. should be less involved in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian dispute compared with 36% who say it should remain is involved as it is now, according to a survey conducted last fall. About a fifth (21%) of Americans say the U.S. should be more involved.
A new study based on genetic testing of 150,000 people has found a rare mutation that protects even fat people from getting Type 2 diabetes. The effect is so pronounced — the mutation reduces risk by two-thirds — that it provides a promising new target for developing a drug to mimic the mutation’s effect.
At least 27 people dead and 109 injured after knife-wielding group attacked Kunming railway station in Yunnan province Associated Press in Beijing, March 1, 2014
A group of knife-wielding men attacked a train station in south-western China on Saturday, leaving at least 27 people dead and another 109 injured, the official Xinhua News Agency said, making it one of the deadliest attacks in China in recent years.
David McHugh and Vladimir Ischenkov from Kiev, Associated Press, March 1, 2013
Russia executed a de facto military takeover of a strategic region in Ukraine as the parliament in Moscow gave President Vladimir Putin a green light Saturday to proceed to protect Russian interests. The newly installed government in Kiev was powerless to react to the swift takeover of Crimea by Russian troops already in Ukraine and more flown in, aided by pro-Russian Ukrainian groups.
By Ruth Pollard, Sydney Morning Herald, Feb. 27, 2014
Residents wait to receive food aid distributed by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) at the besieged al-Yarmouk camp, south of Damascus. Photo: Reuters
Jim Sensenbrenner among those concerned by proposals on the table and says stance to end bulk surveillance is ‘unwavering’
By Spencer Ackerman, theguardian.com, 26 Feb., 2014
Advocates for the curtailment of bulk surveillance are pre-emptively opposing a reform proposal presented to the White House under which responsibility for the National Security Agency’s vast database of US phone records would be handed over to the FBI.
Nigeria has closed its northern border with Cameroon to block the movement of Boko Haram members who use the area as a launch-pad for attacks.
In a statement released on Sunday the Nigerian military claimed fighters have set up bases in sparsely populated areas of its northeastern neighbours Cameroon, Chad and Niger; and use them to flee across the border after staging attacks to avoid military pursuit [....]
By John Irish and Daniel Flynn in Paris and Dakar, Reuters, Feb. 23, 2014
When France sent troops to halt violence between Christians and Muslims in Central African Republic, commanders named the mission Sangaris after a local butterfly to reflect its short life. Three months later, it is clear they badly miscalculated.
CAIRO — An Egyptian prosecutor on Sunday accused the ousted Islamist president of passing state secrets to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, the first such explicit detail in an ongoing espionage trial.
If convicted, Mohammed Morsi could face capital punishment. He already stands accused of a string of other charges, some of which also carry the death penalty, levelled as part of a crackdown on his Muslim Brotherhood group after the military deposed him last summer.
BANGKOK — Three people were killed, including two children, and more than 50 injured at antigovernment protests in Thailand over the weekend as the country’s protracted power struggle gave rise to more violence.
By Mery Mogollon and Chris Kraul, Los Angeles Times, Feb. 22, 2014
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Massive demonstrations by opponents and supporters of President Nicolas Maduro were underway Saturday in central Caracas as the official death toll rose to eight on the 10th day of civil unrest roiling Venezuela.
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Friday proposed cuts in Medicare payment rates for managed-care plans serving more than one-fourth of all beneficiaries, and Republicans immediately pounced on the proposal, which appears likely to become a significant issue in this year’s midterm elections.
By Jeffrey Toobin, Daily Comment @ newyorker.com, Feb. 21, 2014
Home-page lede: In the eight years since the Justice last asked a question in oral argument, his behavior on the bench has gone from curious to bizarre to downright embarrassing.
