Headlines from December 16, 2013

Kim Jong Un’s uncle was the first in a series of expected executions in North Korea—the youth are killing off their elders.
DPRK: “Despicable human scum Jang, who was worse than a dog, perpetrated thrice-cursed acts of treachery.”
Why Uncle Jang’s death matters to the rest of the world: He was a link to China, and a powerful figure who advocated reform.
In the end demography was the reason Chinese leaders had to act. Why China is relaxing its one-child policy.
Barack Obama did not tell the whole story this autumn when he tried to make the case [against] Bashar al-Assad.
Gaza floods require 5,000 to evacuate; the country continues to endure daily 12-hour blackouts from last month’s fuel shortage.
This year has been particularly active for the volcanoes that spew steaming hot ash and lava while we act like nothing’s wrong. #photos
Conservation authorities in Turkey receive text messages containing the GPS coordinates of wolves.
Iran’s aerospace program allegedly launches a rhesus macaque into space—again.
Actress Joan Fontaine, who died yesterday at 96, had a lifelong feud with her sister, actress Olivia de Havilland.
Clips of Peter O’ Toole riding on Letterman via camel, talking Hamlet with Orson Welles, and quoting the Spice Girls. #video
But the theatre! ... It’s…like building a statue of snow. From 1963, Gay Talese’s profile of O’Toole. #longreads
England and Wales remove 309 offenses from statute book, including “being an incorrigible rogue.”
Indie filmmaking pioneer Tom Laughlin, the creator of Billy Jack, dies at 82. #obit
In this more perfect future, it will become obsolete. A philosophical defense of failure.