Headlines from January 27, 2015

Kurdish forces retake Kobane from ISIS, though US resists declaring victory yet.
Related: For world’s biggest nation without a state, Kurdish statehood finally within reach.
Auschwitz was liberated 70 years ago today; six survivors return to the site to tell their stories.
Former CIA officer found guilty of espionage for leaking classified information to NYT reporter.
FBI arrests banker in Manhattan who was allegedly spying for the Russian government.
EFF announces plan to stop NSA surveillance through tech company pressure, encryption, and litigation reform.
HSBC gets a slap on the wrist over laundering millions for Mexican cartels.
The DEA is establishing a database that tracks motorists’ movement around the US.
Israeli psychiatrists find success prescribing ketamine to patients with depression and chronic pain.
Japanese researchers find aging tastebuds that no longer detect umami result in diminished appetites.
The professional-training view of college dates to Reagan’s time in California.
That the Reagans relied on astrologers was more or less an open secret.
Savvy operators prey on conservative base with scam PACs, which take donations but rarely take action.
US Army commissions portable, prefabricated single-cell prison units.
About one million people live beneath Beijing in underground—and technically illegal—housing. #profiles
In Phoenix you can sleep on an air mattress in a Tesla Model S for $85 a night through Airbnb.
Astronomers estimate exoplanet J1407b’s ring system is roughly 200 times larger than Saturn’s.
The asteroid that flew by Earth yesterday is so massive that it has its own moon.
I didn’t know you could call a thing historic if it hasn’t happened yet. Louis CK cancels MSG show ahead of “historic” snowstorm.
Emergency food staples milk and bread aren’t great for survival—they offer limited nutrition and expire too soon.
Photos from the New York blizzard of 1888, when some areas received as much as 60 inches of snowfall.
Archaeologists exploring Blackbeard’s ship find ample medical supplies for treating syphilis.