* New Star Wars film has biggest opening in movie history despite not opening in China yet. * In Spain, Podemos party surges as two formerly dominant parties both lose votes for the first time in Spanish democracy. * How Israel is trying to restore domestic safety—steps the Palestinians call vindictive and
* Writers, editors, and thinkers reflect on things that were and were not important in 2015. * Encyclopedia for much of what was discussed this past year in the District of Columbia. * Election to head of government is associated with a substantial increase in mortality risk. * DNC suspends Sanders campaign's
* The GOP's foreign policy divide comes down to whom Republicans blame—George W. Bush or Barack Obama—for the rise of ISIS. * Spending bill to lean left, tax bill to tilt right: how Congressional sausage gets made. * GOP uses bills to gut online privacy, which Dems considered “small
* A fact-check of last night's Republican debate. * History shows a mainstream Republican beats Trump. There are no mainstream Republicans in the race. * "Yellen wants borrowing costs to return to pre-recession norms so we can finally declare an end to the Great Recession era." * The
* Acceding to party pressure, Merkel cites limits to multiculturalism, says Germany will soon stop accepting immigrants. * "The top Google search in California with the word 'Muslims' in it was 'kill Muslims.'" * Federal probes of police departments don’t always result in change, but Obama
* How the DHS's shoddy beginnings begat pointless oversight and rampant fraud, smuggling, and sexual abuse. * More than 33,000 people who built America's nuclear arsenal have died from health issues sustained in their work. * Suburban office parks are becoming "obsolete." * Investigation into corrections officer-
* Jury finds white Oklahoma City cop Daniel Holtzclaw guilty of 18 counts of rape and sexual assault, all against black women. * The full testimonies of the 13 women who accused Holtzclaw of rape and sexual assault. * Holtzclaw's mistake that got him caught: assuming all black women in Oklahoma
* Use of federal watchlists has dramatically increased under Obama; half of those being watched have no known ties to terrorist organizations. * Obama continues his push to ban those on the no-fly list from buying guns. * How Chicago's black police officers handle their department's legacy of
* Not that it matters, but Donald Trump's anti-Muslim policy proposal would be impossible to implement. * J.K. Rowling says Donald Trump is worse than Lord Voldemort. * Pop star Zayn Malik's soft, subtle revolution against Islamophobia and the fear of Muslim men. * Study confirms that text
* Trump's bid to bar all Muslims from entering the US shouldn't be a surprise—he's the candidate we deserve. * Election history shows that even during a normal year, Iowan voters rarely settle on a decision until the last moment. * Academics say most violence in
