* Washington believes Moscow's behind the downing of a plane over eastern Ukraine; EU powers say wait and see. * Ukraine releases audio from what it says are phone calls between rebels and Russian officers. * Palestinians killed since start of invasion now stands at 28, with some 150 targets hit
* Federal judge rules that California’s death penalty violates the constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. * Almond milk is not only bad for California's drought; it's a waste of precious almonds. * Profile data analyzed from America’s most popular hate website. * Charles Darwin’s
* After 350 posts and 40,000 deaths, a Times blogger reflects on what she learned cataloging American gun violence. * A map of gun incidents in New York City thus far in 2014 correlates with the city's race and class lines. * An exposé of the NYPD's "
* Israel accepts Egyptian-brokered proposal for an immediate end to fighting in the Gaza Strip. * Germany splits up sausage cartel for fixing wurst prices as far back as 2003. * Pack of legal joints to more likely cost 50 cents than $50, but that's assuming a "Smoke Local&
* One year from today, mankind will make its first contact with Pluto via a spacecraft the size of a baby grand piano. * America's great pot experiment: Legalization in certain states has been more treacherous than others, and could end after Obama. * Berkeley City Council votes to give free
* Interviews with the border children. * The story of the largest slave auction in America, in Georgia on March 2-3, 1859, known as the Weeping Time. * How Patti Hammond Shaw, who was jailed with men who allegedly abused her, changed how police treat transgender people. * Laverne Cox is nominated for
* Three years ago the Arab Spring brought hope, now replaced by ruin—outsiders, no matter their intention, can't restore that future. * Female Syrian refugees face constant sexual harassment. * Dubai has unveiled its first state-sponsored construction project since the pre-crash bubble: an indoor city with hotels, shops,
* Israel calls up reservists to replace those on duty in the West Bank, to free them for a possible ground invasion of Gaza. * Hamas fires long-range missiles into Israel, with dozens more in store. * San Francisco hates techies, techies hate being despised, and the war rages on between public
* To celebrate its 125th anniversary, the Wall Street Journal shows how today's team would cover events of 1889. * See also: History of the paper's design. * BBC Trust orders its producers to stop adding "false balance" when reporting on climate change. * London's Oxford
* Over 60 women and girls escape from Boko Haram in Nigeria; more than 200 girls remain kidnapped. * Russia’s minister of culture urges Russians to shun other languages and study Russian more. * Some Russians experience buyers’ remorse after being asked to personally subsidize Crimea. * Frozen soundtrack is on course to
