* Taliban official writes letter to Malala Yousafzai to apologize not for shooting her, but for not warning her of their plans. * A man with Asperger's who loves the MTA has been arrested 29 times for impersonating its employees. * Shyness is a part of being human. The world would
* Across the border from McAllen, Texas, Mexican authorities rescue 81 kidnapped migrants; last month, 165 were freed in a similar case. * Huong is among millions of Vietnamese who hold an estimated 300 tons to 400 tons of bullion...valued at as much as $19 billion at domestic prices. * An elastic,
* Neo-Nazi black-metal musician arrested in southwestern France on charges of plotting a massacre. * How the media is ignoring health complications and hyping the belief an abortion ban after 20 weeks is "reasonable." * Related: "It's a rare condition, even more rare to have made
* New video finds Pussy Riot claiming Putin and cronies have looted billions of dollars of Russia's oil wealth. * Cuba admits being behind a stash of weapons found on board a North Korean ship seized in the Panama Canal. * Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, in response to Zimmerman'
* What happens when we catch Snowden. * Making sense of China's GDP growth: Thanks to Wikileaks, we can guess the numbers are artificial. * Most fake negative reviews of products on the web are written by devoted customers who want to vent. * A catalog of natural and man-made sinkholes.
* George Zimmerman faces at least three more trials in the death of Trayvon Martin—but it's likely he won't lose any of them. * Abortion is unlike any other issue: Both sides have equal support and face their share of internal challenges * Let's abolish the
* Trials like this one can never...act as moral surrogates to resolve the national debates they trigger. * David Simon takes to his blog after the George Zimmerman verdict. * Must-read: Louis Menand on voting rights and the Southern way of life. * Vallejo, Calif., is the most diverse city in the
* Cord Jefferson on the Zimmerman trial. * The most damning element here is not that George Zimmerman was found not guilty: it’s the bitter knowledge that Trayvon Martin was found guilty. * As abortion laws tighten in Texas, the popularity of "abortion pills" from Mexico may increase. * From September,
* Why black colleges might sue the Obama administration: The rhetoric and the policies don't always match. * Toshi Seeger, who married Pete nearly 70 years ago, died this week at 91. * PBS's Off Book explores the question of what happens to human brains in a world of
* Russia's Federal Guard Service places large order for typewriters to steer clear of digital eavesdropping. * The Arab Spring will take decades to succeed; Egypt's coup is no death knell. * On Marie Colvin, the difficulty of reporting in Syria, and why Sebastian Junger quit the war-news
