* As Syria's primary arms supplier, Russia enjoys the spotlight that comes with being involved, but looks for a solution. * Putin's watch collection is worth more than his income. * A look at the Obama administration's on-again, off-again relationship with leaks. * Friedersdorf: Obama supporters
* Quick summary of 50 years in Caribbean politics' "centrifugal" power shifts. * The working class votes red not because of misinformation, but because of the right's strong vision. * Women in northern Iraq commit suicide to avoid arranged marriages with their cousins. * Design school is the new
* Nasdaq pledges $40 million to settle broker disputes in Facebook IPO. * Silicon Valley's next hot tech IPO. * Imagining life after a "total hack," where everything you've clicked can be seen by everyone else. * Chinese students stress over gao kao, notoriously difficult college entrance exams
* Party leaders, presidential candidates, and talking heads judged on truthiness. * Five ideas to manage a potential break-up of the eurozone. * Norwegian prison to hire friends to spend time with mass killer Breivik. * Most deadly attack in weeks kills 20 at Kandahar airport. * Study finds patients fear their doctors and
* Democrats picked a fight and lost, but it's no harbinger of Obama's fate. * NYC rescinds no-tolerance policy on possession of less than an ounce of marijuana. * Bloomberg's ban on sugary drinks has its critics, but he has evolutionary biology—and our predilection to
* The economic case for bribery. * Complete our 2012 Reader Survey, and you could win a TMN Prize Pack. * Happiness is statistically abnormal, consists of a discrete cluster of symptoms, is associated with a range of cognitive abnormalities. * Pretexting, baiting, and other social engineering techniques scammers use to exploit "bugs
* Western journalists, including Pulitzer-winning Peter Arnett, on what it's like to move to China to teach journalism. * Notes on the under-researched phenomenon that is drunk speech. * Roundtable with the creators of Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and Deadwood (aka The Milch Man) on the art of current
* Wifi owners engage in amateur campaigning through network naming. * Google warns Chinese users when a search term is likely to get their internet disconnected. * Shanghai stock exchange falls 64.89 on the anniversary of Tiananmen Square—China blocks searches for news of today's market close. * Related: Jonathan Gourlay
* U.S. and Pakistan locked in negotiations while drone "blitz" continues. * Mick Jagger and Arcade Fire help Saturday Night Live say goodbye to Kristen Wiig. * Pop music is longer, slower, sadder—only 43.5% of recent hits are written in a major mode. * Round-up from the New
