* Of drone pilots, 30% suffer high levels of stress—though not dangerous levels, the Air Force says. * The differences between your debt and American Airlines's. * Analysis of how much money top chess players can make. * Reasonably easy math on how tidal power—virtually inexhaustible and less intermittent than
* Tributes flow in after Sunday's death of Vaclav Havel, playwright and president. * Related: Remnick's profile as Havel left power, in a tailored suit rather than borrowed trousers. * Kim Jong-il's death announced by weepy Korean newscaster. * While his country suffered, Kim Jong-il realized
* Tunisia celebrates a year since its revolution. * Egyptian soliders and protestors continue to clash, undermining credibility of elections. * Keep track of the Republican candidates, debates, primaries: six debates in January. * Brazil to give World Cup soccer tickets for guns, make goalposts out of the weapons. * Favela gangs provide social services
* Standoff continues in Chinese protest village over corrupt officials and land seizures. * Japanese officials say crippled Fukushima reactors are in "cold shutdown"—so much grandstanding, say critics. * After careful analysis, it turns out that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon just isn't very funny. * Christian Bale
* Christopher Hitchens dead at 62 from pneumonia, a complication of his esophageal cancer. * My chief consolation in this year of living dyingly has been the presence of friends. * Longform's round-up of articles by and about Christopher Hitchens. * Ian Parker's definitive bio of Hitchens: "How
* State Dept. "will have billions to spend" in Iraq over the next few years. * And now we get to prematurely place behind us another quite troubling incident in our recent history. * This year was the first in over three decades that fewer than 100 people were sent to
* Ad of Mitt Romney speaking French, with fake English subtitles, declined by Fox News for being misleading. * Chirac given two-year suspended sentence for corrupt behavior while mayor of Paris. * German social scientist says society is poisoned, consumed with status-minding and discrimination. * Massive face atop German lighthouse changes depending
* Gawker dumps files documenting every time a Blackwater guard shot at an Iraqi between 2005 and 2007. * Author of "Observations From 20 Years in Iowa" cites "raging bonfire" of backlash that has him scared. * Podcasts on how to negotiate with kids, jerks, and the opposite sex.
* Hong Kong is the world's most developed financial market, U.S. is no. 2, says report. * Forbes ranks America's banks. * The democratic market for ideas is not a truth machine. * African democracies will gain more legitimacy when elections oust incumbents—in South Africa, that may not
* Obama hails end of war in Iraq; Iran cheers its victory. * Red Cross considers whether violent video games should be subject to international humanitarian law. * Chart plots which countries spend the most at Christmas. * Receivers don't care how much gifts cost; people prefer cash to surprises. * Cambridge puts
