December 5, 2014
- Loretta Lynch to lead inquiry into Eric Garner's death while Republican Senators vet her for attorney general.
- Two weeks after the death of Tamir Rice, Justice Department finds pattern of excessive force by Cleveland Police.
- De Blasio announces three-day retraining course for 22,000 New York City cops.
- Of note: Car thief attempts to escape police with skateboard.
- China decried for lack of internet freedom, but other countries are increasingly following its lead.
- See also: Europe and North America tend to write their own Wikipedia entries.
- Gambian activists hope Western outrage over LGBT persecution will lead to greater scrutiny of dictator's abuses.
- Earth-shattering local news stories from the UK in 2014.
- Related: Matthew Baldwin's round-up of the best board games of the year.
- In pursuit of the War on Terror, we lost the War on Drugs in Afghanistan.
- Obama's executive action on immigration still leaves millions of undocumented people—primarily women—with too few options.
- Putin delivers his state-of-the-union address and blames troubles on the West.
- Eric Garner's asthma correlated with racism: minorities breathe worse air than whites.
- Alicia Keys releases protest anthem she recorded at home, plans to hit the streets despite her pregnancy.
- British fashion vlogger becomes UK's best-selling UK debut novelist ever, with the best-selling hardcover title for 2014.
- Seven writers, many with books published, explain why they still need day jobs.
- Researchers prove that public restrooms aren't any dirtier than other spaces.
- Your weekend consideration: Whether or not to blanket your horse for winter.