* White House asks Congress for $500m to train and equip "moderate" Syrian rebels. * Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova tiptoe away from Russia with new EU pact. * Henry Louis Gates on black slave owners—a variety of black "masters," with a variety of motivations. * Inside a physician-assisted suicide.
* Detroit water authority turns off water at 3,000 households; residents ask the UN to intervene. * The traditional medicines of human rights activism—exposés, media attention, and pressure...are falling short. * More than 100 cities and counties have refused to honor the ICE's requests to detain undocumented immigrants.
Living out of a van, without an address to pin you down, can be blissful and carefree, and occasionally miserable. But the same goes for love.
* Many Turks now blame the Turkish government for enabling the rise of ISIS and other extremists in Syria. * British Airways sued by man who was sent to Grenada, not Granada—and it's happened before. * None of the jobs on Forbes' list of "best 12 jobs for
The Thirteenth Amendment passed 150 years ago, abolishing slavery. Today, little of the Underground Railroad still remains. A painter hits the road to discover what’s intact.
* Tens of thousands of Iraqis form military ¨Peace Brigades¨ to assist the government. * Map of the US shows where guns outnumber libraries and museums. * See also: Profile of the first blind man to acquire a concealed-carry permit. * Twenty emergency responders required to extract an American foreign-exchange student from
Tobacco farmers, churchgoers, and signs of rapid growth crop up like kudzu along North Carolina’s Highway 15-501, aka Tobacco Road.
* A quarter of India's land is turning to desert, threatening food security in the world's second most populous country. * Related: If there were a World Cup for climate change diversion, Switzerland would win. * The shared history of soccer, rugby, and football is why Americans differ in
* The Social Security Administration and Veterans Affairs are taking steps to provide some recognition of same-sex couples. * South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has declined to veto penalties for college assigning "gay-themed" books in the 2014 state budget. * Concerned for female students' future in the workplace,
* Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian separatists "locked in fierce fighting" in the east of Ukraine. * Before Cheney's allowed to criticize Obama for blunders in Iraq, a preface is due to explain his contribution. * See also: Celebrity confessions strung together to create an Übersinner. * Jamelle Bouie on
