* Cairo prepares for rival rallies ahead of a referendum ordered by President Morsi. * New Gazan cologne, M-75, named after Hamas' rockets, costs twice as much as other perfumes. * Genomic study confirms Europe's Roma came from a single group that left India "about 1,500 years
* South Korean musician Psy apologizes for rapping about killing American torturers. * Psychologists try to use brain science to "cure" boredom. * The true meaning of Hanukkah—war, resilience, hope—is better for being complicated. * "Mysterious monkey in posh miniature winter coat found alone at Toronto Ikea." * From
Started in 2001, a 10-year study of London’s bus stops, photographs that resemble Renaissance tableaus—brief congregations of people never to be repeated.
* Researchers find biological parents are four times less at risk of premature death. * The death rate of many of the biggest and oldest trees around the world is increasing rapidly. * Drug makers are working like pathogens, sharing information in new efforts to stay ahead of antibiotic-resistant infections. * Still a
* We should be more concerned about Assad's use of nerve agents than chemical weapons. * One year later, the story of a fire that killed three girls in a Stamford home on Christmas still haunts. * WNYC continues its profiles of children killed in 2012 by gunfire in New York
Technology is moving so fast, it’s easy to overlook that what’s to come is already right in front of us. Stop for a moment, and you’ll see the future.
* New interactive tool lets you choose your own Israeli-Palestinian peace solution. * Blessed be the internet: International relations as depicted by cats. * Casino owner Adelson to double his $100 million investment in GOP causes by the next election. * Report on the shady business of "honey laundering"—global fraud
There are some weeks when writing about football seems more than usually frivolous, and this is one of them. Always, one feels self-serious analyzing what is, after all, “just a game” using war metaphors and hyperbole like “heartbreaking,” “tragedy,” and “agony.” At the same time, one feels guilty enjoying
* To China, the United States appears much as Great Britain did to Americans two centuries ago. * Obama's data director assures Americans he's not Big Brother. * AOL's history told through New York Times crossword clues. * Today in odd news: Apparently, Kim Jong-Il had a
Tony Kushner appeared at Temple Emanuel in Kingston, N.Y., two Sundays ago. He didn’t give a speech; he was interviewed by another playwright, Rinne Groff. Kushner has the prosperous, worried, intelligent air of an MD—except that he also looks famous. When you observe his elongated face and
