The China Syndrome: Stock prices around the world are sliding on worries about the Chinese economy. China’s main index dropped 4.3 percent today. Yesterday the Dow Jones dove 350 points. Investors are worried that emerging markets in China, Brazil, and …

—From Vicksburg, Miss.   Nation: The judge in the Etan Patz kidnapping and murder trial declared a mistrial yesterday after the jury was unable to come to a verdict following three weeks of deliberations. Jurors told reporters that just one …

Nation: Tens of thousands of people, including police officers from across the country, are gathered in Brooklyn for the funeral today of New York police officer Wenjian Liu who was murdered with his partner Dec. 20th. Liu, the only child …

Cyber Spat: The US has slapped new sanctions on North Korea in retaliation for the hacking attack on Sony Pictures …. despite doubts among private sleuths that North Korea was actually behind it. The sanctions target 10 public officials and …

Box Office: North Korea is directly blaming President Obama for the release of the movie The Interview. A statement from North Korea’s National Defense Commission says, “U.S. President Obama is the chief culprit who forced the Sony Pictures Entertainment to …

Econ 101: The Dow Jones rose 421 points yesterday, the market’s biggest one-day spike in three years. Investors were excited about earnings reports. At the same time the price of oil continued to slide under $56 a barrel. While that’s …

Cuban Surprise: President Obama shocked the world and his Republican opponents announcing yesterday that 50 years of shunning Cuba is a failure and that the US is re-establishing diplomatic relations with the island country just 90 miles off the coast …

The Greenhouse: Diplomats from all over the world are gathering in Lima, Peru to make yet another attempt to hammer out a global agreement to curtail greenhouse gas emissions and slow climate change. But scientists warn that even drastic reductions …

Holiday Spirit: Millions of Americans went shopping yesterday, probably before the Thanksgiving dessert was served. Christmas shopping has officially crept into Thanksgiving Day. Shoppers were lined up for the doors to open at Wal-Mart and Target stores across the country. …

Permawar: Three explosions rocked Kabul, Afghanistan today, including a suicide bombing carried out inside the heavily fortified police headquarters. Only one person was reported killed but the attacks are evidence of the Taliban’s reach and power to strike. >US air …