Hillary Fest: The Democratic National Convention gets under way today in Philadelphia amidst sweltering heat, some of it coming from Donald Trump, but most of it from the Democrats’ own kitchen. After the release of 20,000 internal emails to Wikileaks, …

The Panama Papers: The hidden wealth of politicians, the rich, and famous around the world has been revealed in a leak of financial documents coming out of Panama. What’s been dubbed “The Panama Papers” were given to multiple news outlets. …

Permawar: In a sudden change of course, Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his military forces out of Syria. He’s declaring success and getting out. “I consider the objectives that have been set for the Defense Ministry to be generally …

Uncas Thinking: A ground war in Iraq would lead to 100 US deaths and 500 wounded every month, President Obama told a private meeting of news columnists earlier this week. He said the cost in lives and money was the …

Political Climate: President Obama is in Paris today trying to negotiate an international climate change agreement that would enlist almost every country on earth to curtail greenhouse gas emissions. It would be one of the legacies of his presidency. But …

Nation: Protests erupted in Chicago last night after the release of a 2014 police dash cam video of a white officer shooting a black 17-year-old armed with a knife 16 times. The Chicago police department had suppressed the video until …

World at War: In a messy escalation of war in the Middle East, Turkey has shot down a Russian fighter jet that it says flew over Turkish territory despite repeated warnings. Russia has confirmed that it lost an Su24 fighter jet, …

War in Paris: One woman blew herself up and another person died during a shootout with the police this morning in the Paris suburb of St.-Denis. Seven people were arrested after the operation that unfolded over about seven hours of …

Myanmar: The ruling military government of Myanmar has conceded that Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her democracy party have won a ruling majority in both houses of parliament. A military statement posted on Facebook said, “The government …

Nation: In one of the most important and controversial decisions of his presidency, Barack Obama announced yesterday that after seven years of consideration he’s rejecting the giant Keystone XL pipeline that was to have transported crude oil from Canada to …