Is Google Street View the New Nature Documentary?

Google

Google announced Thursday that they've taken their Street View cameras on a hiking trip around the Galapagos islands — above ground, and under water.

By David Wagner

Dec 4, 2012

Today's Best

Five Best Tuesday Columns

Jonathan Cohn on Republicans sending us over the fiscal cliff, David Brooks on Republicans saving us from it, Jeffrey Goldberg on Israel's disappearing allies, Bob Dole and Tony Coelho on disabled Americans, and Joshua Muggleton on Asperger's.

Comments | 2,931 Views

By Jen Doll

Dec 4, 2012

How Normal Are Royal Parents, Really?

On Day Two of the news, we are reminded that Will and Kate will do things differently. They are not the old-school monarchy of stiff upper lips and cold rigidity we used to know. They are adamantly modern, and their parenting style will be like that, too.

Comments | 1,162 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Dec 4, 2012

Russia May Finally Be Willing to Push Assad Out of Syria

Vladimir Putin (who is alive and well!)  met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan yesterday and reportedly signaled that Russia may be willing to push for a new plan to peacefully remove Bashar al-Assad from power in Syria.

Comments | 2,021 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Dec 4, 2012

Navy Disputes Iran's Claim That It Captured Another U.S. Drone

Iran's state news agency reported this morning that they have "hunted" and captured an unarmed surveillance vehicle, but the United States Navy says it hasn't lost any drones.

Comments | 2,069 Views

By Jen Doll

Dec 3, 2012

Why America's Gone Royal Baby Crazy

Call it some sort of lapsed historical sentiment; maybe we sort of wish, in America, that we had our own royals, even as we attempt to replace kings and queens with Kennedys and Kardashians.

Comments | 2,759 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Dec 3, 2012

Meet the Comic Behind the @RoyalFetus Account, Which is Almost Two Years Old

Anne Victoria Clark is the fake social-media winner of today's royal-baby news: She owns a parody account that will now gather an inordinate amount of klout.

Comments | 3,421 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Dec 3, 2012

The Royal Baby Will Not Be Named Diana

If Kate and Will's just announced offspring is a girl and a future queen, it looks like "Diana" could be part of her name — just not the first part.

Comments | 4,728 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Dec 3, 2012

The Voice of the Syrian Regime Was Not Spouting Enough Propaganda, Apparently

Jihad Makdissi, who until yesterday was the spokesperson for Syria's foreign ministry and one of the main voices of Bashar al-Assad's regime, has reportedly left the country.

Comments | 827 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Dec 3, 2012

Even Russia and China Don't Want the North Koreans Testing a New Missile

North Korea has reportedly begun to set up the first stage of a rocket they plan to launch later this month, even though their closest "allies" are advising them against the stunt.

Comments | 2,884 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Dec 3, 2012

Kate Middleton Is Pregnant

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting a baby, the Royal Palace has confirmed, and apparently Kate already has some really terrible morning sickness.

Comments | 17,853 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Dec 3, 2012

Israel Asking to Bomb Syria's Chemical Weapons

As concern grows over Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons, a new report suggests that one country is already figuring out how it intends to bomb them out of existence.

Comments | 8,939 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Dec 2, 2012

France and Britain Reportedly Considering Pulling Ambassadors from Israel

Everybody knew that Israel's move to build new settlements in the previously off-limits area outside Jerusalem known as E1 would anger friends and enemies alike. But few probably guessed that it would send European ambassadors fleeing the country.

Comments | 101,461 Views

By Connor Simpson

Dec 2, 2012

Russian Government Provides Helpful List of Things to Worry About Instead of the Apocalypse

More than almost anywhere else, Russians are having trouble dealing with the upcoming apocalypse on December 21.

Comments | 5,812 Views

By Connor Simpson

Dec 2, 2012

Egypt's Top Court Quits Over Morsi's Controversial Constitution

Egypt's top court was expected to make a ruling on the legitimacy of the Islamist-dominaed panel that drafted the country's new constitution on Saturday, but because of protests they decided to suspend operations indefinitely.

Comments | 1,328 Views

By Connor Simpson

Dec 1, 2012

The Likely Reason Syria Blacked Out Its Internet: Skype

Bashar al-Assad's efforts to disrupt the pesky rebellion in his country by cutting off access to the internet was probably because the rebels use Skype as a way to keep tabs on his army's movement. Thankfully, the rebels planned ahead. 

Comments | 5,345 Views

By Adam Clark Estes and Connor Simpson

Dec 1, 2012

The Pope Goes to the Circus

If there's anything that Pope Benedict XVI loves more than cats, it must be the adorable, collared babies of big exotic cats, because we've never seen the man happier than he was petting a pair of lion cubs at the Vatican on Saturday.

Comments | 1,704 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Dec 1, 2012

What Did the Congolese Rebels Accomplish in Goma?

After days of stalling, Congo's M23 rebels finally made their withdrawal from the eastern city of Goma, not far from the Rwandan border, on Saturday.

Comments | 980 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Dec 1, 2012

North Korea Wants to Launch a Long-Range Missile for Christmas

With his first year in power coming to a close, it's time for Kim Jong-Un to show off his strength as a leader, and what better way to do that than by blasting a giant rocket into the heavens?

Comments | 2,771 Views

By David Wagner

Nov 30, 2012

Today's Best

Five Best Friday Columns

Therese Poletti on Groupon, Anthony Lane on the Leveson report, Paul Krugman on class war, Ana Marie Cox on #Obama, and Ruth Marcus on Susan Rice. 

Comments | 3,273 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Nov 30, 2012

North Korea Has Found a Secret Unicorn Lair, Apparently

"Archaeologists of the History Institute of the DPRK Academy of Social Sciences have recently reconfirmed a lair of the unicorn rode by King Tongmyong, founder of the Koguryo Kingdom." reports the — wait. Stop. UNICORNS? 

Comments | 632,445 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Nov 30, 2012

See How Syria's Internet Disappeared

It's been almost a full day now and the nation of Syria remains completely cut off from the rest of the Internet (and by extension, the outside world.) Internet analysts who watched the collapse in real-time think they've figured out how it was done.

Comments | 2,586 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Nov 30, 2012

Just How Bad Is Vladimir Putin's Health?

The Kremlin is denying reports that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had to cancel a state visit to due to health problems, but until we some shirtless horseback riding pictures, we're going to continue to assume the worst.

Comments | 2,586 Views

By Connor Simpson

Nov 30, 2012

Egypt's New Constitution Is Ready for Morsi's Approval

A key component to ending Morsi's executive decree that gives him near universal power in Egypt is almost ready for him to approve. Except that everyone who doesn't agree with Morsi still hates it. 

Comments | 345 Views

By Connor Simpson

Nov 29, 2012

Things Are Finally Over Between DSK and the Maid from the Sofitel Hotel

Dominique Strauss-Kahn just got one big step closer to not having any outstanding legal problems Thursday evening. He finally settled things with the maid from the Sofitel hotel. 

Comments | 172 Views

By Connor Simpson

Nov 29, 2012

Sugar Plums! The Pope Did Not Cancel Christmas!

Did you hear? Did you hear? I'll tell you everything, my dears. The pope didn't cancel Christmas after all! 

Comments | 690 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Nov 29, 2012

What the UN Vote for Palestinian Statehood Really Means

Early Thursday evening, even after some last-minute diplomatic swings, Palestine easily won a vote in the U.N. General Assembly, changing its status from "entity" to "non-member state" — just like the Vatican. So what's the big deal?

Comments | 3,104 Views

By Esther Zuckerman

Nov 29, 2012

Chart of the Day

What's the Least Emotional Country on Earth?

Choosing a vacation based on your current mood just got a lot easier, thanks to this new map from The Washington Post's Max Fisher.

Comments | 3,244 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Nov 29, 2012

Is the U.S. Secretly Talking to North Korea?

A South Korean newspaper is claiming that a group of U.S. officials took an undercover trip to Pyongyang back in August, the second "secret" diplomatic meeting they've allegedly held in North Korea this year.

Comments | 1,092 Views

By David Wagner

Nov 29, 2012

Yes, You Can Get Arrested for a Facebook Status Update Now

A 21-year-old woman thought Mumbai shouldn't have been shutdown for the funeral of an Islamophobic leader. Broadcasting such opinions on Facebook was apparently grounds for arrest

Comments | 1,611 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Nov 29, 2012

The Day Syria Made Its Internet Disappear

Rumors began spreading early this morning that phone and internet services were failing in major Syrian cities, but several Internet traffic companies have now determined that every single Syrian IP address has effectively been blocked.

Comments | 817 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Nov 29, 2012

Obama's Syria Plan Just Got a Little Less Mysterious

According to The New York Times, the White House is "considering several alternatives" to intervention in the Syrian civil war, but remains leery about the backlash of sparking a wider conflict—even as time runs down on how or whether to step in.

Comments | 3,483 Views

By David Wagner

Nov 29, 2012

Today's Best

Five Best Thursday Columns

Amy Davidson on Hillary Clinton, Matthew Yglesias on the fiscal cliff, Daniel Byman on Al Qaeda, Bill George on H.P., and Shikha Dalmia on immigration.

Comments | 2,412 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Nov 29, 2012

Russian Court Tries to Ban All Online Videos of Pussy Riot

A court in Moscow ruled today that the anti-Kremlin punk band Pussy Riot are "extremists" and that any website that continues to host video clips shot by and of them should be blocked

Comments | 1,915 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Nov 28, 2012

Bangladeshi Factory Workers Say They Were Locked In During Deadly Inferno

As if the story of the deadly blaze that killed 112 people in a Bangladeshi garment factory couldn't get any worse, new details suggest that somebody locked the workers in the burning building. 

Comments | 1,165 Views

By Connor Simpson

Nov 28, 2012

Koran-Burning Pastor Sentenced to Death in Egypt, Blames It on 'True Face of Islam'

It would be a generally bad idea for Terry Jones, the Florida pastor most famous for burning Korans and being a generally terrible human being, to vacation in Egypt right about now. Because he would die.

Comments | 862 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Nov 28, 2012

The Secret to Iranian Drone Technology? Just Add Photoshop

Earlier this month, Iran's news agency provided visual evidence that its government had figured out to make a fancy new drone that could take off and land vertically. What they didn't tell us is that they used Photoshop.

Comments | 122,671 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Nov 28, 2012

U.S. Suspends BP Contracts, Citing 'Lack of Business Integrity'

On the day three employees of BP are to be arraigned on criminal charges, the United States announced that the company is banned from winning any new government contracts until they get their act together. 

Comments | 1,225 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Nov 28, 2012

Palestine Suddenly Getting Votes at the United Nations

It may or may not win tomorrow's vote to achieve "non-member observer state" status at the United Nations, but several European powers are changing their opinion on Palestine.

Comments | 2,315 Views

By David Wagner

Nov 28, 2012

Today's Best

Five Best Wednesday Columns

Jonathan Cohn on Medicare, Grover Norquist on the fiscal cliff, Lynette H. Ong on China's construction boom, Bess Lovejoy on digging up the dead,  and Jane Kramer on female bishops.

Comments | 1,897 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Nov 28, 2012

Egyptian Courts Fight Back Against President Morsi

Two of Egypt's highest courts have suspended their work in protest of Mohamed Morsi's controversial immunity decree, saying they won't be intimidated by the president's attempt to limit their power over him. 

Comments

By Dashiell Bennett

Nov 28, 2012

New Car Bombings Kill Dozens in Damascus

More than 50 people were killed this morning when two coordinated car bombs were set off in a mostly Christian neighborhood in the center of the Syrian capital, prompting fears of a new "Battle for Damascus." 

Comments

By Connor Simpson

Nov 27, 2012

NASA's Curiosity Rover Didn't Find 'One for the History Books' After All

Turns out, that employee from the Mars research team was just really excited about the mission — and not one specific, universe-altering discovery. 

Comments | 5,347 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Nov 27, 2012

Today's Tahrir Square Protest Images Look an Awful Lot Like the Arab Spring

Tuesday brought yet another day of protest to Cairo's Tahrir Square, as Egyptians continue to fight back against President Mohamed Morsi's power grab — and with many more on the way, as the demonstrations are expected to grow throughout the night.

Comments | 690 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Nov 27, 2012

Hungarian Leader Asks His Government for a List of Jews

With the conflict in Gaza at a tenuous point, a Holocaust-denying Hungarian lawmaker thought the next logical thing to do would be to ask the government to draw up a list of Jews who pose a national security threat. Because, really, what could go wrong with that?

Comments | 4,939 Views

By David Wagner

Nov 27, 2012

Today's Best

Five Best Tuesday Columns

Joe Nocera on Obama's new cabinet, Jonah Goldberg on Mohamed Morsi, Dana Milbank on Rick Santorum, Peter Hakim on Mexico, and Sarah Ditum on gender-neutral toys.

Comments | 2,586 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Nov 27, 2012

Jon Stewart Returns for a Heart-to-Heart with God

Gosh, it's totally inappropriate to laugh at the conflict in the Middle East, right? Well, it's totally Jon Stewart's fault.

Comments | 1,269 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Nov 27, 2012

Yasser Arafat's Body Exhumed for Murder Investigation

The remains of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat were exhumed and quickly reburied today as scientists removed samples from his body in the hopes of learning whether or not he might have been poisoned. 

Comments | 1,588 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Nov 26, 2012

Egyptian Judges Aren't Buying Morsi's Power Grab — Is Obama?

After handing himself new powers over the weekend — and taking heat for it across the globe — Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi met with the country's top judges to assure them that he hasn't usurped their authority. So who believes him?

Comments | 861 Views

By Dafna Linzer, ProPublica

Nov 26, 2012

Secret Plane Carried Cash Stockpile from Russia to Syria

As the Syrian economy began to unravel and the military pressed hard against an armed rebellion, a Syrian government plane ferried what flight records describe as more than 200 tons of "bank notes" from Moscow.

Comments | 3,931 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Nov 26, 2012

Man Behind 'Innocence of Muslims' Regrets Pretty Much Nothing at All

The warden at his detention center denied the Times request to interview Nakoula Basseley Nakoula in person, so he delivered written responses through his lawyer instead. But the story does provide plenty of new background about how he duped actors and financial backers into helping to make his movie.

Comments | 1,207 Views

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