Snowden slips out of Moscow airport

Edward Snowden, an analyst with a U.S. defense contractor, is seen in this still image taken from video during an interview by The Guardian in his hotel room in Hong Kong June 6, 2013. REUTERS/Glenn Greenwald/Laura Poitras/Courtesy of The Guardian/Handout via Reuters

MOSCOW - Fugitive former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden slipped quietly out of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport after Russia granted him temporary asylum, ending more than a month in limbo in the transit area.  Full Article 

U.S. Army Private First Class Bradley Manning (C) departs the courthouse at Fort Meade, Maryland July 30, 2013. REUTERS/Gary Cameron

Iraq war logs in Manning case 'hit us in the face'

FORT MEADE, Maryland - The U.S. Army was overwhelmed when WikiLeaks published more than 700,000 secret diplomatic and war documents, a retired officer testified in the sentencing phase of the convicted private's court-martial.  Full Article 

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe looks on before casting his vote in Highfields outside Harare July 31, 2013. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

Mugabe claims Zimbabwe win, rival cries foul

HARARE - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's party claimed a landslide election victory that would secure another five years in power for Africa's oldest head of state, but its main rival said the vote was invalidated by "monumental fraud".  Full Article | Live Coverage 

A flag (L) bearing the logo of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) flutters next to a Chinese national flag outside a GlaxoSmithKline office building in Shanghai July 12, 2013. REUTERS/Aly Song

Drugmakers fear turmoil as China probes widen

LONDON/PARIS - A series of probes by Chinese authorities into over-pricing and alleged bribery in the pharmaceutical industry may have a broad impact, in a market that has been a bright spot for Western drugmakers who face slowing sales at home.  Full Article 

An illustration picture shows the log-on icon for the Website Twitter on an Ipad in Bordeaux, Southwestern France, January 30, 2013.  REUTERS/Regis Duvignau

Requests for Twitter users' data on the rise

SAN FRANCISCO - Twitter is under increasing pressure from governments around the world to release user's private information, with requests rising 40 percent in the first six months of the year, the microblogging company said.  Full Article 

A protester blows a horn during a demonstration in central Sofia July 31, 2013. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov

Protests reveal both Bulgaria's failure, success

SOFIA - Despite Bulgaria's transformation from a bankrupt one-party state into a market economy over the last 23 years, it remains the poorest and one of the most graft-prone countries in the European Union.  Full Article 

A Goldman Sachs sign is seen on at the company's post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, January 18, 2012. . REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

For most, bank commodity earnings a mystery

NEW YORK - The lack of clarity over trading operations by banks has long been a vexing issue. But the current debate over whether banks should be allowed to continue trading so actively in raw material markets has only sharpened focus on this area.  Full Article 

Robert Hiltonsmith

The real student loan crisis

A new study estimates the economic impact of the existing student debt burden, finding that it may cost the country more than $4 trillion in lost economic activity.  Commentary 

Ian Bremmer

Israeli-Palestinian talks won’t fix the Middle East’s problems

The White House's new round of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations is unlikely to succeed, and, even if it did, it would have little impact on other more immediately pressing Middle East conflicts.  Commentary 

Edward Hadas

Detroit, decay and solidarity

Who is my neighbor? That question is as relevant to the bankruptcy of Motown as the decline of the American car industry or incompetent city governments. If the suburbs lived up to their neighborly responsibilities, Detroit would not be such a mess.   Commentary 

Ellen Sigal

Sequestration as government malpractice

Breakthrough' medicines, which can save lives, require increased FDA resources at a time when the sequester is taking money away from an already underfunded agency.  Commentary 

Steven Brill

The cushy world of academia

Staffing-to-studio ratios at many colleges suggest pretty light workloads and low productivity, especially given the size of so many of the classes faculty members typically teach. And, at least in terms of reputation, the ratios don’t seem to correlate to quality.  Commentary 

Elizabeth B. Wydra

The framers on campaign finance law -- via Tumblr

The court could take Citizens United one step further in a new case, casting aside a key limit on direct contributions to candidates and allowing high-dollar donors to play an extraordinarily outsized role in elections.   Commentary