Blake Hounshell

Parsnips unbuttered

economist.com — "A FEW clouds in the sky cannot shut out the brilliant rays of our friendship": on his first foreign trip as China's prime minister, Li Keqiang was determined to make his visit to Delhi, India's capital, a success.

Obama’s new drone policy leaves room for CIA role

washingtonpost.com — Two years later, in mid-2011, a mysterious construction project began to emerge in the Saudi desert, an elongated compound with a ribbon of concrete running parallel to the ridgelines of the surrounding dunes. CIA drones were about to enter the skies over Yemen after all.

Obama’s Gitmo Problem

nytimes.com — Late Wednesday afternoon, less than 24 hours before President Obama made his big national security speech - in which he said, for the umpteenth time, that the prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, should be closed - a group of American lawyers representing Guantánamo detainees filed an emergency motion with the Federal District Court in the District of Columbia.

Hezbollah Chief Orders Fight to Save Syria’s Assad

nytimes.com — BEIRUT, Lebanon - The Syrian government and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah intensified their assault on Syrian rebels in the town of Qusayr on Saturday, unleashing the heaviest shelling since the battle began a week ago, Syrian antigovernment activists said.

m.motherjones.com — Why did the Justice Department accuse Fox News reporter James Rosen of committing a crime in its application for a warrant to search his email account? The New York Times explains today: Investigators routinely search the e-mails of suspected leakers, but Congress has forbidden search warrants for journalists' work product materials unless the reporter committed a crime.

'Kiss protest' held at Turkey subway station

aljazeera.com — Dozens of couples have locked lips at a subway stop in Turkey's capital, Ankara, to protest subway authorities' admonishment of a couple that kissed in public. Some 100 people in the station kissed for several minutes in protest on Saturday. Demonstrators carried signs reading "Free Kisses'' and chanted slogans.