| A model for anti-corruption Russians Posted: 27 Mar 2017 01:39 PM PDT ![A model for anti-corruption Russians]( "A model for anti-corruption Russians") Of all the former states in the Soviet Union, according to a global ranking, Russia remains one of the most corrupt. What stirred the thinking of so many Russians to envision an honest and accountable government? While President Vladimir Putin remains popular, the focus of the protests was his prime minister and protégé, Dmitry Medvedev.
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| 'Sundown towns': Midwest confronts its complicated racial legacy Posted: 27 Mar 2017 01:01 PM PDT !['Sundown towns': Midwest confronts its complicated racial legacy]( "'Sundown towns': Midwest confronts its complicated racial legacy") After all, there aren't many people around town who look like Mr. Cooper, who is African-American. According to the 2010 United States Census, 97 percent of Utica, Ohio, identifies as white. Recommended: Uffda! How well do you know the Midwest?
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| Humongous gold coin stolen from Berlin museum Posted: 27 Mar 2017 11:59 AM PDT ![Humongous gold coin stolen from Berlin museum]( "Humongous gold coin stolen from Berlin museum") The "Big Maple Leaf," a 221-pound gold coin estimated to be worth $4 million, was stolen from a Berlin museum in the early hours of Monday morning. Thieves are suspected to have broken into the Bode Museum in the German capitol at 3:30 a.m. and made off with the oversized Canadian coin, which measures about 21-inches wide and is more than an inch thick. It is disputed whether that title should go to the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa or the 1990 robbery of 13 masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
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| Russian protest leader Alexei Navalny sentenced to 15 days in jail Posted: 27 Mar 2017 11:41 AM PDT ![Russian protest leader Alexei Navalny sentenced to 15 days in jail]( "Russian protest leader Alexei Navalny sentenced to 15 days in jail") Vocal Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny is facing a 15-day jail sentence after organizing protests in Russia on Sunday that decried government corruption and led to some 1,000 arrests. Mr. Navalny was found guilty of disobeying a police officer at a Moscow protest, and fined for organizing the demonstrations, which Russian authorities say were illegal. One of the most vocal critics of the current government and corruption, Navalny organized the demonstrations to call for the resignation of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who he claims used government funds for personal expenses.
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| Will GOP's tax reform prove easier than health care? Posted: 27 Mar 2017 11:20 AM PDT ![Will GOP's tax reform prove easier than health care?]( "Will GOP's tax reform prove easier than health care?") The Republican Party couldn't repeal and replace Obamacare like it promised. Still smarting from that setback, the GOP is turning to another daunting issue: tax reform.
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| Why Russian protests are making the Kremlin rethink 2018 presidential elections Posted: 27 Mar 2017 09:40 AM PDT ![Why Russian protests are making the Kremlin rethink 2018 presidential elections]( "Why Russian protests are making the Kremlin rethink 2018 presidential elections") By staging significant protest actions in almost 100 Russian cities Sunday, Alexei Navalny has laid down a serious challenge to Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin has the means to prevent him, by invoking a criminal conviction, recently upheld by a regional court, that could bar him from running for office. It has been standard procedure under Mr. Putin's brand of "managed democracy" to cull the ballot, using various pretexts, to ensure that independent challengers are kept out and results are tailored to match the authorities' expectations.
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| Under anti-EU pressures, Europe's advocates find their footing Posted: 27 Mar 2017 09:31 AM PDT ![Under anti-EU pressures, Europe's advocates find their footing]( "Under anti-EU pressures, Europe's advocates find their footing") A rollicking celebration to revel in the European Union's 60th birthday this weekend in Rome would have rung off-key. Populists are riding a wave of Euroskepticism almost everywhere, while even top leaders of the EU have wondered if the postwar project has a future. Recommended: How much do you know about the EU?
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| The hackers trying to build a hack-proof operating system Posted: 27 Mar 2017 09:07 AM PDT ![The hackers trying to build a hack-proof operating system]( "The hackers trying to build a hack-proof operating system") As a teenage hacker in the early 1990s, David Mirza Ahmad quickly learned that even the savviest techies can be "owned," old-school computer slang for exposing someone's identity.
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| What keeps cybersecurity experts up at night? Posted: 27 Mar 2017 08:50 AM PDT ![What keeps cybersecurity experts up at night?]( "What keeps cybersecurity experts up at night?") Passcode's Influencers Poll regularly surveys 160 high-profile experts from across government, industry, and the advocacy community. "Whether one calls them embedded systems, or the 'Internet of Things,' the combination of these little computers, poor security design, and upcoming high-speed wireless networks are a perfect storm of sorts that holds the potential to make all of our current cybersecurity concerns worse, more persistent, and of much larger scale," says Bob Stratton, a serial security entrepreneur, investor, and consultant.
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| Cyclone Debbie prompts thousands of evacuations in northeast Australia Posted: 27 Mar 2017 08:32 AM PDT ![Cyclone Debbie prompts thousands of evacuations in northeast Australia]( "Cyclone Debbie prompts thousands of evacuations in northeast Australia") Authorities are urging 30,000 people to evacuate Australia's tropical northeast coast as the strongest cyclone to hit the Queensland province in six years bears down on the sparsely populated farming region. Cyclone Debbie is expected to intensify to a Category 4 storm before it makes landfall on Tuesday, bringing wind gusts up to 160 miles per hour, and a tidal surge of up to 13 feet to low-lying coastal regions. Recommended: Are you a weather nerd?
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| White House office led by Trump's son-in-law to bring business ideas to government Posted: 27 Mar 2017 07:03 AM PDT ![White House office led by Trump's son-in-law to bring business ideas to government]( "White House office led by Trump's son-in-law to bring business ideas to government") Ever since his campaign, President Trump has promised to bring the best ideas from the business world to Washington to change the federal bureaucracy. Now, he is entrusting Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and one of his closest confidantes, to make that happen. Mr. Trump is expected to announce on Monday the creation of the White House Office of American Innovation to overhaul government functions using ideas from the business sector.
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| Life in a new land: a refugee's journey Posted: 26 Mar 2017 06:48 PM PDT ![Life in a new land: a refugee's journey]( "Life in a new land: a refugee's journey") Muhannad Qaiconie, one of the organizers of the gathering, mingles easily among the guests. Just two years ago, having fled the war in Syria, Mr. Qaiconie was preparing to embark on a perilous journey to Europe. Once in Germany, he faced more hardships – loneliness, lack of work, uncertainty over whether he would be able to get his mother and sister out of war-ravaged Aleppo.
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| Trump and the question of truth Posted: 26 Mar 2017 10:08 AM PDT ![Trump and the question of truth]( "Trump and the question of truth") Just three months after Time magazine chose Donald Trump as 2016 Person of the Year, it has published a cover story – with the headline "Is Truth Dead?" – that charges the president is a "strategic misleader." The article details many of Mr. Trump's unproven accusations but then concludes his strategy will decline. News outlets now fact-check other media.
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