European Union Calls For Edward Snowden Criminal Charges To Be Dropped: Will Whistleblower Find Asylum in Europe?

The European Union's Parliament voted 285 to 281 Thursday to drop charges against former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who exposed the agency's widespread spying activities. The Parliament said that not enough has been done to protect the rights of EU citizens from mass surveillance. In a release, the Parliament urged countries to "drop any criminal charges against Edward Snowden, grant him protection and consequently...
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Massive 'Crack in the Earth' Opens up in Wyoming's Bighorn Mountains

The immense crack, which appears to split a hilltop in half, was discovered by startled backcountry hunters.Contrary to some sensational claims swirling about on social media, the crack is not an opening to the underworld or a sign that Yellowstone is about to erupt.
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Time off for bad prose

The makers of the Romanian edition of the board game Monopoly may want to consider altering the “Get out of jail free” card to one reading “Wrote a book in jail”. A change in the law in 2013 allows convicts to claim 30 days off their sentences for every work they publish while in prison. This has led Romanian tycoons and politicians imprisoned on corruption charges to indulge in a frenzy of scribbling. It is a system as corrupt as they are.
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Why One Museum Is Fiercely Fighting the Return of Nazi ‘Looted’ Artworks

Inside the protracted $250 million battle for the Guelph Treasure.
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Jap Herron: A Novel written from the Ouija Board (1917)

Jap Herron was a novel written, supposedly, by a deceased Mark Twain from beyond the grave, dictated via the medium of a Ouija board. The scribe (faithfully taking down notes, or perhaps a little more than just that, depending on your view) was Emily Grant Hutchings, a woman who had actually corresponded with Twain 15 years earlier.
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Final volume of Mark Twain’s autobiography now on shelves

The third and final volume of the autobiography of legendary American author and humorist Mark Twain was published this week, courtesy of editors at the Mark Twain Papers and Project at UC Berkeley…
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At least 40 killed in missile attack on Syria’s Douma

At least 40 people were killed and about 100 wounded after Syrian government forces fired missiles
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