Sandy was particularly destructive because it was prevented from moving back out to sea by a "blocking pattern" associated with the jet stream. There's debate about this, but one recent study suggested that melting sea ice in the Arctic may lead to such blocking.

Americans of faith should try as hard to save the lives of African women as the lives of unborn fetuses.

Most of the villagers were hiding in the bush, where they were dying from bad water, malaria and malnutrition

There are other issues I have felt more emotionally connected to, like China, where I lived and worked for some time. I was living there when Tiananmen Square erupted

In general, talking about human rights tends to be very persuasive for people who care about human rights.

Photographs are still being taken but aren't being shown. There's one of a skeleton bound at the wrists with pants still around its ankles; if it was a woman, she was likely raped; if it was a man, he was possibly castrated.

Just a little help, a small security force, a bit of food, can save lives