Obama sets his own pace in a world whirling with crises  —  Short of world war, it's rare that a chief executive goes through a foreign policy month like President Obama's August.  —  U.S. warplanes struck in Iraq for the first time in years, as U.S. diplomats struggled to establish a new government in Baghdad.

Myth of arctic meltdown: Stunning satellite images show summer ice cap is thicker and covers 1.7million square kilometres MORE than 2 years ago...despite Al Gore's prediction it would be ICE-FREE by now  — Seven years after former US Vice-President Al Gore's warning, Arctic ice cap has expanded for second year in row

Stop Hiding Images of American Torture  —  A hooded man standing on a box, electrodes wired to his fingers.  A naked prisoner lying on a cement floor, a leash around his neck held casually by an American soldier.  The bloody bodies of dead inmates with their heads bashed in.

Mayor Forces Man To Leave Public Meeting Because He Won't Stand During Prayer  —  Mayor John Rees (center) at Thursday's meeting  —  CREDIT: Freedom From Religion Foundation YouTube video  —  A Florida mayor ejected one of his constituents from a City Commission meeting on Thursday …

Exclusive: GOP poll of women: Party ‘stuck in past’  —  One bright spot in the poll responses was among married women.  Married women without a college degree view Republicans favorably, the poll shows.  Married women prefer a Republican over a Democrat, 48 percent to 38 percent.

Considering Catcalls  —  No one is catcalling Rosie O'Donnell, Barbara Bush, or Janet Napolitano.  No one is catcalling my plump elderly mother as I wheel her down the sidewalk in her wheelchair.  Marilyn Monroe once observed that she could walk down the sidewalk without drawing attention …

Hillary's summer: Five takeaways  —  The political world is still waiting for a decision from Hillary Clinton on the 2016 presidential race.  —  But observers have recently got a preview of what would lay in store from, and for, Clinton should she take the plunge.

After Ferguson, Race Deserves More Attention, Not Less  —  MANY white Americans say they are fed up with the coverage of the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. A plurality of whites in a recent Pew survey said that the issue of race is getting more attention than it deserves.

Cameron faces Ukip by-election bloodbath: Party set to win first Commons seat after shock poll reveals Farage's staggering 44-point lead over the Tories  —  Ukip are set to win their first Commons seat with a landslide 64 per cent of the vote following the biggest swing in modern political history.

Rubio's new tune on immigration  —  Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is singing a new tune on immigration as he eyes a possible 2016 presidential run, but it may not be enough to win over disaffected conservatives just yet.  —  Rubio was a leading champion of the comprehensive immigration reform bill that passed the Senate last year.