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

Sunday shows to focus on national security  —  Lawmakers from both parties will appear on the Sunday shows as the Obama administration weighs taking military action against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) targets in Syria.  —  The lawmakers are also likely to be asked about Russia's repeated incursions into Ukraine.

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 …

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.

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.

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.

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.

Coverage for End-of-Life Talks Gaining Ground  —  DUNDEE, N.Y. — Five years after it exploded into a political conflagration over “death panels,” the issue of paying doctors to talk to patients about end-of-life care is making a comeback, and such sessions may be covered for the 50 million Americans on Medicare as early as next year.

At least 6 Ferguson officers apart from Brown shooter have been named in lawsuits  —  Federal investigators are focused on one Ferguson, Mo., police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black teenager, but at least five other police officers and one former officer in the town's 53-member department …