In The Papers: Inequality, Youth Unemployment And Retirement Incentives →

A review of a number of recent articles, including:

...Overall, the authors find that the bottom 90 percent haven’t seen any increase in wealth since the mid-1980s after adjusting for inflation.
The unemployment rate for Americans ages 20 to 24 was 11.4 percent in September, more than two and a half times the 4.3 percent rate for 35- to 44-year-olds...

Political protests turn rough in Burkina Faso →

Police fired teargas at rock-throwing protesters after tens of thousands marched through Burkina Faso'scapital calling for President Blaise Compaore, already in power for 27 years, to scrap plans to change term limits to stay in power.

An early morning march on Tuesday through the heart of Ouagadougou was peaceful but clashes erupted later as protesters tried to advance towards the National Assembly.

Tuesday marked the start of a civil disobedience campaign by opposition parties after the government asked the National Assembly to order a referendum on changing the constitution to let Compaore seek re-election next year rather than step down.

Yes, Mass Shootings Are Occurring More Often →

There has never been a clear, universally accepted definition of "mass shooting."

But...

analysis of the data shows that from 1982 to 2011, mass shootings occurred every 200 days on average. Since late 2011, they found, mass shootings have occurred at triple that rate—every 64 days on average.

The article also briefly gets into the academic debate.

Dilma Rousseff pledges unity after narrow Brazil election victory →

Rousseff was re-elected by a narrow margin on Sunday...

Voters appeared divided – and confused – by an often dirty campaign characterised by name-calling, accusations of corruption, nepotism and incompetence, rumour-mongering on social networks and suspicious delays in the release of government data on deforestation and poverty.

The overwhelmingly anti-Rousseff mainstream media focused on a huge bribes-for-votes scandal in which kickbacks from the country’s biggest company, Petrobras, were used to buy off politicians and fill campaign coffers. A report in Veja magazine this week claimed that Rousseff and her predecessor, Da Silva, were aware of the wrongdoing, a charge they deny.

...

But his message was ultimately drowned by a string of attacks. The Workers’ party accused Neves of corruption for building an airport on his family’s land, of nepotism by adding half a dozen cousins and relatives to the public payroll during his time as governor of Minas Gerais state, and of disrespecting women – an allusion to a widely circulated report that he punched his wife before they were married. Neves’ denial failed to stop his support plunging among female voters.

Ukraine elections: Pro-Western parties set for victory →

For the first time in country's history, a broad pro-European, pro-reform coalition seems to be in the makings.

Just as significantly, two groupings that have long dominated the political landscape appear to have been considerably weakened - the Communist Party, which for the first time may not enter parliament, and the remnants of the Party of Regions, which look set to have a much smaller role in the new legislature.

In the end, President Poroshenko may enjoy a two-thirds "super majority", with which he will be able to enact his long-promised reform programme with little resistance.

DecodeDC →

I really can't recommend this podcast highly enough. Short, but quality shows, one a week. Something political, and nice and focused. I really enjoyed the last three: the hidden money sloshing around political campaigns, a la 501(c)4s (in the form of "Super PACs"); the contrast between the AIDS and ebola responses; and the convoluted, thoroughly human (tragic) way we've been dealing with unexpected pregnancy. If you're a news junky, or just want a little political analysis on some high level issues every now and then, add DecodeDC.