Assad plans to confiscate the homes of Syrians that have fled.

The EU will ban neonicotinoid pesticides to protect bees (and other wildlife). There is an exception for greenhouses, because the pesticides can't get out of the greenhouse and into soil, water, and bees.

Canada's somewhat-left party, the New Democratic Party, can't seem to oppose the fossil fuel industry.

Now that the state can use your DNA in a genealogical site to find people other than you, the decision to upload your DNA to one is a matter of other people's privacy, not just your own.

This time, the state used the technique to find a murderer. I'm in favor of finding murderers, and prosecuting them. However, next time the person sought might be a dissident or a heroic whistleblower.

President Ortega of Nicaragua undermined democracy, took control of the media, and now his former supporters say he is just like Somoza, the dictator overthrown by the movement led by Ortega.

I suspect that foreign banks and the US government pressured Nicaragua to cut support for the poor. This does not excuse what Ortega has done, but focusing the condemnation solely on him is missing the point. An honest leftist leader in Nicaragua must lead the people in a long-term campaign to throw off the power of foreign banks.