The “Christian” nation of Jamaica claims to have the highest ratio of churches to people of any nation on earth (BBC, August 12, 2013). Since colonial times, Obeah (Jamaica’s version of voodoo) has been illegal and punishable by “flogging, imprisonment, among other penalties” (ibid.). However, the Jamaican government recently abolished these punishments and many are calling for the full decriminalization of Obeah (ibid.).

Two and a half years after a tsunami severely damaged the Fukushima nuclear power plant outside Tokyo, the plant is leaking a large amount of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. Faulty pipes and leaking basements under the affected reactors are leaking at the rate of 300 metric tons per day—75% of what is being stored (Bloomberg, August 26, 2013).

Allegations that the Assad regime used biological weapons against its own people are prompting Western powers to consider military intervention in Syria in order to protect the lives of innocent civilians (The Telegraph, August 25, 2013). France and the U.K.