Assad But True Story: “The sight of Assad walking the red carpet to the Arab League meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, last month was particularly troubling—not only because he should instead be standing trial at an international tribunal but also because of what this moment signaled beyond Syria’s borders.” Kim Ghattas with a very interesting piece in The Atlantic (Gift Article): The Arab Spring Is in Its Death Spiral. Does the West Still Care?

+ Train Derailment: “The derailment in eastern India that killed 275 people and injured hundreds was caused by an error in the electronic signaling system that led a train to wrongly change tracks and crash into a freight train.” A look at one search for life in this terrible accident. NPR: A man searches desperately for his nephew, who is missing after India’s train crash.

+ Tennessee Clearly Now: Trump-appointed judge rejects Tennessee’s anti-drag law as too broad, too vague. (And too stupid.)

+ Murder Mystery: “The United States may be experiencing one of the largest annual percent changes in murder ever recorded, according to my preliminary data.” (As with most crime stats, we’re not exactly sure why this is happening.)

+ A Stat to Take Pride In: “The share of people worldwide who say their area is a good place for gay or lesbian people to live doubled from 25% to 50% over 10 years, according to a Gallup Poll.” (It doesn’t seem to be trending in the right direction here in America.)

+ Pokie and the (one-armed) Bandit: “Inside the VIP lounge at my local pub, there are few signs of luxury — no receptionist to welcome a very important person, no waiters circulating with canapes and free drinks, and no comfortable armchairs. Instead, the interior is semidark and the only seats and drink trays are in front of 20 electronic gaming machines — better known in Australia as poker machines, or ‘pokies.'” Australia has a gambling problem, and I have a feeling it’s coming to America.

+ Roy Story: On Fresh Air, they asked the creator of ‘Succession’ everything you wanted to know about the finale. (Spoilers, of course.)