This past week might very well mark the beginning of the end of the war on drugs as we know it, with recreational use of marijuana becoming legal in the state of Washington as a result of its citizens' vote. Coloradoans approved a similar measure and established an exchange in which citizens can grow and purchase the drug for medicinal use. A recent Quinnipiac poll shows that 54 percent of Americans support legalizing the drug, while 44 percent oppose it. As states slowly begin to decriminalize marijuana, it remains to be seen whether President Obama and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will continue to enforce federal oversight to arrest and prosecute offenders, no matter a state's laws. 

The war in Iraq started with Operation Shock and Awe but ended with a fizzle, and, some would argue, as an epic exercise in human futility -- neither victory nor defeat was clear. Instead, with the exit of the last American troops, the final meaning of the war is muddled.  In its wake, the war left us with more questions than answers: Is this the victory we had longed for since Vietnam? Is this all we could muster after we invaded and occupied Iraq for nine years, supposedly to find weapons of mass destruction? Is Iraq now truly a free and sovereign nation, given the unending conflict between Shiite and Sunni Muslims there? 

Last week Mehtab Alam, 29, decapitated his sister Nilofer, 22, with a ceremonial sword, left her bleeding body on the street, and walked into the local thana with her severed head in one hand and the bloody sword in the other and surrendered to the police. His sister’s crime? The woman, a mother of two, married off at the age of 14, had run away from home to live with an old boyfriend, a rickshaw driver. Mehtab had already beaten up the rickshaw driver once for his earlier liaison with the sister. This time he tracked her down to the man’s house, dragged her out onto the street and killed her. 

While one scholarship alone would not undo years of socioeconomic stratification or completely change achievement outcomes between social classes, the lottery scholarship was envisioned as a way to bridge this gap. Although the scholarship aims to reduce the disparity in academic achievement between poorer and more privileged students, and to encourage all students to attend college, it may not necessarily cover the cost of school for the students who receive it. 

Filipino champ Manny Pacquiao believes the only way to decisively defeat arch-nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez in their fourth fight is by being more aggressive and attacking the Mexican from different angles. “I’m going to create a lot of action in the ring,” Pacquiao said during media day at the Wildcard Boxing Club on Wednesday. “I’m focused on [being] more aggressive and creating action… If I wait for him to throw a punch, the fight is going to be boring. There won’t be any action.”

As outgoing Mexican president Felipe Calderon prepares to enter the Ivory Tower of Harvard, skeletons are rattling the walls of Mexico during the last few days of his administration. Within the past week, Mexican authorities have recovered the remains of scores of murder victims from mass grave sites situated in different regions of  the country. At the same time, relatives of victims of gender, state and other forms of violence have been staging demonstrations in Mexico City, Chihuahua City, Acapulco and other places in demand of justice for murder victims and thousands of disappeared persons, some missing for decades.

Lawrence Guyot never encountered a fight he didn't relish and that willingness to put his body, ideals and life on the line is what those who knew him remember in the days since his death on Friday, Nov. 23. Guyot, a renowned civil rights activist, died at his home in Mt. Rainier, Md., following a long illness. The Mississippi native was one of the young foot soldiers – black and white – who fought to topple the centuries-old tradition of segregation and who faced down savage packs of white racists intent on maintaining the status quo.

President Barack Obama is expected to nominate a new Secretary of State soon, as Hillary Clinton intends to step down after the Presidential Inauguration in January. Clinton was a prolific traveler during her four years as Secretary of State, visiting Latin America and the Caribbean fourteen times, but never in a particularly transformative manner. The extent to which her successor emphasizes Western Hemispheric affairs could have far-reaching consequences for interregional cooperation and competition. Senator John Kerry and U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice are the two most likely candidates for the position. 

He is the longest held prisoner of Iran, sometimes referred to as the Iranian Nelson Mandela. He was on a leave of absence, which is part of a prison furlough system in Iran. His name, Abbas Amirentezam, should be familiar to anyone who knows the history of the U.S. Embassy take-over in 1980 and the plight of the American hostages held for 444 days. He is not referred to in the film Argo. Amirentezam became the other hostage. 

Around The Way, a New York-based company, and Clearly Innovative, a Washington, D.C.-based mobile-app development firm, have launched a mobile app that backers claim will empower and support black-owned businesses." Other ethnic groups have been supporting their own businesses literally for thousands of years," said Eric Hamilton, chief marketing officer and co-founder of Around The Way. "Around The Way is our attempt at doing what other ethnic and racial groups have been doing for a long time."