George Zimmer was the founder and executive chairman of the clothing retailer. For three decades, Zimmer starred in the company's commercials. His catch saying: "You're going to like the way you look. I guarantee it."

Two cities in Brazil have canceled bus and subway fare hikes after massive demonstrations. Anger over poor public services and government spending on sports arenas brought thousands of protesters into the streets.

A new report argues that humanities and social sciences are as essential to the country's economic and civic future as science and technology. The study by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences was commissioned in 2010 by a bipartisan group of members of Congress. It comes at a time when the value of the liberal arts is being challenged by economic and political forces.

The Obama administration sounded a hopeful note on Afghanistan earlier this week. It was announced that Afghan forces had taken the lead on security and that the Taliban was opening an office in Qatar, giving hope for renewed peace talks. Within hours, a Taliban attack killed four Americans and Afghan officials called off their talks with the U.S. Renee Montagne talks Alissa Rubin, Kabul bureau chief for The New York Times, for details.

In many parts of the developing world, drinking a glass of water can be deadly — especially for young children, who can die of diarrheal diseases contracted from dirty water.

So getting clean water to people in the developing world has been a top priority for aid groups for a long time. But it's been a surprisingly hard problem to solve.

Supplies of oil have been surging this year, and U.S. drivers, who have been switching to more fuel-efficient cars, are using less gasoline.

That would seem to be the right economic combination to push down prices at the pump, but gasoline prices have remained stubbornly high this summer.

Even some people in the industry are wondering whether the law of supply and demand somehow has been repealed.

Visit this page at 12 noon EDT Thursday to join my live Google+ conversation with Harvard behavioral scientist Francesca Gino and Slate's Human Nature correspondent William Saletan about the role of ritual in human life.

When Dave Nezzie met his future wife, Amanda, they quickly fell in love over a galaxy far, far away.

"I think that was one of the first things that bonded Dave and I together, was our love for Star Wars," says Amanda Nezzie. "Our children have also caught the Star Wars bug."

The family lives in Albuquerque, N.M., and one of the biggest struggles they've had living off the reservation is teaching Dave's native Navajo language to their kids.