One of the smartest things you can do is pause in a volatile and uncertain world, says New York Times columnist and three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas Friedman.

No one is quite sure what's behind the wave of sonic attacks in Havana that have harmed at least 21 American diplomats and their family members. The matter remains a mystery. It's also a setback.

Secession would put newly independent nation in the back of the line for European Union membership. "There is no grandfathering in," Smith School professor Kislaya Prasad says.