World

DATA

CLIMATE FOOTPRINT

World Wildlife Fund ranked countries by the amount of natural resources they consume per capita. Here’s a sampling from the top 20, going from most use to least:

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1 Kuwait

4 Denmark

8 U.S.

13 Australia

20 Estonia

SOURCE: LIVING PLANET REPORT 2014

RUSSIA

‘We need what the Americans will probably call a reset.’

SERGEI LAVROV, Russia’s Foreign Minister, on Russian television, calling for the mending of ties with the U.S. amid continued tensions over the conflict in Ukraine. Using a term coined by the Obama Administration in a 2009 attempt to improve relations with Moscow, he said a “reset 2.0” was in order.

3 ESSENTIAL FACTS

Turkey’s Fight Against ISIS

Turkey looks poised to intervene in Syria against the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria, the militant group that has overrun parts of Syria and neighboring Iraq. Turkey’s parliament is expected to authorize military action on Oct. 2, two weeks after ISIS released 49 Turkish hostages held captive for more than three months.

BORDER CONTROL

Thousands of Islamist fighters are believed to have traveled to Syria via the Turkish border since 2011. In an effort to stem the flow, Turkey is boosting security along its frontier with the conflict-ridden country and arresting suspected militants.

BUFFER ZONE

More than 160,000 mainly Kurdish refugees fled to Turkey in September as ISIS stepped up its attacks on Kurdish settlements in northern Syria. Now Turkey is considering a plan to use its armed forces to help create a so-called safe zone along the Syrian side of the border.

OPERATIONS BASE

Although part of the NATO alliance, Turkey has not joined the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS. But the government has put forward a proposal that could open the country’s bases to foreign troops, including U.S. and regional fighter jets striking ISIS forces in Syria and Iraq.

ROUNDUP

The Rise of Robotic Taste Testers

A new robot funded by the Thai government can judge the authenticity of any Thai dish, say its creators. Here are more robots with an appetite:

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Oenophile

Earlier this year, scientists in Denmark created a machine that can measure the dryness of a wine using nanosensors modeled on the sensors in our mouths

Health Coach

Japanese tech firm NEC added a new feature to its Papero personal-robot project in 2005 that enabled the droid to analyze the fat and sugar content of food using infrared technology

Beer Snob

Last year, Spanish scientists showed off an “electronic tongue” equipped with sensors that can distinguish between different varieties of beer with up to 82% accuracy

Coffee Control

In 2008, researchers in Switzerland unveiled a machine that can assess the flavor of espresso by analyzing the fumes given off when it is heated up

ITALY

$125K

What Italy’s Parliament can pay its in-house hairdressers, down from $172,000. Lawmakers agreed to lower the cap to cut costs

Trending In

POLITICS

Marina Silva, named the Brazilian Socialist Party’s presidential candidate after the sudden death of Eduardo Campos, is expected to take 25% of the vote in the Oct. 5 elections, triggering a likely runoff with the incumbent, Dilma Rousseff, on Oct. 26

NATIONALISM

Regional leaders in Catalonia are appealing a court order suspending a nonbinding independence referendum, after the Spanish government asked a judge to forbid the Nov. 9 vote

EQUALITY

Iceland’s Foreign Minister Gunnar Sveinsson announced a plan to hold a men-only women’s-rights conference in 2015 as part of a U.N. effort to involve men and boys in the push for gender equality