Check out John Paul vs Benedict; The Conclave Conundrum; Six Ideas; video and ... a Valentine!

The Daily Beast: Habemus Vacancy, 12 February  2013
The Vatican knows how to stage a conclave—that secretive selection process for the next pope—if the pontiff dies. But with a retirement, the rules aren't so clear.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/02/12/with-pope-benedict-s-retirement-conclave-rules-prove-unclear.html

The Daily Beast: The Bureaucrat and the Saint, 11 February 2013
Every pope mixes the roles of CEO and Vicar of Christ, but a comparison of Benedict XVI and his predecessor, John Paul II, suggests just how different those roles really are.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/02/11/contrasting-benedict-and-john-paul-ii.html

Newsweek: Around the World in Six Ideas: No Nukes are Good Nukes, Cyberspace Superstorms, and More, 8 and 11 February 2013
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2013/02/11/around-the-world-in-six-ideas-hagel-missiles-cyberspace-superstorms-and-more.html

(Two of these ideas were touched on in Obama's State of the Union February 12.)

France24 Video: The World This Week, 8 February 2013

Talking Tunisia, Egypt, Ikhwan, Iran, and the French and British debates over same-sex marriage
http://www.france24.com/en/20130208-the-world-this-week-8-february

Posted earlier:

The Daily Beast: Suffer the Little Children, 8 February 2013
A monstrous case of child abuse in Saudi Arabia shakes the kingdom and strengthens the cause of Saudi women activists.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/02/08/saudi-arabia-s-child-rape-case-female-activists-fight-to-prevent-abuse.html
(Warning, this is a very painful story to read. But it concludes on a note of hope.)

Note: "Six Ideas" is a new weekly feature I'm producing for Newsweek. It appears in the digital magazine on Fridays, and is posted on the Web on Tuesdays.

And, finally, Happy Valentine's Day (a tree decorated with hearts in ... the heart of Paris):