The Manchurian Candidate  —  When Barack Obama posted Jon Huntsman to Beijing, it looked like a crafty way to sideline a 2012 rival.  Don't bet on it.  —  The Huntsmans' new home in the posh D.C. neighborhood of Kalorama is the prototype of pricey Washington real estate: a tall, boxy structure defined by red brick and right angles.

Ex-Senator Is Now the Only Major Black Hopeful in a Chicago Race  —  CHICAGO — Danny K. Davis, a longtime United States representative, has dropped out of the race to become Chicago's mayor, creating the situation that black leaders here had for months been clamoring for …

Public Workers Facing Outrage as Budget Crises Grow  —  FLEMINGTON, N.J. — Ever since Marie Corfield's confrontation with Gov. Chris Christie this fall over the state's education cuts became a YouTube classic, she has received a stream of vituperative e-mails and Facebook postings.

Woman, 41, drowns trying to drive across flooded road as natural disaster in Australia reaches ‘biblical proportions’  —  A woman drowned after trying to cross a flooded causeway in Australia, becoming the first victim of relentless flooding that one official has described as reaching ‘biblical proportions,’ police said today.

Chavez, Clinton chat at Brazil inauguration  —  Despite a simmering diplomatic row, President Hugo Chavez and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were seen having a brief, friendly chat Saturday at the inauguration of Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff.  —  “They talked and smiled, at least for five minutes.

Statement by the President on the terrorist attacks in Egypt and Nigeria  —  I strongly condemn the separate and outrageous terrorist bombing attacks in Egypt and Nigeria.  The attack on a church in Alexandria, Egypt caused 21 reported deaths and dozens of injured from both the Christian and Muslim communities.

U.S. officials: Barak ‘deceived’ us about his role in peace process  —  Sources tell Haaretz that Clinton and Obama feel Defense Minister exaggerated about his ability to ‘nudge Netanyahu toward an agreement with the Palestinians’.  —  The U.S. administration is furious with Defense Minister Ehud Barak …

California Republican touts legislation banning public pension bailouts  —  The country's public pension system is grossly underfunded and needs an overhaul, Rep. Devin Nunes said this week.  —  The California Republican is promoting legislation designed to gauge the extent of the problem …

Gov. Christie Defends ‘Disney World’ Trip During Blizzard  —  AP/The Huffington Post  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? … FREEHOLD, N.J. — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was criticized for vacationing in Florida as a blizzard pummeled the East Coast, defended his trip and praised his state …

Video: Kirsten Powers says Bush 2008 veto of bill with end-of-life provision “not true”  —  Good stuff.  When you tell a liberal the truth they recoil in disbelief.  Seriously.  —  Just watch Kirsten Powers and her disbelief in this interview when the bomb is dropped about 6:00 in.

How to Break Bread With the Republicans  —  DEAR President Obama:  —  Sorry to bother you.  I know you are busy.  But I have the sense that you could use a few words of advice.  —  In a matter of days, Republicans will control the House of Representatives and have a larger voting bloc in the Senate.

Stray airliner prompts U.S. Capitol evacuation  —  A commercial airliner strayed into restricted airspace around the Capitol on Saturday, triggering an evacuation of the complex and the scrambling of fighter jets from Andrews Air Force Base.  —  The Piedmont Airlines DHC-8 Dash 8 turboprop …

The Long Road Ahead  —  The figure above illustrates Okun's Law — the relationship between growth and unemployment.  (Gah — I've tried to remove the connecting lines, to no avail.)  The horizontal axis shows annual growth rates of real GDP; the vertical axis shows the year-to-year change in the unemployment rate.

Justice Roberts urges end to partisan fights blocking action on federal judges  —  There is an “urgent need” for Senate Democrats and Republicans to put aside their bickering and fill federal judicial vacancies, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote Friday in his annual State of the Judiciary report.