Edward Koch, Former Mayor of New York, Dies at 88  —  Edward I. Koch, the master showman of City Hall, who parlayed shrewd political instincts and plenty of chutzpah into three tumultuous terms as mayor of New York with all the tenacity, zest and combativeness that personified his city of golden dreams, died Friday morning at age 88.

Schieffer: Hagel's nomination “may be in trouble”  —  (CBS News) White House officials told CBS' Major Garrett that they're disappointed with defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel's performance at his confirmation hearing before the Senate on Thursday.  —  One of the most damaging exchanges during …

Scott Brown won't run for Senate  —  Former Massachusetts Republican senator Scott Brown will not run in the special election for outgoing Democratic Sen. John Kerry's seat, according to a Republican source familiar with his plans.  Brown's decision means Kerry's seat is very likely to remain in Democratic hands.

Opt out option expected for religious insurers who oppose contraceptives  —  Washington (CNN) — Religiously affiliated organizations will be able to opt out of providing their employees with insurance coverage for contraceptives under updates to an Obama administration mandate that the Department …

IRS: Cheapest Obamacare Plan Will Be $20,000 Per Family  —  (CNSNews.com) - In a final regulation issued Wednesday, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) assumed that under Obamacare the cheapest health insurance plan available in 2016 for a family will cost $20,000 for the year.

Letter from Secretary Steven Chu to Energy Department Employees Announcing His Decision Not to Serve a Second Term  —  U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu during an online town hall to discuss President Obama's clean energy and innovation agenda on January 11, 2011.  Photo by Charles Watkins, Contractor, Energy Department

Economy Adds 157,000 Jobs  —  WASHINGTON—The job market plodded along in January, signaling slow economic growth to start the year.  —  Employers added 157,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said Friday.  The unemployment rate, obtained by a separate survey of U.S. households …

POLICE: SUICIDE BOMBING AT US EMBASSY, 2 DEAD … ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A suspected suicide bomber detonated an explosive device at the entrance of the U.S. Embassy in the Turkish capital on Friday, killing himself and one other person, officials said.  —  U.S. Ambassador Francis Ricciardione …

AP Interview: Clinton raps Benghazi critics  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is leaving office with a slap at critics of the Obama administration's handling of the September attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya.  She told The Associated Press that critics …

Hannity Explodes After Being Confronted By ThinkProgress About Previous Offer To Be Waterboarded For Charity  —  Fox News host Sean Hannity is so adamant that waterboarding is not torture that he once offered to be waterboarded at a charity event and donate the proceeds to soldiers' families.

Alabama, North Dakota, Wyoming Most Conservative States  —  Americans slightly less conservative, slightly more liberal  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Alabama, North Dakota, and Wyoming were the most conservative states in the union in 2012, with between 49% and 50% of residents in each identifying their ideology as conservative.

Paranoid NRA Releases Enemy List - Are YOU On It?  —  Enemy lists...They go back as far as politics have been a part of our culture.  Nixon, Joseph McCarthy, Pol Pot, Stalin, Lenin, Hitler, Saddam Hussein, and Generalissimo Francisco Franco, who is, we believe, still dead.

Americans Rip Up Retirement Plans  —  Nearly Two-Thirds of Those Between 45 and 60 Plan Delays, a Steep Rise From Two Years Ago  —  Matt Stern, 51, a former hedge-fund analyst, says he may have to rethink retirement.  He had expected to be able to retire at 62.  —  The American workplace is about to get grayer.

GOP Lawmaker Behind Abortion Ban: 'We're Not Going To Allow Minorities To Run Roughshod' … On Wednesday, the Arkansas Senate approved an unconstitutional bill to ban abortion as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.  As The Nation's Lee Fang noted Friday, this is part of a larger strategy …

2nd Oval Office Readied in White House Rehab Project  —  This summer there will be two Oval Offices in the White House complex, and it won't be a case of double vision.  —  In preparation for a major, two-year renovation of the West Wing, the government is undertaking extensive work to complete …