2nd deadly blast hits Russian city of Volgograd ahead of 2014 Sochi Olympics  —  (CNN) — Another deadly blast has struck the southern Russian city of Volgograd, killing at least 14 people and further highlighting Russia's security challenges as it readies to host the Winter Olympics in less than six weeks.

Yes, There IS Evidence Linking al Qaeda to Benghazi  —  Libyan militants tell the New York Times that al Qaeda is not behind the 2012 Benghazi attack.  Some members of Congress have intelligence that says otherwise.  —  On Sunday, The New York Times published an investigation …

Cost of Being Mayor?  $650 Million, if He's Rich  —  Michael R. Bloomberg loves tropical fish.  So when he was elected mayor, he installed two giant aquariums in City Hall.  —  The cost to him for having the tanks cleaned out every week for the past 12 years: around $62,400.  —  The mayor likes to nosh, too.

Obama's TV Picks: Anything Edgy, With Hints of Reality  —  WASHINGTON — War, terrorism, economic struggle, mass shootings — such is life in the Oval Office for President Obama.  —  Yet in his few quiet moments, this president seeks not to escape to the delicious back-stabbing of the …

Watch Phil Robertson's Tips On Finding The Perfect Underage Girl To Marry!  (Video)  —  As we've already established, Chris Hansen might enjoy it very much if Phil Robertson “took a seat over there,” based on some comments made at the Sportsmen's Ministry in Georgia in 2009.

Obama, Clinton Continue Reign as Most Admired  —  Sixth year in a row for Obama, 12th straight year for Clinton  —  PRINCETON, NJ — For the sixth consecutive year, Barack Obama ranks as the Most Admired Man among Americans, and Hillary Clinton is again the Most Admired Woman.  Both won by comfortable margins.

CNN Poll: Afghanistan war arguably most unpopular in U.S. history  —  Washington (CNN) - Support for the war in Afghanistan has dipped below 20%, according to a new national poll, making the country's longest military conflict arguably its most unpopular one as well.

Republicans to blame for the public's disgust with Congress  —  As the year ends, Gallup reports that public approval of Congress averaged 14 percent during 2013.  This, the polling firm points out, is “the lowest annual average in Gallup's history.”  —  The pollsters added …

Hey, it's an election year!  Here's what 2014 might bring.  —  Our long wait for a packed election year — okay, it was just a 365-day wait — will be over in less than 48 hours when we ring in 2014 and, with it, 36 gubernatorial races, 35 Senate races and dozens of potentially competitive House contests.

Fiscal Fever Breaks  —  In 2012 President Obama, ever hopeful that reason would prevail, predicted that his re-election would finally break the G.O.P.'s “fever.”  It didn't.  —  But the intransigence of the right wasn't the only disease troubling America's body politic in 2012.

Democrats Turn to Minimum Wage as 2014 Strategy  —  WASHINGTON — Democratic Party leaders, bruised by months of attacks on the new health care program, have found an issue they believe can lift their fortunes both locally and nationally in 2014: an increase in the minimum wage.

Regulatory fights loom large in 2014  —  Battles lines are being drawn for a series of upcoming clashes over new regulations on the horizon in 2014.  —  The year promises to be chock full of contentious fights over scores of new rules stemming from ObamaCare, Dodd-Frank and a host of other laws.

Mike Huckabee: My adventures in radio  —  Huckabee said he got through the interview on air, but after it wrapped he remembered telling the producer, “Look, I don't mind doing fun stuff, I don't mind doing some stuff that's off the wall, but this is the kind of topic — this isn't going to happen again.”

Obamacare ‘Pajama Boy’ Controversy Wrapped in Anti-Semitism  —  Right Wing Anger at ‘Jewish’ Star of Viral Health Care Ad  —  Surely the silliest kerfluffle of a political year that contained much silliness was the recent conservative hand-wringing over “Pajama Boy.”