Interpol says no country checked its database before Malaysia flight  —  Interpol says no country checked its database for information about stolen passports that were used to board the Malaysia Airlines flight that disappeared with 239 people on board Saturday less than an hour after taking off …

Leading Republicans Move to Stamp Out Challenges From Right  —  WASHINGTON — As conservative activist groups stirred up trouble for establishment Republican Senate candidates in 2010 and 2012, party leaders in Washington first tried to ignore the insurgents, then tried to reason with them …

A Rand Paul rout in CPAC straw poll  —  NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.—Rand Paul handily won the presidential straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference Saturday, one gauge of the Republican base's mood less than two years before the 2016 primary season kicks off.

Obama to Dems: It's time to worry  —  The election is coming, the election is coming!  —  That's the message coming from President Obama as he tries desperately to rouse Democrats out of a midterm election stupor that could cost his party control of the Senate — and bury his agenda once and for all.

The Fat Drug  —  IF you walk into a farm-supply store today, you're likely to find a bag of antibiotic powder that claims to boost the growth of poultry and livestock.  That's because decades of agricultural research has shown that antibiotics seem to flip a switch in young animals' bodies, helping them pack on pounds.

Has the Conservative Political Action Conference Purged the Kooks?  —  The annual conservative confab was notable for who wasn't there.  —  Pete Marovich/Mct/ZUMA  —  In the bowels of the National Harbor convention center in suburban Maryland on Thursday, a nonprofit called Empact America …

Little R-S-P-E-C-T  —  WASHINGTON — IF you can't spell it, you can't get it.  —  President Obama pulled a Quayle Thursday night at a White House performance by the women of soul and muffed the title of Aretha Franklin's anthem.  “R-S-P-E-C-T,” he said, looking a bit confused and eliciting laughter.

Mitt Romney gathers top advisers for campaign reunion in Utah  —  Is Mitt Romney getting the band back together?  —  The 2012 Republican presidential nominee has invited his debate prep advisers and senior campaign aides to his mountaintop chalet in Park City, Utah, for a weekend of skiing later this month …

Clinton Super PAC ‘Ready For Hillary’ Gets Readier  —  Hillary Clinton's shadow presidential campaign is shifting into overdrive with the ‘Ready For Hillary’ Super PAC's website getting a makeover  —  This weekend is a big one for the juggernaut Hillary Clinton for President shadow campaign.

Is US losing new cold war?  —  If there is a new cold war with Russia, many observers believe the U.S. is losing it.  —  First under President George W. Bush and now under President Obama, the U.S. and Vladimir Putin's Russia have engaged in a series of foreign policy battles — and Putin has repeatedly got his way.