Doomed airliner pilot was political fanatic: Hours before taking control of flight MH370 he attended trial of jailed opposition leader as FBI reveal passengers could be at a secret location  —  Police are investigating the possibility that the pilot of missing Flight MH370 hijacked his own aircraft in a bizarre political protest.

Dems in Distress  —  WASHINGTON — Scott Brown, the Republican who admitted he wore pink leather shorts on his first date with his wife-to-be, is back.  —  And Democrats are scared to death.  —  It's not that Democrats are particularly scared that the 54-year-old former Massachusetts senator …

Crimea holds referendum to split from Ukraine  —  Simferopol (Ukraine) (AFP) - Crimeans took to the polls on Sunday for a referendum on breaking away from Ukraine to join Russia that has precipitated a Cold War-style security crisis on Europe's eastern frontier.

McCain Compares Russia To A Gas Station  —  Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) on Sunday called for economic sanctions against Russia, arguing that they would be effective since its economy depends on oil and gas exports.  —  “Russia is a gas station masquerading as a country,” he said on CNN's “State of the Union.”

Crimea Through a Game-Theory Lens  —  A Russian occupation of Crimea raises the specter of the Cold War, in which the nuclear stalemate between the United States and the Soviet Union devolved into regional disputes around the world.  —  While military and political frictions made the biggest headlines …

CNN Poll: Rand Paul goes where his father never went  —  Washington (CNN) - Rand Paul has done something his father never did - top the list of potential Republican presidential candidates in a national poll.  —  According to a new CNN/ORC International survey, 16% of Republicans and independents …

RNC chair: Obamacare ‘main target’  —  Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus called Obamacare “complete poison” on Sunday and vowed the GOP would continue to target the new health law in upcoming races.  —  Appearing on CNN's “State of the Union,” he called the Affordable Care Act the “main target” for Republicans.

What History Teaches Us About the Ukraine Crisis  —  On the 100th anniversary of World War I, it is tempting to compare events in Ukraine to 1914.  But the current crisis bears little resemblance to the geopolitical situation of the time.  The answers history provides are anything but singular and absolute.

Piketty's Triumph  —  Three expert takes on Capital in the Twenty-First Century, French economist Thomas Piketty's data-driven magnum opus on inequality.  —  Jacob Hacker, Paul Pierson, Heather Boushey, Branko Milanovic  —  In the 1990s, two young French economists then affiliated …