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.

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.

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 …

In old memo, a glimpse of conflict ahead for Hillary Clinton?  —  Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton in January at the swearing-in of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.  Newly released Clinton White House documents may signal conflict ahead as Hillary Clinton considers her own presidential run.

California gun store owner refuses to give ATF his customer list  —  OCEANSIDE, Calif. (KSWB) — The owner of an Oceanside store that sells various gun parts to build a rifle from scratch refused to turn over his customer list when he was raided by federal agents Wednesday.

Durbin, McCain: Send weapons to Ukraine  —  A pair of senators, including a close ally to President Obama, is calling on the White House to send arms to Ukraine.  —  Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), currently visiting Ukraine, said the U.S. should supply …

Sleepless in Simferopol  —  No one knows what Putin will do after Sunday's election.  The fear is familiar to Crimea's Tatars.  —  SIMFEROPOL, CRIMEA — No one has any idea what President Vladimir Putin will do after Crimea votes on Sunday to join Russia.

Why millennials have abandoned Obama  —  The day before the Iowa caucuses in 2008, I wrote about the massive crowds of young people at Barack Obama rallies, noting that his candidacy would collapse “if they don't show up.”  —  The next night, after Obama's victory celebration in Des Moines …

In Context: Were Paul Ryan's poverty comments a ‘thinly veiled racial attack’?  —  The backlash to comments U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan made about poverty and inner-city residents suggested that the former vice-presidential candidate had been bigoted.  —  U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif. …