Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: Australia says possible objects in Indian Ocean  —  Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (CNN) — Authorities have spotted two objects in the Indian Ocean that are possibly related to the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Thursday.

First Climate Article On Nate Silver's Data Website Uses ‘Deeply Misleading’ Data, Top Climatologists Say  —  Nate Silver sits on the stairs at a hotel in Chicago on Friday, Nov. 9, 2012.  —  CREDIT: AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh  —  One of the first articles on Nate Silver's highly anticipated …

“The Sky Is Falling,” Says Anonymous Chicken  —  I'm sure many of you saw a certain headline from The Hill today: “O-Care premiums to skyrocket.”  At first I thought the source was The Drudge Report.  —  If you actually read the accompanying article by Elise Viebeck, the rather alarming assertion …

Ukraine to Pull All Its Forces From Crimea, Conceding Loss  —  SEVASTOPOL, Crimea — Bowing to the reality of the Russian military occupation of Crimea a day after Russia announced it was annexing the disputed peninsula, the Ukrainian government said on Wednesday that it had drawn up plans …

Paul Ryan's white hood  —  What notorious racist said the following?  “Fewer young black and Latino men participate in the labor force compared to young white men.  And all of this translates into higher unemployment rates and poverty rates as adults.”  —  “In troubled neighborhoods …

Paul to Rebuke Obama on Spying, Citing '60s Abuses  —  BERKELEY, Calif. — Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, says President Obama should be particularly wary of domestic spying, given the government's history of eavesdropping on civil rights leaders such as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Our criminal justice system has become a crime: Column  —  Prosecutors too often abuse unrestrained powers.  —  Here's how it's supposed to work: Upon evidence that a crime has been committed — Professor Plum, found dead in the conservatory with a lead pipe on the floor next to him, say — the police commence an investigation.

National Geographic Plans to Show Crimea as Part of Russia on Maps  —  Top mapmakers split on recognizing Crimea as part of Russia.  —  A map showing Crimea as part of the Russian Federation was briefly showcased Tuesday on Wikipedia's English-language entry for Russia.  (CC-GNU-FDL-1.2)

Moscow signals concern for Russians in Estonia  —  (Reuters) - Russia signaled concern on Wednesday at Estonia's treatment of its large ethnic Russian minority, comparing language policy in the Baltic state with what it said was a call in Ukraine to prevent the use of Russian.

Another Tale of Two Cities  —  LOS ANGELES — The tremors may have had morning TV anchors diving under the desk, but it takes more than a 4.4 quiver to rattle Eric Garcetti.  —  “I don't lose my head,” said the Democratic mayor of Los Angeles, who was in bed with his wife, Amy Wakeland, when the earthquake struck at dawn Monday.

Hillary Clinton casts doubt on success of Iranian nuclear negotiations  —  New York (CNN) - Hillary Clinton cast doubt Wednesday on whether Iran would ultimately agree to halt its nuclear program, the end goal of a longstanding U.S. effort that President Barack Obama has touted as a top foreign policy achievement.

Hillary Insiders Say They Won't Work for Her If She Hires This Man  —  “I would do anything for Hillary.  Except work with Mark Penn.”  —  UPPA/ZUMA  —  In recent weeks, I've talked to several Washington politicos close to Bill and Hillary Clinton, and when I've asked …

Quinn vs. Rauner: Let the class war begin  —  What will the campaign for governor of Illinois look like between liberal Democrat Gov. Pat Quinn and Republican businessman Bruce Rauner?  —  Fists raised, mouths twisted in anger.  Think of “Les Miserables” on bad acid, a constant, pounding tribal dialogue of us vs. them.

Pay it forward: Plan would allow Michigan students to attend college for ‘free’  —  The latest, greatest idea for making a college education affordable sounds simple enough — students can attend school for free.  —  But there's a catch.  —  In return for free tuition …

NYC inmate Jerome Murdough ‘baked to death’ in Rikers Island cell  —  In this March 12, 2014 photo, Alma Murdough and her daughter Cheryl Warner hold a photo of Murdough's son, at her home in the Queens borough of New York.  Jerome Murdough, a mentally ill, homeless former Marine arrested …

GOP lawmaker Frank Ruff apologizes for calling Obamacare a “tar baby”  —  The Virginia state senator insists he didn't mean anything “racial” with his comment  —  Virginia GOP state Sen. Frank Ruff apologized on Wednesday for using the racially loaded phrase “tar baby” …

Big News from Federal Court: Republican States May Soon Demand Proof of Citizenship for Voting in Federal Elections  —  Today a federal court decided Kobach v. United States Election Assistance Commission.The upshot of this opinion, if it stands on appeal, is that states with Republican legislatures …

Jindal's Totally Bogus Obamacare Attack At Center Of Billboard Feud  —  Engaged in all-out war with the liberal group MoveOn.org over a pro-Obamacare billboard, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) has accused the organization — and liberals in general — of endorsing discrimination …

US tech giants knew of NSA data collection, agency's top lawyer insists  —  NSA general counsel Rajesh De contradicts months of angry denials from big companies like Yahoo and Google  —  The senior lawyer for the National Security Agency stated unequivocally on Wednesday that US technology companies …