Republicans Try to Fix Damage Scalise's 2002 Speech Could Do in 2016  —  WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders, poised for a celebratory takeover of Congress next week, instead found themselves scrambling Tuesday to defuse a racially charged controversy over one lawmaker's speech a decade ago to a white supremacist group.

City Hall Pushed Pols to Attack PBA as Mayor Coaxed Unions To Meet: Sources  —  NEW YORK CITY — While Mayor Bill de Blasio was personally coaxing the city's police union presidents to meet with him, his top aides were on the phones with lawmakers urging them to blast PBA President Patrick Lynch …

Obama approval at highest in over a year  —  President Obama's approval rating is at its highest in over a year, according to new Gallup polling.  —  The latest three-day polling average, from Dec. 27-29, puts Obama's approval at 48 percent, the highest it has been since August 2013.

AP-GfK Poll: Americans support menu labeling  —  Associated Press 1 hr ago  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — More than half of Americans say they already have enough information at restaurants to decide whether they are making a healthy purchase.  But they want even more.

Pope Francis splits with GOP  —  Pope Francis is increasingly driving a wedge between conservatives and the Catholic Church.  —  The magnetic pope has sparked new enthusiasm around the world for the church and has flexed his political muscles internationally, most recently by helping …

Police fatally shoot suspect in Drexel Hill  —  Police fatally shot a 52-year-old man Tuesday afternoon in Drexel Hill after he attempted to run them down with his vehicle, said Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood.  —  Officers had been trying to arrest the man …

Woman sues hospital after having limbs amputated  —  A 59-year-old Baltimore city woman is alleging she had to have her arms and legs amputated after Johns Hopkins doctors failed to diagnose an infection in her uterus.  —  Joyce E. Ferguson claims she went to the emergency room …

Who Is Lena Dunham's Alleged Rapist?  —  Since its publication this fall, Lena Dunham's bestselling essay collection, Not That Kind of Girl, has inspired her fans and offered a different kind of inspiration to her foes.  The right-wing press, in particular, has taken Dunham's discursive set …

Toddler accidentally shoots Hayden Walmart shopper  —  HAYDEN, Idaho—Employees evacuated the Hayden Walmart on Tuesday following a shooting inside the store.  —  Authorities on the scene around 11:15 a.m. described the shooting as “accidental.”  —  A woman was shopping with four kids …

Edmonton mass murder: 6 adults, 2 children dead  —  ‘It is a tragic day for Edmonton,’ police Chief Rod Knecht tells news conference  —  Police have found nine people dead at three separate locations in Edmonton and Fort Saskatchewan, one by an apparent suicide.

President Obama abandons Michael Boggs nomination  —  President Barack Obama will not renominate controversial Georgia judicial nominee Michael Boggs to the federal bench in 2015, according to the state's two Republican senators.  —  Boggs drew widespread opposition from Senate Democrats …

Shifting clout  —  Economists' academic rankings and media influence vary wildly  —  ECONOMISTS measure their influence by looking at their publication count.  They obsess over their RePEc ("research papers in economics") ranking, a list topped by heavyweights who inspire awe among PhD students and blank stares everywhere else.

What's Driving Jim Webb?  —  Some say a 2016 presidential bid is the obvious next step in Webb's lifelong call to public service.  —  Among other things, former Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia has earned two Purple Hearts, one Emmy and an appointment as secretary of the Navy in the Reagan administration.

Obama Adviser Jonathan Gruber In 2009: Obamacare Will NOT Be Affordable  —  President Obama's health care adviser Jonathan Gruber said that the Affordable Care Act would definitely not be affordable while he was writing the bill with the White House.  —  As Gruber continues to withhold documents …