Flagging before election, Netanyahu ramps up rhetoric  —  (Reuters) - Flagging in opinion polls before Tuesday's election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to rally Israeli rightists by casting his centre-left challengers as tools of a global campaign to usurp power.

War with Iran is probably our best option  —  Joshua Muravchik is a fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute of Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies.  —  The logical flaw in the indictment of a looming “very bad” nuclear deal with Iran that Israeli Prime Minister …

This is why it's impossible for the Kremlin to lie about Putin's weird disappearance  —  The president's carefully cultivated image rests on never showing weakness.  —  It's been more than a week now since anybody's seen Russian President Vladimir Putin.  He had a mundane meeting …

C.I.A. Cash Ended Up in Coffers of Al Qaeda  —  WASHINGTON — In the spring of 2010, Afghan officials struck a deal to free an Afghan diplomat held hostage by Al Qaeda.  But the price was steep — $5 million — and senior security officials were scrambling to come up with the money.

Housemate Takes Blame for Shining Laser at Planes in Bronx  —  After being charged this week with injuring several pilots by shining a laser beam at their planes, Frank J. Egan was held up as a pest, his arrest an example of pinpoint investigative work leading the authorities to a typically elusive target.

Body camera captures incredible rescue of baby Lily from car in Spanish Fork River  —  WARNING: The videos in this story contain raw footage of emergency crews responding to a crash that left a woman dead and her daughter in critical condition.  Some may find some of the images disturbing, viewer discretion is advised.

It's Hillary All the Way Down  —  If you want to know what Hillary Clinton would be like as president, you're seeing it right now. … Dear Reader (including some intrepid Indiana Jones of the future who will one day stumble on the last missing piece of the “Clintonemail” …

Huge Pacific cyclone devastates Vanuatu, at least eight dead  —  (Reuters) - One of the Pacific Ocean's most powerful ever storms devastated the island nation of Vanuatu on Saturday, tearing off roofs, uprooting trees and killing at least eight people with the toll set to rise, aid officials said.

Walker tests his message in New Hampshire  —  Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a likely 2016 Republican presidential contender, tested his message of “growth, reform and safety” in New Hampshire on Saturday with a speech at a grassroots workshop in Concord.  —  In his first trip to the second …

Beck Threatens to Quit NRA if They Re-Elect ‘Secret Muslim’ Grover Norquist to Board  —  Radio host Glenn Beck announced recently that he would quit the National Rifle Association completely if they re-elected Grover Norquist, whom he accused of being sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood, to its board.

Why Pi Matters  —  Every March 14th, mathematicians like me are prodded out of our burrows like Punxsutawney Phil on Groundhog Day, blinking and bewildered by all the fuss.  Yes, it's Pi Day again.  And not just any Pi Day.  They're calling this the Pi Day of the century: 3.14.15.  Pi to five digits.

How Islamic Is the Islamic State?  Not at All.  —  What The Atlantic got wrong about ISIS  —  It is difficult to forget the names, or the images, of James Foley, Steven Sotloff, David Haines, Alan Henning and Peter Kassig.  The barbaric beheadings between August and November 2014 …