Cruz: ‘The whole world is on fire’  —  At the first of two stops in New Hampshire yesterday, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz told more than 100 people that the country has nearly reached the “point of no return” and “if we go four or eight more years on this path, we risk losing the greatest country in the history of the world.”

Marco Rubio's house of horrors  —  A Tallahassee home co-owned by a scandal-plagued ex-congressman is the locus of questions about the senator's finances and judgment.  —  TALLAHASSEE — The brick-fronted tract house with a satellite dish and a yellow fire hydrant in front looks …

Op-Ed Michael Douglas finds Judaism and faces anti-Semitism  —  Last summer our family went to Southern Europe on holiday.  During our stay at a hotel, our son Dylan went to the swimming pool.  A short time later he came running back to the room, upset.  A man at the pool had started hurling insults at him.

White House calling the shots  —  In the months since Republicans took charge of Congress, GOP divisions have given the upper hand to the White House.  —  The White House is declaring victory over Washington — at least in terms of setting the agenda for Republican leaders …

Story Highlights  —  PRINCETON, N.J. — Thirty-seven percent of Americans now view the Republican Party favorably and 39% view the Democratic Party favorably.  This is the only time since Gallup began tracking the party's images this way in 1992 that neither party has achieved at least 40% favorability from the public.

Al Gore should run for president  —  Democrats need a debate about where their party goes next.  Obamacare's passage marked the rough completion of the social safety net that liberals began constructing during Franklin Delano Roosevelt's presidency.  The end of the Iraq War drained Democrats of their foreign policy fervor.

Chinese company pledged $2 million to Clinton Foundation in 2013  —  Shares -  —  Watch Julianna Goldman's full report at 7:30 a.m. ET on “CBS This Morning.”  —  A CBS News investigation has found that at least one foreign company with close ties to its government has been giving generously …

Hillary Will be President Of Nothing  —  The only people who should be afraid of Hillary Clinton running in 2016 are her fellow Democrats, and the only thing they should fear more than her running and losing is her running and winning.  —  Hillary is a Lovecraftian monster …

Huckabee Pursues Unconventional Ways to Fund a Campaign  —  In a wood-paneled study lined with books and framed family photos, the prospective presidential candidate looks into the camera.  “I'm Mike Huckabee,” he says with all the folksy charm that propelled a career as a preacher, politician and broadcaster.

LAPD searches for two suspects in shooting of officers in South L.A.  —  Two Los Angeles police officers were wounded by gunfire Sunday afternoon, spawning a massive manhunt for the shooters that shut down several blocks in South Los Angeles, authorities said.

Chasm Grows Within G.O.P. Over Spending  —  WASHINGTON — The congressional push this week to secure the first Republican budget plan in nearly a decade is revealing a chasm between fiscal hawks determined to maintain strict spending caps and defense hawks who are threatening to derail …

ACLU files new lawsuit over Obama administration drone ‘kill list’  —  Top civil liberties group calls for greater transparency regarding ‘targeted killing program’ and how officials handle possibility of civilian deaths  —  As the US debates expanding its campaign against the Islamic State beyond Iraq …

Putin laughs off ‘rumours’ over his 10-day absence  —  Saint Petersburg (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday dismissed days of frenzied “rumours” over his health and whereabouts as he reappeared in public after an unusually long 10-day absence.

Iran deal could start nuclear fuel race - Saudi Arabia  —  Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal: “It seems that Iran is expanding its occupation of Iraq”  —  A senior member of the Saudi royal family has warned that a deal on Iran's nuclear programme could prompt other regional states to develop atomic fuel.