Fox News announces candidate line-up for prime-time debate  —  Fox News has announced the line-up for the prime-time Republican presidential debate this Thursday, and here's who qualified:  —  Real estate magnate Donald Trump; former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush; Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker …

Jeb Bush's ad-lib offers Dems another gift  —  Another ill-advised ad lib from Jeb Bush, another opportunity for Democrats.  —  Looking to curry favor with religious conservatives at the outset of a competitive primary fight, Bush on Tuesday repeated his call to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood …

2 Men Open Fire On Soldiers At Jade Helm Training Site In Mississippi  —  HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — A sheriff in Mississippi says authorities are searching for two men who fired gunshots from a vehicle at soldiers at a military facility.  No injuries were reported.

Robert Conquest, historian - obituary  —  Historian who played a leading role in stiffening western resolve in the Cold War by chronicling the horrors of Soviet communism  —  Robert Conquest, the writer on Soviet Russia who has died aged 98, was a polemicist and a serious, published poet …

Free Diver Natalia Molchanova Descends for Fun, Then Vanishes  —  Natalia Molchanova, widely regarded as the greatest free diver in history, wore her favorite purple wet suit Sunday on a chartered boat off the coast of Formentera, an island near Ibiza.  Only 1.5 millimeters thick …

You May Have Seen My Face on BART  —  Hi, my name is Isis.  I'm a full-stack engineer at OneLogin.  They asked me to be one of four others participating recruiting campaign that was hastily planned and executed in 1 day.  I was not personally ready for the amount of attention that it has brought me.

Alabama officer kept job after proposal to murder black man and hide evidence  —  Secret recording played for local officials, in which police officer says resident ‘needs a god damn bullet’, resulted in $35,000 payout to prevent man from suing  —  A police officer in Alabama proposed murdering …

Hear Trump's Message on His Leaked Cellphone  —  Donald Trump has turned the tables on Gawker.  After the online site released one of Donald Trump's cellphone numbers, the GOP presidential candidate changed his voicemail this morning.  —  “Hi, this is Donald Trump and I'm running …

Kosovo agrees to war crimes tribunal  —  Court will be funded by the EU to prevent witness intimidation and corruption.  —  After a lengthy political fight, Kosovo has agreed to a special tribunal in a foreign country to try ex-Kosovo Liberation Army members accused of war crimes during the war against Serbia in the late 1990s.

Darker outlook for EU economy  —  S&P changes EU outlook to negative, blaming bailouts.  —  Standard & Poor's downgraded its outlook for the European Union to “negative” from “stable” on Tuesday as Greece's economic problems weigh on the region.  —  The U.S. ratings agency reaffirmed …

Prison drone dropped heroin, marijuana and tobacco  —  MANSFIELD - The package dropped by a drone at Mansfield Correctional Institution last week contained 144.5 grams of tobacco, 65.4 grams of marijuana, and 6.6 grams of heroin, according to JoEllen Smith, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

Walker, Clinton lead in Minnesota- General Looks Like 2004  —  Donald Trump may be running the table in national polls these days, but PPP's new Minnesota poll finds that Scott Walker is continuing to hold his own in the Midwest.  Walker narrowly leads the GOP field in the state with 19% to 18% for Trump …

Obama to call for Voting Rights Act restoration on law's anniversary  —  President Obama will call for the restoration of the Voting Rights Act on its 50th anniversary Thursday, the White House said.  —  Obama will hold a teleconference to commemorate the landmark legislation and call for its renewal …

Racial graffiti written on Haley grave  —  The tombstone of a relative of author Alex Haley was defaced in a cemetery in Savannah earlier this week, according to Savannah Police Chief Gary Will.  —  Will said Queen Haley, a black woman and grandmother of Alex Haley, author of “Roots,” had …

Whole Foods' $6 Asparagus Water Is Just Water With Three Stalks of Asparagus in It [Updated]  —  Is Whole Foods trolling its own employees?  —  Twitter user Layla Dhere (@dhere) expressed confusion in a recent tweet featuring the above image of a row of bottles of what is labeled “Asparagus Water” on a shelf.

Obama Begins Campaign in Congress for Iran Nuclear Deal  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama is rolling out a multipronged campaign of private entreaties and public advocacy over the next several weeks to build support in Congress for the nuclear deal with Iran, an effort to counter …

Chris Christie: 'I've used birth control, and not just the rhythm method'  —  The Christie camp has been using the hashtag #TellingItLikeItIs to promote the New Jersey governor's campaign on Twitter.  And that's exactly what he was doing at a town hall meeting in Manchester …

Ted Cruz Anti-Iran Deal Site Accidentally Links To Big Photo Of Ass Instead Of Senator's Twitter Account  —  The site urges you to contact your senator to tell them to vote against the Iran nuclear agreement:  —  Via stoptheirandeal.com  —  If you click a link for Washington Democratic …

Police dash-cam video debunks professor's racial profiling claims  —  A college professor who accused a Connecticut state trooper of racial profiling saw her claims fail when audiotape of the stop proved she was lying, police said.  —  According to Fox CT, Minati Roychoudhuri, 32 …

Woman claiming to be real-life Cookie Lyon is suing ‘Empire’ creators  —  Sophia Eggleston (left) is suing “Empire” creators, saying she is the real-life Cookie Lyon (played by Taraji P. Henson, right).  —  Detroit woman Sophia Eggleston claims she is the real-life version of “Empire” …

Crisis in Santorum campaign  —  The moves leave the winner of the 2012 Iowa Caucuses without a campaign manager and raise questions about whether he can last until Iowa votes on Feb. 1 next year.  —  Several top staffers have left Rick Santorum's campaign to create a new super PAC …

Jeb Bush: I ‘Misspoke’ On Women's Health Spending Comments  —  Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) quickly walked back earlier comments that he was “not sure we need half a billion dollars for women's health issues.”  —  His presidential campaign posted online a statement Tuesday evening saying Bush “misspoke” with the remarks: