Mali attack: Special forces storm hotel to free hostages  —  Malian special forces have entered the Radisson Blu Hotel in Mali's capital, Bamako, to end a siege by gunmen.  The hotel says 137 people remain inside.  —  The gunmen stormed the US-owned hotel, which is popular with foreign businesses …

Ted Cruz Creates a ‘National Prayer Team’  —  Pray for Ted Cruz.  —  That appears to be among the chief tasks to be undertaken by the Cruz campaign's “national prayer team,” a group announced on Thursday and scheduled to begin its work next month.  —  Mr. Cruz, who has aggressively courted …

Donald Trump's Plan for a Muslim Database Draws Comparison to Nazi Germany  —  NEWTON, Iowa — Donald Trump “would certainly implement” a database system tracking Muslims in the United States, the Republican front-runner told NBC News on Thursday night.  —  “I would certainly implement that.

CNN reporter suspended after tweet on refugees  —  CNN global affairs correspondent Elise Labott has been suspended for two weeks, a source at CNN confirmed to POLITICO.  —  Earlier on Thursday Labott had tweeted about the House voting on a bill that would make it harder for Syrian refugees to enter the United States.

The Farce Awakens  —  Erick Erickson, the editor in chief of the website RedState.com, is a serious power in right-wing circles.  Speechifying at RedState's annual gathering is a rite of passage for aspiring Republican politicians, and Mr. Erickson made headlines this year when he disinvited Donald Trump from the festivities.

Jonathan Pollard, American Who Spied for Israel, Released After 30 Years  —  WASHINGTON — Jonathan J. Pollard, the American convicted of spying on behalf of Israel, walked out of prison early on Friday after 30 years, the Israeli prime minister said, but the Obama administration had no plans …

Clinton Opens 25-Point Lead on Sanders in Bloomberg Politics National Poll  —  She also earns higher scores on commander-in-chief traits, including the ability to combat terrorism.  —  margarettalev  —  Hillary Clinton has solidified her lead nationally in the Democratic presidential nominating contest …

Utah school apologizes for homework assignment to make propaganda poster for terrorist group  —  SALEM, Utah — Students in 9th grade at Salem Junior High School were given a homework assignment where they were told to draw a propaganda poster for a terrorist organization.

Ex-CIA director: Snowden should be ‘hanged’ for Paris  —  A former CIA director says leaker Edward Snowden should be convicted of treason and given the death penalty in the wake of the terrorist attack on Paris.  —  “It's still a capital crime, and I would give him the death sentence …

Welcome to the Freak Show, Gawker.  You'll Fit Right In.  —  The media news of the week was the sudden reorientation of the news and gossip site Gawker.com to a site about politics.  Part of a larger story about layoffs and contraction of other outposts in the Gawker Media empire (io9 …

EXCLUSIVE: Extraordinary selfie of Europe's first female suicide bomber shows the jihadi who never read the Koran, liked to drink and smoke and had a reputation for having lots of boyfriends  — She detonated her suicide vest packed with explosives after witness claims he saw her going to KFC

GOP group plans most aggressive anti-Trump campaign yet  —  John Kasich has attacked Donald Trump relentlessly in debates and now his super PAC is planning to invest $2.5 million in the most aggressive takedown of the poll leader yet — on behalf of an increasingly anxious GOP establishment.

Improving the Experience When Relationships End  —  Community Support FYI is a new series of blog posts about how we work to keep the Facebook community safe, supported and connected.  —  Facebook is a place for sharing life's important moments, which for many people include their romantic relationships.

‘The Hunting Ground’ crew caught editing Wikipedia to make facts conform to film  —  Share Tweet Reddit Digg Mail Print SMS More  —  A crew member from “The Hunting Ground,” a one-sided film about campus sexual assault, has been editing Wikipedia articles to make facts conform with the inaccurate representations in the film.

This morning at Harvard Law School we woke up to a hate crime.  —  The hallways of Harvard Law School are lined with portraits of every tenured professor in the history of the university.  As a first-year law student, the first time that I walked down those hallways I was painfully aware …