Mali hotel attack: 3 dead after gunmen take captives at Radisson Blu in Bamako  —  (CNN)LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:  —  • [7:20 a.m. ET] Security forces have begun a counter-assault on the hotel in Mali's capital, said French President Francois Hollande, who said he'd been in touch …

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

Major insurer may leave ObamaCare  —  One of the country's largest health insurers warned Thursday that it may leave the ObamaCare exchanges within two years, delivering a shock announcement that could ripple through the marketplace.  —  At a shareholder meeting Thursday …

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.

Israeli PM Welcomes Pollard's Release  —  Israel says the United States has freed convicted spy Jonathan Pollard from federal prison after nearly 30 years and the Israeli prime minister has issued a statement welcoming the release.  —  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in the statement on Friday that …

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 …

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.

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.

Why the youth vote is key  —  The youth vote isn't what it used to be, and that could be good news for Republicans in 2016.  —  Young voters who supported President Obama in 2008 by more than 60 percent have since struggled with burdensome student debt and to find a job and anchor themselves in the middle class.

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 …

We Asked Marco Rubio to Lay Out His ISIL Strategy.  Here It Is.  —  Last week, France suffered the deadliest terror attack to hit Europe in more than a decade.  It was perpetrated by a terrorist organization that has repeatedly warned the world of the scope of its intentions and the brutality of its methods.