Fiorina defends Trump: ‘Bill Clinton is fair game’  —  GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina said Monday that Donald Trump is justified in publicly targeting former President Bill Clinton in connection with his wife's campaign for the White House.  —  “Of course Bill Clinton is fair game,” she said on Fox News's “Fox and Friends.”

Trump: Union Leader publisher a ‘lowlife’  —  Donald Trump took aim at his latest target in the media world — this time, Joe McQuaid, publisher of the New Hampshire Union Leader.  —  “He's a real lowlife, there's no question about it,” Trump said on New Hampshire television station WMUR …

No charges for Cleveland police officers in shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice  —  After more than a year of investigation, a Cleveland grand jury declined to bring charges against either of the two police officers involved in the November 2014 shooting of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy who was playing with a toy weapon in a park.

‘Affluenza’ teen Ethan Couch detained in Mexico  —  (CNN)Mexican authorities have detained so-called “affluenza” teen Ethan Couch and his mother near the popular Mexican Pacific beach resort town of Puerto Vallarta, officials briefed on the matter told CNN.  —  Couch went missing earlier this month …

Obama's Economic Performance Is Even Better Than It Looks  —  Paul Krugman presents us today with an updated version of his chart showing private employment gains during the Obama administration compared to the Bush administration:  —  But Obama's performance is even better than it looks.

2015: The Year in Charts  —  By the end of 2015, the economy — still leaving too many Americans behind — has regrettably almost disappeared from the news, overshadowed by the twin evils of Donald J. Trump and the Islamic State.  Meanwhile, Congress continued to burnish its record of doing little …

Creature from the deep surfaces in Japanese harbor  —  Tokyo (CNN)It isn't every day that a mystery from the deep swims into plain sight.  But on Christmas Eve, spectators on a pier in Toyama Bay in central Japan were treated to a rare sighting of a giant squid.

Pope and change  —  You know the answer to these year-end questions but just play along.  —  Name the biggest 2015 event on Capitol Hill?  The one event it was near impossible to get a ticket to attend.  —  It is not close - you're right, the pope's visit.  —  And you'll know the answer to this one too.

Marco Rubio's Path to Victory  —  Dan McLaughlin has a very convincing look at how Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) 94% waits out Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) 100%'s early wins.  As we move in the calendar, we get to more moderate states, and Rubio's odds go up.  —  What we have to consider, however, is voter psychology.

Police: Woman killed victim, left body on couch for days  —  PHOENIX (KSAZ) - A valley woman says the body of a victim found by police on her couch was a “shrine from God.”  —  The Phoenix Police Department tells Fox 10 that 39-year-old Anitra Braxton has been charged with murder …

Sixty thousand New Yorkers sign up for ‘tiny house’ development: 265 square foot apartments with retractable beds attract huge wave of interest... but would you pay up to $3,000 a month for this?  —  More than 60,000 people have applied to live in new apartments the size of garages in Manhattan.

Exclusive - Islamic State ruling aims to settle who can have sex with female slaves  —  Islamic State theologians have issued an extremely detailed ruling on when “owners” of women enslaved by the extremist group can have sex with them, in an apparent bid to curb what they called violations in the treatment of captured females.

Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead Dies at 70, Band Confirms  —  Ian Kilmister — the iconic Lemmy of British heavy metal pioneers Motörhead — died Monday at age 70 of “extremely aggressive cancer,” the band said.  —  Kilmister — who legendarily survived diabetes and implantation …

‘Awards Chatter’ Podcast — Samuel L. Jackson ('The Hateful Eight')  —  The 67-year-old, whose films have grossed more than any other actor's in history, opens up about reuniting with Quentin Tarantino and Spike Lee, Oscars “bulls**t,” his stutter, the N-word, cops and the “hate” of his golfing buddy Donald Trump.