Trump says Cruz's Canadian birth could be ‘very precarious’ for GOP  —  LOWELL, Mass. — Donald Trump said in an interview that rival Ted Cruz's Canadian birthplace was a “very precarious” issue that could make the Texas senator vulnerable if he became the Republican presidential nominee.

GOP scrambles for response to Obama's gun control actions  —  Congressional Republicans are scrambling for a way to halt President Obama's new unilateral actions on gun control.  —  One powerful appropriator, Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas), has threatened to block federal funding for the Department …

Germany shocked by Cologne New Year gang assaults on women  —  The mayor of Cologne has summoned police for crisis talks after about 80 women reported sexual assaults and muggings by men on New Year's Eve.  —  The scale of the attacks on women at the city's central railway station has shocked Germany.

North Korea says it successfully conducts hydrogen bomb test  —  Hong Kong (CNN)North Korea says it has successfully carried out a hydrogen bomb test in a region of the country where it conducted three previous nuclear tests.  —  If the claim is verified, a hydrogen bomb test …

Twitter Considering 10,000-Character Limit for Tweets  —  Longer tweets are coming soon to Twitter.  —  Twitter is building a new feature that will allow users to tweet things longer than the traditional 140-character limit, and the company is targeting a launch date toward the end of Q1 …

Meet the chef who decides what Tom Brady eats—and what he definitely doesn't  —  Allen Campbell talks about why our quarterback rarely eats tomatoes, where he shops for groceries, and why he doesn't serve mushrooms.  Ever.  —  Allen Campbell has never been anything but a chef.

Authorities plan to cut off power to militia at occupied Oregon refuge  —  Armed militants will begin their third day at the wildlife refuge and have vowed to remain for months in protest at over the treatment of two local cattle ranchers  —  Federal authorities are planning to cut off …

This crowd shot from Donald Trump's Massachusetts rally is absolutely mind-boggling  —  Donald Trump went to Lowell, Mass. — a town about five miles south of the New Hampshire border — for one of his now trademark big-arena rallies on Monday night.  This is what the crowd looked like per WaPo's Jenna Johnson.

Trump: It Would Be Interesting To Ask Bill Clinton The Difference Between Him And Cosby  —  Trump added that he respects women and that he would protect them.  —  Hello, it's me.  —  David Duprey / ASSOCIATED PRESS  —  w.soundcloud.com  —  Donald Trump says it would be “very interesting” …

Lumosity to Pay $2 Million to Settle FTC Deceptive Advertising Charges for Its “Brain Training” Program  —  Company Claimed Program Would Sharpen Performance in Everyday Life and Protect Against Cognitive Decline  —  The creators and marketers of the Lumosity “brain training” …

Blizzard Buried Some Dairy Cows in the Snow; 35,000 Die  —  LUBBOCK, Tex. — After a mild and dry Christmas Day, a fierce blizzard whipped across the rolling plains of West Texas and eastern New Mexico.  The wind blew mercilessly for 48 hours, leaving snow drifts as high as 14 feet.

Fox host: President Obama put a ‘raw onion’ in his podium so he could cry fake tears for kids killed by guns  —  DON'T MISS STORIES.  FOLLOW RAW STORY!  —  Fox News host Andrea Tantaros suggested on Tuesday President Barack Obama had used a “raw onion” to produce fake tears for shooting victims during …

You Know Less Than You Think About Guns  —  The misleading uses, flagrant abuses, and shoddy statistics of social science about gun violence  —  Brian Doherty from the February 2016 issue - view article in the Digital Edition  —  “There is a gun for roughly every man, woman, and child in America …

Trump quietly builds a data juggernaut  —  Donald Trump's rivals cling to the hope that the surprise GOP presidential front-runner lacks the know-how to lure supporters to the polls, but POLITICO has learned that his campaign several months ago assembled an experienced data team …

Christie hits back: Rubio can't ‘slime his way to the White House’  —  MANCHESTER, N.H. — As Chris Christie's establishment rivals seize on his blue-state governing record, the New Jersey governor punched back here Tuesday with the kind of bluntness that had been his trademark …

From The Editor |  Ban Antics In New York  —  What's an anti-gun state legislator to do when the state in which he or she lives already has some of the most restrictive gun-control laws in the nation?  Realistically, short of banning all guns and ammunition magazines, what's left to do in the state of New York?