Powerball jackpot, already at a record level, could reach $1 billion  —  The Powerball lottery jackpot has already jumped to $700 million.  Could it reach $1 billion?  —  By midday Thursday, lottery officials said the new high came as sales of tickets continue to skyrocket.

Cruz: I spank my daughter when she lies — voters can ‘administer...a spanking’ to Hillary Clinton  —  CHARLES CITY, Iowa — At a stop here on his six-day bus trip through Iowa, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) told a crowd in a coffee house that when his 5-year-old daughter Catherine tells a lie, “she gets a spanking.”

Silently protesting Muslim woman ejected from Trump rally  —  Rock Hill, South Carolina (CNN)A Muslim woman wearing a hijab was escorted out of Donald Trump's campaign event on Friday by police after she stood up in silent protest during Trump's speech.  —  Rose Hamid, a 56-year-old flight …

Police: Gunman who shot cop pledged allegiance to the Islamic State  —  Hours after he shot a Philadelphia police officer with a stolen police firearm Thursday night, Edward Archer confessed to investigators that he had acted “in the name of Islam,” authorities said.  —  “I follow Allah.

Fox poll: Sanders soars in New Hampshire  —  Bernie Sanders has soared to a 13-point lead over Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire in a Fox News survey out Friday, nearly a month to the day that primary voters will make their decision at the polls on Feb. 9.  —  Sanders, who in November held …

Two Mideast refugees arrested on terror charges appear in US courts  —  Two men born in Iraq who came to the U.S. as refugees had court dates in California and Texas Friday on terror-related charges, as investigators say one of the men wrote that he wanted to travel to Syria because he was “eager to see blood.”

Bombshell Email Shows Hillary Instructed Adviser To Strip Markings From Sensitive Talking Points  —  On June 16, 2011, Hillary Clinton's top foreign policy adviser, Jake Sullivan, was having trouble sending his boss a list of talking points that contained sensitive — and possibly classified — information.

Oregon standoff: Harney County group asks Bundy to leave but takes on his cause  —  BURNS — Members of a local group previously affiliated with Ammon Bundy, the leader of the armed militants occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, indicated Friday that they now want him to leave.

Germany's Post-Cologne Hysteria  —  Berlin — ON New Year's Eve, hundreds of men gathered in the plaza at the main train station in Cologne, Germany, groping and robbing scores of women as they passed by.  By the end of this week the police had received 170 complaints, including 120 related to sexual assault.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott calls for Convention of States to take back states' rights  —  Gov. Greg Abbott called Friday for a convention of states to amend the U.S. Constitution.  (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP) … Gov. Greg Abbott, aiming to spark a national conversation about states' rights …

Man in alleged plot to kidnap Obama's dog arrested on weapons charge … A man who allegedly plotted to kidnap one of the Obama family's dogs was arrested in the District on Wednesday with a cache of weapons and ammunition in his car, the Secret Service said.

Veto Message from the President — H.R. 3762  —  TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:  —  I am returning herewith without my approval H.R. 3762, which provides for reconciliation pursuant to section 2002 of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2016, herein referred to as the Reconciliation Act.

Teenage student, 18, is fined £90 after lying that she was punched in the face because she wore a hijab in the days after the Paris terror attacks  —  A Muslim teenager has been fined after she lied about being punched in the face because she wore a hijab in the days after the Paris terror attacks.

EXCLUSIVE: NYC high school teacher claims she was fired for Central Park Five lessons that administrators feared would create ‘riots’  —  A teacher at an Upper West Side high school was fired for creating a curriculum with lessons about the Central Park Five that administrators feared would …