CBS/NYT Poll: Americans divided on Obama job performance in final year  —  As President Obama prepares to give his last State of the Union address, the country is split on his job performance: 46 percent of Americans approve, while 47 percent disapprove.  —  His approval rating has hovered …

Rand Paul and Carly Fiorina Cut From Next Republican Mainstage Debate  —  Republican presidential candidates Rand Paul and Carly Fiorina have been cut from the next mainstage debate on Thursday.  —  According to a newly-announced lineup by debate host Fox Business Network …

War over gay marriage to play out at SOTU  —  Share Tweet Reddit Digg Mail Print SMS More  —  President Obama's effort to stack the audience with those who support his causes at his last State of the Union Address is being rebuffed by conservatives inviting guests that challenged Obamacare and gay marriage.

Dem ‘nail-biter’ in early states  —  The Democratic presidential race is tightening just weeks before the Iowa caucuses, renewing the sense among some Democrats that Bernie Sanders could sweep the first two voting states and challenge Hillary Clinton over the long haul.

Biden says Obama offered financial help amid son's illness  —  Washington (CNN)As his eldest son faced the prospect of resigning as Delaware's attorney general amid health concerns, Vice President Joe Biden received an offer that floored him: financial support from his boss, President Barack Obama.

RISE IN MIGRANTS LEAVING GERMANY FOLLOWING COLOGNE SEX ATTACKS  —  Germany has started sending a growing number of migrants back to Austria since the New Year's Eve sex attacks in Cologne shocked the country.  —  Some of the departing migrants said they did not want asylum in Germany …

David Bowie Allowed His Art to Deliver a Final Message  —  In the video for David Bowie's “Lazarus,” released last week, the mythic singer and rock ‘n’ roll shape-shifter, ever thin but bordering on gaunt, is blindfolded and writhing in a hospital bed.  “Look up here, I'm in heaven,” he sings.

Chinese Gaming Billionaire Buys U.S. Gay Dating App Grindr  —  Beijing Kunlun Tech offers $93 million for 60 percent stake  —  Kunlun shares hit maximum daily limit in share trading  —  One of China's newly minted technology billionaires signed a deal to buy a controlling stake in Grindr …

Supreme Court conservatives appear ready to overturn mandatory union fees  —  People participate in a Jan. 11 rally at the Supreme Court in Washington as the justices heard arguments in Friedrichs vs. California Teachers Assn.  —  Reporting from Washington

Is This The End of ‘The New Republic’?  —  After spending ‘over $20 million’ on the political and cultural journal, Chris Hughes' decision to sell ‘TNR’ could mark its death knell.  —  In what some knowledgeable observers characterized as the death knell for a nearly 102-year-old American institution …

Why Republicans Wouldn't Actually Repeal Obamacare  —  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan attend an unveiling ceremony for a bust of former Vice President Dick Cheney on December 3, 2015.  —  Last week, in a bold example of their governing prowess …

Clinton Considered Secret Plan to Spark Palestinian Protests  —  Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton considered a secret plan created by her then-advisers to foment unrest among Palestinian citizens and spark protests in order to push the Israeli government back to the negotiating table …

Journalists: Stop Complaining About Sean Penn  —  Awakened from its holiday hibernation, the journalistic orthodoxy massed yesterday to attack Sean Penn and Rolling Stone for their 11,000-word story/interview with Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Loera—aka El Chapo.

Father of Koch Brothers Helped Build Nazi Oil Refinery, Book Says  —  The father of the billionaires Charles G. and David H. Koch helped construct a major oil refinery in Nazi Germany that was personally approved by Adolf Hitler, according to a new history of the Kochs and other wealthy families.