National Review aims to take down Trump  —  For months, Republican leaders have worried about how to stop 2016 frontrunner Donald Trump.  Now, one of the conservative movement's most influential publications is taking matters into its own hands.  —  National Review is dedicating a special issue …

Houston, We Have a Problem  —  National Review was asked by the RNC to partner in the GOP debates.  We agreed.  Our initial partner was NBC, with whom we were to help moderate the pre-Super Tuesday debate, originally to be held on February 26 in Houston, then suspended by the RNC in retribution …

In Word and Deed, Christie's Ambitions Shrink at Home Amid White House Bid  —  Gov. Chris Christie's return to New Jersey was swift and efficient: He flew to his home state on Monday night after a campaign trip to Iowa.  The next day, he sliced through a towering pile of legislation awaiting his signature …

Who had the worst week in Washington?  Hillary Clinton.  —  For Hillary Clinton, it's starting to look like deja vu all over again.  —  Start a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination as giant front-runner.  Check.  Raise tens of millions of dollars and look unbeatable for large swaths of the year before the primaries start.

Oscars 2016: Charlotte Rampling says diversity row is ‘racist to white people’  —  The British actor, who is nominated for the best actress award, says black actors may not have been good enough to make the list of Oscar nominees  —  Oscar nominee Charlotte Rampling has claimed the current campaign …

North Korea arrests American student for ‘hostile act,’ state media says  —  (CNN)An American college student has been arrested in North Korea.  —  Otto Frederick Warmbier was detained in Pyongyang on January 2, according to Young Pioneer Tours, the China-based travel company he was with.

Google Paid Apple $1 Billion to Keep Search Bar on IPhone  —  Court records reveal details of two companies' relationship  —  Google Inc. is paying Apple Inc. a hefty fee to keep its search bar on the iPhone.  —  Apple received $1 billion from its rival in 2014, according to a transcript …

Sen. Richard Burr asks for retraction on report of comments about Ted Cruz  —  Associated Press story said Burr told supporters he would vote for Bernie Sanders over Cruz  —  Burr denies report, tweets: ‘I will support whoever the GOP nominee is’  —  AP says, ‘We stand by our story’

Professor Forrest McDonald (1927-2016): Scholar, Patriot, and Friend  —  Professor McDonald was and will remain—long into the distant future—among the most influential historians on American history, particularly in regard to the American Revolution and the Constitution's framing era.

Vietnam's Sacred Turtle Dies at an Awkward, Some Say Ominous, Time  —  HANOI, Vietnam — As Vietnam's leaders grappled with a diplomatic spat with China, a vulnerable economy and a factional turf war at a party congress this week, the last thing they needed was the death of a sacred giant turtle.

The dog keeps eating IRS hard drives  —  In Oscar Wilde's comedy, “The Importance of Being Earnest,” Lady Bracknell is indignant to hear that Jack Worthing is an orphan.  “To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.”