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 …

Ted Cruz Forgets To Sign Up For Health Insurance, Blames Obamacare  —  GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz says his family is no longer covered by health insurance, and he thinks it's all Obamacare's fault.  —  “I'll tell you, you know who one of those millions of Americans is who's lost their health care because of Obamacare?

Clinton ups attacks on Sanders in final days of campaign  —  INDIANOLA, Iowa (AP) — With days to go before the lead-off Iowa caucuses, Hillary Clinton on Thursday ramped up her attacks on fellow Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, saying she is not interested in ideas that will “never make it in the real world.”

Inside the Carson campaign meltdown  —  On Thanksgiving night, Ben Carson sat in a chartered plane on a Baltimore airport tarmac surrounded by his wife and campaign advisers.  The destination: Jordan.  —  A secret mission to the Middle East, his team hoped, would help reestablish …

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 …

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 …

The Seven Signs You're in a Cult … November 2, 2012, was a beautiful Friday in Kansas City—clear and cool and sunny.  I had spent the afternoon reading in the library at an unaccredited college affiliated with the International House of Prayer, an evangelical Christian organization commonly referred …

Flint lead crisis getting a tad overdone: David Mastio  —  Before hitting the panic button, remember we are winning the war on lead poisoning  —  Now that the leaching of poisonous lead into the tap water of Flint, Mich., has been declared a national emergency, it might be time to dial back the panic just a notch (or two).

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.

Anonymous wants Michigan governor jailed over Flint water crisis  —  Hacking group Anonymous has set its sights on Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R), who is scrambling to address a drinking water crisis in Flint, Mich.  —  The loosely affiliated collective of anarchist hackers this week launched …

Guantánamo detainee declines release; 2 others sent to Balkans  —  1 captive feared going to foreign land, declined to leave Guantánamo  —  2 other captives who couldn't go home were sent to Bosnia, Montenegro for resettlement  —  The transfer, the last for at least a month …

Jeb Bush Says It's “Not Appropriate” For Palin To Blame Obama For Son's Actions  —  “It's a national tragedy, all of us I think have a responsibility to roll up our sleeves — I don't think blaming the president is appropriate.”  —  Don Emmert / AFP / Getty Images  —  w.soundcloud.com

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.