As Donald Trump and Ted Cruz Soar, G.O.P. Leaders' Exasperation Grows  —  DES MOINES — Republican leaders are growing alarmed by the ferocious ways the party's mainstream candidates for president are attacking one another, and they fear that time is running out for any of them to emerge …

Why can't Donald Trump handle Megyn Kelly?  —  This feud has gotten ridiculous.  Republican front-runner and businessman Donald Trump is now threatening to boycott the upcoming GOP debate if host Fox News doesn't remove Megyn Kelly as a moderator.  —  I don't usually like the argument …

Rome spares Iranian president's blushes by covering nude statues  —  Sculptures in Capitoline Museum obscured by large white panels for Hassan Rouhani's meeting with Italian PM  —  Italian officials keen to spare the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, any possible offence on his visit …

Hillary Clinton Goes Back to the Dunning School  —  Last night Hillary Clinton was asked what president inspired her the most.  She offered up Abraham Lincoln, gave a boilerplate reason why, and then said this: … Clinton, whether she knows it or not, is retelling a racist—though popular …

Donald Trump shrugs off allegation that Vladimir Putin ‘probably approved’ assassination of ex-KGB agent  —  Real-estate mogul Donald Trump said in a new interview that it would be hasty to judge Vladimir Putin in the face of a British public inquiry's allegation that the Russian president …

Kids would rather play Xbox than make money shoveling.  It's pitiful.  —  Snowzilla has gone, leaving behind confused snowfall estimates, regrettable junk-food decisions, an incubating October baby boom and a lingering sense of dread for many parents.  —  The work ethic of our kids: Where is it?

Creator of anti-Planned Parenthood videos faces felony charge  —  A Houston grand jury that was investigating accusations of misconduct against Planned Parenthood on Monday instead indicted two anti-abortion activists who recorded covert videos of the organization's employees.

Why D.C. Hates Ted Cruz … In the three years since he arrived in the U.S. Senate, Ted Cruz has become easily the most hated man in Washington—a fact he's now using to his advantage as a presidential candidate.  But why?  —  Is it true, as Cruz would have it, that the dreaded GOP …

Sources: NBC News And Union Leader To Announce Unsanctioned Democratic Debate  —  ANKENY, Iowa — BuzzFeed News has learned NBC News and The New Hampshire Union Leader will announce on Tuesday their plans to host an unsanctioned Democratic debate in New Hampshire on Feb. 4, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.

Sarah Palin, Rage Whisperer  —  DONALD J. TRUMP has made a shrewd bet.  For the first time since he descended an escalator in Trump Tower last June to announce that this time, he really was running for president, he ceded control of his campaign message.  He handed the Trump-bedecked podium over to Sarah Palin.

The Silent Death  —  A couple months ago I wrote about a controversial study which reported the rising mortality rates among middle aged whites - a trend which broke the model of ever-decreasing mortality rates across racial groups in the United States and all wealthy industrialized countries worldwide.