State TV says Russia could turn US to ‘radioactive ash’  —  Moscow (AFP) - A leading anchor on Russian state television on Sunday described Russia as the only country capable of turning the United States into “radioactive ash”, in an incendiary comment at the height of tensions over the Crimea referendum.

The Malaysia Airlines Pilot's Politics  —  Zaharie Ahmad Shah supported Anwar Ibrahim.  That's common sense, not zealotry.  —  There is an axiom in Malaysian politics: Eventually everything comes back to Anwar Ibrahim.  So, the longer that the fumbling and inept investigation …

Scott Brown pans ‘self-serving’ pledge  —  Scott Brown on Saturday blasted Sen. Jeanne Shaheen's (D-N.H.) challenge to limit outside spending in the New Hampshire Senate race as “self-serving and hypocritical.”  —  Brown, the former Massachusetts senator who is gearing up for a run in New Hampshire …

Amid Mayoral Missteps, Irish Eyes Are Rolling in New York City  —  He wants to close schools for the Chinese New Year, has pledged fealty to an Israeli political group, sprinkles Spanish and Italian phrases into his speeches and speaks frequently of his wife's Caribbean heritage.

House Republican leaders craft their vision for an alternative to health-care law  —  House Republican leaders are adopting an agreed-upon conservative approach to fixing the nation's health-care system, in part to draw an election-year contrast with President Obama's Affordable Care Act.

Guinness Withdraws Sponsorship of St. Patrick's Day Parade  —  Guinness USA has dropped its sponsorship of the St. Patrick's Day parade in New York, joining protests of a ban on public expression of gay pride.  —  “Guinness has a strong history of supporting diversity and being an advocate …

Phil Jensen: South Dakota's most conservative lawmaker?  —  It was July 10, 2003, and Phil Jensen, a life-long Kansas boy and red-blooded Republican, was set for a big move.  —  Jensen and his wife were relocating from Wichita to Rapid City to live closer to family.

Detection of Waves in Space Buttresses Landmark Theory of Big Bang  —  CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — One night late in 1979, an itinerant young physicist named Alan Guth, with a new son and a year's appointment at Stanford, stayed up late with his notebook and equations, venturing far beyond the world of known physics.

MH370 flew as low as 1,500m to avoid detection, says paper  —  The Malaysian Insider - 11 hrs ago  —  As the search for the missing flight MH370 enters its 10th day with few clues as to its whereabouts, the New Straits Times said today the Boeing 777-200ER dropped 5,000 feet (1,500m) to evade commercial radar detection.

That Old-Time Whistle  —  There are many negative things you can say about Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee and the G.O.P.'s de facto intellectual leader.  But you have to admit that he's a very articulate guy, an expert at sounding as if he knows what he's talking about.

Joe Scarborough for President?  Sure, Why Not?  —  The MSNBC host has Beltway buzz for his flirtation with the 2016 presidential race.  Republican primary voters may be a different story.  —  NASHUA, N.H.—In the end, Joe Scarborough's name wasn't on the ballot for the presidential straw poll …

Sizing Up Exchange Market Competition  —  The individual health insurance market historically has been highly concentrated, with only modest competition in most states.  At the time the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law in 2010, a single insurer had at least half of the individual market …

Poll has Gary Peters leading Terri Lynn Land in US Senate race  —  A new poll has U.S. Rep Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Hills, leading former Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land.  —  If the election were held now, 39.7 percent of the people asked would vote for Peters and 36.7 percent for Land …

The NRA shoots down a qualified Obama nominee  —  We reported last week that the confirmation of Dr. Vivek Murthy, President Obama's surgeon general nominee, was in danger because Murthy has advocated gun safety and linked public health to gun violence.  Our reporting now appears to be coming true …

Mississippi Will Drug Test Welfare Recipients  —  Last week, Mississippi's state Senate passed a bill to drug test some welfare recipients after it passed the House earlier this year.  It's now waiting for a signature from Gov. Phil Bryant (R), who praised its passage.  It will take effect July 1.

Low-Wage Workers Are Finding Poverty Harder to Escape  —  CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — At 7 in the morning, they are already lined up — poultry plant workers, housekeepers, discount store clerks — to ask for help paying their heating bills or feeding their families.

What the Fox Knows  —  FiveThirtyEight is a data journalism organization.  Let me explain what we mean by that, and why we think the intersection of data and journalism is so important.  —  If you're a casual reader of FiveThirtyEight, you may associate us with election forecasting …