Nation: Seven children died overnight in a house fire in Brooklyn that is believed to have been caused by a malfunctioning hot plate. The children, ages five to 15, all came from the same family. Investigators believe the fire began downstairs and raced up toward five bedrooms at the back of the house where the children slept. The mother and one daughter jumped out of second-floor windows. The dead included three girls, ages 8, 12, 15, and four boys, ages 5, 6, 7 and 11, according to the police.

Congratulations, But: President Obama waited two days before calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to congratulate him on his re-election, and then took him to the woodshed on a few issues.

Primary was Netanyahu’s flip-flopping on the establishment of a Palestinian state, something the US fervently supports. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, “The divergent comments of the prime minister legitimately call into question his commitment to this policy principle and his lack of commitment to what has been the foundation of our policy-making in the region.”

Obama also took Netanyahu to task for his election day scare mongering that Arab voters were turning out.

Nuketalks: Both Iran’s president and Secy. of State John Kerry report progress in nuclear negotiations. Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani says he thinks a deal can be reached. Although there are still some differences, “There is nothing that cannot be resolved,” Rouhani said.

Terror: An offshoot of the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombings in two Shiite Yemeni mosques yesterday, resulting in the deaths of 137 people. The White House says that so far there’s no evidence to support the claim. ISIS is a Sunni organization which now, if what they say is true, is acting in concert with Yemen’s Sunni Houthi rebels, who control nine of the country’s 21 provinces.

The Obit Page: Michael Brown, the keyboardist who wrote the hit “Walk Away Renee” for the 60s group The Left Banke, has died of heart failure at age 65. In the middle of a golden and psychedelic age for rock, The Left Banke was very middle of the road, almost a novelty act. But they got a lot of airplay.

The Sports Page: Serena Williams withdrew with a knee injury from her semi-final match in Indian Wells, 14 years after her sister Venus did the same thing, sparking an ugly crowd reaction and racial taunts that caused Serena to boycott the event since 2001. Williams apologized for her departure and said of her return to Indian Wells, “I would not have been able to do this without my fans.”

The Roundup: The rooftop pool at illusionist David Copperfield’s Manhattan penthouse leaked, flooding his apartment and seeping into apartments as far as 30 floors down.

> Former rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight collapsed in court yesterday after his bail was set at $25 million in his murder case. Knight has diabetes and his lawyer said he wasn’t getting his medication.

> Monica Lewinsky, the intern in the President Clinton sex scandal, is being praised for her TED talk describing herself as one of the original targets of “cyber-bullying.” She begins, “At the age of 22, I fell in love with my boss. At the age of 24, I learned the devastating consequences.”

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