Man in the Hat: Belgian investigators say the terrorists who struck in Brussels last month had originally planned to strike in Paris, but acted locally and quickly because the authorities were breathing down their necks. One of the primary targets …

Nation: A fraternity at the University of Oklahoma was quickly shut down yesterday after the Internet posting of a video featuring the frat boys on a bus singing a racist song. To the tune of “If You’re Happy and You …

Border: President Obama is asking for $2 billion to deal with the flood of illegal immigrants, many of them unaccompanied children, coming across the border in Texas. Since October, more than 52,000 children have been apprehended after crossing the border …

Sochi: American skier Bode Miller, the fastest in training runs, finished a disappointed eighth in the men’s downhill. Austria’s Matthias Mayer was the surprise winner. Miller was ahead of the competition on the first two split times, but then fell …

Son of Polar Vortex: Cold and snow are moving back into the East. It’s 25 in Pittsburg, 25 in NYC and 32 down in Birmingham, Ala. But for NY and New England, it’s going to be single digits later in …

Nation: A federal judge in New York ruled that the NSA’s surveillance of phone calls is legal and vital to defense against terrorism. Federal Judge William Pauley threw out a petition by the American Civil Liberties Union. He wrote that, …

Nation: Leaders of major tech companies urged President Obama yesterday to dial back the NSA’s electronic spying. Execs from Google, Apple, Yahoo and other companies met with the President for two hours, a day after the NSA’s massive data collection …

Deal: House and Senate negotiators reached a budget deal for the first time in three years, potentially avoiding another government shutdown in January. Washington’s Democratic Sen. Patty Murray said, “We have broken through the partisanship and gridlock.”   The agreement …

Derailed: At least four people were killed this morning when a Metro North train from Poughkeepsie to New York derailed near the Spuyten Duyvil station. The New York Fire Department says 67 people were injured, 11 critically. Four of the …

Senate Says No: Day 13. Democrats and Republicans rejected each other’s financial solutions yesterday as the Thursday deadline approaches for raising the national debt ceiling. Congress accomplished little more than talking, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, “I hope …