Middle East Mess: Saudi Arabia abruptly severed diplomatic ties with Iran yesterday after Iranian protesters attacked the Saudi embassy over the execution of an outspoken Shiite cleric in Saudi Arabia. Iran’s diplomatic staff was given 48 hours to get out …

The Middle East Mess: Iranian protesters massed in the streets of Tehran yesterday and set fire to a portion of the Saudi Arabian embassy in protest over the execution of a Saudi Shiite cleric who had criticized government treatment of Shiites. …

By the Sword: Saudi Arabia yesterday carried out its biggest mass execution in decades, putting to death 47 al Qaeda militants and critics of the government. One of those executed was Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, an outspoken campaigner for Shiite rights, …

Winter: Eastern states from Pennsylvania through Maine are under winter weather advisories this morning as a system of rain and messy snow moves through. Flooding is possible from Oklahoma northeast through southern Illinois. Snow fell overnight on Southern California’s notorious …

Heavy Weather: At least a third of the country is under blizzard and winter storm warnings this morning as winter makes its late arrival. A winter storm is expected all the way from Central Oklahoma through Northern Michigan, bringing ice …

Permawar: OK, sorry. It’s back to reality. While billions of people celebrated Christmas around the world, some definitely did not. The leader and several of his lieutenants commanding one of Syria’s most powerful rebel groups were killed in a rocket …

Debatable: What if they held a Democratic presidential candidate debate on the Saturday night before Christmas? Would it make a noise? If it did, would anybody hear it? The debate opened with Bernie Sanders having to apologize for his staff …

Selling It: Facing criticism that he’s not tough enough on terrorism and the Islamic State, President Obama said yesterday that the US is dropping more bombs than ever on ISIS. Since the terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., …

Poll-itics: In a flip-flop from the national trend, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz leads Donald Trump 24 percent to 19 percent in the Iowa Republican polls. Marco Rubio is running third at 17 percent. Chris Cillizza writes in The Washington Post …

Political Climate: World leaders celebrated yesterday after the release of an agreement that commits nearly every country on earth to lowering carbon emissions. One of the primary goals is — sometime between 2050 and 2100 — to limit the amount …