Newsletter: Today’s headlines: Bye-bye, Bibi?; jinxed; Limo glide

Hello. I'm Davan Maharaj, the editor of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines you shouldn't miss today.

TOP STORIES

Bye-bye, Bibi?

Have voters had it with Benjamin Netanyahu? The longtime Israeli leader seemed to be on a roll, even daring to offend President Obama by addressing Congress on the dangers of an Iran nuclear deal. Surely the security card would see him through yet again. Not so fast, polls suggest. Election day is Tuesday, and Netanyahu is in a last-minute fight for his political life.

Trust but verify

Remember "Apollo 13," when engineers on Earth scrambled with simulations to figure out how to save a crippled spacecraft? Something similar is going on with the Iran nuclear talks. U.S. scientists, using intelligence data and old centrifuges from Libya, have built models of Iran's nuclear works. The idea is to physically test proposals to curb Iran's bomb-making ability. 

Jinxed

Susan Berman was an L.A. writer who turned up dead in December 2000, a single gunshot to her head. The case went cold. Now FBI agents have arrested Robert Durst, a New York real estate scion with a bizarre history as a murder suspect. His downfall: "The Jinx," an HBO series about his life. "What the hell did I do?" he could be heard whispering in the final episode Sunday. "Killed them all, of course."

A Limo glide and a beach party

The heat was on for the L.A. Marathon. With temps 20 degrees above normal, it could have been a wipeout. Instead, an early start and lots of water and aid tents kept heat exhaustion to a minimum. Daniel Limo of Kenya surprised himself with a win. Another Kenyan, Ogla Kimaiyo, won the women's race. Read how the rest sweated it out  -- even reveled -- in the SoCal sunshine.

CALIFORNIA

-- Two LAPD officers are injured by gunfire in the Florence area.

-- Police search for an LAPD officer in connection with a homicide in Pomona.

-- L.A.'s mayor wants his plan to require seismic retrofits for vulnerable buildings in place by the end of the year.

-- "Like mob bosses playing payback." George Skelton looks at the money behind a race for the state Senate.

-- Santa Monica moves to ban exotic animals from its parks, pier, beach and other public places where handlers put them on display.

NATION-WORLD

-- A suspect is charged in the shooting of two police officers in Ferguson, Mo., but he may have been trying to hit someone else.

-- Fancy hunting Burmese pythons? Florida is more than willing to teach you how. 

-- The Senate majority leader threatens to delay a vote on President Obama's attorney general nominee.

-- Secretary of State John Kerry says he's willing to negotiate personally with Syrian President Bashar Assad to end his country's 4-year-old conflict.

-- Hundreds of thousands take to the streets in Brazil to protest government corruption.

-- Passings: Brian Sutton-Smith, 90, a psychologist who took the study of play seriously.

BUSINESS

-- Stock spotlight: The outlook is promising for Second Sight Medical Products Inc., maker of a "bionic eye."

-- Airline profits soared in 2014. Passenger satisfaction didn't.

SPORTS

-- Kenya's Daniel Limo surprises himself with a Los Angeles Marathon win.

-- March Madness: UCLA sneaks in. Don't miss our special coverage of the NCAA basketball tournament bracket.

ENTERTAINMENT

-- Wu-Tang Clan’s Method Man gets serious about a career in Hollywood.

-- Box office: "Cinderella" enchants film patrons for the top weekend take.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- An intriguing look back at the fabulous "rock 'n' roll billboards" of the Sunset Strip.

-- Taste of Cuba: A culinary look at the next travel hot spot.

-- As foreigners leave Afghanistan, Kabul's once-hot market for mansions collapses.

ONLY IN L.A.

Catch One, one of the first black-owned discos, has survived plenty -- even a mysterious fire -- as it filled a social gap. Our writer Tre'vell Anderson says: "There was no space where black gays could enjoy themselves in one another’s company, escaping what they saw as the racial discrimination of West Hollywood and the homophobia of the African American community." Read about the fate of the last black-owned gay club in Los Angeles.

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.