Guardian Council: Over 100% voted in 50 cities  —  Iran's Guardian Council has admitted that the number of votes collected in 50 cities surpass the number of those eligible to cast ballot in those areas.  —  The council's Spokesman Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei, who was speaking on the Islamic Republic …

Health Care Showdown  —  America's political scene has changed immensely since the last time a Democratic president tried to reform health care.  So has the health care picture: with costs soaring and insurance dwindling, nobody can now say with a straight face that the U.S. health care system …

GOP: no benefit to court fight  —  Nearly a month after President Barack Obama picked her for the Supreme Court, Republican senators say Sonia Sotomayor isn't serving as the political lightning rod some in their party had hoped she would be.  —  “She doesn't have the punch out there in terms …

In Iran, One Woman's Death May Have Many Consequences  —  A video posted on YouTube shows men trying to help a woman after she was allegedly shot in the chest in Tehran on June 20  —  Iran's revolution has now run through a full cycle.  A gruesomely captivating video of a young woman …

White House Changes the Terms of a Campaign Pledge About Posting Bills Online  —  During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama promised that once a bill was passed by Congress, the White House would post it online for five days before he signed it.  —  “When there's a bill that ends …

Iran's Web Spying Aided By Western Technology  —  By CHRISTOPHER RHOADS in New York and LORETTA CHAO in Beijing  —  The Iranian regime has developed, with the assistance of European telecommunications companies, one of the world's most sophisticated mechanisms for controlling and censoring the Internet …

Dodge facts, skip details, govern Chicago-style  —  We pundits like to analyze our presidents and so, as Barack Obama deals with difficult problems ranging from health care legislation to upheaval in Iran, let me offer my Three Rules of Obama.  —  First, Obama likes to execute long-range strategies …

SEX SCANDAL: ENSIGN'S APPROVAL RATING DROPS  —  But he's still Nevada's most popular senior elected official  —  Since admitting an extramarital affair with a former staffer, Sen. John Ensign's approval rating in his home state has plunged.  —  In a new Las Vegas Review-Journal poll of Nevada voters …

FTC plans to monitor blogs for claims, payments  —  Savvy consumers often go online for independent consumer reviews of products and services, scouring through comments from everyday Joes and Janes to help them find a gem or shun a lemon.  —  What some fail to realize, though …

Regime Change Iran: Movement Seeks to Eliminate ‘Supreme Leader’ Position  —  [Update at Bottom.]  —  Folks, this is huge.  Huge.  A report from Saudi Arabia's al-Arabiya, Iranian clerics seek supreme leader alternative, indicates that Rafsanjani is seeking to eliminate the Supreme Leader.

Scientology: The Truth Rundown, Part 1 of 3 in a special report on the Church of Scientology  —  After L. Ron Hubbard died, David Miscavige became Scientology's leader.  Former church executives say Miscavige beat his staff.  Church officials say the defectors are lying.  —  Reuters/Corbis (2006)]

Support Trader Joe's  —  Beneath the attention of major media coverage, the boycott of Israeli products has arrived in America.  Its first reported target over this past weekend was the couscous at Trader Joe"s.  —  The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg comments: “My recommendation …

GOP Outnumbered in Senate, but McConnell Tries to Ensure It Is Not Outflanked  —  Senate GOP Chief Assumes Higher Profile  —  When he was fighting campaign finance reform a decade ago, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was dubbed Darth Vader by his critics.  He embraced the nickname, even announcing …

Silvio Berlusconi: the parties, the trinkets, the cash  —  He has made no secret of his love of women but the sex scandal surrounding Silvio Berlusconi is now threatening to topple him, as more claims emerge of the systematic recruitment of young women paid to attend private parties at his homes in Rome and Sardinia.

Obama's War: A U.S. Captain's Personal Touch in Afghanistan  —  In the Afghan Mountains, a Company Commander Strives to Gain the Trust of Frustrated Villagers  —  KONAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan The father arrived at the gate of Capt. Michael Harrison's base earlier this month cradling the limp body of his 9-year-old daughter.

Ross to Iraq desk?  —  From Mike Allen:  —  ROBIN WRIGHT, VETERAN DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT, tells Playbook that the White House is preparing to announce that Ambassador Dennis Ross' NSC portfolio will be Iraq.  Robin hears grumbling that the change will leave 'two ingenues in charge …

Numbers On Welfare See Sharp Increase  —  Welfare rolls, which were slow to rise and actually fell in many states early in the recession, now are climbing across the country for the first time since President Bill Clinton signed legislation pledging “to end welfare as we know it” more than a decade ago.

Obama's Team: The Face Of Diversity  —  WHEN BUSH HOLDOVERS ARE EXCLUDED, WHITE MEN MAKE UP JUST UNDER HALF OF THE PEOPLE FILLING SENIOR POSTS IN OBAMA'S ADMINISTRATION.  —  A mere glance around Barack Obama's Cabinet table provides ample evidence of the president's philosophy that diversity is an important element of good government.

Beat extremists you can, says Obama  —  WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama, in an exclusive interview to Dawn, has said that he believes the Pakistani state is strong enough to win the military offensive against the extremists.  —  In this first-ever one-on-one interview by any US president …

With Plan and a Rope, Captives Fled From Taliban  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan journalist who was held captive by the Taliban for more than seven months along with a New York Times reporter revealed details on Sunday of a nighttime escape that included weeks of careful plotting …

Iran Poses Dilemma for Obama  —  Protesters hit the streets demanding freedom and fair elections.  A repressive government strikes back and denounces the dissidents as unpatriotic subversives.  Change, even revolution, is in the air.  —  Liberals and progressives should be natural allies …

Best Iran Protest Video Ever— Protesters Beat Snot Out of Basij Thugs  —  Best-Iran-Protest-Video-Ever—  Get yourself a cool drink... Sit back... Press play and enjoy...  It's a beautiful thing!  Iranian protesters beat the living crap out of basij thugs in Tehran:  —  Via FOX News