Richard Holbrooke dies: Veteran U.S. diplomat brokered Dayton peace accords  —  Longtime U.S. diplomat Richard C. Holbrooke, whose relentless prodding and deft maneuvering yielded the 1995 Dayton peace accords that ended the war in Bosnia - a success he hoped to repeat as President Obama's chief envoy …

Judge Voids Key Element of Obama Health Care Law  —  A federal district judge in Virginia ruled on Monday that the keystone provision in the Obama health care law is unconstitutional, becoming the first court in the country to invalidate any part of the sprawling act and ensuring that appellate courts …

No Labels and Other Ripped Off Designs  —  Brooklyn-based artist Thomas Porostocky's friends and fans have been tipping off NY media that his art has been used without permission by the bi-partisan political group No Labels.  —  Porostocky designed star-spangled giraffes …

Huge Senate majority votes to advance $858B tax package  —  President Obama's $858 billion tax package won a huge bipartisan majority in the Senate Monday evening, setting it up for a contentious debate in the House.  —  In a 83-15 vote, the Senate quashed a filibuster by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Va.).

TRENDING: Steele admits stumbles, announces re-election bid  —  Washington (CNN) - Michael Steele broke a weeks-long silence Monday night and announced that he will seek a second term as chairman of the Republican National Committee.  —  Steele revealed his intentions in a lengthy private conference call …

Hoyer expected to file 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal bill Tuesday  —  House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.) are expected to introduce standalone “don't ask, don't tell” repeal legislation on Tuesday, three sources actively involved in repeal discussions told POLITICO Monday.

Atheist Ads on Buses Rattle Fort Worth  —  FORT WORTH — Stand on a corner in this city and you might get a case of theological whiplash.  —  A public bus rolls by with an atheist message on its side: “Millions of people are good without God.”  Seconds later, a van follows bearing a riposte: “I still love you.

Tax Cut Deal Wildly Popular  —  ABC News and the Washington Post have the first poll out about public reaction to the Obama tax cut deal.  ABC created a colorful chart of the results, so I'll link to them:  —  Support for the overall package was extremely high: 68% among Democrats and Independents and 75% among Republicans.

New nonpartisan “No Labels” group has its own “anthem” by Akon for some reason  —  No joke.  That's what they're calling it — the “No Labels Anthem,” presumably to be played whenever Mike Bloomberg walks into a room or “Morning Joe” goes to commercial or, I guess, as mood-setting music …

Brain Oddities: Spelling is Irrelevant to Comprehension  —  In trying to make sense of the world around us, our brains have evolved to do some very odd things.  The more we learn about our cognitive processes, the more it seems we have inherited a very weird wetware set, filled with bizarre and misleading foibles.

Governor Mark Sanford talks about future  —  Governor Mark Sanford will be out of job next month.  He's served as South Carolina's head of state since 2003.  —  NewsChannel 15's Tim McGinnis interviewed Sanford on Monday.  Sanford spoke about his tenure, including the effect the admission …

Julian Assange in court for bail hearing  —  • Assange returns to court to appeal for bail  —  • Assange criticises Visa, MasterCard and Paypal from cell  —  • Police worked case against Madeleine McCann's parents  —  • Full coverage of the WikiLeaks cables

Miller appeals ruling on write-in vote count  —  Republican Joe Miller is taking his challenge to Alaska's U.S. Senate race to the state Supreme Court.  —  Miller filed his appeal Monday, three days after a lower court ruled against his lawsuit challenging how the state counted write-in ballots for his rival, Sen. Lisa Murkowski.