Postal Service to halt Saturday mail delivery  —  The U.S. Postal Service announced on Wednesday that it would discontinue mail delivery on Saturday but still continue to deliver packages six days per week, according to the Associated Press.  —  Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla), hailed the decision …

With Brennan Pick, a Light on Drone Strikes' Hazards  —  SANA, Yemen — Late last August, a 40-year-old cleric named Salem Ahmed bin Ali Jaber stood up to deliver a speech denouncing Al Qaeda in a village mosque in far eastern Yemen.  —  It was a brave gesture by a father of seven …

Eric Cantor's empty happy talk  —  Republicans have happened upon a felicitous new strategy for reviving their party from its depressed state: They need only think happy thoughts.  —  At a retreat for Republican leaders last month, former House speaker Newt Gingrich told them to …

Obama to nominate REI chief executive Jewell for Interior secretary  —  President Obama will nominate Sally Jewell, the CEO of Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI), to succeed Ken Salazar as secretary of the Interior, according to administration officials.  —  Obama will make the announcement on Wednesday.

The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2013 to 2023  —  Economic growth will remain slow this year but is expected to speed up next year.  Even so, CBO projects that the unemployment rate will remain above 7.5 percent through 2014.  —  Read the report  —  Macroeconomic Effects of Alternative Budgetary Paths

The Budget War Is Back  —  A familiar script: The GOP rejects Obama's demand for new tax revenue in a short-term deal to avoid automatic spending cuts  —  The nation's brief respite from the serial budget battles that have consumed Washington, D.C., is officially over …

Embattled Scott plans $100M campaign vs. Crist  —  Rick Scott is preparing to defend the Florida governorship with the most expensive reelection campaign in state history, drawing up plans for a battleship-sized political operation aimed at overcoming the Republican's deep personal unpopularity.

Bob Menendez Spent Up to 87 Percent of Wealth Paying Back Donor  —  When Robert Menendez arrived in the U.S. Senate in 2006, he was a relative pauper in a chamber often called a millionaires' club.  The New Jersey Democrat ranked 97th out of 100 senators in terms of his personal wealth …

Women's Unclean Breasts Cause Diarrhoea, Says Egypt Prime Minister Hisham Qandil  —  By VASUDEVAN SRIDHARAN: Subscribe to Vasudevan's RSS feed  —  Egypt's prime minister, Hisham Qandil - Reuters  —  The inability of women in rural Egypt to clean their breasts is causing a diarrhoea epidemic …

Dick Morris out at Fox News  —  Fox News has decided not to renew its contract with political commentator and pollster Dick Morris, an industry official tells POLITICO's Mike Allen.  —  Morris, who was on contract with Fox News throughout the 2012 presidential campaign …

CNN Host Destroys Supporter Of Boy Scouts Discrimination For Equating Pedophilia With Being Gay  —  CNN's Soledad O'Brien challenged the conservative opposition to keeping gays scouts and leaders out of the Boy Scouts on Wednesday morning, comparing the organization's ban to past restrictions on African Americans and women.

Ex-House members spend campaign money after they depart  —  WASHINGTON — Former House members are spending their leftover money to pay for everything from luxury cars to foundations that bear their names, a USA TODAY review of new campaign-finance reports shows.