Judge Halts New York City Soda Ban … A state judge on Monday stopped Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration from banning the sale of large sugary drinks at New York City restaurants and other venues, a major defeat for a mayor who has made public-health initiatives a cornerstone of his tenure.

Why Everyone Hates The White House Beat Now  —  BuzzFeed's new White House reporter explores the declining prestige of his “soul-killing” assignment.  —  The White House press corps is seen as Obama arrives to speak.  —  Image by Charles Dharapak / AP  —  WASHINGTON — Freshly minted …

Breitbarted  —  OK, I'm an evil person — and my scheming has paid off.  —  On Friday I started hearing from friends about a fake story making the rounds about my allegedly filing for personal bankruptcy; I even got asked about the story by a reporter from Russian television, who was very embarrassed when I told him it was fake.

Joe Lieberman to join conservative think tank  —  Former Sen. Joe Lieberman is joining the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute, the organization announced Monday.  —  Lieberman — Al Gore's vice presidential running mate in 2000 and a Democratic presidential candidate in 2004 …

Chief of US Pacific forces calls climate biggest worry  —  CAMBRIDGE — America's top military officer in charge of monitoring hostile actions by North Korea, escalating tensions between China and Japan, and a spike in computer attacks traced to China provides an unexpected answer when asked …

Sunday Talk Interviews Show Why Jeb Bush Will Never Be President  —  The younger Bush may be flirting with a run, but for a Republican to seriously compete in 2016, he must publicly distance himself from George W. Bush—and in five interviews Sunday, Jeb showed he wouldn't do that if he could.

Matt Lauer's Bruising Year After Ann Curry's Ouster Devastated the ‘Today’ Show  —  The Today host tells Howard Kurtz that NBC mishandled Ann Curry's ouster and describes how the network is rebuilding the show.  Plus, his secret talks with Katie Couric.  —  One day last fall …

Paul Ryan Reverses Himself Yet Again On Medicare Cuts  —  When he unveils his budget plan this week, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) will complete a 720-degree flip on President Obama's cuts to Medicare providers in the Affordable Care Act.  —  As he revealed on “Fox News Sunday,” Ryan's upcoming budget will sustain the cuts.

Green Cars Have a Dirty Little Secret  —  Producing and charging electric cars means heavy carbon-dioxide emissions.  —  Electric cars are promoted as the chic harbinger of an environmentally benign future.  Ads assure us of “zero emissions,” and President Obama has promised a million on the road by 2015.

Smaller States Find Outsize Clout Growing in Senate  —  At left, the view toward Vermont from Washington County, N.Y., left.  Vermont got much more federal stimulus money than larger states.  “We never saw any of the positive impact of the stimulus funds,” said Peter Aust, top right …

President Obama's numbers plummet in New York  —  President Barack Obama's approval rating in New York fell precipitously in the last month, according to a poll released Monday, and three-fifths of the state's registered voters now believe the country is heading in the wrong direction.

Computer Algorithms Rely Increasingly on Human Helpers  —  Trading stocks, targeting ads, steering political campaigns, arranging dates, besting people on “Jeopardy” and even choosing bra sizes: computer algorithms are doing all this work and more.  —  But increasingly, behind the curtain …

When to Say No  —  The State Department's latest environmental assessment of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline makes no recommendation about whether President Obama should approve it.  Here is ours.  He should say no, and for one overriding reason: A president who has repeatedly …

New Family Structures Study Intended To Sway Supreme Court On Gay Marriage, Documents Show  —  Goal of conservative-backed parenting study was to influence SCOTUS decisions on gay marriage, docs show  —  WASHINGTON — The conservative funders who bankrolled a flawed and widely cited academic …

Outside Washington, Sequestration Begins To Inflict Pain  —  If beltway news reflected events in the country at large, the worst consequences of sequestration would amount to griping over politically motivated spending cuts, or programs spared.  —  That kind of coverage stems from a GOP effort …