State Sen. Malcolm Smith, city Councilman Halloran arrested in ‘bribery plot’ to rig mayor race  —  State Senator Malcolm Smith was arrested at his home in Queens today.  —  State Sen. Malcolm Smith and city Councilman Dan Halloran were arrested this morning on charges they were plotting …

Legislators in Connecticut Agree on Broad New Gun Laws  —  HARTFORD — More than three months after the massacre of 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., state legislative leaders announced on Monday that they had agreed on what they called the most far-reaching gun-legislation package in the country.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz to keynote S.C. GOP's Silver Elephant Celebration in May  —  COLUMBIA, SC — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz will be the keynote speaker at the South Carolina Republican Party's Silver Elephant Celebration on May 3, according to a source close to the state party.

Donor Says He Sought Menendez on Medicare Without Breaking Law  —  Salomon Melgen, the Florida political donor at the center of a criminal probe, said he and Senator Robert Menendez are “like brothers” who spoke weekly, yet his companies never benefited and he broke no laws.

Obama to Unveil Initiative to Map the Human Brain  —  President Obama on Tuesday will announce a broad new research initiative, starting with $100 million in 2014, to invent and refine new technologies to understand the human brain, senior administration officials said Monday.

Schumer proposes federal grants to tap maple syrup on private land  —  Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday proposed a new federal grant program aimed at encouraging the development of maple syrup production on privately held land, including land in upstate New York.

Guns Are Now Required For Citizens Of Nelson, Georgia  —  NELSON, Ga. (AP) — Backers of a newly adopted ordinance requiring gun ownership in a small north Georgia town acknowledge they were largely seeking to make a point about gun rights.  —  The ordinance in the city of Nelson …

Clinton 2016 starts with McAuliffe race  —  Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign begins this year in Virginia.  —  She hasn't said anything about 2016, but Terry McAuliffe's 2013 gubernatorial campaign is serving as a testing ground for Clinton's clout, operatives and donors.

Casey: I support gay marriage  —  Sen. Bob Casey has announced his support for gay marriage in an interview with The Morning Call.  (AFP/GETTY IMAGES / April 1, 2013)  —  WASHINGTON - Sen. Bob Casey told The Morning Call on Monday he now supports same-sex marriage.

Unemployment in Euro Zone Reaches a Record High  —  PARIS — Unemployment in the euro zone rose to yet another record high in the first two months of the year, official data showed Tuesday, providing confirmation that the economy remains in a deep freeze.  —  The jobless rate reached 12 percent …

SEC Ex-Chief Lands at Consultant  —  Schapiro Is Latest Former U.S. Regulator to Join Promontory Financial; ‘No Revolving Door’  —  Less than four months after stepping down as the top U.S. securities regulator, Mary Schapiro is joining a consulting firm that has built a reputation …

Sequestration Effects: Cuts Sting Communities Nationwide  —  WASHINGTON — It's now an article of faith that dire sequestration warnings were overblown.  —  New studies downsize potential job losses because of the federal budget cuts.  Agencies have figured ways to ensure that the more alarming effects …

US Navy shifts destroyer in wake of North Korea missile threats  —  The U.S. Navy is shifting a guided-missile destroyer in the Pacific to waters off the Korean peninsula in the wake of ongoing rhetoric from North Korea, U.S. defense officials said.  —  The USS McCain is capable of intercepting …

Big Agriculture flexes its muscle  —  Yet for all the anger — and belated legal reviews — no one can truly be surprised by the packers' success nor Monsanto's.  Indeed the collapse of the traditional appropriations process in Congress may magnify the power of single-interest lobbies …

James E. Hansen Retiring From NASA to Fight Global Warming  —  James E. Hansen, the climate scientist who issued the clearest warning of the 20th century about the dangers of global warming, will retire from NASA this week, giving himself more freedom to pursue political and legal efforts to limit greenhouse gases.

Justin Amash: The House's new Ron Paul  —  When it comes to the House of Representatives, Justin Amash is the new Ron Paul.  —  The Michigan congressman, only 32, sees himself as a leader of “the second generation” of Paulites in the lower chamber.  Sen. Rand Paul moved quickly to present himself …

NPR's First Person Shooter Fantasy  —  Before your read this story keep in mind that the killer at Sandy Hook was addicted to violent video games.  So of course NPR decides that violent first-person shooter video games are great art.  Well .... this one is because it's irresistible to the NPR producers.

The Simple Reason Why Goodreads Is So Valuable to Amazon  —  Amazon is the king of online booksellers and, by most accounts, the most feared player in publishing.  Yet last week it shelled out a reported $150 million to buy up Goodreads, a social network for book nerds with a devoted but far from enormous 16 million members.

This Blood Libel Brought to You by the West  —  Following a rash of criticism from U.S. Jewish groups, a Palestinian nonprofit funded by Western governments has apologized for accusing Jewish people of using “Christian blood” during the Passover holiday.  —  Miftah, a Palestinian nonprofit group founded …

‘Man of mystery’ is behind Michele Bachmann campaign cases  —  From a Ugandan jail cell to the Iowa presidential campaign, secretive evangelist Peter Waldron is no stranger to conflict.  —  Peter Waldron's journey from a jail cell in Uganda to the inner circle of Michele Bachmann's presidential campaign …

Lady Gaga turned down $1 million to perform at RNC … Not even a million dollars could convince Lady Gaga to perform at last summer's Republican National Convention.  —  The snub by the pop star is included in a lawsuit filed by a powerful Republican nonprofit fundraising organization …

Stewart Destroys Pres. Morsi For Going After 'Egypt's Jon Stewart' After Vowing To ‘Welcome Every Opinion’  —  On Monday night, Jon Stewart took to defending Bassem Youssef, who's often known as Stewart's Egyptian counterpart.  Youssef recently spoke out to CNN about Egypt's “fascist” …

On China's State-Sponsored Amnesia  —  IN March 2012 I met Torbjorn Loden, the Swedish professor of Chinese language and culture, in Hong Kong.  He told me that while briefly teaching at Hong Kong's City University he asked the 40 students from China in his class what they knew about the June 4 Incident …

Lessons From a Comeback  —  Modern movement conservatism, which transformed the G.O.P. from the moderate party of Dwight Eisenhower into the radical right-wing organization we see today, was largely born in California.  The Golden State, even more than the South, created today's religious conservatism …