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 …

Firearms advocates target gun-control measures  —  Gun-control measures that seemed destined to become law after the school shootings in Newtown, Conn., are in jeopardy amid a fierce lobbying campaign by firearms advocates.  —  Despite months of negotiations, key senators have been unable …

Outrage 101: Radical jailed in slay now Columbia prof  —  Former Weather Underground radical Kathy Boudin — who spent 22 years in prison for an armored-car robbery that killed two cops and a Brinks guard — now holds a prestigious adjunct professorship at Columbia University's School of Social Work, The Post has learned.

Senator Tom Carper  · 2,803 like this  —  As our society has changed and evolved, so too has the public's opinion on gay marriage - and so has mine.  I pray every day for God to grant me the wisdom to do what is right.  Through my prayers and conversations with my family …

Cruz to test 2016 waters with South Carolina trip  —  Cambridge, Massachusetts (CNN) - He's been in Washington only three months, but U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is already planning a pilgrimage to a critical presidential primary state.  —  The outspoken Cruz, a conservative attorney …

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 …

What Marco Rubio is thinking  —  Immigration reform is alive and kicking because Sen. Marco Rubio was there at conception.  It will likely die if Rubio bolts in the end.  —  The possibility that Rubio could walk away, more than any other dynamic, is shaping the final details of new immigration laws, participants tell us.

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.

North Korea says it plans to restart shuttered nuclear reactor  —  On the wall is a map titled “Plan for the strategic forces to target mainland U.S.”  —  Kim Jong Un and North Korea's military … (CNN) — After weeks of hurling threats at the United States and its allies …

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.

‘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 …

McAuliffe 2013 = Clinton 2016?  —  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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …