Christie reveals secret stomach surgery to lose weight  —  New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie secretly underwent lap-band stomach surgery to aggressively slim down for the sake of his wife and kids, he revealed to The Post last night.  —  The Garden State governor agreed to the operation …

Berry, DeJesus, Knight found alive, police source confirms  —  Cheers as Amanda Berry, Gina Dejesus, MIchelle Knight found alive  —  CLEVELAND, Ohio — Long-missing Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight have been found alive.  —  Berry called police Monday afternoon and frantically told …

Crime Report: May 6, 2013  —  SEXUAL BATTERY, 05/05/13, 500 block of S. 23rd Street.  On May 5 at 12:35 am, a drunken male subject approached a female victim in a parking lot and grabbed her breasts and buttocks.  The victim fought the suspect off as he attempted to touch her again and alerted police.

G.O.P. Is Readying a New Offensive Over Health Care Law  —  WASHINGTON — As the administration struggles to put in place the final, complex piece of President Obama's signature health care law, an endeavor on a scale not seen since Medicare's creation nearly a half-century ago …

Linguists identify 15,000-year-old ‘ultraconserved words’  —  You, hear me!  Give this fire to that old man.  Pull the black worm off the bark and give it to the mother.  And no spitting in the ashes!  —  It's an odd little speech.  But if you went back 15,000 years and spoke these words …

Flake willing to support background checks, with changes to internet sales  —  Washington (CNN) - Republican Sen. Jeff Flake told CNN he is willing to reverse his opposition to expanding background checks for guns if the Senate sponsors change on the bill's provision dealing with internet sales.

Brady resigns as Illinois GOP chairman amid gay marriage controversy  —  Pat Brady, the chairman of the Illinois GOP announced his resignation amid controversy over his support for gay marriage legislation.  (WGN-TV)  —  Pat Brady, the chairman of the Illinois Republican Party …

House hits brakes on Internet tax passed by Senate … The House was in no rush to take up an internet tax bill that senators approved Monday night.  And even if the House takes up the issue, lawmakers said, it will be a bill very different from the Senate's.

Gun control ads have Democrats worrying  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's aides met recently with staffers of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to warn them: Targeting vulnerable Democrats like Arkansas's Mark Pryor on gun control could backfire on the party, several sources told POLITICO.

U.S. Directly Blames China's Military for Cyberattacks  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Monday explicitly accused China's military of mounting attacks on American government computer systems and defense contractors, saying one motive could be to map “military capabilities that could be exploited during a crisis.”

Huckabee: Benghazi will drive Obama from office  —  Mike Huckabee on Monday predicted that President Barack Obama won't finish out his second term in light of the “cover-up” of the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and the former Arkansas governor called the affair “more serious than Watergate.”

Chapin teacher got $85,000 in flag stomping deal  —  CHAPIN, SC — Lexington-Richland 5 paid former Chapin High teacher Scott Compton √ $85,000 to avoid a legal challenge, part of a settlement that led to his resignation after he stomped on an American flag during a class lesson.

Former U.S. Attorney Matt Whitaker pursues open Senate seat  —  Two other GOP hopefuls express interest in the 2014 race for Tom Harkin's position.  —  Former U.S. Attorney Matt Whitaker is taking steps to run for the U.S. Senate, saying he would vote only for legislation that's constitutional …

Hillary Clinton — culpable for Benghazi from beginning to end  —  When it first became clear that the CIA's Benghazi talking points had been altered, many of us viewed the White House as the prime suspect.  After all, it served President Obama's political purposes to claim …

Where are the start-ups?  Column  —  A country that celebrates achievement and risk-taking is likely to see more economic success than one that does not.  —  When the economy was last this bad for this long — back in the dreaded Jimmy Carter era — there was one upside …

Boy who held pencil like gun suspended  —  School has “zero tolerance” weapons policy  —  SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) - A Suffolk school suspended a second grader for pointing a pencil at another student and making gun noises.  —  Seven-year-old Christopher Marshall says he was playing …

Reid calls Sen. Cruz a ‘schoolyard bully’  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called freshman GOP Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) a “schoolyard bully” during a contentious exchange Monday on the Senate floor.  —  The two senators bickered as Cruz rose to object to Reid's motion …