Syria Has Used Chemical Arms on Rebels, U.S. and Allies Find  —  By MARK MAZZETTI, MICHAEL R. GORDON and MARK LANDLER  —  WASHINGTON — American and European intelligence analysts now believe that President Bashar al-Assad's troops have used chemical weapons against rebel forces in the civil war in Syria …

U.S. Agencies Said to Swap Data With Thousands of Firms  —  Thousands of technology, finance and manufacturing companies are working closely with U.S. national security agencies, providing sensitive information and in return receiving benefits that include access to classified intelligence, four people familiar with the process said.

Four States Pushing Through Last-Minute Abortion Restrictions Before Lawmakers Break For The Summer  —  (Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)  —  Across the country, states' legislative sessions are drawing to a close.  Over the past several months, lawmakers have been busy enacting …

Obama Tells Keystone Foes He Will Unveil Climate Measures  —  With his administration under pressure from environmentalists to reject the Keystone XL pipeline project, President Barack Obama plans to unveil a package of separate actions next month focused on curbing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

TOGETHER AGAIN  —  Fox News announced on Thursday that Sarah Palin will rejoin the network as a paid contributor.  The Drudge Report was first to break the news.  —  Fox News previously hired Palin as a contributor but did not renew her contract earlier this year.

Secret Court Ruling Put Tech Companies in Data Bind  —  SAN FRANCISCO — In a secret court in Washington, Yahoo's top lawyers made their case.  The government had sought help in spying on certain foreign users, without a warrant, and Yahoo had refused, saying the broad requests were unconstitutional.

Santorum: Why Romney didn't win  —  Rick Santorum ripped Mitt Romney's campaign Thursday for mishandling President Barack Obama's “you didn't build that” gaffe last summer.  —  The former Pennsylvania senator recalled all the business owners who spoke at the Republican National Convention.

Strange Bedfellows: Why Marco Rubio and Rand Paul Need Each Other  —  Rubio desperately needs a conservative partner.  Paul needs to moderate his image.  A look inside the delicate alliance.  —  Marco Rubio and Rand Paul may be future rivals, but it's in their mutual interest to be allies on immigration.

6 months after Newtown: Rush of gun laws, mixed results … Newtown, Conn., marked the six-month anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings with a ceremony and moment of science Friday.  Since the tragedy, lawmakers in four key states have approved significant restrictions on access to firearms.

FBI hasn't contacted a single tea party group in IRS probe, groups say  —  There is no evidence that the FBI has contacted a single tea party group in its criminal investigation of the Internal Revenue Service, according to the groups the IRS abused.  —  “We have not been contacted …

Religion and Inequality  —  About a century ago, Walter Judd was a 17-year-old boy hoping to go to college at the University of Nebraska.  His father pulled him aside and told him that, though the family had happily paid for Judd's two sisters to go to college, Judd himself would get no money for tuition or room and board.

The Papers of the Founding Fathers Are Now Online  —  What was the original intent behind the Constitution and other documents that helped shape the nation?  What did the Founders of our country have to say?  Those questions persist in the political debates and discussions to this day …

Sympathy for the Luddites  —  In 1786, the cloth workers of Leeds, a wool-industry center in northern England, issued a protest against the growing use of “scribbling” machines, which were taking over a task formerly performed by skilled labor.  “How are those men, thus thrown out of employ …