Michael Hastings, ‘Rolling Stone’ Contributor, Dead at 33  —  The bold journalist died in a car accident in Los Angeles  —  Michael Hastings, the fearless journalist whose reporting brought down the career of General Stanley McChrystal, has died in a car accident in Los Angeles, Rolling Stone has learned.

OP-ED: Murkowski Shares Thoughts on Marriage Equality with Alaskans  —  Not too long ago, I had the honor of nominating an Alaskan family as “Angels in Adoption,” a celebration of the selflessness shown by foster care families and those who adopt children.  They arrived in Washington, DC …

Obama in Berlin calls for reducing world's nuclear stockpiles  —  President Obama said he would ask Congress to reduce the U.S. nuclear stockpile by a third in a speech Wednesday at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate.  —  “So long as nuclear weapons exist, we are not truly safe,” …

TWA Flight 800 investigators break silence in new documentary, claim original conclusion about cause of crash is wrong  —  A group of whistle-blowers, including a number of aviation experts, have come forward in a new documentary to claim that the official explanation for the crash of TWA Flight 800 …

WMAL EXCLUSIVE: Allen West Challenges Marco Rubio On Immigration; Won't Rule Out 2016 Primary Bid  —  WASHINGTON — Former Congressman Allen West says challenging Senator Marco Rubio in the 2016 Republican Florida primary election would be a daunting task.  —  “That's a pretty heavy lift …

Concord police stun, arrest gun rights protester after officer touched on shoulder  —  CONCORD — A man was arrested and two people, including a Concord police officer, were allegedly assaulted during a rally Tuesday in a clash between a gun control group and gun rights supporters.

On fertility, and the flauntingly fecund Sarah Palin  —  Distilled to a slogan, politics of late goes something like this: “I'm more fertile than you are.”  —  It seems fecundity is emerging as the best argument for public office, policy or even citizenship.

The GOP's clueless caucus  —  They've waxed philosophic about “legitimate rape,” reflected on the economic role of “wetbacks” and denounced the actions of “brazen, self-described illegal aliens.”  They've lamented that “mom got in the workplace” and called out the United States attorney general for casting “aspersions on my asparagus.”

The F.B.I. Deemed Agents Faultless in 150 Shootings  —  WASHINGTON — After contradictory stories emerged about an F.B.I. agent's killing last month of a Chechen man in Orlando, Fla., who was being questioned over ties to the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, the bureau reassured the public that it would clear up the murky episode.

LePage issues new policy: No more talking to 3 newspapers  —  The policy comes after a series of articles about the Department of Environmental Protection.  —  AUGUSTA - Gov. Paul LePage's administration will no longer comment in stories published by the Portland Press Herald …

Dissent Festers in States That Obama Forgot  —  WASHINGTON — You might call North Dakota the antithesis of President Obama's political base.  —  Whites make up 90 percent of its population, which is fewer than one million people and mostly in rural areas.  Its proportion of people 65 and over exceeds the national average.

Karzai suspends talks with U.S. over Taliban agreement  —  Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks during a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen following a security handoff ceremony at a military academy outside Kabul.  (Shah Marai, AFP/Getty Images / June 18, 2013)

Chris Van Hollen: IRS Rules To Be Challenged In Court  —  WASHINGTON — Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said Tuesday that he and two campaign finance watchdog groups would sue the IRS, challenging regulations that allow nonprofit groups to be involved in politics if they're “primarily” devoted to a social welfare purpose.

Extending a Hand, Obama Finds a Cold Shoulder Abroad  —  WASHINGTON — Over porterhouse steak and cherry pie at a desert estate in California earlier this month, President Obama delivered a stern lecture to President Xi Jinping about China's disputes with its neighbors.

Senator: IRS to pay $70M in employee bonuses  —  WASHINGTON (AP) - The Internal Revenue Service is about to pay $70 million in employee bonuses despite an Obama administration directive to cancel discretionary bonuses because of automatic spending cuts enacted this year, according to a GOP senator.

Hillary Has to Dump Bill Now  —  Hillary Clinton's return to the living was almost flawless.  Almost.  —  She unveiled her Twitter account (young and with-it), and referred knowingly to the pantsuit (mature and self-aware).  She didn't look tan (that would be too “Real Housewives of New Jersey” …

FBI Chief: Surveillance Drones Used in U.S.  —  Asked about drones at a Senate hearing, FBI director Robert Mueller said the agency use them “in a very, very minimal way, very seldom.”  —  Federal agencies have been using drones for years to monitor the northern and southern borders of the U.S. …

Autopsy On GOP Social Issues Is ‘Grossly Overstated’ Say GOP Lawmakers  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican lawmakers have a message for those who want the party to soften its emphasis on social conservatism in hopes of reaching a wider national audience: Not so fast.

Arne Duncan: Common Core Transition Will Give States More Time To Make Evaluations Count  —  In what some see as a tacit recognition of the Obama administration's overreach into nitty-gritty management of America's schools, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will give states a reprieve …

Did senior State Department security officials commit perjury?  —  Two top officials at the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service (DS) — the federal law enforcement agency that protects American diplomats and investigates allegations of criminal misconduct by State Department employees …

The Democrats' lost decade?  —  Democrats fell far short of winning the House in 2012, an otherwise banner year for the party, and many are privately glum about taking back the chamber in 2014.  —  But that grim immediate outlook raises a far more troubling longer-term prospect for Democrats …