Senior U.S. Official: Intercepted Al Qaeda Communications Indicate Planned Attack ‘Big,’ ‘Strategically Significant’  —  ABC News' Martha Raddatz and Jonathan Karl report:  —  On the day that almost two dozen U.S. embassies and consulates across North Africa and the Middle East are closed following …

Members of Congress denied access to basic information about NSA  —  Documents provided by two House members demonstrate how they are blocked from exercising any oversight over domestic surveillance  —  • Morgan Griffith's requests for NSA information  —  • Alan Grayson's requests for NSA information

At Fancy Farm, Kentucky Tea Party Guy Has a Good Debut  —  FANCY FARM, Ky. — Let's cut to the chase.  The news from Fancy Farm, the big Kentucky political picnic, is that Matt Bevin — the Tea Party-ish primary challenger to five-term incumbent Sen. Mitch McConnell - does not, at first glance …

Pay-up time for Brawley: '87 rape-hoaxer finally shells out for slander  —  Just $431,000 to go  —  Twenty-five years after accusing an innocent man of rape, Tawana Brawley is finally paying for her lies.  —  Last week, 10 checks totaling $3,764.61 were delivered to ex-prosecutor Steven Pagones …

Statement on Update of Embassy and Consulate Closure  —  Press Statement  —  Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson  —  Washington, DC  —  Given that a number of our embassies and consulates were going to be closed in accordance with local custom and practice for the bulk of the week …

Schumer calls Putin a ‘school-yard bully’  —  Russian President Vladimir Putin is nothing more than a “school-yard bully,” and President Barack Obama should cancel their meeting in Moscow next month, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D.N.Y.) said Sunday.  —  Last week, Putin granted National Security …

4-year-old Bobby Tufts re-elected mayor of small Minnesota town  —  DORSET, Minn. - Robert “Bobby” Tufts hasn't made it to preschool yet, but he's already been elected twice as mayor of a tiny tourist town in northern Minnesota.  —  Mayor Tufts' name was picked Sunday during annual Taste …

Poor attendance at Obamacare event in Virginia  —  CENTREVILLE, Va. — A race to define Obamacare to the masses began today between the stacks at the Centreville Library.  Over pizza in Decatur, Texas.  And with a glass of wine in Naples, Fla.  —  Dozens of communities around …

In Need of a New Hip, but Priced Out of the U.S.  —  WARSAW, Ind. — Michael Shopenn's artificial hip was made by a company based in this remote town, a global center of joint manufacturing.  But he had to fly to Europe to have it installed.  —  Mr. Shopenn, 67, an architectural photographer …

Other Agencies Clamor for Data N.S.A. Compiles  —  WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency's dominant role as the nation's spy warehouse has spurred frequent tensions and turf fights with other federal intelligence agencies that want to use its surveillance tools for their own investigations, officials say.

Democracy in Action (Missouri Edition)  —  ProPublica's The Payday Playbook: How High Cost Lenders Fight to Stay Legal is a little different from what they teach in high school civics classes. … Someone raised $2.8 million to fight the initiative.  We don't get know exactly who: