Obama cancels meeting with Putin amid Snowden tensions  —  In a rare diplomatic snub, President Obama is canceling plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow next month.  —  The decision reflects both U.S. anger over Russia's harboring of National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden …

Al Qaeda Conference Call Intercepted by U.S. Officials Sparked Alerts  —  It wasn't just any terrorist message that triggered U.S. terror alerts and embassy closures—but a conference call of more than 20 far-flung al Qaeda operatives, Eli Lake and Josh Rogin report.

Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski clash over Fox, MSNBC  —  Co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough clashed Wednesday morning on “Morning Joe” over whether there is a difference between Fox News and MSNBC, with Brzezinski calling Fox a “mouthpiece for the Republican Party.”

The Day Our Earth Stood Still  —  Don Graham's decision to sell The Washington Post was his reverse Sophie's Choice moment.  —  She had to decide which cherished child to save and which to send to the gas chamber.  Don and the Graham family weren't forced to make an anguishing choice but did so anyway.

CNN Exclusive: Two more women come forward, say San Diego mayor harassed them  —  Photos: San Diego mayor's accusers  —  (CNN) — The man on the voicemail is flirty and clearly asking for a date.  But it's the name on the message that's raising red flags.  —  “Hi, it's your newly favorite congressman, Bob Filner.

Broad U.S. terror alert mystifies experts; 'It's crazy pants,' one says  —  WASHINGTON — U.S. officials insisted Tuesday that extraordinary security measures for nearly two dozen diplomatic posts were to thwart an “immediate, specific threat,” a claim questioned by counterterrorism experts …

Chrome's insane password security strategy  —  Chrome does something interesting when you first run it.  —  The other day, I was using Chrome in development for an Ember.js app.  I use Safari for day-to-day browsing, but it has a habit of aggressively caching files when I least expect it, so from time to time I switch to Chrome.

Tech Magnates Bet on Booker and His Future  —  The conference room in the Mountain View, Calif., headquarters of LinkedIn was packed with the stars of Silicon Valley.  Top executives of Facebook, Google and Twitter gathered around a table; the billionaire Sean Parker looked on from a back row.

Yemeni authorities ‘foil al-Qaeda plot to seize ports’  —  Yemen says it has foiled a major al-Qaeda plot to blow up oil pipelines and seize two of the country's main ports.  —  Government spokesman Rajeh Badi said the plans included taking control of the al-Dhaba oil terminal and killing or kidnapping foreign workers.

First on CNN: Spitzer strikes populist theme in new ad blitz  —  Washington (CNN) - Eliot Spitzer is unleashing a pair of new television ads Wednesday in the New York City comptroller's race framing himself as an anti-establishment populist, a theme he has been hitting on the campaign trail …

Georgia Senate starts as toss up  —  PPP's newest Georgia Senate poll finds that with Michelle Nunn joining the field, the race is a toss up.  —  Nunn herself is not all that well known- 61% of voters don't have an opinion about her and those who do have one are closely divided with 20% viewing her favorably and 19% unfavorably.

Weiner allegedly hurls ‘grandpa’ remark during AARP forum  —  At an AARP-Univision mayoral forum this morning, mayoral contender Anthony Weiner pulled out the age card to taunt his most vocal challengers, 69-year-old Doe Fund founder George McDonald.  Weiner is 48.