Obama announces proposals to reform NSA surveillance  —  President Obama announced plans Friday to pursue reforms that would open the legal proceedings surrounding the National Security Agency's surveillance programs to greater scrutiny, the administration's most concerted response yet to a series of national security disclosures.

TRANSCRIPT: President Obama's August 9, 2013, news conference at the White House  —  By Washington Post Staff,  —  President Obama took questions from reporters at the White House on Aug. 9, 2013.  —  PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Good afternoon, everybody.  Please have a seat.

Chief of Staff Lee Burdick says Mayor Bob Filner entered therapy a week early, completed program  —  SAN DIEGO - San Diego Mayor Bob Filner's chief of staff confirmed to 10News that the mayor began his therapy a week early and has already completed the program.

LePage in fighter jet simulator: ‘I want to find the Press Herald building and blow it up’  —  NORTH BERWICK, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage — who earlier this summer told his commissioners to stop speaking to reporters from the Portland Press Herald and its two sister papers after he objected …

Rand Paul on Republicans' Voter Appeal and the Federal Reserve  —  How seriously are you thinking about the White House?  —  At this point we're thinking about ways to grow the Republican Party and won't make any decision about whether that involves me running or not for about a year.

Reid raises race in discussing GOP opposition to Obama's agenda  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Friday said he hoped GOP opposition to President Obama was not based on his race.  —  Reid made the comments in response to a question during a radio interview.

The Bourne Hypocrisy: Matt Damon's Peculiar School Choice  —  The movie star's explanation for sending his four daughters to private school is disingenuous.  —  Oscar winner Matt Damon has earned millions successfully playing a super spy, tortured genius, rugby icon, and poker player.

How Dumb Is Immigration Debate?  This Dumb.  —  Everything you know about immigration, particularly unauthorized immigration, is wrong.  —  So says Princeton University's Doug Massey, anyway.  Massey is one of the nation's preeminent immigration scholars.

Labour must shout louder or risk election defeat, warns Andy Burnham  —  Shadow health secretary says time is running out for coherent Labour challenge to the coalition  —  Labour's leadership must put its cards on the table before next spring and produce a set of policies which define …

Ken Cuccinelli slams Terry McAuliffe at forum  —  MANASSAS, Va. — Republican Ken Cuccinelli threw the kitchen sink at his Democratic opponent Friday, using a forum here to unload the most blisteringly negative and far-reaching attacks yet of an already nasty governor's race.

Patch staffers will be laid off and sites closed over next 7 days as Tim Armstrong takes charge  —  Patch employees listened in on this morning's conference call expecting to hear that hundreds are losing their jobs today.  But AOL chief executive Tim Armstrong told the listeners that the layoffs …

Twitter seeks clout in Washington  —  Twitter is ready to play the Washington power game.  —  The company is starting its own political action committee — called Twitter#PAC — and has registered its first in-house lobbyist as it seeks influence in the nation's capital.

Anthony Weiner slips to lowest rating ever in poll of Democratic voters  —  City Council Speaker Christine Quinn leads with 24% approval among Democrats, while an embattled Anthony Weiner falls to only 10% approval, according to New York Times/Siena College poll.