Exclusive: Obama to announce overhaul to controversial NSA program  —  (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will announce on Friday a major overhaul of a controversial National Security Agency program that collects vast amounts of basic telephone call data on foreigners and Americans, a senior Obama administration official said.

CNN exclusive: Port Authority job created for Christie ally, source says  —  Who's who in Christie bridge scandal  —  (CNN) — Give him a position at the top of the agency; he's a good friend of the governor.  —  That's how David Wildstein was introduced to the Port Authority of New York …

Obama to Dems: Boehner will pass immigration reform in 2014  —  President Obama has told Senate Democrats he expects Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to pass immigration reform this year, defying predictions the issue is dead for 2014.  —  Obama believes Republicans will feel politically vulnerable …

Tom Coburn won't serve rest of term  —  Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn confirmed Thursday night that he will not serve out his full Senate term and intends to step down after 2014 because of deepening health problems.  —  In a statement, Coburn acknowledged that he is battling a serious recurrence …

Museveni blocks Anti-Homosexuality Bill  —  Parliament- President Museveni has confronted Speaker Rebecca Kadaga for passing the controversial Anti-gays Bill without quorum and described homosexuals as “abnormal” beings who can be “rescued” through economic empowerment.

'Gilligan's' ‘professor’ dies  —  (CNN) — Actor Russell Johnson, best known as Professor in the 1960s TV sitcom “Gilligan's Island,” died Thursday, his agent said.  Johnson was 89.  —  Johnson played the iconic role of Professor Roy Hinkley, whose scientific schemes to get the castaways rescued …

The Inequality Problem  —  Suddenly the whole world is talking about income inequality.  But, as this debate goes on, it is beginning to look as though the thing is being misconceived.  The income inequality debate is confusing matters more than clarifying them, and it is leading us off in unhelpful directions.

‘Journalism has died’ at New York Times: Graham, McCain slam Benghazi report  —  Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain harshly criticized The New York Times on Thursday over a recent report which concluded that Al Qaeda was not involved in the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi.

Initial Thoughts on the Proposed Amendments to the Voting Rights Act  —  I have now had a chance to review the text the Voting Rights Amendments Act of 2014 introduced today by Representatives Sensenbrenner and Conyers (with parallel legislation being introduced by Senator Leahy in the Senate).

How in good conscience?  —  By early 2011, writes former defense secretary Robert Gates, he had concluded that President Obama “doesn't believe in his own [Afghanistan] strategy, and doesn't consider the war to be his.”  —  Not his?  America is at war and he's America's commander in chief.

Killer struggles, gasps repeatedly under new 2-drug combination  —  Editor's note: Dispatch reporter Alan Johnson witnessed today's execution.  —  LUCASVILLE, Ohio - Dennis McGuire struggled, repeatedly gasping loudly for air and making snorting and choking sounds, before succumbing to a new two-drug execution method today.

Iran Top Nuke Negotiator: Deal Reversible In One Day  —  In an interview with Iranian television, Iran's top nuclear negotiator says Tehran can resume enriching uranium to 20 percent levels within one day if it so desires.  —  Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Abbas Araghchi …

IRS Targeting and 2014  —  Democrats are working hard to make sure conservative groups are silenced in the 2014 midterms.  —  President Obama and Democrats have been at great pains to insist they knew nothing about IRS targeting of conservative 501(c)(4) nonprofits before the 2012 election.