Malaysian Plane ‘Shot Down With 295 On Board’  —  A passenger plane with 295 people on board has been shot down as it flew above eastern Ukraine, according to aviation sources.  —  The Malaysia Airlines plane, which was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was travelling at an altitude of 10km …

Cruz's next fight: Immigration  —  Texas Sen. Ted Cruz plans to take a hard-line stand that could rile up conservatives just as lawmakers — including two from his home state — are struggling to address the growing humanitarian crisis along the southern border.

I Don't Care If You Like It  —  Women are tired of being judged by the Esquire metric  —  Last week, I got into a fight on Twitter with New York magazine's Jonathan Chait, whose work I respect, and it wasn't about anything that either of us had written; rather, we were tussling over the merits …

Elaine Stritch, Tart-Tongued Broadway Actress and Singer, Is Dead at 89  —  Elaine Stritch, the brassy, tart-tongued Broadway actress and singer who became a living emblem of show business durability and perhaps the leading interpreter of Stephen Sondheim's wryly acrid musings on aging …

Clinton Is Best Known, Best Liked Potential 2016 Candidate  —  Huckabee's image is slightly better than other GOP contenders  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Hillary Clinton is currently the best known and best liked of 16 potential 2016 presidential candidates tested in a July 7-10 Gallup poll …

Edward Snowden urges professionals to encrypt client communications  —  Exclusive: Whistleblower says NSA revelations mean those with duty to protect confidentiality must urgently upgrade security  —  The NSA whistleblower, Edward Snowden, has urged lawyers, journalists, doctors, accountants …

Democrats' Plan to Create the Next Todd Akin  —  The party is hoping to keep Republicans talking about reproductive issues, and is praying for a candidate to make another massive mistake.  —  Democrats are not just hoping for another Todd Akin, they're trying to create one …

White House: Employers Must Disclose Objections To Covering Birth Control  —  The White House on Thursday sent a message to companies that want to opt out of covering birth control, saying those employers are required to be transparent about their objections.

Stephen Elop's email to employees  —  Microsoft's strategy is focused on productivity and our desire to help people “do more.”  As the Microsoft Devices Group, our role is to light up this strategy for people.  We are the team creating the hardware that showcases the finest of Microsoft's digital work …

NBC News Pulls Veteran Reporter from Gaza After Witnessing Israeli Attack on Children  —  Ayman Mohyeldin reports from Gaza City on killing of four Palestinian boys by Israel (credit: NBC News)  —  Ayman Mohyeldin, the NBC News correspondent who personally witnessed yesterday's killing …

UNRWA STRONGLY CONDEMNS PLACEMENT OF ROCKETS IN SCHOOL  —  Yesterday, in the course of the regular inspection of its premises, UNRWA discovered approximately 20 rockets hidden in a vacant school in the Gaza Strip.  UNRWA strongly condemns the group or groups responsible for placing the weapons in one of its installations.

Israel-Hamas fighting resumes after humanitarian lull AFP 26 mins ago  —  Sakher Abou El Oun  —  Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Fighting between Israel and Hamas resumed in deadly earnest Thursday, after a brief humanitarian ceasefire allowed Gaza residents to restock and hunker down …

The Border and Obama  —  It's time to stop running away from the nation's troubles  —  The woman from Honduras was tiny and extremely pregnant.  “When are you due?” asked Sister Norma Pimentel, the director of Catholic Charities in the Rio Grande Valley.  “Ya,” the woman replied in Spanish: “Already"-she was past due.

Fake screener probes passengers at SFO  —  (07-16) 17:46 PDT SAN FRANCISCO — A man suspected of being drunk posed as a security screener at San Francisco International Airport long enough to direct a couple of women into a private booth for pat downs before real security staffers caught on to him, authorities said Wednesday.