Courts Issue Conflicting Rulings on Health Care Law  —  WASHINGTON — Two federal appeals court panels issued conflicting rulings Tuesday on whether the government could subsidize health insurance premiums for people in three dozen states that use the federal insurance exchange.

New Surveillance Whistleblower: The NSA Violates the Constitution  —  John Napier Tye is speaking out to warn Americans about illegal spying.  The former State Department official, who served in the Obama administration from 2011 to 2014, declared Friday that ongoing NSA surveillance abuses …

Israel pounds Gaza despite international peace efforts  —  (Reuters) - Israel pounded targets across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, saying no ceasefire was near as top U.S. and U.N. diplomats pursued talks on halting fighting that has claimed more than 500 lives.

While Hillary Clinton offers a resume, Elizabeth Warren offers a plan  —  DEMOCRATIC PARTY HILLARY CLINTON 2016 ELECTIONS CAMPAIGNS ELIZABETH WARREN  —  It seems almost too obvious to mention, but presidential candidates need a clear idea of why they want to be president.

Ukraine says Russian officer pushed the button to shoot down MH17  —  Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) — As bodies from Thursday's air disaster reached a facility Tuesday in Kharkiv, Ukraine, the Ukrainian government ratcheted up its accusations against Moscow, saying a Russian officer shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

IRS: Lerner emails may exist after all  —  The IRS might not have lost the backups of former agency administrator Lois Lerner's emails after all, according to a top IRS official.  —  In testimony released Monday, Thomas Kane, the IRS's deputy associate chief counsel, told House Oversight investigators …

Don't Send Your Kid to the Ivy League  —  The nation's top colleges are turning our kids into zombies  —  In the spring of 2008, I did a daylong stint on the Yale admissions committee.  We that is, three admissions staff, a member of the college dean's office, and me, the faculty representative …

How Jon Stewart Made It Okay to Care About Palestinian Suffering  —  This Gaza war has brought a new level of American awareness of the pain of Palestinian civilians.  And we have Jon Stewart to thank.  —  When I interviewed The Daily Show's Jon Stewart two years ago for a documentary I co-directed …

Rubio: U.S. Cannot Admit All Children Seeking Asylum … Sen. Marco Rubio argued that the nation's immigration laws need to be overhauled and said that Hillary Clinton would be a flawed candidate for president.  —  The Florida Republican made his comments in the second half of a two-part interview …

Charles Schumer: Adopt the Open Primary  —  WASHINGTON — POLARIZATION and partisanship are a plague on American politics.  —  Political scientists have found that the two parties have each grown more ideologically homogeneous since the 1970s.  The Senate hasn't been so polarized since Reconstruction …

White flags planted on Brooklyn Bridge, American flags missing as mystery deepens  —  The NYPD started removing the white banners at 11 a.m. Tuesday — but it remained unclear what happened to the missing Stars and Stripes or how the thieves scaled the towers, which are under constant surveillance.