Surprise Senate highway vote near deadline  —  Washington (CNN) - Alert: last-minute plot twist on a national issue that may involve your commute.  —  As the U.S. Highway Trust Fund skids toward an August 1 money shortage, the Senate decided Tuesday to keep the issue in limbo at least a day or two more.

Senate documents and interviews undercut ‘bombshell’ lawsuit against Obamacare  —  The most serious current legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act turns on the argument that the law did not actually make subsidies available to those obtaining coverage on the federal exchange.

Why I Have Become Less Pro-Israel  —  A bad run for liberal Zionism.  —  A half-dozen years ago, I attended the first conference of J Street, a liberal pro-Israel organization, to debate the meaning of the term pro-Israel itself.  Pitted against Matthew Yglesias, I maintained that …

Paying Ransoms, Europe Bankrolls Qaeda Terror  —  BAMAKO, Mali — The cash filled three suitcases: 5 million euros.  —  The German official charged with delivering this cargo arrived here aboard a nearly empty military plane and was whisked away to a secret meeting with the president of Mali …

THIRD ROCKET ARSENAL FOUND AT UN SCHOOL IN GAZA  —  The United Nations Relief & Works Agency For Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced Tuesday that another rocket stockpile has been found at one of its schools in Gaza.  This instance marks the third time since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge …

Hobby Lobby Allegedly Fired Employee Due to Pregnancy  —  When a very pregnant Felicia Allen applied for medical leave from her job at Hobby Lobby three years ago, one might think that the company best known for denying its employees insurance coverage of certain contraceptives …

Sandra Fluke's biggest donor is ... Sandra Fluke  —  BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL CALIFORNIA CAMPAIGN FINANCE SANDRA FLUKE  —  Liberal darling and free-birth-control advocate Sandra Fluke is her own biggest donor in her state Senate race, according to official California campaign finance reports.

Ex-First Couple's Defense in Virginia: The State of Their Union  —  RICHMOND, Va. — Former Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia and his wife, Maureen, on trial for conspiring to use his office for personal enrichment, outlined an unexpected defense on Tuesday: Their marriage was so broken …

US, EUROPE IMPOSE TOUGH NEW SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Spurred to action by the downing of the Malaysian airliner, the European Union approved dramatically tougher economic sanctions Tuesday against Russia, including an arms embargo and restrictions on state-owned banks.

Federal review stalled after finding forensic errors by FBI lab unit spanned two decades  —  Nearly every criminal case reviewed by the FBI and the Justice Department as part of a massive investigation started in 2012 of problems at the FBI lab has included flawed forensic testimony from the agency, government officials said.

David Frum Accuses NYT and Reuters of Staging Gaza Hospital Photos (GRAPHIC)  —  Defending Israel with the objectivity and intensity of the Bush speech writer he once was, David Frum, the Senior Editor at the Atlantic, alleged to his 100k Twitter followers on Thursday (not once, but eight times) …

Another Win for Ex-Governor and Wrestler, This One in Court  —  ST. PAUL — Jesse Ventura, the wrestler-turned-politician-turned- television-host, has defied the odds before.  More than a decade and a half ago, almost no one thought that a feather boa-wearing former professional wrestler could become the governor of Minnesota.

U.S. Senate Poll: Tom Cotton 44, Mark Pryor 42  —  A new Talk Business & Politics-Hendrix College survey of 1,780 likely Arkansas voters shows Republican Cong. Tom Cotton with a 44-42% lead over two-term incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor.  —  The poll, which was conducted July 22-25 across …

Colorado Supreme Court Orders Boulder Clerk To Stop Issuing Same-Sex Marriage Licenses  —  A total of 202 marriage licenses had been granted to same-sex couples.  —  WASHINGTON — After Boulder County Clerk Hillary Hall had been issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples for more than a month …

Is Washington in the midst of a post-shutdown baby boom?  —  No one liked the government shutdown, but apparently, it wasn't without love.  The kind of love that transpires when, say, you and your partner both don't have to go to work.  One week passes.  Then two.  You're bored.  You're adults.

Appeals Court Strikes Down Law, Saves Mississippi's Only Abortion Clinic  —  JACKSON, Miss. — A federal appeals court panel has ruled that a Mississippi law that would close the state's only abortion clinic is unconstitutional.  The three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued …

What Is Chris Christie Doing in Iowa?  —  Earlier this month, Chris Christie was standing in the parking lot of MJ's Restaurant, in Marion, Iowa, holding a news conference.  Earlier that day, a Malaysia Airlines jet had been shot down in Ukraine; Israel was launching its ground invasion into Gaza.

McDonald's: Regulator Says It's a ‘Joint Employer’  —  McDonald's says it has been notified by a labor regulator that it can be named a “joint employer” for workers in its franchisee-owned restaurants.  —  The decision by the National Labor Relations Board was being closely watched …

This Is What Tech's Ugly Gender Problem Really Looks Like  —  Shortly after Kathryn Tucker started RedRover, an app that showcases local events for kids, she pitched the idea to an angel investor at a New York tech event.  But it didn't go over well.  When she finished her pitch, the investor said he didn't invest in women.