American Forces Said to Bomb ISIS Targets in Iraq  —  DOHUK, Iraq — American military forces bombed at least two targets in northern Iraq on Thursday night to rout Islamist insurgents who have trapped tens of thousands of religious minorities in Kurdish areas, Kurdish officials said.

Walsh drops out of U.S. Senate race  —  HELENA — Sen. John Walsh said Thursday he is pulling out of the Senate race because his campaign was distracted by the controversy over allegations that he plagiarized a U.S. Army War College research paper.  —  Walsh, a Democrat, said he decided to drop out of the race.

The Executive Editor on the Word ‘Torture’  —  Dean Baquet is the executive editor of The Times.  —  Over the past few months, reporters and editors of The Times have debated a subject that has come up regularly ever since the world learned of the C.I.A.'s brutal questioning of terrorism suspects …

For release at 12:00 p.m. EDT  —  In its new Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households, the Federal Reserve Board provides a snapshot of the self-perceived financial and economic well-being of U.S. households and the issues they face, based on responses to the Board's 2013 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking.

Caution needed with Gaza casualty figures  —  War zones are not easy places to collect statistics.  —  In the Gaza conflict, most news organisations have been quoting from the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which leads a group of humanitarian organisations known as the Protection Cluster.

Scott DesJarlais, Jim Tracy in nail-biter  —  U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais was clinging to what appeared to be a narrow victory over challenger Jim Tracy, defeating the state senator by 35 votes.  —  With all precincts reported, the secretary of state's office reported that DesJarlais …

Wolfowitz: We ‘won’ the Iraq War  —  Paul Wolfowitz, a former senior George W. Bush administration official and one of the chief Iraq War architects, said on Tuesday that the U.S. “won” the war in Iraq.  —  When asked his thoughts about the current situation in Iraq and whether the war was a mistake …

Ex-councilman who quit in Klingon running for U.S. Senate  —  The Indian Trail councilman who wrote his resignation letter in Klingon wants to beam up to Capitol Hill.  David Waddell is running as a write-in candidate for U.S. Senate.  —  The N.C. Board of Elections certified this week …

Murkowski sends ‘cease and desist’ letter to Begich over ad  —  Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) isn't happy about Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) using her in his latest campaign ad — and has called in her lawyers to try to force Begich to stop airing it.  —  Murkowski's campaign lawyers sent a …

A high-speed train wreck for Obama and liberalism  —  CALIFORNIA BIG GOVERNMENT ECONOMY LIBERALISM RAILROADS  —  Few of President Obama's initiatives are more emblematic of his early ambitions to be a transformational liberal leader than his vision for connecting the nation with a vast high-speed rail network.

Politics Counts: A 2014 Wave?  More Like a Ripple  —  The latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows an angry electorate that blames Washington for much of its pain.  And with their blood boiling and Election Day only three months away, voters look ready to do ... maybe not too much.

CNN Poll: Trust in government at all-time low  —  Washington (CNN) - Four decades after President Richard Nixon resigned, a slight majority of Americans still consider Watergate a very serious matter, a new national survey shows.  But how serious depends on when you were born.

Ask Andrew W.K.: My Dad Is a Right-Wing A**hole  —  [Editor's note: Every Wednesday New York City's own Andrew W.K. takes your life questions, and sets you safely down the right path to a solution, a purpose or — no surprise here — a party.  Need his help?  Just ask: AskAWK@villagevoice.com]