Ann Romney launches new center to study neurological diseases  —  Let some in the political world obsess over whether Mitt Romney plans to run for president for a third time — Ann Romney has a bigger project in mind.  —  On Tuesday at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston …

McConnell says Ky. healthcare exchange can stay but not ObamaCare  —  Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) said Monday he wouldn't mind if the state healthcare insurance exchange known as Kentucky Kynect stayed but reiterated his call for the full repeal of ObamaCare.

This Ruling Could Put Texas Back In The Doghouse On Voting Law Changes  —  A federal judge's decision on Thursday to strike down Texas's strict voter identification law is a boost for the Obama administration's effort to once again require the Lone Star State to receive federal pre-approval before making any changes to its voting laws.

Feds rethinking Ebola strategy  —  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday said it is starting to “rethink” its Ebola strategy after the first-ever US transmission of the virus put a “relatively large” number of healthcare workers at risk.

He'll Fight Every Day for the Poetry of South Dakota  —  In my piece today on South Dakota's unpredictable Senate race, I noted how the candidates there represented a departure from the cookie-cutter homogeneity that is now commonplace in races around the country.

Oscar Pistorius trial: Call for community service angers prosecutor  —  South African athlete Oscar Pistorius should not go to jail over the killing of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, his sentencing hearing has been told.  —  A probation officer appearing for the defence said Pistorius should serve house arrest and community service.

Abortion Is Great  —  A new book argues that the left needs to stop the “awfulization” of abortion and embrace it as a social good.  —  I had an abortion.  I was not in a libertine college-girl phase, although frankly it's none of your business.  I was already a mother of two …

It's more expensive to live in D.C. than New York, study says  —  Updated at 8:10 p.m. to include additional information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics  —  The Washington region ranks as the most expensive place to live in the country, ahead of the pricey markets of New York and San Francisco, according to a government study.

Kafka Was the Rage  —  At a Catholic school, a professor fighting the academic boycott of Israel is investigated on secret charges  —  The email arrived on the last Friday afternoon of the spring term shortly before 5:00 p.m. Anastasia Coleman, Fordham's Director of Institutional Equity and Compliance …

OVERNIGHT DEFENSE: Pentagon sees security threat from climate  —  THE TOPLINE: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Monday unveiled a plan to integrate threats from climate change into all defense “plans, operations and training,” signaling a comprehensive effort to tackle global warming.

The Secret Money Buying Wisconsin's Laws  —  An accidentally released court filing reveals how one company secretly gave money to a nonprofit that helped get favorable mining legislation passed.  —  When billionaire Chris Cline's company bought an option to mine a swath of northern Wisconsin in 2010 …

Chris Christie says he would ‘rather die’ than be a U.S. Senator from N.J. (VIDEO)  —  PARSIPPANY — Addressing the NAACP New Jersey Conference on Saturday, Gov. Chris Christie offered no further clues as to whether he'd declare his candidacy for president next year, but one thing …

In Texas and across the nation, abortion access a sign of women's well-being  —  Last week's decision by New Orleans's Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate Texas House Bill 2 (HB2) — the omnibus abortion bill responsible for closing 80 percent of the abortion clinics in Texas …

ALAN SCHER ZAGIER and JIM SALTER  —  FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — Pounding rain and tornado watches didn't deter hundreds of protesters Monday outside Ferguson police headquarters, where they stayed for almost four hours to mark how long 18-year-old Michael Brown's body was left in a street after he was fatally shot by police.

At the Vatican, a Shift in Tone Toward Gays and Divorce  —  VATICAN CITY — In a marked shift in tone likely to be discussed in parishes around the world, an assembly of Roman Catholic bishops convened by Pope Francis at the Vatican released a preliminary document on Monday calling for the church …