Cruz made 2016 announcement speech without a teleprompter  —  Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) made his speech announcing that he would run for the presidency without the assistance of a teleprompter, his spokesman said Monday.  —  Cruz delivered his roughly half-hour announcement speech at evangelical Liberty University in Virginia.

In Clinton Emails on Benghazi, a Rare Glimpse at Her Concerns  —  WASHINGTON — It was a grueling hearing.  A month after the September 2012 attack on the United States diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, House Republicans grilled a top State Department official about security lapses at the outpost.

Netanyahu pollster: Obama role in election larger than reported  —  President Obama's role during the Israeli elections was larger than reported, according to a pollster for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party.  —  “What was not well reported in the American media …

Wisconsin Voter-ID Law Stands as Supreme Court Rejects Appeal  —  (Bloomberg) — The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for Wisconsin to implement a voter-identification law that opponents say is one of the strictest in the nation.  —  Rejecting without comment an appeal by civil rights groups …

Reconsidering My August Post on Ferguson and ‘Conflicting Accounts’  —  In the heat of a very hot news moment last summer, I criticized a Times story about the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.  —  Now, with the benefit of hindsight, I want to acknowledge that I misjudged an important element of that story.

Obamacare is 5 years old, and Americans are still worried about death panels  —  When Democrats passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010, they knew it wasn't popular — poll after poll showed pluralities, if not majorities, opposed to the legislation after the bruising national fight that led to its passage.

Why this scandal won't hurt Hillary  —  History show us that presidential candidates tend to weather controversy better than senators and congressmen.  —  Lead image by Getty.  —  Admit it: You love a juicy scandal.  We claim to be high-minded and policy-oriented, but our noses are buried …

PHOTOS  —  ... and other souvenirs.  Nearby are exhibits about ramen in Europe , regional ramen around Japan and historic ramen-making ..... search of ramen's origins.  " The food stands include Italian pasta, Vietnamese pho, and dishes from Kazakhstan , China ...

Rolling Stone to Publish Review of Disputed Rape Article  —  Rolling Stone magazine plans to publish an external review of a widely disputed article about a gang rape at the University of Virginia “in the next couple of weeks,” its managing editor, Will Dana, said on Sunday.

Florida's Patrick Murphy running for Marco Rubio's Senate seat  —  Florida Rep. Patrick Murphy formally announced his campaign for Senate on Monday, saying he's ready to fight for the highly competitive seat regardless of whether or not Marco Rubio runs for reelection.

Any Republicans who vote against higher defense spending should be fired  —  Let's talk a bit about which House Republican incumbents are going to draw primary opponents in 2016.  Make a note: Those GOP representatives who vote against upping Pentagon spending this week are at the top of a list …

EXCLUSIVE: L.I. woman says psych ward doctors believed she was delusional for insisting Obama follows her on Twitter  —  #IMNOTCRAZY!  —  A Long Island woman's insistence that President Obama follows her on Twitter made doctors at the Harlem Hospital psych ward think she was delusional …