FIFA Officials Arrested on Corruption Charges; Sepp Blatter Isn't Among Them  —  ZURICH — Swiss authorities conducted an extraordinary early-morning operation here Wednesday to arrest several top soccer officials and extradite them to the United States on federal corruption charges.

The decline of Rand Paul  —  Rand Paul took a left turn on his journey to the Republican nomination, and now his hopes seem to be headed south.  —  The libertarian Kentucky senator's new book, “Taking a Stand,” came out Tuesday, and it is chock-full of lines that would position Paul well …

Have Democrats Pulled Too Far Left?  —  AMONG liberals, it's almost universally assumed that of the two major parties, it's the Republicans who have become more extreme over the years.  That's a self-flattering but false narrative.  —  This is not to say the Republican Party hasn't become a more conservative party.

Obama suffers another defeat on immigration in federal court  —  A federal appeals court dealt President Obama a defeat on Tuesday when it declined to lift a judge's order blocking the president's sweeping executive action on immigration.  —  The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals sided …

Rick Santorum Announcing Run for President … Rick Santorum, the former Republican senator from Pennsylvania, will announce today that he will seek the GOP nomination for president in 2016, ABC News has learned.  ABC News' Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos will sit down for an exclusive interview with Santorum this afternoon.

Read Bernie Sanders's populist, policy-heavy speech kicking off his campaign  —  On Tuesday afternoon, Sen. Bernie Sanders gave a rousing speech kicking off his campaign in his home state of Vermont.  —  “This campaign,” Sanders said, “is not about Bernie Sanders.  It is not about Hillary Clinton.

Give the ‘bigot’ bomb a break  —  Reducing human beings to their worst idea or comment diminishes us all.  —  A lesbian couple purchased engagement rings from a Christian jeweler.They were so pleased with the service, they referred a friend to the shop to purchase a ring for his girlfriend.

The White Protestant Roots of American Racism  —  he Apotheosis of Washington," painted in 1865 by Constantino Brumidi, is a fresco of the first president of the United States ascending to the heavens.  The goddesses of Victory and Liberty, along with 13 maidens who represent America's original colonies …

How Obama could hijack tax reform  —  If congressional Republicans offered the president a deal that would make the tax code markedly more progressive, raise more revenue and also fund several of his second-term priorities, would he agree to such a thing?  —  The answer the White House …

Walker suggests he'll skip Florida primary  —  Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) suggested Tuesday that he might sit out the 2016 Florida GOP primary, letting likely rivals Sen. Marco Rubio and former Gov. Jeb Bush duke it out in their home state.  —  “If we chose to get in …

Democrats hope for Hillary Clinton coattails  —  Candidates expect her presence would affect their fates as well.  —  Her campaign is still in its infancy.  The presidential election is nearly 18 months away.  But Democrats are already banking on a “Hillary effect,” an anticipated wave …

A tiny string of text can disable iPhone Messages  —  Apple device owners have discovered a string of text characters that, when received on an iPhone in Messages, can lock people out of the app and — reportedly in some cases — crash the phone.  Users who receive the string with Messages open …

GOP senators call for over-the-counter birth control  —  Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) is leading a new push to allow women to buy birth control without a prescription, hoping to deliver on one of the biggest promises of his freshman Senate campaign last year.

A Note to Our Readers  —  We are thrilled to announce that Re/code's parent company, Revere Digital, is being wholly acquired by the highly respected digital-native media company Vox Media.  This is the next big step in our mission to bring you quality tech journalism, because our work …

The Wedding That Didn't Happen  —  I feel like I need to address the elephant-in-the-room on this blog, since you guys have been with me through thick and thin.  When I first got engaged, you were the first ones I wanted to tell.  —  I guess you have seen by now that the wedding …