When Will China Finally Abandon the Loons in North Korea?  —  North Korea says that it has tested a hydrogen bomb.  This seems unlikely, but it will be weeks before we know for sure.  Most likely it was just another fission bomb test.  —  More interesting is what this says about relations between North Korea and China.

Harney County Sheriff: Armed Occupiers Will Face Charges  —  In a wide ranging interview Tuesday, Harney County Sheriff David Ward urged members of the community to distance themselves from the armed men occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.  —  “I think if one person gives …

Trump says Cruz's Canadian birth could be ‘very precarious’ for GOP  —  LOWELL, Mass. — Donald Trump said in an interview that rival Ted Cruz's Canadian birthplace was a “very precarious” issue that could make the Texas senator vulnerable if he became the Republican presidential nominee.

The Hear-Nothing Gun Crowd  —  Sometimes in American politics it seems as if we are all talking past each other, that whatever one side says about an issue like, say, taxes zooms right past the other side.  The current fight over gun control is not one of those moments.

Cologne attacks: mayor lambasted for telling women to keep men at arm's length  —  Henriette Reker urges women to avoid being in close proximity to strangers to prevent sexual harassment  —  Cologne's mayor has been widely criticised for suggesting that women “keep at an arm's length” …

AP fact check: Obama gun-control actions wouldn't have stopped any mass shooting  —  To paraphrase Samuel Johnson: media fact-checks on Barack Obama's claims about guns may not be done entirely well ... but one is surprised to find them done at all.  Following Obama's emotional press conference yesterday …

After 608 days, the Benghazi panel by the numbers  —  Democrats have long charged that the special committee established by House Republicans to investigate the 2012 attacks on an American consulate in Benghazi, Libya was designed to harm the party's frontrunner, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton …

The Clintons are in denial about Bill's sex scandals  —  Even though Donald Trump had already warned that Bill Clinton's past indiscretions would be “fair game” in the presidential race, the ex-president seemed surprised to face the issue as he began to take a prominent role in his wife's campaign.

Is Huma Abedin Hillary Clinton's Secret Weapon or Her Next Big Problem?  —  The loyal aide has spent decades at the presidential contender's side with unparalleled access.  But with a powerful Republican senator raising questions about her role in the Clinton-era State Department …

Cruz camp mocks Rubio's ‘high-heeled booties’  —  Ted Cruz may be leading his fellow Cuban-American senator in the polls, but his campaign is nipping at the heels of Marco Rubio — literally.  —  “A Vote for Marco Rubio Is a Vote for Men's High-Heeled Booties,” Rick Tyler …

Lettuce Pray  —  Sick leaves: The Nunes Company, which owns the Foxy brand, voluntarily recalled 8,500 crates of its lettuce after water samples tested positive for E. coli bacteria.  —  In the summer of 2006, consumers across the country began falling sick from a particularly nasty strain …