National: The Senate overwhelmingly approved an immigration reform bill that provides a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants while also stiffening border security.  The bill could have a hard time getting past conservatives in the House. A federal Grand Jury …

The Supremes: Two days after de-commissioning the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the court threw out lower court rulings that the Texas voter identification law and political redistricting are discriminatory. National: Arriving in Senegal today, President Obama said he was not …

The Supremes: In two major decisions, the court this morning struck down the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act 5-4, clearing the way for legally married same sex couples to receive federal benefits. The court also validated a California court decision …

Moon Over Ecuador: Fugitive NSA Leaker Edward Snowden was seen at the Moscow airport talking with ambassadors from Ecuador, a possible new home. But Snowden was not on a flight to Cuba today, as was expected. He’s getting help from …

 Diving Dow: The Dow Jones is slightly down again this morning after a 353-point drop yesterday. A kneejerk selloff followed the Fed announcement that it will start raising interest rates later this year. That made for a 556-point dive in …

 National: With increased confidence in economic recovery, the Federal Reserve will start dialing back economic stimulus by the end of the year, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said yesterday. Stimulus will end early next year when unemployment hits 7%. Short-term interest …

World: Afghan leader Hamid Karzai is refusing to take part in peace talks with the Taliban unless the process is “Afghanized”. Peace talks were announced only yesterday. Karzai is angry that the US took the lead in setting up peace …

World: The Syrian civil war is dominating talks at a meeting of the G8 leaders in Northern Ireland. Seven countries are pressuring Vladimir Putin to ease Russian support for the regime of Bashar al Assad. ➢Representatives of the Taliban in …

 National: President Obama delivered a vigorous defense of the government’s electronic snooping into Internet traffic and telephone calls. “Nobody’s listening to the content of anyone’s phone calls,” the President said. Mr. Obama and some Congressional leaders say the surveillance is …

 Uncle Snoop: The federal government for the last six years has secretly collected information from nine major Internet services in the hunt for national security threats, the government admitted. This comes in addition to the revelation that the government swept …