As Texas ensures GOP nod, Romney campaign takes shape

After clinching the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday in Texas, Mitt Romney has emerged from a bloody primary slog running neck-and-neck with President Obama — putting him in the exact same position as the last two Republicans to lead their party into the general election.

Bill would outlaw abortion for sex selection

Congress is set to wade into one of the most sensitive topics in the abortion debate, with a House vote Wednesday on a bill that would ban abortions that are performed solely because of an unborn child's sex.

Cuccinelli backs Kaine on Dulles rail project

Former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine acted within his authority when he decided in 2006 to transfer the Dulles Toll Road and management of the Dulles rail project to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II said Tuesday.

Eastern Europe rising up against politicians on take

More than two decades after the fall of communism, angry residents in Eastern European democracies are rebelling against a culture of corruption that is making their economic hardships even worse.

Judges sentence Charles Taylor to 50 years

Judges at an international war crimes court have sentenced former Liberian President Charles Taylor to 50 years in prison following his landmark conviction for supporting rebels in Sierra Leone who murdered and mutilated thousands during their country's brutal civil war in return for blood diamonds.

Suspended GSA executive back on the job

More than a month after he was put on leave when a video surfaced showing him joking about the lavish spending — $823,000 — at a taxpayer-funded General Services Administration conference in Las Vegas, a top official at the agency has quietly returned to his job.

HURT: Capital Bikeshare is making biking ugly, smugly

Unlike Sarah Palin or Tina Fey, or whoever it was, I really can see Russia from my front porch. Or, at least, I can see broken-down socialism. That is because across the street from my house on Capitol Hill is a loud, clanging "Capital Bikeshare" docking station.

Diplomats from Syria expelled by U.S., allies

International outrage over violence in Syria neared the boiling point Tuesday as the U.S. and other Western nations expelled Syrian diplomats for Friday's massacre of at least 108 people, mostly women and children, in a western village in the strife-racked country.

McCotter's miscue forces write-in bid

Michigan Democrats and Republican Rep. Thaddeus G. McCotter are on the same page for now on at least one issue: Why Mr. McCotter is being forced to run his re-election bid as a write-in candidate.

Consumer Confidence Index falls in May

The nation's leading indicator of consumer confidence took an unexpected tumble in May.

Obama honors Medal of Freedom recipients

Sketching impressive contributions to society in intensely personal terms, President Barack Obama presented the Medal of Freedom to more than a dozen political and cultural greats Tuesday, including rocker Bob Dylan, astronaut John Glenn and novelist Toni Morrison.

Inside the Beltway: All booked up

President Obama's glittering support in Hollywood on the West Coast is about to be augmented by titans in the book publishing world on the East Coast.

Panetta exhorts Navy grads to lead, be wary of China

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta gave U.S. Naval Academy graduates a charge Tuesday — to lead a "resurgence of America's enduring maritime presence and power" in the Asia-Pacific region and around the world.

Maryland foes of same-sex nuptials say petition goal reached

The group leading a petition effort against Maryland's same-sex marriage law says it has more than twice the number of signatures needed to send the law to referendum one month before the state-mandated deadline.

Runoff set in Texas Senate race

Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and tea-party favorite Ted Cruz are heading to a July 31 runoff in the state's Republican Senate primary, the Associated Press declared late Tuesday.

Ex-Beijing mayor: Tiananmen Square crackdown was a tragedy

A forthcoming book quotes the disgraced former mayor of Beijing as saying that the military crackdown on the Tiananmen Square democracy protesters was an avoidable tragedy and that he regrets the loss of life, though he denies being directly responsible.

Commentary

MILLER: Obama's Achilles heel

Republicans enjoyed watching President Obama get shredded by fellow Democrats last week for his campaign's attacks on capitalism. The criticism came as Mr. Obama's allies distanced themselves from advertisements that bashed free enterprise and distorted the record of Bain Capital, the firm founded by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

GREEN: Gun beats knife

Being a retired cop made all the difference for Kio Ebrahimzadeh when he and his date were threatened with a knife earlier this month. The majority of California residents would have been helpless in the face of the imminent assault. Mr. Ebrahimzadeh is one of the privileged few in the Golden State permitted to carry a concealed gun.

DECKER: 5 Questions with Rep. Mike Pompeo

Rep. Mike R. Pompeo was elected in 2010 by the 4th Congressional District of Kansas. A native of Wichita and graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, he patrolled the Iron Curtain as an Army officer before the Berlin Wall came down in 1989.

PAYNE: Zero nuclear sense

A report recommending deep U.S. nuclear reductions - to levels as low as 10 percent of the current arsenal - was released recently by an apparently self-appointed Global Zero Nuclear Policy Commission. This report was led by James Cartwright, a retired Marine general and former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

SINGER: Romney's historic opportunity

Energy, the lifeblood of the economy, is President Obama's Achilles heel. Mitt Romney should hit him hard, spelling out a coherent policy of low-cost, secure energy that would boost the U.S. economy, ensure jobs and prosperity, and raise people up from poverty.