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The Obama administration is taking measures to undercut Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the United States. Top officials, including Vice President Biden, are being sent away when the Israeli head of government delivers his address in March. The friction between the Israel and the United States is looking more like a feud between the Soprano and Lupertazzi families (via Associated Press): In what is becoming an increasingly nasty grudge match, the White House is mulling ways to undercut Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's upcoming trip to Washington and blunt his message that a potential nuclear deal with Iran is bad...

Former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is hosting a fundraiser for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie next week. Cantor lost his seat last year in a huge upset to former economics professor Dave Brat, who successfully marked Cantor as an out-of-touch member of the “GOP establishment.” He’ll host a meet-and-greet for Christie with big Virginia donors next Thursday at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, Va., reports the Associated Press. Christie is considering a 2016 run, but is not currently considered a top contender following weeks of low approval ratings in his home state and in key states, such as Iowa...

Nearly two dozen US House Democrats on Thursday urged the postponement of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's planned speech to Congress, claiming the controversially-timed address could "undermine" nuclear negotiations with Iran, reports AFP. Republican House Speaker John Boehner invited Netanyahu to address a joint meeting of Congress on March 3 two weeks before his country's elections, and the speech, in which the prime minister will discuss the threat of Iran's nuclear program, has led to an outcry from the left in the US and Israel. Twenty-three lawmakers wrote Boehner urging him to postpone the invitation, which the Republican leader extended without...

A wrongfully convicted man filed a $40 million lawsuit on Tuesday against Northwestern University, a former journalism professor, a private investigator and an attorney, accusing them of framing him for a double murder to get another man released. Alstory Simon, 64, of Ohio, claims in the lawsuit that he was the victim of unethical tactics by a team focused on freeing another man in what became a celebrated Illinois wrongful conviction case. Simon was imprisoned in 1999 after confessing to the 1982 murder of two people in a park, and spent more than 15 years behind bars before he was...

The White House is accusing Israel of "cherry-picking" information that distorts the U.S. position in nuclear talks with Iran. “There's no question that some of the things that the Israelis have said in characterizing our negotiating position have not been accurate. There's no question about that,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said during a press briefing on Wednesday. "We've also been very clear about the fact that the United States is not going to be in a position of negotiating this agreement in public, particularly when we see that there is a continued practice of cherry-picking specific pieces of...

Who can – or will - teach young boys before they become criminals that all lives matter? I'm still waiting on the rallies. I'm still waiting on fed-up people who are down with the cause. I'm still waiting on social justice activists to lie in the streets, disrupt commerce and protest ad nauseam the killings of black men. I'm still waiting for a community willing to rise up and act as if it really gives a damn about six people shot - three fatally - in a barbershop massacre on the evening of Feb. 3rd. Where's the rage, folks? I'm...

A homeless woman who was raped while sleeping under a bridge last year sometimes begged for bus money or walked up to 8 miles over the past year so she could face her attacker in court. Her determination to be in court helped win a conviction against the man, said a police officer who investigated the case.

RUSH: I need to step back a couple of steps, maybe a step and a half, on John Boehner, 'cause he was good yesterday on Fox about the upcoming Department of Homeland Security shutdown. And I kind of raked -- I didn't rake Boehner. I raked the Senate Republicans over the coals last week about this, and it was somewhat justified. I have to walk it back a little bit, because it's actually, as I said last week, and I doubt anybody's gonna remember, but it really is the Senate Democrats who are willing to shut down DHS over this....

TEL AVIV — This latest breach in the U.S.-Israeli relationship began around Jan. 12 with a phone call from Netanyahu. Obama asked the Israeli leader to hold fire diplomatically for several more months while U.S. negotiators explored whether Iran might agree to a deal that, through its technical limits on centrifuges and stockpiles, extended the breakout period that Iran would need to build a bomb to more than a year. But Netanyahu is said to have responded that a year wasn’t enough and to have reverted to Israel’s hard-line insistence that Iran shouldn’t be allowed any centrifuges or enrichment. Relations...

The head of Israel's election commission acted on Monday to limit any pre-election boost Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may get from a March 3 speech to the U.S. Congress in which he will warn of the threat from Iran's nuclear program. The speech has caused controversy in Israel and the United States, where the Democrats and the White House are angry that the Republican speaker, John Boehner, invited Netanyahu to speak at a sensitive time in the nuclear negotiations between Iran and six big powers including Washington, and only two weeks before Israel's closely fought March 17 election.

White House denies Channel 2 report claiming US has stopped updating Israel about developments in nuclear negotiations with Iran in response to Netanyahu's planned Congress speech, after Boehner admits he failed to tell administration he had invited PM. According to the report by Israel's Channel 2, US Undersecretary of State, Wendy Sherman, who is involved in the talks has announced she will no longer be updating Israelis about the talks. Susan Rice, US President Obama's National Security Advisor, has also reportedly announced she is cutting ties with her Israeli counterpart, Yossi Cohen, who serves as Netanyahu's National Security Adviso

Two members of the Senate are pressing for significant changes to how presidents consult with Congress on sending the military into war. Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Tim Kaine, D-Va., unveiled legislation on Thursday that would repeal the 1973 War Powers Resolution, often ignored by presidents of both parties, and replace it with a new law that requires greater consultation and a congressional vote within 30 days on any significant armed conflict. …

The debut edition of our leader board of the Republicans most likely to win the presidential nomination, based on what we know now, shows the field may not be as big as most people think. 1) JEB BUSH (age 62, to Hillary’s 67): He’s got money, momentum, Florida, big ideas. His surprise, early signal that he’s running is THE PLAY OF THE CAMPAIGN so far — pushing OUT Mitt and perhaps Christie by freezing or stealing their money and talent. Jeb will be first Republican to $100 million by a mile. Now, watch for the use of overwhelming force to...

House Speaker John Boehner on Sunday accused the White House of "animosity" towards Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, whose planned speech before the US Congress has stirred up a political furor in both countries. Boehner defended his decision to invite Netanyahu to give an address on Iran's nuclear program before Congress next month, flouting diplomatic convention which says that such an invitation should have come from US President Barack Obama. Boehner said he felt it was important to do an end-run around White House "interference," amid a raging debate over whether to soften sanctions on Tehran. "I wanted to make...

A state-level campaign to rein in the federal government by calling an unprecedented convention to amend the U.S. Constitution is gaining steam, picking up support from two high-profile Republicans as more states explore the idea. Coburn, a legendary government-waste watchdog, announced this week that he has joined the effort by becoming a senior adviser for the group Convention of States Action, which wants states, not just Congress, to pass constitutional amendments. Article V of the Constitution states amendments can be ratified either by Congress or by states if two-thirds of them petition Congress to call a convention. Then, any amendment...

Thousands of Ohioans are getting asked some curious questions online and over the phone lately, such as: How old is your grandchild? What brand of car do you have? How long is your mortgage? Many of these people have a question of their own: What is this—some kind of scam? The answer: The quiz is legit, part of an effort by the state to thwart … scams. Specifically, the filing of phony tax returns. Under the new program, some Ohioans who have filed their taxes get letters in the mail from the state Department of Taxation directing them to take...

ATHENS, Ohio — Suspended Athens County Sheriff Pat Kelly was led away in handcuffs yesterday after a jury found him guilty of 18 crimes, including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity. Visiting Judge Patricia A. Cosgrove revoked Kelly’s bond. She said he needed to be incarcerated because he posed a flight risk and his conviction on the corrupt-activity charge, a first-degree felony, carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Kelly, 64, could face even more prison time if the judge orders the sentences for his convictions to run consecutively. Cosgrove set sentencing for March 20. Kelly’s conviction...

House Speaker John Boehner’s on-staff amnesty advocate Becky Tallent is in talks with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s potential presidential campaign for a job, meaning if she takes it she’d leave Boehner’s office. Tallent is former chief of staff to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)—having personally crafted the amnesty bill McCain and the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) introduced in the twilight years of the George W. Bush administration—and then also worked on immigration policy for the Bipartisan Policy Center. “Jeb’s team is looking to hire Rebecca for policy,” a former George W. Bush White House aide told Breitbart News. “The...

There were more than 2,300 homes and condos in the foreclosure process last month. That is up 104 percent from December. Statewide that increase is 109 percent from January 2014. The jump in foreclosures comes as the Phoenix housing market tries to shake off a slow 2014 where low demand for homes and tough mortgage qualifications stymied sales. Foreclosure activity was also up in states such as Ohio, New Jersey, Maryland and California and metropolitan areas such as St. Louis, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The worst cities for foreclosures include Atlantic City, Las Vegas and eight Florida markets including...

CLEVELAND — An infant whom authorities suspect was killed by an 11-year-old girl died of blunt impact injuries to the head, neck, body, arms and legs, a medical examiner ruled Wednesday in declaring the death a homicide. Two-month-old Zuri Whitehead was staying with a friend of her mother's and the friend's daughter in the Cleveland suburb of Wickliffe when the friend called 911 early Friday to report that the child was unconscious. Zuri died in surgery later that morning. Trina Whitehead, Zuri's mother, has described the girl's mother as her best friend and the 11-year-old as a sweet girl.