Cruz made 2016 announcement speech without a teleprompter  —  Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) made his speech announcing that he would run for the presidency without the assistance of a teleprompter, his spokesman said Monday.  —  Cruz delivered his roughly half-hour announcement speech at evangelical Liberty University in Virginia.

Ted Cruz Has Skeptics at Liberty, and They Use Yik Yak  —  From Yik Yak to Facebook, Cruz skeptics speak out.  —  Announcing his presidential bid at Liberty University is giving Ted Cruz something that some candidates dream of: A massive crowd that has to be there.

In Clinton Emails on Benghazi, a Rare Glimpse at Her Concerns  —  WASHINGTON — It was a grueling hearing.  A month after the September 2012 attack on the United States diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, House Republicans grilled a top State Department official about security lapses at the outpost.

Wisconsin Voter-ID Law Stands as Supreme Court Rejects Appeal  —  (Bloomberg) — The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for Wisconsin to implement a voter-identification law that opponents say is one of the strictest in the nation.  —  Rejecting without comment an appeal by civil rights groups …

U.S. will not take floor at U.N. rights debate on Israel, Palestinians  —  (Reuters) - The United States will not take the floor at the main U.N. human rights forum on Monday during the annual debate on violations committed in the Palestinian territories, a U.S. spokesman told Reuters.

Reconsidering My August Post on Ferguson and ‘Conflicting Accounts’  —  In the heat of a very hot news moment last summer, I criticized a Times story about the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.  —  Now, with the benefit of hindsight, I want to acknowledge that I misjudged an important element of that story.

Charlottesville police find no evidence in U-Va. sexual assault case  —  Police say that an investigation has found no evidence to support a discredited Rolling Stone story about a gang rape at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house on the campus of the University of Virginia.  (Reuters)

Obamacare is 5 years old, and Americans are still worried about death panels  —  When Democrats passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010, they knew it wasn't popular — poll after poll showed pluralities, if not majorities, opposed to the legislation after the bruising national fight that led to its passage.

Argentine archaeologists find secret Nazi lair in jungle  —  Stone structures in the remote region of Misiones are thought to be the ruins of a hideout build by Nazis, in case their leaders needed to flee Germany  —  A team of Argentine archaeologists investigating a series of ruins in the jungle …

Oil Giant BP Drops Membership With ALEC  —  The oil-and-gas super company is just the latest big firm to leave the conservative group in recent months.  —  Major oil-and-gas corporation BP announced Monday it is parting ways with the American Legislative Exchange Council, marking just the latest …

PHOTOS  —  ... and other souvenirs.  Nearby are exhibits about ramen in Europe , regional ramen around Japan and historic ramen-making ..... search of ramen's origins.  " The food stands include Italian pasta, Vietnamese pho, and dishes from Kazakhstan , China ...

Any Republicans who vote against higher defense spending should be fired  —  Let's talk a bit about which House Republican incumbents are going to draw primary opponents in 2016.  Make a note: Those GOP representatives who vote against upping Pentagon spending this week are at the top of a list …

High school accused of massive grade-fixing scheme  —  Teaching kids takes so much effort, staffers at John Dewey HS in Brooklyn have found a quicker way to fix persistent failure rates, sources said: Just let them pass.  —  Investigators are probing accusations of a massive grade-fixing scheme …