The rapid expansion of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) across Iraq is leading to sectarian violence on a scale not seen in the country in years. In June 2014 alone, approximately a thousand Iraqis -- nearly all civilians -- have been killed.

The president plans to sign an executive order banning companies that do business with the federal government from discriminating against gay and transgender employees. This could make life easier on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender workers currently employed for such companies, according to Sarah Ovink, sociology professor at Virginia Tech.

Editor's note: This article has been updated from the original published draft. The article said Mr. Terrell has first-hand experience with Somalia suspects. This is not the case, and the article has been edited accordingly to reflect the remarks of the candidate.

Early in the evening, after the polls closed but long before the election results came in, Nate Cohn of the New York Times tweeted that the Mississippi Republican runoff between U.S. Senator Thad Cochran and state Senator Chris McDaniel "is close enough that it really will depend on the details of the margin and turnout in the big, outstanding base counties."

http://twitter.com/Nate_Cohn/status/481626086913372161

In June, the junior Republican senator from Kentucky, Rand Paul, weighed in on the always controversial issue of immigration reform. The libertarian-leaning darling of the tea party tread into precarious territory by supporting efforts to reform the country's immigration system, something that some say cost his colleague, U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), dearly.

What does the Bipartisan Policy Center have in common with the Berlin Wall, 9/11, the First Amendment, and the Civil Rights Movement? They all represent major news stories important enough to be featured at The Newseum, one of the top attractions in Washington, D.C.

The Supreme Court will soon decide in Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby the legality of the mandate under Obamacare that for-profit institutions must insure contraceptive care for their female employees. Dozens of companies have sued the government claiming that the owners’ freedom of religion is being violated by having to pay for medication that they believe contravenes Christian dogma about the sanctity of human life.

“All his acts, therefore, properly executive, must presuppose the existence of the laws to be executed. . . . . To say then that the power of making treaties, which are confessedly laws, belongs naturally to the department which is to execute laws, is to say, that the executive department naturally includes a legislative power. In theory this is an absurdity--in practice a tyranny.”—James Madison on George Washington

In recent years, several if not dozens of moderate or centrist groups have popped up. Their appearance is an understandable response to reflexive partisanship and political dysfunction.

For the first time in 15 years, the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce met with Cuban dictator Raúl Castro last month to analyze investment possibilities and the reforms implemented by the regime. Thomas Donohue says he went to Cuba to "support" the opening of the island.