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Showing increasing strength in the money race, Mitt Romney in July outraised President Obama in all but 11 states, and in all nine of the most likely swing states, chalking up his strongest support yet from small donors. Buttressed by his reliable large donors and a pair of supportive super PACs, Mr. Romney and his backers raised $24 million more than Team Obama in July.

TAMPA, Fla. , Republicans next week will likely adopt what veteran platform writers said is the most conservative platform in their history after the drafting committee voted to keep strict pro-life, pro-defense and traditional marriage planks intact.

The District is forging ahead Wednesday with plans to install "smart meters" in about 6,500 taxicabs that offer pay-by-credit-card readers and other amenities, despite a mystifying dispute initiated by D.C. Council member Marion Barry over how to pay for it all.

Democrat Tim Kaine, who released his first television ad Tuesday, is targeting female audiences with fall advertising buys as he and Republican George Allen both try to woo the critical voting bloc in the closely watched Virginia Senate race.

Defiant Rep. W. Todd Akin of Missouri vowed Tuesday to stay in his state's U.S. Senate race as the Republican nominee, letting pass an initial withdrawal deadline despite near-unanimous demands from Mitt Romney and a parade of prominent Republicans that he step aside after his insensitive remarks about rape and abortion.

A dead teenager is to blame for a shooting that killed a Catholic University student bicycling home from work in 2010 rather than the teen's friend who is on trial for the slaying, the man's defense attorney said Tuesday.

They're amassing: former Rep. Barry Goldwater Jr. is among those eager to celebrate Rep. Ron Paul at the "We Are the Future" rally, to be staged in Tampa, Fla., just 24 hours before the Republican National Convention rumbles to life. Mr. Goldwater, in fact, appears at a session titled "Calling the GOP Back to its Roots: Constitutional Conservatism."

There's no doubt the Obama administration is waging an all-out war on affordable energy. Instead of unmanned killer drones, red tape is the weapon of choice for this White House offensive. Unfortunately for President Obama's top general, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, the battle plan unraveled Tuesday.

President Obama is brushing off criticism from the Special Operations community over politicized national-security leaks and his exaggerated role in the Osama bin Laden takedown. Two new organizations, the Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund and Special Operations Speaks, have launched campaigns to highlight the president's exploitation of the military for political gain.

LINCOLN, Neb. , A former University of Nebraska women's basketball star faked an attack in which she is said to have carved anti-gay slurs into her skin because she felt it would spark change, police said Tuesday.

MALTA, Mont. , A conservation group said Tuesday it has bought a 150,000-acre Montana ranch in a major step toward its vision of a national park-caliber prairie wildlife preserve that has stoked fears of change in the heart of cattle country.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. , Chavis Carter's family hasn't accepted the official explanation for his death: that he was on meth when he fatally shot himself while his hands were cuffed behind him in the backseat of a patrol car in Arkansas.

ST. LOUIS (AP) , Rep. Todd Akin says his fellow Republicans have overreacted to his comments that women's bodies can prevent pregnancies in case of "legitimate rape." Akin told former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee on Huckabee's radio show Tuesday that he hasn't done anything morally or ethically wrong, but got a "word in the wrong place."

MOSCOW , Russian hackers have attacked the website of a Moscow court where three members of the Pussy Riot punk band were tried and sentenced to two years in jail. The Russian offshoot of the loose-knit movement known as Anonymous tweeted that the website of the Khamovniki district court was down Tuesday morning.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) , Tampa police say they have confiscated "suspicious" items from the rooftop of a downtown building located about a mile from where next week's Republican National Convention will be held. A police statement says the items included bricks and pipes but does not say what type of building was involved or who occupies it.