AFHGAN AUTHORITIES SAY TWO GUARDS AND AT LEAST FIVE ATTACKERS WERE KILLED AFTER A TALIBAN SUICIDE BOMBER AND FIVE GUNMEN ATTACKED A GUEST HOUSE OF AN INTL AID GROUP IN CAPITAL KABUL *

ATTACKS SET OFF A SHOOTOUT THAT LASTED FOR HOURS *

THE TALIBAN QUICKLY CLAIMED RESPONSIBILITY *

IT WAS THE SECOND MAJOR STRIKE IN KABUL IN JUST MORE THAN A WK *

INTL MONETARY FUND CHIEF CHRISTINE LAGARDE NAMED AS A KEY WITNESS IN AN INVESTIGATION INTO A CONTROVERSIAL PAYOFF TO A FRENCH BUSINESSMAN *

THE PAYOFF ALLEGEDLY HAPPENED WHILE SHE WAS FRANCE'S FINANCE MIN *

LAGARDE SAYS THE PARIS COURT HANDED HER THE STATUS OF "ASSISTING WITNESS" IN ITS PROBE OF A $520 MIL PAYOFF TO BUSINESS TYCOON BERNARD TAPIE *

LAGARDE COULD LATER BE CHARGED IN THE CASE *

PRES OBAMA WARNS NAVAL ACADEMY GRADUATES OF THE SERIOUSNESS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT IN THE ARMED FORCES *

IN A COMMENCEMENT SPEECH FRI IN ANNAPOLIS, MD, MR OBAMA SAID SEXUAL ASSAULT IS A CRIME THAT HAS "NO PLACE IN THE GREATEST MILITARY ON EARTH" *

SPEECH COMES IN THE MIDST OF WIDESPREAD REPORTS OF SUCH MISCONDUCT THROUGHOUT THE MILITARY *

A RECENT PENTAGON REPORT ESTIMATES UP TO 26,000 MILITARY MEMBERS MAY HAVE BEEN SEXUALLY ASSAULTED LAST YR AND THAT THOUSANDS MORE ARE UNWILLING TO COME FORWARD *

JURY FOREMAN IN JODI ARIAS' TRIAL SAYS THE PANEL COULDN'T DECIDE WHETHER ARIAS KILLING HER EX-BOYFRIEND WARRANTED A DEATH SENTENCE *

WILLIAM ZERVAKOS SAID THE JURORS THOUGHT IT WAS UNFAIR FOR 12 AVERAGE AMERICANS TO DECIDE ARIAS' FATE *

THE SAME JURY CONVICTED ARIAS OF FIRST-DEGREE MURDER ON MAY 8, IN THE 2008 KILLING OF HER EX-BOYFRIEND TRAVIS ALEXANDER *

THE JUDGE DECLARED A MISTRIAL THURSDAY AFTER THE JURY DEADLOCKED *

A NEW JURY WILL BE CHOSEN FOR A NEW PENALTY PHASE SET FOR JULY *

FED JUDGE RULES OFFICE OF SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO IN MARICOPA COUNTY, AZ, ENGAGES IN RACIAL PROFILING *

U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE MURRAY SNOW ALSO RULED FRI THAT PEOPLE STOPPED BY ARPAIO'S DEPUTIES ARE DETAINED FOR UNREASONABLY LONG PERIODS *

RULING BACKS UP ALLEGATIONS BY CRITICS SUCH AS THE ACLU THAT ARPAIO RELIES ON RACE IN ENFORCING IMMIGRATION *

ARPAIO HAS DENIED THE ALLEGATIONS *

WA GOV JAY INSLEE (D) SAYS FED OFFICIALS ARE SEARCHING FOR A TEMPORARY REPLACEMENT FOR THE I-5 BRIDGE THAT COLLAPSED INTO THE SKAGIT RIVER THURS NIGHT *

INSLEE SAYS REBUILDING THE 160-FOOT SECTION COULD TAKE MONTHS IF A REPLACEMENT CAN'T BE FOUND *

STATE OFFICIALS SAY AN OVERSIZED TRUCK CAUSED THE COLLAPSE AFTER HITTING AN OVERHEAD SPAN *

TWO VEHICLES PLUMMETED INTO THE WATER LEAVING THREE PEOPLE INJURED *

FDA RECEIVES REPORTS OF SEVEN CASES INVOLVING POTENTIALLY CONTAMINATED STEROID MEDICATIONS MADE BY A PHARMACY IN NEWBERN, TN *

INJECTIONS CONTAIN THE SAME DRUG AT THE CENTER OF LAST YR'S DEADLY FUNGAL MENINGITIS OUTBREAK THAT KILLED MORE THAN 50 PEOPLE *

THE PHARMACY HAS RECALLED THE PRODUCTS PENDING AN INVESTIGATION *

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FNC Chad Pergram: Senator Orrin Hatch latest

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Jun 27 2012 - 12:41 AM ET

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Urgent: Hatch Wins Primary, Avoids fate of Lugar
By: Chad Pergram and Cristina Marcos, FOX News
 
Longtime Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) clinched renomination Tuesday for the seat he has held since 1977. The Utah Republican faced his most significant intra-party challenge since taking office. 
 
Former Utah state Sen. Dan Liljenquist pushed Hatch into his first primary in the last 36 years after the incumbent failed to win enough delegates at the state’s GOP delegate convention in April. 
 
The Utah Republican convention system requires that a candidate win at least 60 percent of the delegates in order to advance to the general election. In the event no candidate garners the required number of delegates, the top two contenders go on to a primary. Hatch fell short by less than one percent.
 
But recent polling in the days before the primary election indicated that Hatch held a sizable lead over Liljenquist. But the challenger was also at a major fundraising disadvantage against Hatch, whose campaign spent about $10 million on the primary race. In contrast, Liljenquist spent $614,000 – with $400,000 of it money he loaned to his campaign.
 
Hatch, is one of the most-senior Republicans in the Senate and a 1976 classmate with Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN). Lugar lost a primary last month to Indiana state treasurer Richard Mourdock after being cast as too moderate and out of touch after nearly four decades in the Senate. It’s a situation Hatch also tried to avoid.
 
Liljenquist, 37, touted endorsements from former GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum and the tea party-affiliated group FreedomWorks. The organization spent nearly $900,000 on Liljenquist’s behalf.
 
Hatch backers had also feared the April GOP convention could echo the fate of his former Utah Republican Senate cohort Bob Bennett in 2010. 
 
Two years ago, Bennett finished in third place at the Utah Republican Convention in a harbinger of the tea party’s influence on the 2010 elections. Now-Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Tim Bridgewater faced off in a primary for which Bennett, the 17-year incumbent, did not even qualify.
 
At the time, Bennett’s loss sent shockwaves throughout the political world. A significant primary challenge to a senator with strong statewide approval ratings and who was considered one of the most conservative members of Congress had once seemed unlikely.
 
Many of the same activists who targeted Bennett also set their sights on unseating Hatch. They cast him as an out-of-touch conservative who had become entrenched in the ways of Washington. Hatch launched an intense delegate lobbying effort for delegates in the months ahead of the convention emphasizing how his seniority proved an advantage in the Senate, such as a higher rank on committees.
 
Hatch currently serves as the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. He previously chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1995 to 2001 and 2003 to 2005 while the GOP claimed a majority in the upper chamber.
 
 
 
 
Chad Pergram
Senior Producer
U.S. House of Representatives
FOX News

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