Politics

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D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray stressed accountability as he swore in Sandra Mattavous-Frye on Tuesday to her reappointment as the D.C. People's Counsel, an advocate for ratepayers in their disputes with utilities such as Pepco. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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President Obama's re-election campaign has rolled out ads criticizing Mitt Romney for sending jobs overseas while at Bain Capital. (Associated Press)

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Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev poses Tuesday with children in front of a store he visited on one of the Kuril Islands. Mr. Medvedev pledged to boost aid for four impoverished islands, ownership of which has been disputed by Tokyo since World War II. (Associated Press)

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H.E. Pavlos Anastasiades, ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus to the United States, is interviewed at The Washington Times in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, July 3, 2012. (Ryan M.L.Young/The Washington Times)

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With questions roiling about his company's inability to get the power back on, Pepco President Joseph Rigby's overall pay doubled last year, despite not getting an increase in his base salary. (Associated Press)

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First lady Dolley Madison rescued a portrait of George Washington when she fled the White House set afire by the British in August 1814. (Associated Press)

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The American flag flying at Fort McHenry during the War of 1812 inspired "The Star-Spangled Banner," but the war itself inspired little else. (Smithsonian Institution/National Museum of American History)

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Cicely Verstein is sworn into the Army at the Beckley Military Entrance Processing Station, Beckley, W. Va., by the station commander, Maj. Adam Clark, on Friday June 29. Verstein is the first woman to enlist in a combat arms support MOS since enlistment rules were changed in May.

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"I offered our sincere condolences to the families of the Pakistani soldiers who lost their lives. Foreign Minister Khar and I acknowledged the mistakes that resulted in the loss of Pakistani military lives." — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

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"The sanctions imposed against our country are the harshest and strongest ever imposed. If the enemies think they can weaken Iran with these sanctions, they are wrong." — Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian President

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Members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard celebrate a millile launch during maneuvers Tuesday in an undisclosed location in Iran. The military said the firings included a long-range missile capable of hitting U.S. bases in the region as well as Israel, Iranian media reported. The belligerent posturing came the same day technical experts from Iran and world powers, including the United States, were scheduled to meet in Istanbul for another round of talks. (IRNA news agency via Associated Press)