A.M. Links: Germany Getting Closer to China as U.S. Hopes They Can Work Things Out, Bomb Blast Kills at Least 16 in Kabul, Israel Conducts Air Strikes in Gaza

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  • it was definitely all those times you tapped her phone and read through her emails
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    Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, visited Beijing, where she and China's president, Xi Jinping, pledged to increase strategic cooperation between the two countries. The White House, meanwhile, says it hopes the U.S. and Germany can maintain a friendly relationship despite growing outrage over U.S. spying in Germany.

  • The losing presidential candidate in Afghanistan is disputing the results and may form a parallel government in Kabul. A bomb killed at least 16 people outside of the capital, including 4 NATO troops, as Secretary of State John Kerry warned against any attempt to take power by "extra legal means."
  • Israel has launched an aerial offensive in Gaza after militants in the Palestinian territory fired at least 80 rockets into Israel yesterday.
  • The real Internal Revenue Service scandal is that it hasn't been funded enough, because of Republicans, according to The New York Times, a "newspaper of record."
  • Mississippi State Sen. Chris McDaniel, who unsuccessfully challenged six-term incumbent Sen. Thad Cochran in the Republican primary held last month, is alleging voter fraud. Mississippi has a voter ID law but McDaniel's lawyer says the real voter fraud happens in absentee ballots.
  • A math professor used the Amazon Kindle "Popular Highlights" feature to measure which bestseller is likely the least read. Thomas Piketty's Capital in the 21st Century came in first.