While America's political class obsesses over Eric Cantor's stunning defeat, a perhaps more predictable — if dramatically more serious — defeat is taking place on the foreign stage. In this case, it is the Iraqi army that appears to be getting walloped. From The Guardian:

"Iraq is facing its gravest test since the U.S.-led invasion more than a decade ago, after its army capitulated to Islamist insurgents who have seized four cities and pillaged military bases and banks, in a lightning campaign which seems poised to fuel a cross-border insurgency endangering the entire region.

... Iraqi officials told the Guardian that two divisions of Iraqi soldiers — roughly 30,000 men — simply turned and ran in the face of the assault by an insurgent force of just 800 fighters. Isis extremists roamed freely on Wednesday through the streets of Mosul, openly surprised at the ease with which they took Iraq's second largest city after three days of sporadic fighting." [The Guardian]

For those wondering how the U.S. — after investing (wisely or not) so much in the region — could allow this to happen, the suggestion that Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki secretly asked the U.S. to consider airstrikes against the militants will surely be a sticking point.

That, coupled with New Yorker writer Dexter Filkins' prior reporting that, when it came to whether or not the U.S. should have left a residual force behind in Iraq, "every single senior [Iraqi] political leader, no matter what party or what group, including Maliki, said to them privately, we want you to stay," seems to buttress the argument that Obama dropped the ball on winning the peace.

Some, of course, will blame George W. Bush for starting the whole mess. But for a president who once seemed poised to reverse the Democratic Party's anemic foreign policy image, the potential question over "Who lost Iraq" would be yet another serious indictment of the "Obama doctrine." Matt K. Lewis

President Trump is expected to retain Marc Kasowitz as his personal attorney to represent him in the investigation, led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, people close to Trump and Kasowitz told ABC News Tuesday.

Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP has represented Trump in the restructuring of his business debt and defamation cases, and the firm's website says Kasowitz has worked with Trump "on a wide range of litigation matters for over 15 years." The White House has not responded to ABC News' request for comment. Catherine Garcia

His network has retracted a story about the 2016 death of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich, and Rich's parents have written an appeal for people to "stop politicizing" their son's murder, but Fox News host Sean Hannity is refusing to back down.

"I am not Fox.com or FoxNews.com," he snapped on his radio show Tuesday. "I retracted nothing." The Hannity host made his comments after Fox News retracted its story from May 16, which alleged that Rich had been in contact with WikiLeaks before he was shot and killed; police say he was likely murdered during a botched robbery. There is no evidence that shows Rich's death was related to WikiLeaks releasing hacked DNC material, and following outrage from the public and Rich's family, Fox News said the story "was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting. Upon appropriate review, the article was found not to meet those standards and has since been removed."

Hannity, whose executive producer received a letter from the Rich family asking that the show stop peddling a false narrative, said he has an "agenda to get to the truth. I'm not saying I have answers yet, but I'm digging deep, and I have a lot more information than all of you do at this point." He also said that people who are "accusing me of pushing a conspiracy theory, you are the biggest hypocrites in the entire world."

Not long after Hannity's outburst, The Washington Post published an op-ed written by Mary and Joel Rich under the headline, "We're Seth Rich's parents. Stop politicizing our son's murder." The conspiracy theories being pushed regarding their son's death are "baseless" and "unspeakably cruel," they wrote, and "the amount of pain and anguish this has caused us is unbearable. With every conspiratorial flare-up, we are forced to relive Seth's murder and a small piece of us dies as more of Seth's memory is torn away from us." Catherine Garcia

The U.K. has increased its terrorist threat level to the highest possible "critical" for the first time in a decade, British Prime Minister Theresa May announced Tuesday. The designation means a terror attack is considered "imminent" and allows for military personnel to be deployed instead of police officers at public events.

The decision comes after a lone male suicide bomber detonated an explosive Monday night near the Manchester Arena in England, where the singer Ariana Grande was performing. At least 22 people were killed and 59 injured in the blast. "The work undertaken throughout the day has revealed that it is a possibility that we cannot ignore, that there is a wider group of individuals linked to this attack," May said.

Police identified 22-year-old Salman Abedi as the bomber, and the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack over social media. Police on Tuesday also arrested a 23-year-old man in Manchester in connection with the attack. Becca Stanek

Former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, of Arizona's Maricopa County, has had a lot more time on his hands since he lost re-election in November. While catching up with The New York Times in an interview published Tuesday, Arpaio — who once called himself "America's toughest sheriff" — said he now likes to spend his time driving his red Cadillac or googling himself. "I average six Googles a day," Arpaio said, noting the number of new mentions that pop up each time he enters his name in Google.

Arpaio enjoyed a stint in the national spotlight last year for his tough views on immigration and his strong support of now-President Trump. That all came to a screeching halt when his bid for a seventh consecutive term was unsuccessful, ending his 24-year career and leaving his once 14-hour workdays empty.

But Arpaio still has his mentions: The New York Times reported that, "by his own tally, which he was typewritten on loose sheets of paper, he has been profiled in more than 4,000 national and foreign newspapers, magazines, and TV programs."

Read more of Arpaio's thoughts on his career — which he still talks about "in the present tense" — at The New York Times. Becca Stanek

It only comes once a year, but World Turtle Day has brought out the testudinate-loving members of Congress — and their adorable photos.

Here is Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) helping a turtle cross a street:

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), in typical fashion, used the opportunity to call for action:

And last but not least, tender-hearted Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) recalled a visit to the Turtle Hospital with his family, proving that #WorldTurtleDay can bring together both sides of the aisle and perhaps achieve world peace:

While he remained conspicuously silent on what surely must be his favorite day of the year, it would be negligent not to add former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's own throwback to the mix. Jeva Lange

The World Health Organization has elected former Ethiopian health minister Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to serve as its next director-general, the United Nations agency announced Tuesday after three rounds of voting. Tedros, who goes by his first name, will be the first African to head WHO.

Tedros ran against Britain's David Nabarro, who headed up the U.N.'s response to the Ebola outbreak in 2014, and Sania Nishtar, Pakistan's first female cardiologist. The New York Times reported that during Tedros' tenure as Ethiopia's health minister, he "drastically cut deaths" from malaria, AIDS, tuberculosis, and neonatal problems; trained 40,000 women to be health workers; and greatly increased the number of graduates from medical school. During the election, however, Tedros faced accusations of covering up cholera outbreaks in Ethiopia, as well of being complicit in his home country's human rights violations.

Tedros will take over for Margaret Chan, who has headed the agency since 2006, on July 1. Becca Stanek

Fox News on Tuesday officially retracted its conspiracy theory about murdered Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich. In a statement, Fox News admitted that its "scoop" published May 16, alleging that Rich was in touch with WikiLeaks just before being "mysteriously" murdered, was "not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny" usually required.

"Upon appropriate review, the article was found not to meet those standards and has since been removed," the statement said.

Rich's family has been ardently denying the story since its publication, saying such conspiracy theories are harmful to "the memory and reputation of Seth Rich." Washington, D.C., police have reported Rich was killed in what was likely a botched attempted robbery. Moreover, Fox News' source, private investigator Rod Wheeler, admitted nearly a week ago that his only source for the story was a reporter at Fox News and that he had no actual evidence to back the conspiracy.

Fox News host Sean Hannity was still pushing the story as recently as Tuesday morning, enraging even his fellow anchors. Just over an hour before the retraction was published, Hannity was tweeting about Rich.

Fox News vowed in its statement that it would "continue to investigate this story" and "provide updates as warranted." Becca Stanek