Brian Naylor

For months now, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump have been sparring at each other from afar. On Monday they'll do it face to face, on a stage at Hofstra University on Long Island in New York.

Debates have been a mainstay of presidential campaigns, it seems forever. But that's not quite the case: The first general election debate didn't occur until 1960, in a Chicago TV studio, between Vice President Richard M. Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy.

Monday's debate between Clinton and Trump will take place on the 56th anniversary of that first debate.

The upcoming presidential election will mark a surprising first. Yes, a woman will be on the ballot as a major party nominee. But in addition, for the first time ever, the Organization of American States is sending poll observers to watch as U.S. voting takes place.

The OAS, based in Washington, D.C., has previously observed elections in 26 of its 34 member nations, but never before in the United States. The mission will be led by former Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla.

Hillary Clinton's begrudging release of information related to her health on Sunday follows a pattern set by candidates and many who have won the Oval Office.

It is a pattern of secrecy and, in some cases, cover-ups that would be scandalous if they occurred on other issues of policy.

The Federal Communications Commission has seen the future of cable TV, and it looks like the apps on your smartphone.

One of the questions raised over the course of this year's presidential race is about how a President Trump would deal with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

One reason to wonder: the Republican Party platform's new language on policy towards Ukraine.

When Republican Party leaders drafted the platform prior to their convention in Cleveland last month, they had relatively little input from the campaign of then-presumptive nominee Donald Trump on most issues — except when it came to a future Republican administration's stance on Ukraine.

Now that the political conventions are over, its time to start thinking about the transition to the next president.

Yes, really.

As of August 1st, the federal government is making office space available to representatives of the Clinton and Trump campaigns to start making plans for taking over in January. If this seems a bit early, those who have been there say it's not.

"This is the most complicated takeover, not only on the planet, but in history," says Max Stier, President of the Partnership For Public Service.

Donald Trump is running for president as a Washington outsider. Yet to manage his campaign, he's picked someone who is very much a Washington insider. Paul Manafort has been a political operative and lobbyist for years, including for some controversial figures seeking to influence U.S. politics.

The Republican Party, as it prepares for its convention next week has checked off item No. 1 on its housekeeping list — drafting a party platform. The document reflects the conservative views of its authors, many of whom are party activists. So don't look for any concessions to changing views among the broader public on key social issues.

There are some big companies out there that you've probably never heard of, that know more about you than you can imagine.

They're called data brokers, and they collect all sorts of information — names, addresses, income, where you go on the Internet and who you connect with online. That information is then sold to other companies. There are few regulations governing these brokers.

The global economy is "here" and "done," President Obama said Wednesday — the question now is under what terms it will be shaped.

Obama spoke at a news conference that was dominated by questions about global trade, the effects of Brexit, and Donald Trump. It followed a summit meeting with the leaders of Canada and Mexico in Ottawa.

The House Benghazi Committee has released its findings on the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Libya.

The 800-page report found that despite President Obama and then Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's "clear orders," the military failed to immediately send a force to Benghazi and that nothing was en route to Libya at the time the last two Americans were killed — almost eight hours after the attacks began.

The Orlando shooter, Omar Mateen, claimed allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State during a phone call to 911 early Sunday. And that's reignited a debate over how to label the ideology that apparently inspired the attack.

Republican Donald Trump and many on the right say it's "radical Islam." But Democrat Hillary Clinton used a different term: "radical Islamism." It's not just a debate over semantics.

Updated at 12:44 p.m. ET

President Obama met with Bernie Sanders on Thursday morning at the White House. Now that Hillary Clinton has clinched the Democratic nomination, the question on the minds of many Democrats is when the Vermont senator will give up his fight for the party's presidential nomination.

This week marks a year since the government first revealed that hackers had stolen personnel files of some 4 million current and former federal employees.