Presidential debate: Libya questioner says Obama didn't answer  —  Kerry Ladka stood before President Obama at last night's town hall-style debate and asked the question that would touch off an onstage verbal brawl and, later, an intense national discussion.  Here's how it went:

Terrorist attempts to blow up Federal Reserve Bank  —  A Bangladeshi terrorist tried to blow up the Federal Reserve Bank in Lower Manhattan this morning using a 1,000-pound bomb, according to a criminal complaint.  —  Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, 21, of Jamaica, Queens …

In full-page newspaper ad, 13 Iowa voters apologize for supporting Obama in 2008  —  A full-page Mitt Romney campaign ad in today's Cedar Rapids Gazette takes the form of an open letter from 13 Iowans who say they voted for President Barack Obama in 2008 but regret their choice and won't do so again in 2012.

In Conference Call, Romney Urged Businesses To Tell Their Employees How to Vote  —  In a June 6, 2012 conference call posted on the anti-union National Federation of Independent Business's website, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney instructed employers to tell their employees how to vote in the upcoming election.

Jeremy Epstein, First Questioner in Debate, Says He's No Longer Undecided  —  The 20-year-old college student asked whether he will be able to get a job when he graduates  —  The Long Island college student who asked President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney the first question …

Bloomberg Jumps Into '12 Races With New ‘Super PAC’  —  Seeking to reshape a national political debate he finds frustratingly superficial, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York is plunging into the 2012 campaign in its final weeks, creating his own “super PAC” to direct millions of dollars …

Poll: Race Tied in Wisconsin  —  A new poll released Wednesday shows President Obama and Mitt Romney tied in Wisconsin  —  , erasing the significant lead that Obama had built following the Democratic convention and putting the state's 10 electoral votes firmly in play.

At Last Night's Debate: Romney Told 31 Myths In 41 Minutes  —  But at his second encounter with Obama in New York, the GOP presidential candidate — who has run a post-truth campaign from day one — outdid himself and crammed 31 myths in 41 minutes:  —  1) “I want to make sure we keep our Pell grant program growing.

Romney Bizarrely Claims Automatic Weapons Are ‘Illegal’ in the US  —  This is truly one of the strangest claims I've ever seen a presidential candidate make during a debate. … This is right up there with Ford's “Eastern Europe” gaffe.  —  What the hell is Romney talking about?

Google: Obama Won The Debate  —  And everyone's searching for “binders full of women.”  —  View Entire List ›

Wage-gap debate questioner Katherine Fenton “absolutely not” a feminist  —  The 24-year-old teacher who asked about workplace inequality during the debate claims she's still undecided  —  It took roughly 30 seconds after she asked about the wage gap last night for the right …

Reaping the Whirlwind  —  On reading the transcript and listening to the audio of last week's Supreme Court argument in the University of Texas affirmative action case, my primary reaction was one of embarrassment — for the court and also for Texas.  —  First the court.

Police Taser blind man mistaking his white stick for a samurai sword  —  The IPPC is investigating an incident in Chorley, where an innocent person was struck by a 50,000-volt stun gun  —  An innocent blind man was shot in the back with a 50,000-volt Taser by police after they mistook his white stick for a samurai sword.

After an Outburst on Twitter, The Times Reinforces Its Social Media Guidelines  —  Updated Below  —  Last week, I wrote about the insulting and profane Twitter messages by Andrew Goldman, a freelance writer at The Times, to the author Jennifer Weiner.  At the end of that post …

The Four Ls and Four States: What's Next in the Obama-Romney Duel  —  From now until the third and final presidential debate, and quite probably even after that, President Obama and Mitt Romney will fight on the ground, over the airwaves, and in social media over the four Ls and four swing states.

Maricopa County Elections Department admits error on date of general election on voter ID cards  —  PHOENIX, AZ - The Maricopa County Elections Department mistakenly listed the wrong date of the upcoming general election on an official government document.  —  The error appears on a document containing a voter ID card.

In U.S., Unadjusted Unemployment at 7.3% in Mid-October  —  Unemployment, underemployment lowest since Gallup began tracking  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. unemployment, as measured by Gallup without seasonal adjustment, is 7.3% in mid-October, down considerably from 7.9% at the end of September …