CNN Poll: In North Carolina Senate race, Libertarian could be spoiler  —  (CNN) — In one of the most closely-watched Senate races of the year, incumbent Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan of North Carolina holds a narrow three-point advantage over her Republican challenger, according to a new CNN/ORC International survey.

Vatican Paedophilia Scandal: Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski Stored Over 100,000 Child Porn Videos  —  A former Vatican archbishop accused of paedophilia stored tens of thousands of child porn videos and photos on a computer in his office at the Holy See diplomatic compound in the Dominican Republic, it has emerged.

The Cult Deficit  —  LIKE most children of the Reagan era, I grew up with a steady diet of media warnings about the perils of religious cults — the gurus who lurked in wait for the unwary and confused, offering absolute certainty with the aftertaste of poisoned Kool-Aid.

Who Had It Easier, Reagan or Obama?  —  OVER the past few weeks I've been reading Ken Adelman's fascinating history “Reagan at Reykjavik: Forty-Eight Hours That Ended the Cold War.”  Adelman, who led Reagan's arms control agency, was an adviser at Reagan's 1986 Iceland summit meeting with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.

Secret Service fumbled response after gunman hit White House residence in 2011  —  The gunman parked his black Honda directly south of the White House, in the dark of a November night, in a closed lane of Constitution Avenue.  He pointed his long, semiautomatic rifle out of the passenger window …

From Pen and Phone to Bombs and Drones  —  WASHINGTON — THE president was at the United Nations on Wednesday urging young people across the Muslim world to reject benighted values, even as America clambers into bed with a bunch of Middle East potentates who espouse benighted values.

Cruz clinches straw poll gold again  —  Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz won the Value Voters Summit presidential straw poll on Saturday.  —  The crowd burst onto applause on Saturday, as Family Research Council President Tony Perkins announced that Cruz won 25 percent of votes at the annual Washington conference.

Woman is heard screaming from her coffin after being ‘buried alive’  —  Screaming could be heard coming from the coffin (not pictured) after it was buried (Picture: Getty)  —  A cemetery worker got the fright of his life when he heard a woman screaming from inside her buried coffin.

‘This Week’ Transcript: House Speaker John Boehner  —  Below is the rush transcript of “This Week” on September 28th, 2014.  It may contain errors.  —  STEPHANOPOULOS: It's an aggressive swing through deep blue territory—  BOEHNER: We've got 41 more days and we're going to get it finished.

Ferguson police officer shot in arm after interrupting alleged attempted burglary  —  (KMOV.com) - Authorities responded to a call for an officer shot in north St. Louis County late Saturday night.  —  St. Louis County Police reported a male police officer from Ferguson …

Obama: U.S. underestimated rise of ISIS in Iraq and Syria  —  The U.S. had expected the Iraqi army to do more against extremists, president says in acknowledgment of intelligence shortcomings  —  President Obama acknowledged that the U.S. underestimated the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria …

At CIA Starbucks, even the baristas are covert  —  The new supervisor thought his idea was innocent enough.  He wanted the baristas to write the names of customers on their cups to speed up lines and ease confusion, just like other Starbucks do around the world.  —  But these aren't just any customers.

James Traficant, 1941-2014  —  If I sported a hairpiece, I'd be wearing it at half-mast right about now, upon hearing that the world just grew a little less interesting.  For the most colorful man who ever inhabited Congress, former Ohio Democratic Rep. James A .  Traficant Jr., expired today at the age of 73.