Maher, Affleck tussle on radical Islam  —  Political comedian Bill Maher got into a heated back and forth Friday with Ben Affleck over radical Islam, with the actor saying comments Maher made about the religion were “gross and racist.”  —  On HBO's “Real Time,” Maher said he and author Sam Harris …

Charlotte Lucas' Facebook rant about ‘minorities’ raises eyebrows  —  INDIANAPOLIS - A Facebook rant from a prominent Indianapolis figure was raising eyebrows Friday, Call 6 Investigator Rafael Sanchez reported.  —  Call 6 Investigators obtained a Facebook posting from Charlotte Lucas …

CDC officials rush to Newark Airport to meet Liberian passenger flying from Brussels who ‘showed symptoms of Ebola’  —  By MIA DE GRAAF FOR MAILONLINE and KIERAN CORCORAN FOR MAILONLINE  —  CDC officials have rushed to Newark Liberty International Airport after a passenger believed to be from Liberia showed symptoms of Ebola.

The new and improved Jindal  —  Bobby Jindal is working to show voters he's more than a wooden wonk by loosening up on the campaign trail.  —  Now, with a new and improved, more relaxed demeanor, some conservatives are taking a second look at the Louisiana governor for 2016 after largely writing …

Will Iowa break up with Obama?  —  Iowa voters may be on the verge of ending their love affair with President Obama.  —  Republican Senate candidate Joni Ernst holds a lead in polls over Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley in a state Democrats once assumed they'd hold on to easily.

The Walrus and the Politicians  —  Let's consider the walrus crisis.  —  They're piling up in Alaska.  About 35,000 walruses have formed what looks to be a humongous brown ball along the northern coast.  A mass of critters, some weighing 4,000 pounds, are pressed shoulder to shoulder — or flipper to flipper.

Air strikes against Isis are not working, say Syrian Kurds  —  Isis fighters have pushed to the edge of Kobani, undeterred by western strikes, says city official  —  Isis fighters have pushed to within little more than a mile of the centre of the city of Kobani, undeterred by western air strikes …

Dallas Hospital Alters Account, Raising Questions on Ebola Case  —  DALLAS — Health officials' handling of the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States continued to raise questions Friday, after the hospital that is treating the patient and that mistakenly sent him home when he first came …

Courts will decide if chimps should have same rights as humans  —  It's the “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.”  —  A New York appeals court next week will consider whether chimps should have the same rights as human beings.  —  The extraordinary proceeding is the result of a lengthy battle …

Before Kodiak debate, a backstage flare-up between Young and Dunbar  —  The combative fisheries debate in Kodiak Wednesday night between U.S. Rep Don Young and his Democratic opponent offered plenty of fireworks, but there was a bristling prelude to the onstage tussle that came …

The Most Ambitious Environmental Lawsuit Ever  —  A refinery and wetlands near Myrtle Grove, La. Credit: Jeff Riedel for The New York Times  —  In Louisiana, the most common way to visualize the state's existential crisis is through the metaphor of football fields.

Little Bobby, Now in Full Backtracking Mode  —  Robert F.  “Little Bobby” Kennedy Jr is trying to backtrack from his latest foam-flecked calls for jailing climate skeptics.  He's taken the pages of EcoWatch.com (what—was Salon.com out of pixels that day?) to affect a denialist pose (heh) of his own previous very clear words: