House Republicans repudiate McCarthy comments on Benghazi probe  — McCarthy said Tuesday night that the GOP-led Congress had succeeded by bringing down Clinton's poll numbers because of the Benghazi probe  —  Washington (CNN)House Republicans on Wednesday sharply repudiated …

First on CNN: Biden expected to skip first Democratic debate  —  Washington (CNN)Vice President Joe Biden has extended his window for deciding whether to jump into the 2016 presidential campaign, several Democrats say, allowing the contest to play out even longer before he answers …

Putin wants to humiliate Obama with airstrikes in Syria  —  Barack Obama extends his hand to Vladimir Putin during their meeting at the United Nations General Assembly.  —  The first thing to understand about Vladimir Putin is that he's not content just to win.  He has to destroy his opponents, foreign or domestic.

Secret Service official wanted to embarrass congressman  —  An assistant director of the Secret Service urged that unflattering information the agency had in its files about a congressman ­critical of the service should be made public, according to a government watchdog report released Wednesday.

Emails: Russia-linked hackers tried to access Clinton server  —  2 photos  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Russia-linked hackers tried at least five times to pry into Hillary Rodham Clinton's private email account while she was secretary of state, emails released Wednesday show.

Crunch time for candidates  —  <p>Rand Paul has a place on the GOP debate stage — for now.</p><p>But the debate rules announced Wednesday by CNBC could end up spelling disaster for the Kentucky senator and several other high-profile candidates — including Gov. Chris Christie and former …

GOP grapples over scope of budget deal  —  Senate Republicans are debating how far to go in budget talks with President Obama and Democratic leaders that would set spending levels for the federal government and possibly raise the debt ceiling.  —  The big question is how far Senate Majority …

Kissinger Biography Is Great, Says Pal of Author and Kissinger in New York Times  —  This Sunday, the New York Times Book Review will publish a review of the first volume of Niall Ferguson's authorized biography of Henry Kissinger, Kissinger: The Idealist.  The reviewer is Andrew Roberts.

Cougar sightings rattle residents  —  Big cats seen in Lucerne Valley, Hesperia

Why Pope Francis' Meeting With Kim Davis Is Such a Disaster  —  I woke up this morning to reports that during his recent U.S. visit, Pope Francis met with Kim Davis, a Kentucky county clerk best known for refusing to issue lawful marriage licenses, interfering with the ability of her deputies …

State to close 5 parks, cut back services at driver license offices  —  State parks and driver license offices were the first casualties announced because of the reduced state budget, which goes into effect Thursday.  —  The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency announced today that driver license examiners …

Trump: If I win, I'll send Syrian refugees back  —  Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump says if he takes the White House, he will send back Syrian refugees coming to the U.S.  —  “I'm putting the people on notice that are coming here from Syria as part of this mass migration,” he told an audience in Keene, N.H.

Improving Mobile Profiles  —  People visit Facebook profiles more than four billion times per day, and we're continually looking for ways to make profiles the best place for people to curate their online identities and connect with others.  —  Today, we're unveiling some new, mobile-friendly features for Facebook profiles.

A Chief Justice Without a Friend  —  Lest anyone suppose that the beating Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. is taking from Republican candidates might cause liberals to enfold him in a comforting embrace, the current issue of The Nation puts that thought to rest.

'This wasn't an abortion': CNN forces anti-Planned Parenthood group to admit Fiorina was wrong  —  DON'T MISS STORIES.  FOLLOW RAW STORY!  —  David Daleiden, the project lead Center for Medical Progress' anti-Planned Parenthood campaign, admitted on Wednesday that an alleged fetus on a table …