Right flexes muscle ahead of Speaker vote  —  The conservative House Freedom Caucus on Wednesday endorsed little-known Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.) for Speaker — a bold move that raises serious doubts about whether Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy can cobble together the 218 votes on the House floor he needs to be promoted.

Carson: I faced a gunman  —  GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson, under fire for advice about what to do when facing a gunman, late Wednesday recounted the time when a gun was pointed at him.  —  “I have had a gun held on me when I was in a Popeye's,” Carson told host Karen Hunter on Sirius XM Radio …

Inside Bernie Sanders' unorthodox debate prep … Hillary Clinton has had aides lined up to run her debate prep for months.  A Washington super lawyer is mimicking Sanders and her top policy staffer is acting as Martin O'Malley.  —  Bernie Sanders started studying for next Tuesday's event not even a full week ago.

Did Barack Obama do enough for his own community?  —  There is a photo by Pete Souza, the White House's canny and peripatetic photographer, that surfaces from time to time online.  The setting is Marine One, and it features a modest cast of five.  Valerie Jarrett, dressed in a suit of blazing pink, is staring at her cell phone.

Russia's Syria intervention may force choice on Obama: Act or yield  —  Russia's military moves in Syria are fundamentally changing the face of the country's civil war, putting President Bashar al-Assad back on his feet, and may complicate the Obama administration's plans to expand its air operations against the Islamic State.

Video shows judge berating, sentencing domestic violence victim to jail  —  SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. —  Channel 9 has obtained video from a Seminole County courtroom where an emotional domestic violence victim was sentenced to three days in jail for failing to show up for her abuser's trial.

GOP faces debt-limit divide  —  With less than a month to go until the Nov. 5 deadline, congressional Republicans are divided on what strategy to adopt in the fight over the debt ceiling.  —  Conservatives see the looming debt hike as leverage that could be used to extract concessions from the Obama administration.

Hear it for yourself: 911 call released from Ohio man ‘too high’ on pot … AUSTINTOWN, OH - The 911 call has been released after an Austintown man called 911 last week because he was “too high on weed.”  —  When officers arrived, they were directed to an upstairs bedroom by the caller's grandfather.

Ben Carson stumbles on debt limit question  —  Ben Carson appeared to have some difficulty in explaining exactly whether he would support raising the debt limit in a recent interview.  —  “Let me put it this way: if I were the president, I would not sign an increased budget.  Absolutely would not do it.

Accused Oregon Shooter Discharged From Army After Suicide Attempt  —  Christopher Harper-Mercer left basic training after just one month in 2008  —  The gunman who allegedly killed nine people and wounded nine others at a rural community college in Oregon last Thursday had been discharged …

Impeach the IRS director  —  “Look,” wrote Lois Lerner, echoing Horace Greeley, “my view is that Lincoln was our worst president not our best.  He should [have] let the [S]outh go.  We really do seem to have 2 totally different mindsets.”  Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune …

White House threatens veto on crude oil exports bill  —  The Obama administration has formally threatened a veto on a House bill that would lift the federal ban on crude oil exports.  —  In a statement of administration policy, the Office of Management and Budget said that …

Stores Must Keep Doors Closed if Air-Conditioning Is On  —  Starting next summer, nearly all shops and restaurants in New York City will be required to keep front doors and windows shut while their air-conditioners and cooling systems are running.  —  The requirement, which became law on Wednesday …

Hillary Clinton on TPP then  —  HILLARY CLINTON ON TPP THEN — While at State, Hillary Clinton called TPP the “gold standard in trade agreements.”  In “Hard Choices,” which Clinton sent to all the GOP candidates, she said TPP “would link markets throughout Asia and the Americas …

Clinton e-mails were vulnerable to hackers, tech firm warned … Most Read

Svetlana Alexievich Wins Nobel Prize in Literature  —  Svetlana Alexievich, a Belarussian journalist and prose writer, won the Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday “for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time,” the Swedish Academy announced.

America's Gun Madness, as Seen From Europe  —  PANTIN, France — My mother lives near Roseburg, Ore. Her part of the world isn't often in the news in France.  But when I woke up last Friday morning, the mass shooting on the Umpqua Community College campus in Roseburg had made the French morning television news.