Conservatives cool to Ryan as Speaker  —  Conservatives are not sold on the idea of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) as Speaker.  —  While top House Republicans are trying to push a reluctant Ryan into the job, on the grounds that he alone can unify the conference, conservative lawmakers gave …

Facebook engagement announcement accidentally reveals something else  —  Share Update: … A couple wanted to let everyone know they're getting married, so they went to Facebook.  —  The picture they posted shows the woman with her fiancé pointing to the ring on her finger.

Iranian General Killed in Syria  —  Iranian state media says Brig. Gen Hossein Hamedani was killed near Aleppo by Islamic State  —  BEIRUT—A top Iranian military commander who played a crucial role in Tehran's efforts to defend the Syrian regime was killed in the outskirts of the northern Syrian city …

It's All Benghazi  —  So Representative Kevin McCarthy, who was supposed to succeed John Boehner as speaker of the House, won't be pursuing the job after all.  He would have faced a rough ride both winning the post and handling it under the best of circumstances, thanks to the doomsday caucus …

Massive El Niño is now ‘too big to fail,’ scientist says  —  An El Niño that is among the strongest on record is gaining strength in the Pacific Ocean, and climate scientists say California is likely to face a wet winter.  —  “There's no longer a possibility that El Niño wimps out at this point.

Judge tosses four of five counts against Rand Paul aide  —  <p>A federal judge on Friday threw out four of five counts stemming from a campaign fraud case against Jesse Benton, a top political adviser to Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.</p><p>In August, Benton was indicted on charges of concealing payments …

Twitter Is Planning Company-Wide Layoffs for Next Week  —  Jack Dorsey was named permanent CEO of Twitter on Monday, and a big reason he got the job was that as a co-founder, Dorsey isn't afraid to make the tough, necessary decisions.  He isn't wasting much time.

Obama weighs expanding background checks through executive authority  —  In response to the latest mass shooting during his presidency, President Obama is seriously considering circumventing Congress with his executive authority and imposing new background-check requirements for buyers who purchase weapons from high-volume gun dealers.

ISIS's 20st executioner The Bulldozer brings terror to captured Iraqi towns  —  The obese extremist known only as ‘The Bulldozer’ (pictured) has beheaded unarmed men and amputated young children as part of the terror group's ‘Chopping Committee’.  Despite his notoriety and unmissable …

Clemson University apologizes for serving Mexican food  — Clemson Dining issued an apology to ‘offended’ students after hosting a ‘Maximum Mexican’ food day.  — Students took to Twitter to call the event culturally insensitive and to question the school's efforts to promote diversity.

Kevin McCarthy's exit came after receiving personal threat over affair allegations  —  “Why not resign like Bob Livingston?”