Ben Carson's unusual theory about pyramids  —  NAPLES, Florida — Ben Carson stood by his long-held belief about ancient pyramids in Egypt, that they were used to store grain, rather than to inter pharaohs.  —  Asked about this Wednesday, Carson told CBS News, “It's still my belief, yes.”

Elder Bush Says His Son Was Served Badly by Aides  —  WASHINGTON — After years of holding back, former President George Bush has finally broken his public silence about some of the key figures in his son's administration, issuing scathing critiques of Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

Bernie Sanders Takes Gloves Off Against Hillary Clinton in Interview  —  Democratic presidential candidate draws sharper distinctions with front-runner, casting her policy reversals as a character issue  —  Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is drawing sharper distinctions …

Carson Best-Liked of All Presidential Candidates  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Political novice Ben Carson retains his formidable edge in popularity over his Republican presidential rivals, with a net favorable score of +59 among Republicans nationwide.  But Carson is popular not only with Republicans …

Right-wing media aims at Rubio  —  Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has a conservative media problem.  —  Rubio's past support for immigration reform infuriated some of the big-name conservative media personalities who backed his upstart Tea Party bid in 2010, and they're taking retribution now that he's rising in the presidential polls.

Tonight, going through all of your questions, I wanted to touch on a few issues that seem to be asked by many people.  —  I would like to deal with one question tonight in some detail.  The issue is experience.  Several people ask what they should tell their friends when people say “I like Carson but he has no political experience”.

Pentagon Farmed Out Its Coding to Russia  —  By Patrick Malone, Center for Public Integrity  —  The Pentagon was tipped off in 2011 by a longtime Army contractor that Russian computer programmers were helping to write computer software for sensitive U.S. military communications systems …

White House releases text of Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal  —  The much-anticipated release of the final text of a sweeping Asia-Pacific trade agreement became a reality on Thursday morning, kicking off what is expected to amount to months of intensive debate on Capitol Hill.

In Houston, Hate Trumped Fairness  —  Sometime in the near future, a transgender teenager in Texas will attempt suicide — and maybe succeed — because vilifying people for their gender identity remains politically acceptable in America.  —  The hateful rhetoric of leaders like Gov. Greg Abbott …

U.S. Detects Flurry of Iranian Hacking  —  American officials say they believe cyberattacks tied to arrest in Tehran of Iranian-American businessman  —  Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard military force hacked email and social-media accounts of Obama administration officials in recent weeks …

House Passes Highway Bill Under New Speaker Paul Ryan  —  Measure would revive Export-Import Bank that expired June 30  —  Bill may become first multiyear highway law since 2012  —  The House passed a long-term U.S. highway funding plan Thursday, handing new Speaker Paul Ryan a legislative victory …

How Richard Nixon Created Hillary Clinton  —  Hillary Clinton's Benghazi testimony, in all its layered meaning, overpowers cogent analysis and even neutral description.  It was unsettling, strange, riveting—and without any true precedent: A front-runner for her party's presidential nomination …

UC Merced stabbing suspect identified as Faisal Mohammad after he was shot dead  —  A student who stabbed four people inside a classroom at the University of California, Merced, before he was killed by police has been identified.  —  Faisal Mohammad, a freshman from Santa Clara who majored …