Top Carson staffers resign  —  Ben Carson's top aides have resigned, casting the retired neurosurgeon's campaign into chaos just a month before the Iowa caucuses.  —  Carson's campaign manager Barry Bennett and communications director Doug Watts announced Thursday they will leave the team.

Donald Trump's Strongest Supporters: A Certain Kind of Democrat  —  Donald Trump holds a dominant position in national polls in no small part because he is extremely strong among people on the periphery of the Republican coalition.  —  He is strongest among Republicans who are less affluent …

Obama set to unveil curbs on gun sellers  —  President Barack Obama's bid to assert himself in his final year will begin with long-awaited executive actions on gun control, expected to be released next week, shortly after he returns to Washington.  —  The White House is putting finishing touches …

Holding public officials accountable with Twitter and Politwoops  —  At our Flight conference in October, our CEO Jack Dorsey spoke about Twitter's responsibilities to developers and users in the areas of government transparency: … Today we're pleased to announce that we have come …

The Consequences of California's Top-Two Primary  —  In 2009, Abel Maldonado, then a state senator, brought the top-two open primary to California.  The change allowed the two leading finishers in a primary to proceed to the general election regardless of party affiliation.

Couple witnesses horrific cruise ship death  —  ‘Bloody mystery’ on Carnival Cruise ship  —  (CNN)A crew member on a Caribbean cruise ship died while working on an elevator, the company said.  —  Passengers aboard the Carnival Ecstasy witnessed part of the horrifying incident Sunday evening …

What You Need to Know About “The Big Short”  —  One of the most intriguing movies I've seen in a long time is The Big Short.  It's about the housing bubble and what we now call the Great Recession, based on Michael Lewis's bestselling book “The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine.”

How Rubio helped his ex-con brother-in-law acquire a real estate license  —  When Marco Rubio was majority whip of the Florida House of Representatives, he used his official position to urge state regulators to grant a real estate license to his brother-in-law, a convicted cocaine trafficker …

O'Malley fails to qualify for Ohio ballot  —  Democratic presidential candidate Martin O'Malley failed to qualify for the ballot in Ohio.  —  A spokesman for the Ohio secretary of state confirmed to The Hill on Thursday that O'Malley did not get the necessary 1,000 signatures to appear on the March 15 ballot.

Coachella Lands Two Big Reunions: Guns N' Roses and LCD Soundsystem  —  Living up to its tradition as the premier forum for rock ‘n’ roll reunions, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival will host at least two of them in 2016: Guns N' Roses — a gigantic get — and LCD Soundsystem.

ISIS Lover Emanuel Lutchman Planned New Year's Machete Attack:FBI  —  Federal officials in Rochester, New York, have arrested and charged a local man who was allegedly plotting a New Year's Eve machete attack on diners at a local restaurant in the name of ISIS.

Additional steps to help keep your personal information secure  —  We're committed to helping our users keep their personal information secure and private.  A key part of our work is identifying and preventing unauthorized access to your Microsoft Account (including Outlook.com email and OneDrive) by anyone other than you.

DENVER AND THE WEST  —  MUSLIM WORKERS IN FORT MORGAN FIRED OVER PRAYER DISPUTE WALKOUT  —  A Somali worker cuts and moves on the line as he trims beef in the manufacturing department at Cargill Meat Solutions in Fort Morgan, Colo. (Joe Amon, Denver Post file)

New Obama vacation costs uncovered; They now exceed $70 million  —  As Barack, Michelle, Malia and Sasha Obama, family, friends, pets and staff enjoy their half-month-long Hawaiian vacation, the Secret Service finally complied with a court order to release some Obama vacation expenses from two years ago.

Fight breaks out at Newark anti-violence rally (PHOTOS)  —  NEWARK — A skirmish broke out between rival activists on the steps of City Hall Wednesday during what had been intended as a demonstration against violence in Newark.  —  Police were called to the scene after a small crowd began arguing …

Clinton talks Iraq and Benghazi with the Sun ed board  —  CONWAY — Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, at an editorial board meeting Tuesday, sparred with a conservative columnist over Benghazi and spoke about how she'd address opioid addiction.

More than 1,000 Clinton emails now deemed classified  —  More than 1,000 emails from Hillary Clinton's private server during her time at the State Department have now been deemed classified, after the agency publicly released its eighth batch of the messages late Thursday.

Could Texas be losing its appetite for the death penalty?  —  Maybe Texas jurors are finally taking heed of the constant stream of wrongful convictions.  Maybe prosecutors find that seeking life without parole instead of capital punishment is much more palatable in today's court of public opinion.

Mexican marijuana farmers see profits tumble as U.S. loosens laws  —  This farmer in western Mexico says he began growing marijuana when he was a teenager.  He says this will be his last crop.  (Deborah Bonello / For The Times)  —  He started growing marijuana as a teenager …

Pentagon Curbs Use of Psychologists With Guantánamo Detainees  —  WASHINGTON — The United States military has sharply curtailed the use of psychologists at the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, in response to strict new professional ethics rules of the American Psychological Association, Pentagon officials said.