Police Say Security Guard, Not Robber, Pointed Gun at Ryan Lochte  —  RIO DE JANEIRO — A security guard brandished a gun after American swimmers vandalized a gas station bathroom, Brazilian police officials said Thursday, illuminating many aspects of an incident that has spiraled …

Gawker.com to End Operations Next Week  —  After nearly fourteen years of operation, Gawker.com will be shutting down next week.  The decision to close Gawker comes days after Univision successfully bid $135 million for Gawker Media's six other websites, and four months after the Silicon …

Justice Department says it will end use of private prisons  —  The Justice Department plans to end its use of private prisons after officials concluded the facilities are both less safe and less effective at providing correctional services than those run by the government.

Steve Bannon's Plan to Free Donald Trump and Save His Campaign  —  Along with campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, Bannon will encourage Trump to cast aside political niceties and aggressively go with his gut.  —  JoshuaGreen  —  “I am who I am,” Donald Trump declared …

Our Views: Vacation or not, a hurting Louisiana needs you now, President Obama … Homes are surrounded by water in the Manchac Harbor subdivision off LA-42.  Aerials of severe weather flooding in Ascension Parish on Monday August 15, 2016.  —  President Barack Obama speaks during the third …

An update on our efforts to combat violent extremism  —  Earlier this year, we announced we had suspended more than 125,000 accounts since mid-2015 for violating our longtime prohibition on violent threats and the promotion of terrorism and shared the steps we are taking as a company to combat this content.

These protesters wanted to humiliate ‘Emperor’ Trump.  So they took off his clothes.  —  For much of the past year, Donald Trump proved uniquely untouchable, a political force of such mind-boggling invulnerability that he even bragged about attracting voters after hypothetically shooting someone on Fifth Avenue.

Boy in the ambulance: shocking image emerges of Syrian child pulled from Aleppo rubble  —  Boy shown covered head to toe with dust was injured in airstrike on rebel-held district on Wednesday  —  Warning: this article contains images that readers may find distressing

Uber's First Self-Driving Fleet Arrives in Pittsburgh This Month  —  Near the end of 2014, Uber co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick flew to Pittsburgh on a mission: to hire dozens of the world's experts in autonomous vehicles.  The city is home to Carnegie Mellon University's …

U.S. confirms $400M Iran payment was contingent on prisoner release  —  President Obama's team used a $400 million cash payment as “maximum leverage” to get Iran to release American hostages, a State Department official confirmed Thursday.  —  “The payment of the $400 million was not done until …

1. Voters' general election preferences  —  Currently, 41% of registered voters say they would vote for Hillary Clinton if the general election were held today, while 37% say they would vote for Donald Trump, 10% say they would vote for Gary Johnson and 4% say they would vote for Jill Stein.

House to hold Clinton perjury hearing  —  Members of the House Judiciary Committee are set to question FBI officials next month about allegations of perjury involving Hillary Clinton's conflicting statements to Congress last year.  —  Witnesses at the hearing could include FBI Director James Comey …

Oklahoma Native American Says He Was Attacked Over Redskins Shirt  —  OKLAHOMA CITY -  —  An Oklahoma college student visiting Washington D.C. on a school trip, says he was beat up for wearing a Redskins Jersey.  And the person he got into a fight with was a White House official in charge of American Indian education.

New Ways to Control Your Experience on Twitter  —  We're introducing some new features that will give you more control over what you see and who you interact with on Twitter, rolling out to everyone in the coming days.  Here's what's new: … Notifications Settings  —  Don't want to see notifications from everyone?

Koch network cancels Rubio ads  —  The powerful donor network helmed by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch is canceling more than half a million dollars in Florida advertising designed to help Republican Marco Rubio  —  in his Senate race, according to Koch network spokesman James Davis.

NC Republican Party seeks ‘party line changes’ to limit early voting hours  —  RALEIGH  —  The N.C. Republican Party encouraged GOP appointees to county elections boards to “make party line changes to early voting” by limiting the number of hours and keeping polling sites closed on Sundays.

Trump adviser accused of making anti-Semitic remarks  —  WASHINGTON  —  Allegations of anti-Semitism have surfaced against one of Donald Trump's foreign policy advisers, raising further questions about the guidance the Republican presidential nominee is receiving.

Sen. Sessions: Central Park Five Ad Shows Trump Has Always Believed In Law And Order  —  Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions, a prominent surrogate for Republican nominee Donald Trump, says Trump's 1989 newspaper ads advocating the death penalty for five men of color accused of raping a jogger …

Donald Trump's Crucial Pillar of Support, White Men, Shows Weakness  —  Donald J. Trump's support among white men, the linchpin of his presidential campaign, is showing surprising signs of weakness that could foreclose his only remaining path to victory in November.

First Read: The One Way Trump's Shake-Up Makes Sense  —  Donald Trump's new campaign manager: There's still time to turn polls around 1:00  —  First Read is a morning briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter.

Clinton Rises to 348 Electoral Votes, Trump Drops to 190  —  Clinton now above 270 Safe or Likely Democratic electoral votes for the first time  —  New Hampshire may just have four electoral votes, but it's important.  If you doubt it, just ask any Granite State citizens, and they'll tell you about their first-in-the-nation primary.

How Bernie Sanders Avoided Disclosing His Personal Finances  —  Hillary Clinton Thanks Bernie Sanders 1:37  —  This story was originally published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.