Las Vegas Strip shooter targeted aviation fuel tanks, source says  —  Fuel tanks near the Route 91 Harvest country music festival, pictured on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017, were targeted by Strip shooter Stephen Paddock when he fired on concert-goers from his Mandalay Bay room Sunday night.

‘Death spiral’: Tillerson makes nice but may not last long with Trump  —  The moment was as remarkable as it was unprecedented: A sitting U.S. secretary of state took to the microphone to pledge his fealty to the president — despite his well-documented unhappiness in the job and the growing presumption …

Repeal the Second Amendment  —  I have never understood the conservative fetish for the Second Amendment.  —  From a law-and-order standpoint, more guns means more murder.  “States with higher rates of gun ownership had disproportionately large numbers of deaths from firearm-related homicides …

Angry GOP donors close their wallets  —  Republicans are confronting a growing revolt from their top donors, who are cutting off the party in protest over its inability to get anything done.  —  Tensions reached a boiling point at a recent dinner at the home of Los Angeles billionaire Robert Day.

Energy secretary took charter flight day before Price resigned  —  NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry took a chartered jet to Ohio last week, according to an airport management company, the day before fellow Cabinet member Tom Price resigned over his use of private charter flights for government business.

4 political scientists are tracking whether Trump is damaging American democracy  —  So far, the story of Trump's presidency is dysfunction, not authoritarianism.  —  In February 2017, four political scientists formed Bright Line Watch.  Their mission was a chilling sign of the times …

Democrat Northam leads Republican Gillespie in race for Virginia governor, new poll finds  —  A relatively unified party base gives Democrat Ralph Northam a clear lead over Republican Ed Gillespie heading into the final month of the Virginia governor's race, according to a new Washington Post-Schar School poll.

Pro-Life Rep. Tim Murphy Will Not Seek Re-Election After Reports Of Urging Abortion  —  PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Congressman Tim Murphy, of Upper St. Clair, has reached a decision about his political future.  —  In a statement to KDKA's Jon Delano, the embattled anti-abortion Republican says he won't seek re-election.

Amazon Is Testing Its Own Delivery Service to Rival FedEx and UPS  —  Online retailer would deliver from other merchants' warehouses  —  Trial program underway on West Coast before national expansion  —  Amazon.com Inc. is experimenting with a new delivery service intended …

Nothing Makes Liberals Angrier Than Us Normals Insisting On Our Rights  —  I don't agree with liberals often, because I'm not an idiot and because I love America, but when they once again say, “We must have a conversation about guns!”  I still couldn't agree more.

Flake tries to strike DACA compromise  —  One of the Senate's most vulnerable incumbents, Jeff Flake of Arizona, wants to break the impasse on protecting young undocumented immigrants by deporting gang members in the United States and beefing up border security, according to a summary obtained by POLITICO.

3 Special Forces Troops Are Killed and 2 Wounded in Ambush in Niger  —  WASHINGTON — Three United States Army Special Forces were killed and two were wounded in an ambush in Niger on Wednesday while on a routine patrol with troops they were training from the West African nation, American military officials said.

Black Lives Matter Students Shut Down the ACLU's Campus Free Speech Event Because ‘Liberalism Is White Supremacy’  —  Students affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement crashed an event at the College of William & Mary, rushed the stage, and prevented the invited guest …

Manager at Bronx McDonald's arrested for allegedly selling cocaine with fast food  —  Want fries with that coke?  —  The night shift manager at a Bronx McDonald's has been busted for serving up cocaine with fast food, prosecutors said Wednesday  —  Frank Guerrero, 26 …

Sally Yates, Preet Bharara Stress High Bar for Criminal Charges in Russia Probe  —  Prosecutors fired by Trump say Special Counsel Robert Mueller has challenging task and may not bring charges  —  Two of the most high-profile law-enforcement officials fired by President Donald Trump …

Harvey Weinstein Lawyers Up for Bombshell New York Times, New Yorker Stories  —  Harvey Weinstein has hired a high-powered team of attorneys to push back on soon-to-be-published bombshell stories from the New York Times and the New Yorker detailing sexual allegations and improper workplace behavior against him.

What I've learned from North Korea's leaders  —  Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, is founder of the nonprofit Carter Center.  —  As the world knows, we face the strong possibility of another Korean war, with potentially devastating consequences to the Korean Peninsula …

Steve King employs family as year-round campaign staff, an unusual approach in Congress  —  U.S. Rep. Steve King employs his son and daughter-in-law as full-time campaign staffers, and has paid them more than $805,000 since 2004, records show.  —  Although typically legal …