Ohio race just got closer after county finds hundreds of uncounted votes  —  A special election in Ohio's 12th Congressional District was too close to call early Tuesday.  It could produce an automatic recount for Democrat Danny O'Connor and Republican Troy Balderson, who was backed by President Donald Trump.

Puerto Rico concedes Hurricane Maria deaths more than 1,400  —  SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico has conceded that Hurricane Maria killed more than 1,400 people on the island last year and not just the 64 in the official death toll.  —  The government acknowledged the higher death toll …

Secret recording shows GOP's Nunes saying Rosenstein impeachment would delay Supreme Court pick  —  “Do you want them [the Senate] to drop everything and not confirm the Supreme Court justice?”  Rep. Devin Nunes said at a recent fundraiser.  —  Hard-line conservative Republicans …

How one failed drug ensnared so many GOP lawmakers  —  One Australian drug company — with only one (failed) product in one (failed) clinical trial — just keeps tripping up current and former House Republicans.  —  Driving the news: Federal prosecutors in New York indicted Rep. Chris Collins yesterday …

Dozens killed, including children on a bus, in Yemen air strikes  —  ADEN (Reuters) - Saudi-led coalition air strikes on Thursday killed dozens of people, including children traveling on a bus through a market, in Yemen's Saada province, a Yemeni health official and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said.

Kaine leads Stewart by 23 points in poll from VCU's Wilder school  —  Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., led GOP rival Corey Stewart by 23 percentage points in a July poll of likely voters released Wednesday.  —  Kaine had 49 percent to 26 percent for Stewart, chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors …

Hope Hicks getting sucked back into Trump's orbit  —  Hope Hicks had no intention of traveling on Air Force One when she arrived at President Donald Trump's Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club to hang out with White House friends including Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.

Tribune Terminates $3.9 Billion Sinclair Merger, Sues Broadcast Rival  —  FCC Chairman Ajit Pai had concerns about Sinclair's submissions and sent it to an administrative-law judge, a blow to the merger's approval chances  —  Tribune Media Co. TRCO .99% terminated its merger agreement …

Rudy's Mueller demand: No questions on Flynn, Comey  —  With his constant commentating and public negotiating, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani is setting up unmeetable expectations for special counsel Robert Mueller — a kind of insurance policy with the president's base.

The Demography of the Alt-Right … Divorce does seem to increase the likelihood a respondent will believe whites suffer discrimination and the likelihood that a white person will agree with all three of the basic premises of white identity politics.  —  Higher incomes are associated …

Rules Won't Save Twitter.  Values Will.  —  The platform won't ban the dangerous liar Alex Jones because he “hasn't violated our rules.”  Then what's the point of these rules?  —  This week, Alex Jones, the persistently mendacious conspiracy-theory spouter — yeah, that's a real job in 2018 …

Emails show 2016 links among Steele, Ohr, Simpson — with Russian oligarch in background  —  Emails in 2016 between former British spy Christopher Steele and Justice Department official Bruce Ohr suggest Steele was deeply concerned about the legal status of a Putin-linked Russian oligarch …

Laura Ingraham Doesn't Love Her Country Anymore  —  The Fox News commentator Laura Ingraham declared on a recent episode of her cable-television show that “in some parts of the country, it does seem like the America that we know and love doesn't exist anymore.”  What ended it?

Judge in Manafort Trial Is a ‘Caesar’ in His Own Rome  —  ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Judge T. S. Ellis III had dismissed the jury for the day, but he was not quite finished opining about what he saw as irrelevant and repetitive questioning of a witness in the financial fraud trial of Paul Manafort.

Why the Left Is So Afraid of Jordan Peterson  —  Two years ago, I walked downstairs and saw one of my teenage sons watching a strange YouTube video on the television.  —  “What is that?”  I asked.  —  He turned to me earnestly and explained, “It's a psychology professor at the University of Toronto talking about Canadian law.”

WARNING: Colleges May Reject You Based On Who You Follow On Social Media  —  Prospective college students beware, university administrators are not only going through your educational history and social media feeds to see what you've said in the past, they're now looking to discriminate against you based on who you follow.

White House head of communications for Hispanic media quietly exits  —  's White House director of media affairs for Latino and African-American news outlets quietly left her role in the administration recently.  —  Helen Aguirre Ferré did not publicly acknowledge her departure but Mercedes Schlapp …

For Most Trump Voters, ‘Very Warm’ Feelings for Him Endured  —  Also: A detailed look at the 2016 electorate, based on voter records  —  In the wake of Donald Trump's 2016 election victory, an overwhelming majority of those who said they had voted for him had “warm” feelings for him.

Sikh man beaten, spat on.  ‘Devastated’ police chief says suspect is ‘my 18-year old son’  —  A surveillance video of the brutal attack began circulating widely across social media earlier this week, drawing anger from the large Sikh community in California's Central Valley.

Pentagon, Vice President Pence lay groundwork for future ‘Space Force’  —  The Pentagon is laying the groundwork for a future Space Force, moving closer to an order from President Trump earlier this summer to create a sixth branch of the armed forces.  —  Speaking at the Pentagon on Thursday …

Don Lemon: Trump told me I couldn't be a fair reporter because I'm black  —  Don Lemon, a black CNN anchor, has accused President Trump of telling him in 2011 that Lemon's race made him incapable of unbiased reporting.  —  Lemon made the claim as he attempted to explain how a years-long feud between …

Chinese leadership is facing a rare backlash for its handling of the US trade dispute  — Some critics saying that an overly nationalistic Chinese stance may have hardened the US position.  — President Xi Jinping still has a firm grip on power, but an unusual surge of criticism …