What the Arab world needs most is free expression  —  I received this column from Jamal Khashoggi's translator and assistant the day after Jamal was reported missing in Istanbul.  The Post held off publishing it because we hoped Jamal would come back to us so that he and I could edit it together.

Rod Rosenstein Defends Mueller Probe as ‘Appropriate and Independent’  —  In interview, deputy attorney general says investigation has revealed widespread Russian effort to meddle in 2016 election  —  Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein defended the special counsel's investigation …

Dem operative for Soros-funded group arrested for ‘battery’ against Nevada GOP candidate's campaign manager  —  A Democratic operative for American Bridge 21st Century, a group founded by David Brock and funded by liberal billionaire George Soros, was arrested Tuesday after the female campaign manager …

A New Facebook Lawsuit Makes ‘Pivot to Video’ Seem Even More Shortsighted  —  Facebook acknowledged in 2016 that it had been overstating to advertisers the average time users spent watching videos on the platform.  But when exactly Facebook found out about that error—and how long the company kept …

Revealed: Russian billionaire set up US company before Trump Tower meeting  —  Aras Agalarov, who attended the meeting with Donald Trump Jr in June 2016, formed a shell company with an accountant who has had clients accused of money laundering and embezzlement

Liberal Upper West Siders Get Their Revenge: Trump Place Sign Is Coming Down  —  Few places in the United States are more staunchly liberal than the Upper West Side of Manhattan.  And so few things are more galling to many residents of a residential complex there than the big letters that greet …

Blackburn backlash shocks Mt. Juliet restaurant owner  —  Courtney's Restaurant and Catering owner Tom Courtney said he's experienced a strong social media backlash because he rented the event room at his Mt. Juliet business to U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Marsha Blackburn on Saturday.

You Want 20% for Handing Me a Muffin?  The Awkward Etiquette of iPad Tipping  —  Countertop payment tablets turn gratuities into a public ordeal; ‘It guilts you into it’  —  Mina Dimyan frequents a Stamford, Conn., cafe, where he orders a cup of strong coffee for $3.  It comes with a splash of guilt.

State Department provided ‘clearly false’ statements to derail requests for Clinton docs, ‘shocked’ federal judge says  —  In a combative exchange at a hearing Friday in Washington, D.C., a federal judge unabashedly accused career State Department officials of lying and signing “clearly false” …

Collins Husband: Ricin Threat Specified Kavanaugh Vote  —  “There's absolutely no reason to have this level of vitriol over a single vote,” says Thomas Daffron, who found out firsthand that it doesn't take a reason.  Daffron, the husband of Susan Collins, tells local CBS affiliate WABI …

Denver TV station pulls GOP ad attacking Jared Polis  —  Denver TV station KMGH-Denver7 decided Wednesday to pull a pro-Republican independent expenditure committee's TV ad attacking gubernatorial candidate Jared Polis.  The move came after the Colorado Democrat's attorneys demanded …

Twitter Won't Suspend Louis Farrakhan For His Tweet Comparing Jews To Insects  —  Twitter will not suspend controversial Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan for a tweet comparing Jews to insects, the company said in a statement to BuzzFeed News.  —  Farrakhan, who has been dogged …

McCaskill demands Hawley's office investigate hidden-camera videos of her campaign  —  JEFFERSON CITY  —  U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill's campaign is demanding Attorney General Josh Hawley open a fraud investigation into hidden-camera videos released this week by a nonprofit run by conservative activist James O'Keefe.

Nikki Haley at the Council for National Policy  —  Inside the conference rooms of power: the former US ambassador to the United Nations speaks about working with Trump  —  Nikki Haley's surprising resignation on October 4 as US ambassador to the United Nations fueled rumors about the underlying reasons for its suddenness and timing.

Food, water, ride: Guatemalans aid Honduran caravan migrants  —  ZACAPA, Guatemala (AP) — Sweaty, sunburned and exhausted, Jonathan Zuniga had been carrying his 1-year-old baby in his arms for five hours when help arrived unexpectedly from a local woman who offered him a used baby carriage.

Ryan Zinke Has Fired the DOI Inspector General … At last count, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke was the subject of 14 separate government investigations.  (A new record!)  But that number could soon be zero.  That's because Zinke just fired the Department of the Interior's acting inspector general.

Where Has All the Tab Gone?  A Shortage Panics Fans  —  The plea for Tab came across in a message on Facebook.  —  It was Sept. 27, and Anne White saw a post from a neighbor telling her their local grocery store in Cincinnati had been stripped of the diet soda, last popular in the 1980s and now a cult favorite.

Media Congratulates Trump for Spreading Lie About Elizabeth Warren  —  One of the innumerable ways in which Donald Trump has degraded American politics is his habit of relentlessly using belittling nicknames for his political opponents.  Seizing on a superficial or imagined characteristic …

McConnell says Senate Republicans might revisit Obamacare repeal  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans could try again to repeal Obamacare if they win enough seats in U.S. elections next month, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said on Wednesday, calling a failed 2017 push to repeal the healthcare law a “disappointment.”

Huge if True: The Archaeological Case for Goliath  —  Is the story of the Philistine champion Goliath a distant memory of an event that took place in the 11th century B.C.E. or a fable by priests conspiring in Jerusalem 400 years later?

Cuomo Looks Poised for a 3rd Term.  So Why Won't He Debate His Foes?  —  He leads in every poll by double-digit margins.  He is a two-term Democrat seeking re-election in a divisive midterm year, in a state filled with blue-wave voters.  And his Republican opponent is running out of money.

Steve King: America's Most Deplorable Congressman  —  He's an embarrassment to the GOP and to America.  —  Representative Steve King is an embarrassment to the Republican party.  He has been for some time.  On October 16, he endorsed white-nationalist Faith Goldy for mayor of Toronto.

Forecasting the races for governor  —  Our forecast for every race for governor  —  What share of the national population Democrats and Republicans are expected to govern, based on the most likely winner in each of the 36 gubernatorial elections taking place in 2018 and who controls the 14 seats not up for election.