CLEVELAND -- Billionaire businessman Donald Trump has scored the top spot for Thursday night's leadoff debate of the 2016 presidential race, joined by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and seven other Republican contenders who made the campaign's first cut.

WASHINGTON (AP) — There's an angry young man who matured into an eternally mellow surgeon and politician. A Hispanic firebrand who is most at home in English, and an Anglo who speaks fluent Spanish at home. And that given-to-preening reality show guy.

DENVER -- Republicans came into this presidential campaign with painful memories of how, in the last one, Democrats blasted Mitt Romney's tax plan as a giveaway to the rich. They've heard a new wing of conservative intellectuals urge them to focus on tax cuts to working-class Americans rather than the wealthy.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee says a Supreme Court decision in favor of same-sex marriage won't be enough to make it the law of the land overnight.

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (CNN) -- Campus politics aren't always a clear winner for Rand Paul, as he discovered here this week during an appearance at the College of Charleston.

(CNN) -- Hillary Clinton delivered a poised, polished performance in the campaign's first Democratic presidential debate, firmly defending herself against claims that she flip flops for political gain and likely quelling nerves in her own party after a stumbling start.

It should come as no surprise, but when Hillary Rodham Clinton kicks back for a little pleasure viewing, she gravitates to TV dramas about government and law.

It's hard enough to redefine a genre once in a career, but horror virtuoso Wes Craven managed to do it twice.

In a tough blow to LGBT people everywhere, Houston voters on Tuesday repealed a year-old non-discrimination ordinance –a repeal that appeared to be largely driven by fears that it would enable sexual predators to enter women’s restrooms to assault young girls.

Houston Mayor Annise Parker predicted an arduous fight lies ahead to protect citizens from discrimination in America’s fourth largest city.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee says expecting Christians to accept same-sex marriage is "like asking someone who's Jewish to start serving bacon-wrapped shrimp in their deli."

Former Arkansas governor and Fox News pundit and potential GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee offered a new theory on why America should ban marriage equality: Because bisexuals will want to have two spouses - a man and a woman, NBC News reports.

Jeb Bush's big donors and allies are tantalized by his promise to decide "in short order" whether to run for president.

Key elements of the economic proposals President Barack Obama will outline in his State of the Union address Tuesday appear to be aimed at driving the debate in the 2016 election on income inequality and middle-class economic issues, rather than setting a realistic agenda for Congress.

As part of the Inside Out art project, 50 black-and-white headshots of residents, business owners and community leaders will be installed on the front of Wilton Manors city hall.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- When Hillary Clinton graduated from Wellesley College in 1969 -- where the future first lady and Secretary of State says she did not try marijuana -- only 12% of Americans wanted to legalize the drug.

(CNN) -- Vice President Joe Biden ended months of intense speculation about his political future on Wednesday by announcing he wouldn't seek the presidency, abandoning a dream he's harbored for decades and putting Hillary Clinton in a stronger position to capture the Democratic nomination. With President Barack Obama at his side in the White House Rose Garden, Biden said the window for a presidential campaign "has closed."

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In a gift to many musicians, movie-makers and other content-creators, a federal judge has found that the song "Happy Birthday To You" is entirely in the public domain.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A judge who repeatedly referred to a transgender student’s “mental disorder” should be removed from presiding over the teenager’s lawsuit challenging a policy that bars him from using the boys’ restrooms at his high school, his attorneys said in court papers Wednesday.

(CNN) -- Christmas Day nearly three years ago, one of Britain's best-known sports personalities woke up in a London park; two dogs were licking his face, a smashed bottle of wine lay by his side, and prescription pills were strewn across the ground.

OWENSBORO, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky county clerk may have again defied a federal judge’s order regarding gay-marriage licenses by altering license forms to remove her name, an attorney who represents one of the clerk’s employees told the judge Sept. 18 in a court filing.

The jinxed Lauderdale Air Show is set to fly again in 2016.

I am in long-term recovery, and for me that means I have not consumed alcohol for almost 11 years now. Recovery has given me purpose and hope for the future, while helping me regain stability in my life. Additionally, I have lived with chronic depression for most of my adult life, and know others who also struggle with this.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren told a group of young Democrats Wednesday that the political system was "rigged" by powerful lobbyists and the wealthy and made an impassioned case for reducing burdensome student loans. Vice President Joe Biden said he had been on the front lines of debates over income inequality, climate change and gay marriage.

DETROIT (AP) — At a summertime getaway for liberals, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has captured the hearts of Democratic activists beginning to think about an heir to President Barack Obama. But their minds tell them that Hillary Rodham Clinton could help them hang onto the White House.

Log Cabin Republicans members across the country are eagerly looking forward to the first debate of the 2016 GOP Republican presidential primary Thursday night in Cleveland, Ohio. Here are some things to watch for:

WASHINGTON -- A protester who disrupted historic arguments over gay marriage at the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to be sentenced.

(CNN) -- When football player Michael Sam came out as gay in February of last year, he gained support and encouragement from around the world.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Mormon church announced Wednesday it will maintain its longtime affiliation with the Boy Scouts despite the organization's decision to allow gay troop leaders — preventing what would have been a thundering blow to the national association.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The group that governs Nebraska high school sports is drafting a policy on allowing transgender athletes to compete because there has been some interest in it.