Wednesday's Headlines: Disputes over social issues show GOP rifts moving into the states

GOP presidential candidates back away from pledge to support party nominee; Trump defends campaign manager charged with battery in incident involving reporter ; Patty Duke: The original survivor of dysfunctional child stardom; Grumbling mounts in China, even in the party. Is President Xi losing his grip?;   The morning's most important stories, selected by Post editors   Top Stories Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post Disputes over social issues show GOP rifts moving into the states Business leaders and evangelicals, who have long coexisted in the Republican Party, are now at war as states battle over issues such as gay rights and religious freedom. By James Hohmann  •  Read more » GOP presidential candidates back away from pledge to support party nominee The remaining Republican candidates departed from previous vows and injected new turmoil into an already-tumultuous contest. By Jose A. DelReal and Sean Sullivan  •  Read more »   Trump defends campaign manager charged with battery in incident involving reporter A new video contradicted what the candidate and staffer Corey Lewandowski had previously said about the incident. But Trump implied that the reporter lied about the encounter. By David A. Fahrenthold and Wesley Lowery  •  Read more »   Patty Duke: The original survivor of dysfunctional child stardom The actress, who died Tuesday at 69, will be celebrated for her many Hollywood achievements. But she also carries another badge after she overcame a horrific childhood and became one of the first public figures to speak out about her mental illness. By Emily Yahr  •  Read more »   Grumbling mounts in China, even in the party. Is President Xi losing his grip? An extraordinary outburst of public criticism in recent weeks has raised questions on whether the president's crackdown on dissent is backfiring. By Simon Denyer  •  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   Opinions   Why a non-indictment for Clinton would still be a problem By Ruth Marcus  •  Read more »   A grim warning against America's overuse of sanctions By David Ignatius  •  Read more »   Corporate America shuffles away from pure conservatism By Dana Milbank  •  Read more »   The day Trump killed the fact By Alexandra Petri  •  Read more »   Can we save ourselves from the future? By Kathleen Parker  •  Read more »   Mr. Trump's defense of aide shows his lack of judgement By Editorial Board  •  Read more » ADVERTISEMENT   More News   Cases underscore how Scalia's death has upended Supreme Court Justices floated a compromise on the Affordable Care Act's contraception mandate and deadlocked on an organized-labor case, perhaps a preview of tentative decisions the evenly split court faces in an election year. By Robert Barnes  •  Read more » Foxconn agrees to buy Japan's Sharp Corp. in $3.5 billion deal The Taiwanese company that assembles iPhones agreed to buy control of the struggling Sharp Corp. in the first foreign takeover of a major Japanese electronics producer. By Johnson Lai | AP  •  Read more » How Russian special forces are shaping the fight in Syria The troops that recaptured Palmyra from the Islamic State included Iranian and Hezbollah forces. Russian officials now say another group contributed to the victory: Russia's elite special forces, also known as Spetsnaz. By Thomas Gibbons-Neff  •  Read more » The claim that Sanders has been too negative for Clinton to debate seems far-fetched Negativity is, to some extent, in the eye of the beholder. But a Democratic campaign marked by a lack of contention stands in contrast to the mudfest on the Republican side. By Chris Cillizza  •  Read more » 2015 was a terrible year for the common working man By one measure, last year saw a record-setting rise in wage inequality between men who earn the most and those whose earnings fall somewhere in the middle. By Niraj Chokshi  •  Read more » Canadian priest accused of gambling away $380,000 meant for refugees Father Amer Saka, a priest at the St. Joseph Chaldean Catholic Church in Ontario, was in charge of funds to sponsor 20 Iraqi refugees. By Ishaan Tharoor  •  Read more » Brain-zapping gadgets claim to make you smarter, stronger — maybe even happier There's real, peer-reviewed science behind the theory driving these devices. It isn't too different from how electroshock therapy works. By Ariana Eunjung Cha  •  Read more »         Share Today's Headlines:       Twitter      Facebook Trouble reading? Click here to view in your browser. You received this email because you are signed up for Headlines. For additional free newsletters or to manage your newsletters, click here. We respect your privacy. If you believe that this email has been sent to you in error or you no longer wish to receive email from The Washington Post, click here. Contact us for help. ©2016 The Washington Post, 1301 K St NW, Washington DC 20071