Friday's Headlines: Two speeches in two hours crystallize state of the campaign

Amid crisis, Trump wields conspiracy theory — about his campaign; Trump flip-flops on whether women's sexual allegations should be believed; Nationals ousted in first round of postseason play once again;   The morning's most important stories, selected by Post editors   Top Stories Two speeches in two hours crystallize state of the campaign Michelle Obama's scorching takedown of Donald Trump and the Republican candidate's all-out defense against the latest charges of sexual assault delivered the fiercest, most provocative and hardest-hitting speeches of an election cycle that has been without precedent in hot rhetoric. By Dan Balz  •  Read more » Amid crisis, Trump wields conspiracy theory — about his campaign After theories about President Obama's birthplace, the FBI's "rigged" probe of Hillary Clinton and whether Ted Cruz's father was linked to the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Trump now says "a global power structure" is out to stop him. By Sean Sullivan  •  Read more »   Trump flip-flops on whether women's sexual allegations should be believed When it comes to alleged victims of sexual assault, the GOP nominee has a double standard. By Michelle Ye Hee Lee  •  Read more »   Nationals ousted in first round of postseason play once again In their 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Nationals squandered a strong outing from starting pitcher Max Scherzer. They gave up four runs in the seventh and managed to battle back, only to leave two runners stranded in the ninth. The Dodgers move on to face the Chicago Cubs in the NLCS, which begins Saturday. By Jorge Castillo  •  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   Opinions   It's not the 'locker room' talk. It's the 'lock her up' talk. By Charles Krauthammer  •  Read more »   Trump isn't just a pig. He's a predator. By Eugene Robinson  •  Read more »   Donald Trump is right: The GOP is utterly pathetic By Michael Gerson  •  Read more »   North Korea is scarier than ever By David Ignatius  •  Read more »   The GOP is history. What about the country? By Fareed Zakaria  •  Read more »   Reports of Obamacare's demise are greatly exaggerated By Catherine Rampell  •  Read more » ADVERTISEMENT   More News   Colombia's opposition wants to modify peace deal with a scalpel, not a hammer The key changes to the peace deal rejected by voters relate to what many Colombians see as its most controversial element: the prosecution of FARC members accused of terrorism, kidnapping and other war crimes. By Nick Miroff  •  Read more » Verizon signals that Yahoo's data breach could halt its purchase of the tech firm This is the first time Verizon has publicly indicated that it's having doubts about acquiring Yahoo's core business for $4.8 billion. By Ellen Nakashima and Brian Fung  •  Read more » These women plan to vote for Donald Trump, despite his lewd comments Judging from conversations with those leading the "Women for Trump" bus tour, and the women it is attracting, the female support for Trump has little to do with him. By Mary Jordan  •  Read more » What they said, what they meant Sign up to have The Fix's Aaron Blake text you the highlights of the final debate as it unfolds Wednesday night. Read more » NBC News explains its handling of the Trump video. It still doesn't all add up. Here are some answers — and still, questions — on the network's mishandling of a bombshell. By Margaret Sullivan  •  Read more » Judge opens door to charge Chris Christie with a crime on Bridgegate But it's not clear whether prosecutors will pursue that legal path with the New Jersey governor, who has repeatedly denied any advance knowledge of bridge lane closures that jammed traffic for days. By Amber Phillips  •  Read more » Justice Department moves to launch the first online national use-of-force database The FBI's pilot project will include deadly and nonfatal interactions between the public and law enforcement. But the federal government cannot require state and local agencies to report the far larger number of non-fatal encounters. By Sari Horwitz and Mark Berman  •  Read more » The genius of Bob Dylan's storytelling COLUMN | He won a Nobel Prize for "poetic expressions," but I love him most for the tiny, beautiful worlds he creates. By Alyssa Rosenberg  •  Read more » Greek yogurt is no longer the trendiest yogurt The protein-rich breakfast staple is being replaced by a more portable, spoon-less alternative to traditional forms of yogurt. By Abha Bhattarai  •  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