The European Space Agency's BepiColombo will take seven years to reach the innermost planet in our solar system, where temperatures at the surface can reach 800 degrees Fahrenheit.

The rest of the country will vote Saturday. But one journalist says that after a gunman pulled off a surprise attack in Kandahar, "there's a huge security vacuum, people are very nervous and worried."

The column's publication is "kind of an acknowledgement to ourselves ... that we don't have much hope that we're going to be able to edit this one with him," the Post editorial page editor told NPR.

Almost 90 percent of Californians do not have earthquake insurance. That worries state officials and quake experts, who are renewing the push to boost insurance coverage.

EU leaders have called off a planned November summit on the next phase of Brexit discussions, due to a lack of progress.

VA says 115 vets with other-than-honorable discharges received mental health care last year under a new program. Veterans advocates say it's a tiny fraction of such vets who need help.

Cottonseed is full of protein but toxic to humans and most animals. The USDA has approved a genetically engineered cotton with edible seeds. They could eventually feed chickens, fish — or even people.

At a time when early voting is becoming increasingly popular nationwide, a new law passed by the North Carolina's GOP-controlled legislature cuts early voting sites by nearly 20 percent.

Saudia Arabia has long seen its role as keeping the turbulent Gulf region steady and calm. But under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom has become far more aggressive.

President Trump dispatched Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to the kingdom amid international tension over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.