Court Refuses to Reinstate Travel Ban, Dealing Trump Another Legal Loss  —  WASHINGTON — A three-judge federal appeals panel on Thursday unanimously refused to reinstate President Trump's targeted travel ban, delivering the latest and most stinging judicial rebuke to his effort …

Cooper withdraws from solicitor general consideration  —  Chuck Cooper, the conservative Supreme Court litigator, is withdrawing his name from consideration to be the next solicitor general, opening the door for the husband of Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway to be appointed to the role.

National security adviser Flynn discussed sanctions with Russian ambassador, despite denials, officials say  —  National security adviser Michael Flynn privately discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with that country's ambassador to the United States during the month before President Trump took office …

Exclusive: In call with Putin, Trump denounced Obama-era nuclear arms treaty - sources  —  In his first call as president with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump denounced a treaty that caps U.S. and Russian deployment of nuclear warheads as a bad deal for the United States …

CNN host Chris Cuomo says ‘fake news’ insult is ‘equivalent of the n-word for journalists’  —  CNN host Chris Cuomo said on Thursday that he believes hurling the “fake news” insult at journalists is similar to when individuals use racial slurs against minorities.

John McCain's brutal rejoinder to Sean Spicer  —  Donald Trump took on Sen. John McCain's status as a war hero and won the GOP nomination anyway.  —  Sean Spicer took on John McCain's expertise on military matters and got this: … The White House press secretary took an extraordinary position Wednesday …

Secrecy surrounds White House cybersecurity staff shakeup  —  The Obama-appointed chief information security officer was charged with keeping the president and his staff safe from cyber-threats posed by hackers and nation-state attackers.  —  The chief information security officer …

Saudis foot tab at Trump hotel  —  A lobbying firm working for Saudi Arabia paid for a room at Donald Trump's Washington hotel after Inauguration Day, marking the first publicly known payment on behalf of a foreign government to a Trump property since he became president.

Exclusive: Syria's Assad tells Yahoo News some refugees are ‘definitely’ terrorists  —  Weighing in on one of the most contentious issues in American politics — the danger posed to host countries by the 4.8 million people who have fled from Syria's civil war — Syrian President Bashar Assad told Yahoo News …

The most disproportionately common injury in every state  —  What can medical codes tell us about getting hurt in America?  —  Every time you go to the doctor, your diagnosis is recorded as a medical code.  They're notoriously complicated—more than 3,000 ICD codes are used just to describe physical injuries.

Major Media Remain in Denial  —  Since Donald Trump's election, the major media have been trying to figure out what they did wrong, given their fawning coverage of Hillary Clinton and their anti-Donald Trump stories.  Didn't they help twice elect Barack Obama?  Why didn't the formula work this time?

Exclusive - Trump border ‘wall’ to cost $21.6 billion, take 3.5 years to build: internal report  —  President Donald Trump's “wall” along the U.S.-Mexico border would be a series of fences and walls that would cost as much as $21.6 billion, and take more than three years to construct …

Democratic division simmers at feel-good retreat  —  BALTIMORE — House Democrats ditched Washington this week to find their voice.  But the rifts opened by their brutal Election Day defeat — and President Donald Trump's tumultuous ascension — keep drowning them out.

President Xi Jinping of China, Stung by Trump's Taiwan Call, Is Said to Shun Talks  —  WASHINGTON — When the White House announced this week that President Trump had sent President Xi Jinping of China a letter wishing him a happy Chinese New Year, it did not disclose a major reason for the friendly gesture …

California Farmers Backed Trump, but Now Fear Losing Field Workers  —  MERCED, Calif. — Jeff Marchini and others in the Central Valley here bet their farms on the election of Donald J. Trump.  His message of reducing regulations and taxes appealed to this Republican stronghold …

Trump targeted Japan during the campaign.  Now its prime minister is embracing the new president.  —  As foreign leaders have recoiled and recalibrated amid President Trump's bluster and bullying on the world stage, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan has taken another tack — offering the new American president an embrace.

Donald Trump has signed three executive orders to deal with “public safety”, including handing more authority to the police.  —  At the formal ceremony to appoint Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, the President outlined the new mandate that Mr Sessions would have, including tackling crime, drug cartels and terrorism.

STEVE BOOM, 48  —  Amazon founder Jeff Bezos would make almost any list of the world's most powerful people.  In retail, he's clearly on top, and in tech, he's close to it.  In book publishing, he would be the undisputed No. 1 for 10 years running.  In addition to a $65 billion stake in Amazon …