British spies were first to spot Trump team's links with Russia  —  Exclusive: GCHQ is said to have alerted US agencies after becoming aware of contacts in 2015  —  Britain's spy agencies played a crucial role in alerting their counterparts in Washington to contacts between members …

First on CNN: US drops largest non-nuclear bomb in Afghanistan  —  Washington (CNN)The US military has dropped an enormous bomb in Afghanistan, according to four US military officials with direct knowledge of the mission.  —  A GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, nicknamed MOAB …

Undercooled meat.  Dangerous fish.  Health inspectors zing Trump's Mar-a-Lago kitchen  —  Just days before the state visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump's Palm Beach private club, Florida restaurant inspectors found potentially dangerous raw fish …

Sheila Abdus-Salaam, Judge on New York's Top Court, Is Found Dead in Hudson River  —  Sheila Abdus-Salaam, an associate judge on New York State's highest court and the first African-American woman to serve on that bench, was found dead on Wednesday in the Hudson River, the authorities said.

GOP rep: ‘Bullcrap’ to say taxpayers pay my salary  —  Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) faced off with constituents at a town hall this week, telling the audience that they don't pay his salary.  —  “You say you pay for me to do this?  That's bullcrap,” Mullin said at the town hall in Jay, Okla., according to a video of the incident.

NC lawmaker calls Abraham Lincoln a ‘tyrant’ like Hitler  —  A day after setting off one firestorm, a Cabarrus County lawmaker set off another Wednesday by calling Abraham Lincoln “the same sort (of) tyrant” as Adolf Hitler.  —  Republican Rep. Larry Pittman of Cabarrus County made the comparison …

Why I won't date hot women anymore  —  When it came to dating in New York as a 30-something executive in private equity, Dan Rochkind had no problem snagging the city's most beautiful women.  —  “I could have [anyone] I wanted,” says Rochkind, now 40 and an Upper West Sider with a muscular build and a full head of hair.

Trump on North Korea: “After listening for 10 minutes, I realized it's not so easy”  —  President Donald Trump recounted an absolutely astounding detail about one of his conversations with Chinese President Xi Jinping in comments published by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday afternoon.

Syria's Assad says chemical attack ‘100 percent fabrication’  —  A handout picture released by the Syrian presidency's press office shows Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during an interview with AFP in the capital Damascus on April 12, 2017  —  Syrian President Bashar al-Assad …

Inside Bannon's struggle: From ‘shadow president’ to Trump's marked man  —  When Stephen K. Bannon reported for work Wednesday, he did not act like a man who had just been publicly humiliated by his boss.  —  The chief White House strategist cycled in and out of the Oval Office for meetings …

U.S.-led coalition accidentally bombs Syrian allies, killing 18  —  U.S.-led aircraft accidentally bombed friendly Syrian forces fighting the Islamic State in northern Syria on Tuesday, killing 18, the Pentagon said Thursday.  The April 11 bombing marks the worst confirmed friendly-fire incident …

Teen accidentally kills himself as friends watch on Instagram Live … “I heard a big boom.  I couldn't tell if it was a gun shot or what.”  —  Shaniqua Stephens had just watched her 13-year-old son take out the trash Monday evening when she heard a noise.  —  “I just knew that it was something that was wrong,” she said.

Uber's Top Secret “Hell” Program Exploited Lyft's Vulnerability  —  As the ride-sharing market was exploding in the U.S. between 2014 and the early part 2016, Uber had an advantage over Lyft that helped Uber maintain its lead, The Information has learned.  Thanks to a secret software-based …

Deal over Trump-branded Dallas hotel is dead  —  The developer trying to build a Trump-brand hotel in Dallas told the city this week that the deal is dead.  —  Mukemmel “Mike” Sarimsakci, who has been promoting plans to launch the Trump Organization's new Scion line of luxury hotels …

Where in the World Are Jared & Ivanka for Passover?  Canada  —  In a misdirection of sorts, Ivanka Trump posted the following photo on Monday of her family at the White House: … This post led to much of the media including The Jerusalem Post to conclude, “This year …

‘Survivor’ Contestant Opens Up About Being Outed as Transgender (Guest Column)  —  “I'm not wild about you knowing that I'm trans,” two-time show player Zeke Smith writes for THR about this week's episode. … I'm not wild about you knowing that I'm trans.

64% of Republicans want to see Trump's tax returns  —  The big number: 80% of Americans want President Trump to release his tax returns, including 64% of Republicans, according to a MoveOn.org poll conducted by Global Strategy Group.  —  The shiny object: Trump shows no signs of changing his mind …

Source: Gov. Malloy Will Not Seek A Third Term  —  A Capitol source confirmed Thursday that Gov. Malloy will not seek a third term.  —  HARTFORD — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy will announce Thursday that he is not seeking a third term, a Capitol source said.  —  The Democratic governor …

Carter Page: ‘Something may have come up in a conversation’ with Russians about lifting US sanctions  —  Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser to Donald Trump's presidential campaign, said that when he was in Moscow last summer, “something may have come up in a conversation” with Russians about lifting U.S. sanctions.

Minneapolis Muslims protest ‘sharia’ vigilante in Cedar-Riverside area  —  Man “patrolling” to impose what he calls “the civil part of the sharia law” has community leaders, police on watch.  —  A man trying to impose what he calls “the civil part of the sharia law” in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood …

Trump Moves Against Planned Parenthood by Signing GOP Measure  —  Bill allows states to withhold federal money over abortions  —  Congress used mechanism to reverse Obama-era regulation  —  President Donald Trump signed legislation Thursday that would give states the flexibility …

Trump backs off fiscal pledges and adopts centrist policies that he once fought  —  President Trump is abandoning a number of his key campaign promises on economic policy, adopting instead many of the centrist positions he railed against while campaigning as a populist.