Trump wades into French elections  —  Two days before a French election that has Europe on edge, President Donald Trump weighed in Friday with a tweet that seemed to imply support for the controversial far-right populist Marine Le Pen.  —  Trump's Friday morning tweet responded to a shooting …

Vacation's Over: Obama Returns to Public Life Next Week  —  WASHINGTON — Barack Obama's extended post-presidential vacation is about to end.  After spending weeks in French Polynesia — including time on the yacht of the movie mogul David Geffen along with Bruce Springsteen …

The Balloon, the Box and Health Care  —  Imagine a man who for some reason is determined to stuff a balloon into a box — a box that, aside from being the wrong shape, just isn't big enough.  He starts working at one corner, pushing the balloon into position.

Trump condos worth $250 million pose potential conflict  —  LAS VEGAS — President Trump's companies own more than 400 condo units and home lots whose sale could steer millions of dollars to Trump, a USA TODAY investigation has found.  —  USA TODAY spent four months cataloging every property Trump's companies own across the country.

Arresting Julian Assange is a priority, says US attorney general Jeff Sessions  —  Justice department ‘stepping up’ efforts to prosecute WikiLeaks founder as CNN reports that charges have been drawn up … The arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is now a “priority” for the US, the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, has said.

Today's executive orders are the nail in the coffin of Trump's economic populism  —  There's no workers' party here.  —  Friday afternoon, Donald Trump traveled to the US Treasury Department where he's expected to sign a new executive order.  The order aims at making life easier …

Massive power outage hits San Francisco, shuts down businesses, BART station, cable cars, traffic lights  —  A massive power outage in San Francisco caused a blackout Friday morning in several neighborhoods, from the Financial District to the Presidio, forcing the closure of businesses …

White House demands disrupt shutdown negotiations  —  Congressional leaders' efforts to hatch a massive spending deal have been thrown off course by the Trump administration's 11th-hour intervention, leaving the bipartisan bill teetering on the brink of collapse just a week before a government shutdown deadline.

Bernie Sanders Defends Campaigning For Anti-Abortion Rights Democrat  —  Sen. Bernie Sanders is campaigning for Omaha, Neb., mayoral candidate Heath Mello Thursday night, and he's not apologizing for it.  —  “Absolutely, and I want him to win,” Sanders, I-Vt., told NPR Thursday, after a rally in Grand Prairie, Texas.

How Trump Blew Up the Conservative Media  —  Months before Donald Trump blew up American politics with his surprise win in November, he did the same thing to the conservative media.  Through much of the campaign, two very different media moguls with colliding visions for the Republican Party vied …

House intel panel to hear from top officials on Russia probe  —  FILE - In this Jan. 5, 2017 file photo, National Security Agency and Cyber Command chief Adm. Michael Rogers testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington.  The House intelligence committee has asked top law enforcement …

Sen. Frank Artiles apologizes for using racial slurs  —  Miami Republican Sen. Frank Artiles formally apologized on the Florida Senate floor on Wednesday, April 19, 2017, for insulting and using racial slurs against two black lawmakers two days prior.  —  Friends of Artiles …

Aurora Democrat David Aarestad joins race to unseat Mike Coffman  —  Aarestad previously ran unsuccessfully for a board seat on the Cherry Creek School District  —  A lawyer at the University of Colorado on Thursday became the latest Democrat to announce plans to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman in 2018.

Freed Egyptian American prisoner returns home following Trump intervention  —  An Egyptian American charity worker who was imprisoned in Cairo for three years and became the global face of Egypt's brutal crackdown on civil society returned home to the United States late Thursday …

No, Gov. Dean, there is no ‘hate speech’ exception to the First Amendment  —  Former Vermont governor Howard Dean writes: … This leads me to repeat what I've said before: There is no hate speech exception to the First Amendment.  Hateful ideas (whatever exactly that might mean) …

Google is a monopoly — and it's crushing the internet  —  Five to 10 years ago, independent bloggers used to be able to get by on internet advertising, like the broadsheets of yore.  But that changed quite quickly, and for two big reasons: Facebook and Google.

Apple Hires Top Google Satellite Executives for New Hardware Team  —  Apple said to have held talks about investing in Boeing satellite broadband project  —  After revolutionizing phones, Apple Inc. is testing self-driving cars and exploring augmented reality.  Recent hires suggest the company is now also looking to the skies.

The Crisis of Western Civ  —  Between 1935 and 1975, Will and Ariel Durant published a series of volumes that together were known as “The Story of Civilization.”  They basically told human history (mostly Western history) as an accumulation of great ideas and innovations, from the Egyptians …

Sanctuary Cities Face Aid Cuts as Justice Dept. Tightens Screws  —  WASHINGTON — Escalating a threat to withhold grants from state and local governments that block the police from telling federal authorities about undocumented immigrants in custody, the Trump administration sent letters Friday …

‘Pivotal Moment’ for Democrats?  Gerrymandering Heads to Supreme Court  —  The hand-to-hand political combat in House elections on Tuesday in Georgia and last week in Kansas had the feel of the first rounds of an epic battle next year for control of the House of Representatives and the direction …

Secret meeting at Mar-a-Lago raises questions about Colombia peace and Trump  —  BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA  —  President Donald Trump quietly met a pair of former Colombian presidents last weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, thrusting his administration into an ugly power struggle …

Dem rep: Jim Crow's ‘nieces and nephews’ are in the White House  —  Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) criticized President Trump's administration Friday, tying it to the Jim Crow laws that protected racial segregation in the decades after the Civil War.  —  Giving his opening statement during …

Gorsuch's First Big Supreme Court Vote Allows Arkansas Execution  —  Justices vote 5-4 to let state start lethal injections  —  Convicted murderer Ledell Lee subsequently put to death  —  Justice Neil Gorsuch took his first major action on the U.S. Supreme Court by casting the deciding vote …