Kushner's Business Got Loans from Companies After White House Meetings  —  Apollo, the private equity firm, and Citigroup made large loans last year to the family real estate business of Jared Kushner, President Trump's senior adviser.  —  Early last year, a private equity billionaire started paying regular visits to the White House.

Hope Hicks' “white lies” testimony becomes a flashpoint for House Intel Committee  —  In a rare, on-the-record accounting of some of the House Intelligence committee's secret, closed-door proceedings, two members of the House Intelligence Committee explained to CBS News what led White House …

See HUD's $31,000 mahogany dining set  —  Washington (CNN)A $31,000 dining set the Department of Housing and Urban Development purchased, which raised eyebrows when first reported Tuesday, includes a table, sideboard, breakfront — all in mahogany — and 10 mahogany chairs with a blue velvet finish …

Walmart Statement on Firearms Policy  —  In light of recent events, we've taken an opportunity to review our policy on firearm sales.  Going forward, we are raising the age restriction for purchase of firearms and ammunition to 21 years of age.  We will update our processes as quickly as possible to implement this change.

A telling anecdote about Trump and the opioid abuse crisis  —  Fail as deputy chief of staff?  You're the next drug czar!  —  Drug overdose deaths — originally from prescription opioids but increasingly now from heroin and fentanyl — have emerged as an increasingly grave social issue …

Questions linger about how Melania Trump, a Slovenian model, scored ‘the Einstein visa’  —  In 2000, Melania Knauss, a Slovenian model dating Donald Trump, began petitioning the government for the right to permanently reside in the United States under a program reserved for people with “extraordinary ability.”

AP-NORC Poll: Most Americans say Trump is racist  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — More than half of Americans, including large majorities of blacks and Hispanics, think President Donald Trump is a racist.  More than half think his policies have made things worse for Hispanics and Muslims …

Senate Intelligence Leaders Say House G.O.P. Leaked a Senator's Texts  —  WASHINGTON — The Senate Intelligence Committee has concluded that Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee were behind the leak of private text messages between the Senate panel's top Democrat and a Russian-connected lawyer …

EU Warns Tech Giants to Remove Terror Content in 1 Hour—or Else  —  EU lays out rules for firms to fight online illegal material  —  Facebook, Google among tech firms under pressure to react  —  The European Union issued internet giants an ultimatum to remove illegal online terrorist content within …

Trump's corruption deserves to be a central issue in the 2018 midterms  —  Democrats need to shine a spotlight on conflicts of interest.  —  Democrats are still licking their wounds from the presidential election, afraid to return to a strategy that many believe cost Hillary Clinton the White House …

Shelby says he'd leave Trump if he were Sessions: 'I wouldn't be anybody's whipping boy'  —  U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said Wednesday he would not stick around and be President Trump's “whipping boy” if he was in the position of his former colleague, Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Russia's Putin unveils ‘invincible’ nuclear weapons  —  Russia has developed a new array of nuclear weapons that are invincible, according to President Vladimir Putin.  —  Mr Putin made the claims as he laid out his key policies for a fourth presidential term, ahead of an election he is expected to win in 17 days' time.

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen charged over IS photos  —  PARIS (AP) — French prosecutors filed preliminary charges Thursday against far-right leader Marine Le Pen for tweeting brutal images of Islamic State violence, in a new blow to a woman long seen as the face of Europe's anti-immigrant populism.

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico to Quit Amid Tense Relations Under Trump  —  MEXICO CITY — The United States ambassador to Mexico plans to resign from her post in May, according to a memo circulated on Thursday to embassy staff, the latest in a string of senior diplomatic departures from the region …

Fights Worth Having  —  For my money, the best op-ed published in The Times this week was Mona Charen's Feb. 25 barn-burner, “I'm Glad I Got Booed at CPAC.”  Charen is a movement conservative who worked for Nancy and Ronald Reagan and is a longtime contributor to National Review.

First on CNN: Planned Parenthood to target 8 states, spend $20 million as part of midterm battle plan  —  Pro-choice activist: White women can do better  —  Washington (CNN)Planned Parenthood's political arm is targeting eight states with competitive Senate and governor's races in its largest-ever midterm election campaign.

Trump, The Day After: “Respect 2nd Amendment!”  —  Pontificate in haste, repent at leisure.  Or perhaps Donald Trump didn't have as much leisure as he might have surmised.  After a disastrous performance in a “listening session” yesterday in which Trump ridiculed Republicans for being controlled …

Pruitt says he will start flying coach  —  EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt will start flying coach instead of first class at least part of the time, he told CBS News' Major Garrett Wednesday.  —  Pruitt had been flying first or business class consistently because his security detail was alarmed …

Hundreds gather at church for blessing ceremony featuring AR-15s  —  NEWFOUNDLAND, Pa. — Hundreds of crown-wearing worshipers clutching AR-15 rifles drank holy wine and exchanged or renewed wedding vows in a commitment ceremony at a Pennsylvania church on Wednesday, prompting a nearby school to cancel classes.

CNN vs. Fox: Why these two cable networks can't stop talking about each other … When a young survivor of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting accused CNN of trying to “script” his questions for its town-hall-style telecast last week, Fox News's opinionated hosts Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham jumped on the story.

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll - February 2018: Health Care and the 2018 Midterms, Attitudes Towards Proposed Changes to Medicaid  —  KEY FINDINGS:  — Medicaid continues to be seen favorably by a majority of the public (74 percent) and about half (52 percent) believe the Medicaid program …