Several White House staffers terminated or reassigned for security clearance issues: Sources  —  Several White House staffers have been terminated or reassigned for issues related to their security clearances — with at least one individual employed in the Office of the First Lady relieved of duty …

Putin praises Trump, says US political system eating itself  —  MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin lavished praise on President Donald Trump on Wednesday, but added that he was sorely disappointed with the U.S. political system, saying that it has been “eating itself up.”

With primary ending, Cruz takes opening shot at Beto O'Rourke's name  —  Cruz, O'Rourke respond to name-mocking ad  —  Washington (CNN)Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's first shot at his expected Democratic challenger, Rep. Beto O'Rourke?  Mocking his name.  —  As Tuesday's primaries were closing …

Stormy Daniels sues Trump, says ‘hush agreement’ invalid because he never signed  —  Adult film star Stormy Daniels sued Donald Trump Tuesday, alleging that he never signed the nondisclosure agreement that his lawyer had arranged with her.  —  The civil suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court …

Ben Carson Removes Anti-Discrimination Language From HUD Mission Statement  —  It will no longer reference “inclusive” communities “free from discrimination.”  —  WASHINGTON Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson is changing the mission statement of his agency …

U.S. Holocaust Museum Revokes Award to Aung San Suu Kyi  —  The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has revoked a prestigious human rights award it had given to the Nobel laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, now Myanmar's civilian leader, faulting her for failing to halt or even acknowledge …

For Two Months, I Got My News From Print Newspapers.  Here's What I Learned.  —  I first got news of the school shooting in Parkland, Fla., via an alert on my watch.  Even though I had turned off news notifications months ago, the biggest news still somehow finds a way to slip through.

Requiem for a Strike  —  West Virginia teachers have a deal.  On Tuesday, a compromise reached by a conference committee composed of Democratic and Republican members of the state House and Senate raised public worker pay by 5 percent.  Teachers and union representatives said the deal …

Facing Potential Challenge from Cynthia Nixon, Cuomo Swipes at Familiar Foe: The Mayor  —  A day after news broke that the actress Cynthia Nixon was in talks with two Democratic strategists about entering the 2018 governor's race in New York, the two-term incumbent, Andrew M. Cuomo …

This is what Nikolas Cruz's life in jail is like  —  Parkland, Florida (CNN)New documents obtained by CNN provide a glimpse into the Florida school shooter's life in the Broward County Jail.  —  In observation reports from February 17 to 24, deputies described Nikolas Cruz's activities, demeanor and behavior.

The DCCC's scorched-earth campaign against Texas Democrat Laura Moser backfired  —  Moser made it into a May runoff election.  —  Until a few weeks ago, Laura Moser was a little-known name, one of seven candidates running for the Democratic primary in Texas's Seventh Congressional District.

Amazon admits Alexa is creepily laughing at people and is working on a fix  —  Wait, what?  —  Over the past few days, users with Alexa-enabled devices have reported hearing strange, unprompted laughter.  Amazon responded to the creepiness in a statement to The Verge, saying, “We're aware of this and working to fix it.”

The NYPD Is Ready to Arrest Harvey Weinstein.  Will District Attorney Cy Vance Finally Agree to Let Them? … The NYPD is prepared to collar Harvey Weinstein for felony sexual assault, a police official with direct knowledge of the case told The Daily Beast.

‘Cannabis candidate’ accused of abusing women and resume inflation  —  CHICAGO — Benjamin Thomas Wolf, an Illinois congressional candidate whose provocative campaign has captured national media attention, has smoked weed in front of an American flag, brandished an AR-15 in a campaign ad and is running ads on porn sites.

Blue-Collar Trump Voters Are Shrugging at Their Tax Cuts  —  DAYTON, Ohio — At Slyder's Tavern, Matt Kazee, a machinist, drank a couple of beers as he waited for burgers to take home for dinner.  His tab was about equal to the increase in his take-home pay after President Trump's tax cut found its way into the nation's paychecks.

Why is Paul Allen building the world's largest airplane?  Perhaps to launch a space shuttle called Black Ice. … A massive airplane being built by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen moved a step closer to flight last week, when it crept out of its hangar in Mojave, Calif. …

In 2011, Portland Police Investigated a Sexual Assault Complaint Against Billionaire Mark Cuban.  He Wasn't Charged.  Here's What Happened.  —  WW has obtained the transcript of a Portland Police detective's interview with Cuban.  “Oh my Lord,” Cuban said.  “Oh my f***ing Lord.”

Trump reopens a seemingly settled video-game debate  —  NEW YORK (AP) — In the wake of the Florida school shooting, President Donald Trump is reviving an old debate over whether violent video games can trigger violent behavior.  There's just one problem: Roughly two decades of research has repeatedly failed to uncover any such link.

It's time to give socialism a try  —  In the United States, we've arrived at a pair of mutually exclusive convictions: that liberal, capitalist democracies are guaranteed by their nature to succeed and that in our Trumpist moment they seem to be failing in deeply unsettling ways.

Russian Influence Campaign Extracted Americans' Personal Data  —  Operators used social media to pitch fake business directories, petitions in return for information  —  All the Facebook account Black4Black asked for was some personal information about Ajah Hales and other Cleveland-area small-business owners.

Trump Expected to Sign Steel and Aluminum Tariffs on Thursday  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump is expected to formally sign off on imposing stiff tariffs on steel and aluminum imports at noon on Thursday, according to people familiar with the deliberations, although advisers close …

Snap is laying off about 100 engineers  — The company has seen several rounds of layoffs in recent months in its marketing, recruiting and content divisions.  —  Snap is laying off about 100 engineers — nearly 10 percent of the team — CNBC has learned.

U.N. Panel Links Russia to Potential War Crime in Syria  —  GENEVA — United Nations investigators have linked Russian forces to a possible war crime in Syria for the first time, reporting on Tuesday that a Russian plane was responsible for airstrikes on a market last year that killed scores of civilians.

Peter Thiel's Money Talks, in Contentious Ways.  But What Does He Say?  —  Peter Thiel is Silicon Valley's homegrown Cassandra.  He warned for years that the big tech companies were arrogant and clueless and less good for mankind than they believed.  —  Comeuppance, the billionaire investor warned, was coming.

Geek Squad's Relationship with FBI Is Cozier Than We Thought  —  After the prosecution of a California doctor revealed the FBI's ties to a Best Buy Geek Squad computer repair facility in Kentucky, new documents released to EFF show that the relationship goes back years.