John Dowd Resigns as Trump's Lead Lawyer in Special Counsel Inquiry  —  WASHINGTON — The president's lead lawyer for the special counsel investigation, John Dowd, resigned on Thursday, according to two people briefed on the matter, days after the president called for an end to the inquiry.

Facebook gave data about 57bn friendships to academic  —  Volume of data suggests trusted partnership with Aleksandr Kogan, says analyst … Before Facebook suspended Aleksandr Kogan from its platform for the data harvesting “scam” at the centre of the unfolding Cambridge Analytica scandal …

‘Trump blew it’: The president missed his best chance yet to get funding for his border wall … President Trump has long promoted and promised a “big, beautiful wall” along the southern border — a pledge he made at the start of his presidential campaign that helped fuel his unlikely rise to the White House.

Dow plunges 724 points as trade war fears rock Wall Street  —  U.S. trade moves could spark Chinese retaliation  —  Trade war fears rocked Wall Street on Thursday after President Trump launched a crackdown on China.  —  The Dow plummeted 724 points, or 2.9%, underlining mounting concerns among investors …

Rex Tillerson takes an apparent parting shot at Trump … Rex Tillerson is officially done as secretary of state, but he got in what appeared to be one final dig at President Trump before heading out the door.  —  At the every end of his farewell speech to the State Department on Thursday …

Judge orders Gov. Scott Walker to hold special elections for open legislative seats in Eric Holder suit  —  MADISON - Dealing a setback to Gov. Scott Walker and other Republicans, a judge ruled Thursday the governor must call special elections to fill two vacant seats in the Legislature.

60 Minutes interview with Stormy Daniels to be broadcast Sunday  —  The adult-film star and director describes the affair she says she had with Donald Trump in her first television interview about the alleged relationship  —  The 60 Minutes interview with Stormy Daniels …

Charges Have Been Dropped Against Most Turkish Officers in D.C. Clash  —  Case had caused a rift between the U.S. and Turkey  —  WASHINGTON—Federal prosecutors have dropped charges against 11 of 15 members of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's security team who were accused in connection …

He Gambles.  He Tips Staff.  He Eats Alone.  All the While, He's Stocking His Vegas Suite With Guns.  —  Sometimes we see him as other hotel guests would have seen him: as the tall gambler intent on the video poker machine across the casino floor, or as the customer standing in line in front …

John Bolton's Curious Appearance In A Russian Gun Rights Video  —  Former U.N. ambassador John Bolton recorded a video used by the Russian gun rights group The Right to Bear Arms in 2013 to encourage the Russian government to loosen gun laws.  —  The episode, which has not been previously reported …

Jeff Zucker Hits “Propaganda Machine” Fox News: “It Is Really State-Run TV”  —  The CNN chief said the network does a “disservice to the country.”  —  CNN President Jeff Zucker lashed out at competitor Fox News at an industry conference on Thursday afternoon, saying that Fox News “is really state-run TV.

Exit Stage Left or Right: Midterm Retirements and Open Seats in the House From 1974 to 2018  —  Republicans already have many abandoned districts to defend this November.  Are there more to come?  —  KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE  — By multiple measures — such as retirements, “pure” …

Joe Biden Could Beat Trump in a Fight—and an Election … Joe Biden is as close as it gets to the real deal for Democrats.  I thought of this when, in a speech at the University of Miami this week, Biden said of Donald Trump: “A guy who ended up becoming our national leader said …

Bill Murray The Parkland kids remind me of the students who helped end the Vietnam War  —  Their most powerful asset in their fight to bring change is their idealism  —  We are living in interesting times, and people are becoming politically activated who weren't previously.

Deja Vu All Over Again.  Health Care Takes Center Stage in 2018 Campaigns  —  There's always something of a disconnect between what Washington, DC is obsessed about and what the rest of the country is worried about.  In DC, of course, the story is Robert Mueller, Russia and White House chaos.

China to Target Trump's Base in Tariff Response  —  Beijing prepares to deliver pain to President Trump's support base, including with tariffs targeting agricultural exports  —  China is preparing to hit back at trade offensives from Washington with tariffs aimed at President Donald Trump's support base …

The Radical Proposal That Moderate Democrats Should Be Running On  —  Last week, a self-styled moderate Democrat won a congressional race in the heart of Trump Country — and the last-surviving “Blue Dogs” promptly declared their vindication.  For the Democrats' right flank, Politico wrote …

CIA Fills In Some Blanks on Gina Haspel's Secret Life  —  A career as a clandestine officer has left little digital or paper trails on the CIA director nominee, so the agency is filling in some blanks: daughter of an airman, Kentucky native, Johnny Cash fan  —  As President Donald Trump's nominee …

House leaders' biggest 2018 fear: The lazy Republican  —  On paper, Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) appears to be a shoo-in for reelection.  He's served nine terms in what's been a GOP stronghold for decades, hasn't had a serious challenger in years and sits on one of the most powerful committees in Congress.

Palm Trees May Be Headed North as Global Temperatures Rise, Study Says  — A recent study suggests palm trees could be moving north as the climate changes.  — Parts of the region are nearing winter climates that could allow the trees to survive.  —  Palm trees may be headed north …

The School Shooting Generation Has Had Enough  —  It's lunchtime on a Tuesday, and the kids are piling into a pizzeria booth in Coral Springs, Fla., to plot a revolution.  “The adults know that we're cleaning up their mess,” says Cameron Kasky, an 11th-grader at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School …

House panel finds no Trump-Russia collusion, recommends leak crackdown  —  House Intelligence Committee Republicans voted Thursday to end their investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, declaring that a string of contacts between Donald Trump's associates …

Overlooked No More: Ruth Wakefield, Who Invented the Chocolate Chip Cookie  —  Legend has it that Wakefield was trying a variation on a butterscotch dessert when she decided to let the chocolate chips fall where they may. … Around the time Ruth Wakefield began making a chocolate chip cookie in the 1930s …

Citigroup Sets Restrictions on Gun Sales by Business Partners  —  Citigroup is setting restrictions on the sale of firearms by its business customers, making it the first Wall Street bank to take a stance in the divisive nationwide gun control debate.  —  The new policy, announced Thursday …

More anti-Muslim, conspiratorial tweets emerge from Trump's pick for top UN migration job  —  (CNN)Ken Isaacs, the Trump administration pick to head the international organization that coordinates assistance to migrants worldwide, once wrote on Twitter that Austria and Switzerland …

Trump's Lawyers Sharing Space With Anti-'Deep-State' Group … President Donald Trump's legal team has done work out of the Capitol Hill offices of a conservative nonprofit group run by one of the president's lawyers.  —  Two sources familiar with the situation say attorneys representing …