Cohen drops libel suits against BuzzFeed, Fusion GPS  —  Embattled attorney Michael Cohen has dropped a pair of much-touted libel suits against BuzzFeed and the private investigation firm Fusion GPS over publication of the so-called dossier detailing alleged ties between President Donald Trump and Russia.

Inside Rex Tillerson's Ouster  —  The last days of his brief and chaotic tenure as Secretary of State.  —  Rex Tillerson's team was fighting again.  “So, who's going to go in with him?”  Margaret Peterlin, his chief of staff, was saying.  She looked me up and down with an expression …

Trump's “great man” play on North Korea  —  President Trump views the North Korean crisis as his “great man” of history moment.  —  The big picture: He came into office thinking he could be the historic deal maker to bring peace to the Middle East.  He's stopped talking about that.

Ex-Playboy Model, Let Out of Tabloid Contract, Can Freely Discuss Alleged Trump Affair  —  The tabloid news company American Media Inc. agreed to let a former Playboy model out of a contract that had kept her from talking freely about an alleged affair with Donald J. Trump, her lawyer said.

Trump allies press Rosenstein in private meeting in latest sign of tensions … Two of President Trump's top legislative allies met with Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein this week to press him for more documents about the conduct of law enforcement officials involved in the Russia probe …

Former Trump advisor's father's death in Philadelphia labeled ‘suspicious’: multiple agencies investigate  —  According to sources, the Philadelphia police homicide unit, the Philadelphia district attorney, the Attorney General's office and the health department are all investigating the death …

Men arrested at Starbucks were there for business meeting hoping to change ‘our lives’  —  The two black men who were arrested at a Starbucks in downtown Philadelphia last week and accused of trespassing say they were there for a business meeting that they hoped would change their lives.

Trump declared he's running again.  Many Republicans aren't ready to back him.  —  Washington (CNN)A wide array of House and Senate Republicans are not yet ready to endorse President Donald Trump's bid for a second term, a reflection of the deep uncertainty on Capitol Hill …

Upstate NY farmer says ICE officers stormed his farm without a warrant, cuffed him, threw his phone  —  Rome, N.Y. — John Collins was standing outside the milk house at his dairy farm this morning when he heard yelling coming from inside.  He ran in, he says, and saw his worker …

New York Gov. Cuomo grants 35,000 paroled felons right to vote; GOP sees ‘power grab’  —  In an executive order signed Wednesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo granted some 35,000 paroled felons the right to vote.  —  The move by the second-term Democrat came after state Republicans blocked a bill in the state Senate.

Kris Kobach, Face of Trump's Voter Fraud Panel, Is Held in Contempt by Judge  —  Kris W. Kobach, the secretary of state of Kansas and face of the Trump administration's efforts to clamp down on supposed voter fraud, was found by a federal judge on Wednesday to have disobeyed orders …

Scott Pruitt's Moroccan calendar draws blanks  —  Newly released calendars for one of the most controversial trips of Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt's tenure were largely blacked out before being shared with ABC News.  —  The 47-hour journey in Morocco …

‘Life is boring and lonely’  —  Li Weibin has never had a girlfriend.  Boys outnumbered girls in the isolated mountain village where he grew up, in the factories where he worked as a teenager, and on the construction sites where he now earns a modest wage.  —  Today, 30 years old …

Across Midwest, Farmers Warn of G.O.P. Losses Over Trump's Trade Policy  —  China's proposed tariffs on soybeans would hit hard in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, North Dakota and other states with highly competitive House and Senate races.  —  CASSELTON, N.D. — Here in the largest soybean-producing county …

Democrats crush House Republicans in fundraising  —  House Republicans told themselves 2018 would be better after getting swamped by Democratic cash in 2017.  But Republican incumbents are actually in worse financial shape now than at the end of last year.  —  A whopping 43 House Republicans …

Senate allows babies in chamber despite concerns from older, male senators  —  Then-U.S. Sen.-elect.  Tammy Duckworth greets commuters outside the Millennium Park Metra Station in Chicago on Nov. 9, 2016, the day after she defeated Republican Mark Kirk.  —  The Senate has voted unanimously …

NeverAgain  —  Buy the Audiobook Download:  — Apple- Audible- downpour- eMusic- audiobooks.com  —  ABOUT #NEVERAGAIN  —  From two students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School comes a declaration for our times, and an in-depth look at the making of the #NeverAgain movement that arose after the Parkland, Florida, shooting.

Trumpism Without Trump  —  A little more than six months from now, on November 7, the sun will rise on a political landscape wrecked by President Donald Trump's first midterm election.  Thanks to a map that puts more Democratic than Republican seats at risk, our party will still cling …

Fresno State University won't — and cannot — punish professor for Barbara Bush tweets  —  Barbara Bush, former First Lady and matriarch of the Bush family, passed away yesterday at her Houston home at the age of 92, leading to statements of condolences from across the world.

Harper's Editor Insists He Was Fired Over Katie Roiphe Essay  —  James Marcus wants the world to know that he was fired from his job as the editor of Harper's Magazine.  He is not stepping down voluntarily to work on a book, which he said was the face-saving “official narrative” …

Luke Messer didn't disclose DUIs when he replaced lawmaker killed by drunk driver  —  In U.S. Senate candidate Luke Messer's first successful run for public office, he had to persuade a caucus of local party insiders that he was the right man to replace state Rep. Roland Stine …

Uganda's President Wants to Ban Oral Sex, Says the “Mouth is for Eating”  —  “The mouth is for eating, not for sex.  We know the address of sex,” says President Museveni.  —  Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has issued what he calls a “public warning” against oral sex.

Poll: Cruz running neck and neck with Dem challenger  —  (R-Texas) is in a statistical dead heat with Rep. Beto O'Rourke (Texas), his Democratic challenger, a poll released Wednesday showed.  —  The first Quinnipiac University poll of the race deemed it too close to call.

White Evangelical Support for Donald Trump at All-Time High  —  A new PRRI survey finds white evangelical support for President Trump at an all-time high, with 75 percent holding a favorable view of the president and just 22 percent holding an unfavorable view.

The UK Refused To Raid A Company Suspected Of Money Laundering, Citing Its Tory Donations  —  “It is of note that they are the biggest corporate donor to the Conservative party led by Prime Minister Theresa May and donated 1.25m Euros to the Prince Charles Trust.”

Leaders worldwide are falling for a ‘deadly illusion’  —  ALTHOUGH HIS audience was the European Parliament, French President Emmanuel Macron articulated truths on Tuesday that resonate for the entire globe.  Nationalism and authoritarianism are on the march.  Democracy as an ideal and in practice seems under siege.

Underestimate Trump's Reelection Odds at Your Own Peril  —  This is part two of a back-and-forth between Crystal Ball Managing Editor Kyle Kondik and veteran reporter and presidential historian Paul Brandus assessing President Trump's reelection odds in 2020.  See the piece from Brandus here.

Palantir Knows Everything About You  —  Peter Thiel's data-mining company is using War on Terror tools to track American citizens.  The scary thing?  Palantir is desperate for new customers.  —  High above the Hudson River in downtown Jersey City, a former U.S. Secret Service agent named …

McKayla Maroney: Nassar Manipulated His Starving Victims With Food  —  Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney told NBC News' Savannah Guthrie that she “would've starved at the Olympics” if serial sexual abuser Larry Nassar had not brought her food.  In an excerpt of an interview set to air Sunday on Dateline …