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 …

Donald Trump  —  President Trump is a flash-bang grenade thrown into Washington by the forgotten men and women of America.  The fact that his first year as Commander in Chief disoriented and distressed members of the media and political establishment is not a bug but a feature.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

SU suspends Theta Tau fraternity after video of ‘extremely racist’ behavior surfaces  —  The Syracuse University chapter of Theta Tau was suspended Wednesday morning after the university confirmed it was involved in the creation of online videos showing fraternity members engaging in behaviors that were …

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 …

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 …

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 …

‘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 …

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 …

CAMERON KASKY, JACLYN CORIN, DAVID HOGG, EMMA GONZÁLEZ AND ALEX WIND  —  America's response to mass shootings has long followed a predictable pattern.  We mourn.  Offer thoughts and prayers.  Speculate about the motives.  And then—even as no developed country endures a homicide rate like ours …

GOP freaks out about losing another House seat Trump won by 20 points  —  Republicans fear that another deep red seat is at risk in a special election.  —  Arizona House candidate Debbie Lesko is in danger, and Republicans know it.  —  That is why, according to a report from CNBC …

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 …

Being Black in Public  —  Last Thursday, an employee at a Philadelphia Starbucks called the police on two black men who were waiting for the arrival of a business partner without having ordered anything at the counter.  When police arrived, the men were arrested for trespassing.

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 …

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” …

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.

Uganda's President Wants to Ban Oral Sex, Says the “Mouth is for Eating”  —  Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has issued what he calls a “public warning” against oral sex.  —  The president claims the practice has been pushed on Ugandans by “outsiders,” and argues that the mouth is solely for eating.

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.

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.

With McCain in hospital, Arizona lawmakers push bill that would delay vote to replace him  —  Sen. John McCain has been hospitalized since Sunday dealing with diverticulitis, an intestinal issue.  Republic reporter Craig Harris reports from Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix.  Michael Chow/azcentral.com