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 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 …

Men arrested at Starbucks say they feared for their lives  —  PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Rashon Nelson initially brushed it off when the Starbucks manager told him he couldn't use the restroom because he wasn't a paying customer.  —  He thought nothing of it when he and his business partner …

POLL: Arizona Senate Race Heating Up - Blue, not Red  —  Trump favorability underwater by 13-points in the desert  —  The GOP has two U.S. Senate seats at risk this election and Arizona's Senate seat is one of those two.  Democrat front-runner, Kyrsten Sinema, has little to no opposition …

If Rosenstein is fired, this may be the timeline used to rationalize it … There are three possible explanations for the ongoing tension between congressional investigators and the Department of Justice.  —  The first is that the investigators, led by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

Scott Pruitt  —  The Environmental Protection Agency has been instrumental in improving our nation's air, land and water quality.  From the inaugural Clean Air Act of 1970 to the Brownfields Program and Great Lakes cleanup, the EPA has established antipollution standards …

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 …

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 …

Andrew McCabe swipes at James Comey: He's not telling the truth  —  Andrew McCabe — who was fired as FBI deputy director last month — hit back at former FBI Director James Comey, saying he was not telling the truth in an interview earlier Wednesday.  —  “Comey has relied on the accuracy …

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 …

Raqqa  —  The Trump administration has signaled its waning interest in Syria's future, with the president urging this month that U.S. troops be withdrawn as soon as possible.  After U.S.-led airstrikes against Syria last weekend in retaliation for an alleged poison-gas attack …

Exclusive: Facebook to put 1.5 billion users out of reach of new EU privacy law  —  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - If a new European law restricting what companies can do with people's online data went into effect tomorrow, almost 1.9 billion Facebook Inc users around the world would be protected by it.

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 …

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 …

Russian Billionaire to Lose $492 Million Yacht in Divorce  —  Judge orders Farkhad Akhmedov to transfer ownership to wife  —  Akhmedov's boat, built for Abramovich, impounded in Dubai  —  A London court ordered the seizure of a luxury $492 million yacht owned by a Russian billionaire …

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.

L.A. Fitness fires 3 workers after black men get kicked out of N.J. gym  —  L.A. Fitness has fired a manager and two employees at a New Jersey gym where two black men were kicked out Monday night in an incident captured on video and shared on social media, according to a salesman there.

Sexual Harassment Was Rampant at Coachella 2018  —  Trigger Warning: This article contains multiple stories describing sexual assault.  —  The annual Coachella music festival always promises a few things for my social media feeds: selfies in front of a ferris wheel, an array of photogenic …

Miguel Díaz-Canel becomes Cuba's president, Raúl Castro steps down  —  Cuba has a new president, and for the first time in over 40 years, his last name is not Castro.  —  Miguel Díaz-Canel officially became president on Thursday morning after Raúl Castro stepped …

‘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 …

Smearing Robert Mueller  —  Sean Hannity and others are blaming the special counsel for one of the F.B.I.'s worst scandals.  But there is no evidence to back up their charges.  —  Was Robert Mueller, the special counsel, complicit in one of the worst scandals in the F.B.I.'s history …

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.

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 …

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.

California reaches deal on National Guard border mission  —  SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California has reached an agreement with the federal government that the state's National Guard troops will deploy to the border to focus on fighting transnational gangs as well as drug and gun smugglers, Gov. Jerry Brown said.

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 …