It is too bad I have been silenced … It is with a heavy heart, and profound regret for the current state of media in America, that I have dragged my laptop to a Starbucks to pen this column.  But I think it is important that we understand the degree of oppression we are up against.

Scott Pruitt Before the E.P.A.: Fancy Homes, a Shell Company and Friends With Money  —  OKLAHOMA CITY — Early in Scott Pruitt's political career, as a state senator from Tulsa, he attended a gathering at the Oklahoma City home of an influential telecommunications lobbyist who was nearing retirement and about to move away.

Former Lawyer for Stormy Daniels Is Drawn Into Federal Investigation  —  The Beverly Hills lawyer who represented two women who were paid in 2016 to keep quiet about their alleged affairs with Donald J. Trump has been drawn into the federal investigation focused on Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump's longtime lawyer and fixer.

North Korea Suspends Nuclear, Long-Range Missile Tests and Plans to Close Nuclear Test Site  —  Central Committee makes decisions ahead of meeting between North, South Korean leaders  —  SEOUL—North Korea said it has suspended nuclear and long-range missile tests and plans to close its nuclear test site.

It's becoming clear that Trump won't run in 2020  —  It has been nearly three years since Donald Trump descended his faux-gold escalator to announce an improbable run for president, and Republican politicians seem just as baffled by the reality TV star's future as they were the day he first launched …

‘Imploding’: Financial troubles.  Lawsuits.  Trailer park brawls.  Has the alt-right peaked? … Eight months after a white-nationalist rally in Charlottesville ended in the death of a counterprotester, the loose collection of disaffected young white men known as the alt-right is in disarray.

Loyal blue heeler stays with three-year-old lost in bush overnight  —  An old blue heeler named Max remained by the side of a three-year-old girl and led searchers to her after she spent more than 15 hours lost in rugged bushland on Queensland's Southern Downs overnight.

Democrat uses TrumpTV to blast TrumpTV  —  Democratic House candidate John Heenan is buying up airtime on stations owned by Trump-friendly Sinclair Broadcasting Group — and using it to blast Sinclair.  —  John Heenan, a Democratic candidate for Montana's U.S. House seat …

Sessions told White House that Rosenstein's firing could prompt his departure, too  —  Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently told the White House he might have to leave his job if President Trump fired his deputy, Rod J. Rosenstein, who oversees the investigation into Russian interference …

What Melania Trump Can Learn From Barbara Bush  —  From 1989 to 1993, Barbara Bush made the second hardest job in America look easy.  This achievement was particularly impressive considering she was sandwiched between two lighting-rod-like first ladies.  Barbara Bush could see what Nancy Reagan …

Pressure to Release Comey Memos May Have Backfired on G.O.P.  —  WASHINGTON — For days, top Republicans in Congress demanded the release of James B. Comey's memos about President Trump, threatening Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, with a subpoena if he failed to share …

Robots interviewing graduates for jobs at top city firms as students practice how to impress AI  —  As a nervous university student keen to make a good impression, you would be forgiven for wanting to comb your hair, polish your shoes and maybe even clean your teeth before a job interview.

Techno-Fundamentalism Can't Save You, Mark Zuckerberg  —  It was like a verbal tic.  Last week, in two days of testimony before Congress, Mark Zuckerberg, the C.E.O. of Facebook, invoked a magical-sounding phrase whenever he was cornered about a difficult issue.

GOP faces rural rebellion over Trump trade agenda  —  WASHINGTON — From his dairy farm in southeastern Nebraska, lifelong Republican Ben Steffen believed Donald Trump meant what he said on the campaign trail about ripping up U.S. trade agreements.  —  So Steffen, who produces milk, beef …

Homework assignment asks students to list positive aspects of slavery  —  (CNN)A Texas charter school is apologizing after a teacher gave an assignment to an eighth grade American History class, asking students to list the positive aspects of slavery.  —  “When I first read it, I thought …

Where Countries Are Tinderboxes and Facebook Is a Match  —  MEDAMAHANUWARA, Sri Lanka — Past the end of a remote mountain road, down a rutted dirt track, in a concrete house that lacked running water but bristled with smartphones, 13 members of an extended family were glued to Facebook.

Trump lashes out at New York Times reporter in latest attack on press  —  President Trump's first public comments from Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday were to attack New York Times' White House correspondent Maggie Haberman, apparently over her coverage of a criminal investigation of Mr. Trump's personal lawyer.

Hundreds of Immigrant Children Have Been Taken From Parents at U.S. Border  —  On Feb. 20, a young woman named Mirian arrived at the Texas border carrying her 18-month-old son.  They had fled their home in Honduras through a cloud of tear gas, she told border agents, and needed protection from the political violence there.

How long will I be allowed to remain a Christian?  —  “How long will I be allowed to remain a Christian?”  —  That was the deeply dismaying question posed to me by a friend with four young children as we discussed the plight of the Christian faith in America and around the world.

Meet the journalism student who found out she won a Pulitzer in class  —  Mariel Padilla.  Photo by Catherine Mazanek.  —  On Monday afternoon, Mariel Padilla, a master's student at Columbia Journalism School, sat around a table with classmates, listening to Professor Giannina Segnini lead …

Ocala, Florida school shooting: School resource officer praised for quick actions  —  OCALA, Fla. — A Florida school resource officer is being praised for quickly confronting the gunman during a shooting at a high school that injured one student Friday.  The shooting happened Friday morning …

Brothers Linked To Assad Gave Thousands To Dennis Kucinich's Ohio Political Machine  —  The former congressman is seeking the Democratic nomination in Ohio's gubernatorial race and recently revealed he accepted $20,000 from a pro-Assad group.  —  WASHINGTON Ahead of a tight primary on May 8 …

Republican Rick Wilson destroys CNN's Trump booster Jason Miller for defending the president's ‘bullsh*t’  —  Never-Trump Republican Rick Wilson managed to slip a curse word past CNN's censors Friday while blasting former Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller over the so-called “pee tape.”

DeVos Education Dept. Begins Dismissing Civil Rights Cases in Name of Efficiency  —  WASHINGTON — The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights has begun dismissing hundreds of civil rights complaints under a new protocol that allows investigators to disregard cases that are part …

Comey's wish for a leaker's ‘head on a pike’?  Proof he's no better than Trump  —  With Donald Trump, there is sometimes so much material to provoke outrage that you worry something important is bound to be overlooked.  This is the case with the recently released Comey memos …