The Stormy Daniels Damage  —  Does Trump want Americans to believe him in a genuine crisis?  —  Most storms pass eventually.  This week Donald Trump tried to ensure that Stormy Daniels doesn't rain down permanent distraction on his Presidency, though at the cost of further damage to his credibility.

Influential outsiders have played a key role in Scott Pruitt's foreign travel … Scott Pruitt's itinerary for a February trip to Israel was remarkable by any standard for an Environmental Protection Agency administrator: A stop at a controversial Jewish settlement in the West Bank.

Donald Trump's Pursuit of an Oval Office Meeting with Vladimir Putin  —  Inside the mystery behind the President's surprise invitation to Russia's leader, and his team's struggle to figure out what to do about it.  —  Late on Monday evening, the Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, started making calls to European allies.

Why the Justice Department Is Defiant  —  A House subpoena, another missed deadline.  What is the department hiding?  —  The feud that has simmered for months between Congress and the Justice Department erupted this week into a cage match.  That's because the House is homing in on the goods.

Economy adds 164K jobs in April, unemployment lowest since 2000  —  The U.S. economy added 164,000 jobs in April, a modest number which was less than expected as the nation's labor market maintains a steady pace of growth.  —  The unemployment rate fell to 3.9 percent, the lowest level since December 2000 …

Trump Orders Pentagon to Consider Reducing U.S. Forces in South Korea  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump has ordered the Pentagon to prepare options for drawing down American troops in South Korea, just weeks before he holds a landmark meeting with North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un …

Deputy Consul General Of Israel Allegedly Forced Out Of Uber Ride For Speaking Hebrew On Phone  —  CHICAGO (CBS) - The Deputy Consul General of Israel to the Midwest, Itay Milner, says he was ten minutes into his Uber ride on Lower Wacker Drive Thursday night when he was thrown out by the driver.

U.S. freezes funding for Syria's “White Helmets”  —  Less than two months ago the State Department hosted members of the White Helmets at Foggy Bottom.  At the time, the humanitarian group was showered with praise for saving lives in Syria.  —  “Our meetings in March were very positive.

The Iran Deal Is Strategically and Morally Absurd  —  Editor's Note: This article is part of a debate about whether to stay in the Iran deal.  Read the other entries here.  —  It was surely Barack Obama's profound aversion to the use of American military power that so enfeebled …

No 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature, Panel Says Amid Sexual Abuse Scandal  —  STOCKHOLM — The Swedish panel that awards the Nobel Prize in Literature said on Friday that it would take the extraordinary step of not naming a laureate this year — not because of a shortage of deserving writers …

Facebook Targets Major White Nationalist Group In France  —  Facebook closed some pages of the group Generation Identity, best known for trying to stop immigrants from crossing the Mediterranean last summer.  —  Facebook has targeted one of the major white nationalist groups in France …

They Voted for Obama, Then Went for Trump.  Can Democrats Win Them Back?  —  RITTMAN, Ohio — In the daily race that is her life, Sharla Baker does not think about politics very much.  —  She rises early, drives to the gas station to buy coffee, feeds her baby, dresses her two other children …

Blankenship goes after McConnell's ‘China family’ in new ad  —  West Virginia GOP Senate hopeful Don Blankenship is amping up his racial attacks on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell with a new ad declaring, “Swamp captain Mitch McConnell has created millions of jobs for China people.”

Leak: The Atlantic Had A Meeting About Kevin Williamson.  It Was A Liberal Self-Reckoning.  —  In a staff meeting, Jeffrey Goldberg and Ta-Nehisi Coates discussed the hiring and firing of a conservative writer.  But it wound up being about a lot more than that.

Teen ‘distraught and upset’ after KC-area IHOP server prints N-word on her receipt  —  A Kansas City-area IHOP restaurant has fired a server after she printed a racial slur onto a black customer's receipt.  —  An IHOP representative said Tuesday that the server is black as well.

40 Questions Special Counsel Robert Mueller Needs to Answer Now  —  A Republican lawmaker contends the prosecutor has a lot to explain about his present job and prior posts as well  —  A firestorm was ignited earlier this week when The New York Times published a list of 40 questions …

Detroit radio station boycotting Kanye West music after controversial comments  —  A hip-hop and R&B radio station in Detroit has decided to stop playing Kanye West's music after the rapper's controversial remarks about slavery.  —  On-air DJs BIGG and Shay Shay at Detroit's 105.1 …

An Open Letter to Trump's Evangelical Defenders  —  A Christian's primary purpose is not to defend his own religious liberty.  It's not even to fight abortion — as vital as that task is.  His basic task on this Earth isn't protecting Christian education or preserving the freedom of Christian artists.

Hysteria over Jade Helm exercise in Texas was fueled by Russians, former CIA director says  —  Gov. Greg Abbott's decision in 2015 to ask the Texas State Guard to monitor a federal military exercise prompted significant criticism.  A former CIA director said Wednesday that the move emboldened Russians to next target elections.

It Was 122.4°F This Week in Pakistan, Probably a World Record for April  —  Even in Pakistan, no stranger to blistering heat, the temperature on Monday stood out: 122.4 degrees Fahrenheit.  —  The reading came from Nawabshah, a city of 1.1 million people in southern Pakistan …

Alan Dershowitz Hired as Harvey Weinstein Consultant  —  The Harvard Law professor is helping the embattled movie mogul get “exclupatory” emails from The Weinstein Co.  —  Alan Dershowitz may not want to jump aboard Donald Trump's legal team, but apparently, he has no qualms with advising Harvey Weinstein's legal team.