At His Ranch, John McCain Shares Memories and Regrets With Friends  —  PHOENIX — When former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. traveled to Senator John McCain's Arizona ranch last Sunday to spend a few hours with his ailing friend, the two reminisced about the “crazy senators” they had served with …

Revealed: Trump team hired spy firm for ‘dirty ops’ on Iran arms deal  —  Israeli agency told to find incriminating material on Obama diplomats who negotiated deal with Tehran  —  Aides to Donald Trump, the US president, hired an Israeli private intelligence agency to orchestrate a “dirty ops” …

APNewsBreak: Mueller team questions Trump friend Tom Barrack  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Investigators working for special counsel Robert Mueller have interviewed one of President Donald Trump's closest friends and confidants, California real estate investor Tom Barrack, The Associated Press has learned.

How Michael Cohen, Trump's Fixer, Built a Shadowy Business Empire  —  He was a personal-injury lawyer who often worked out of taxi offices scattered around New York City.  —  There was the one above the run-down auto repair garage on West 16th Street in Manhattan, on the edge of the Meatpacking District before it turned trendy.

As the ‘King of Debt,’ Trump borrowed to build his empire.  Then he began spending hundreds of millions in cash. … In the nine years before he ran for president, Donald Trump's company spent more than $400 million in cash on new properties — including 14 transactions paid for in full …

Franklin Graham: Trump's Affair with Stormy Daniels is “Nobody's Business”  —  Want more evidence of white evangelical Christian hypocrisy?  —  Evangelist Franklin Graham, who questioned President Obama's Christianity and said his agenda was “against Christ and against His teachings,” …

Native American Brothers Pulled From Campus Tour After Nervous Mother Calls Police  —  A pair of Native American brothers who had traveled seven hours to tour Colorado State University this week had their visit cut short after a parent on their tour reported them to the campus police.

NRA hopes you won't notice the Kremlin-linked company at its convention  —  Facing scrutiny over its own ties to Russia, the NRA hosted an ammunitions company linked to sanctioned Russian entities at its annual convention this weekend.  —  As Trump and Pence took the stage …

Early GOP primaries shaping up as rightward march with Trump  —  As primary season kicks into high gear, Republicans are engaged in nomination fights that are pulling the party to the right, leaving some leaders worried their candidates will be out of a step with the broader electorate in November.

UK regulator orders Cambridge Analytica to release data on US voter  —  In landmark cross-border decision, Information Commissioner's Office gives company 30 days to comply with David Carroll's request  —  Cambridge Analytica has been ordered to hand over all the data and personal information …

Welcome To Partytown, Baghdad  —  Fifteen years after the US invasion, and the war against ISIS, the Iraqi capital is alive and buzzing, with bars and restaurants open til the early morning.  —  Reporting From Baghdad  —  BAGHDAD — When Zeinab Mohamed was a teenager …

White House calls China's threats to airlines ‘Orwellian nonsense’ … In the long strategic struggle between the United States and China, one key issue is whether the Chinese Communist Party will be able to force Americans to do what it says, especially American companies.

FBI Faced ‘Conundrum’ In Its Investigation Of Michael Flynn  —  In late 2016, then-FBI Director James Comey was ready to shut down a counterintelligence investigation the bureau had open on Michael Flynn, the retired general who was set to serve as President Donald Trump's national security adviser.

Trump's Dangerous Global Retreat  —  The Eurofighter Typhoon is Germany's premier front-line jet fighter.  This week, Der Spiegel reported that just four of the Luftwaffe's 128 Typhoons are combat ready.  You read that right: four.  Also, not one of the German Navy's six submarines …

Mueller Poses As Fox News Host To Coax Rudy Giuliani Into Giving Him Testimony On Trump  —  NEW YORK—Welcoming viewers back to an exclusive interview featuring the President's new attorney, Special Counsel Robert Mueller posed as a Fox News host Thursday to coax Rudy Giuliani into giving him a testimony on Trump.

How The ACORN Scandal Seeded Today's Nightmare Politics  —  Breitbart led the charge, but Democrats delivered the killing blow.  Has anyone really learned?  —  It did not occur to Bertha Lewis to be afraid.  —  She was watching the final presidential debate of 2008, and John McCain had just said something insane.

Mike Pence dishonors himself.  Again.  —  WHEN VICE PRESIDENT Mike Pence appeared at an event in Arizona the other day and lauded former sheriff Joe Arpaio as a “tireless champion of . . . the rule of law,” his comment wasn't just a risible fiction about a man who made racial profiling …

Chula Vista school mural depicts severed, speared Trump head  —  A portion of a mural depicting President Trump's severed head on a spear has been covered up at MAAC Community Charter School in Chula Vista and will be repainted.  (John Gibbins)  —  A Chula Vista school mural that depicts the bloody …

California Now World's 5th Largest Economy, Surpassing UK  —  SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California's economy has surpassed that of the United Kingdom to become the world's fifth largest, according to new federal data made public Friday.  —  California's gross domestic product rose by $127 billion …

3 top figures at Denver Post, including former owner, quit  —  DENVER (AP) — Three top figures at The Denver Post, including its former owner, resigned Friday amid budget and staff cuts made by the newspaper's New York-based hedge fund owners.  —  Several Post reporters tweeted that Dean Singleton …

An Interview With Robin Hanson, the Sex Redistribution Professor  —  Earlier this week, I published an article asking whether Robin Hanson was the “creepiest economist in America.”  The George Mason University professor had become Twitter-notorious for a blog post in which he used …

Major quake hits Hawaii, prompts further volcano eruptions  —  Thousands of people have been told to leave their homes on Hawaii's Big Island following the eruption of the Kilauea volcano  —  Leilani Estates (United States) (AFP) - A magnitude 6.9 earthquake shook Hawaii's Big Island on Friday …