A note to readers  —  I have been uncharacteristically silent these past ten months.  I had thought that silence would soon be coming to an end, but I'm afraid I must tell you now that fate has decided on a different course for me.  —  In August of last year, I underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor in my abdomen.

CNN's Anthony Bourdain dead at 61  —  New York (CNN)Anthony Bourdain, a gifted storyteller and writer who took CNN viewers around the world, has died.  He was 61.  —  CNN confirmed Bourdain's death on Friday and said the cause of death was suicide.  —  “It is with extraordinary sadness …

Justice Dept. Seizes Times Reporter's Email and Phone Records in Leak Investigation  —  WASHINGTON — Federal law enforcement officials secretly seized years' worth of a New York Times reporter's phone and email records this year in an investigation of classified information leaks.

Under Trump, “America First” Really Is Turning Out to Be America Alone  —  From trade to the Iran deal to NAFTA, the President has created the highest level of tension between the U.S. and its allies in decades.  —  The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was less than forty-eight hours away …

Trump's Justice Department says the ACA is unconstitutional  —  The Justice Department will not defend the Affordable Care Act in court, and says it believes the law's individual mandate — the provision the Supreme Court upheld in 2012 — has become unconstitutional.

Trump will ask athletes who kneel during anthem to recommend people for pardoning  —  (CNN)President Donald Trump says he wants to meet with NFL players and athletes who kneel during the National Anthem so they can recommend people they think should be pardoned because they were treated unfairly by the justice system.

Trump says he is likely to support ending federal ban on marijuana … President Trump said he likely will support a congressional effort to end the federal ban on marijuana, a major step that would reshape the pot industry and end the threat of a Justice Department crackdown.

Des Moines DREAMer dies within weeks after being sent back to Mexico's violence  —  Editor's note: This column has been updated from the original online version with a statement from ICE.  —  Manuel Antonio Cano Pacheco should have graduated high school in Des Moines last month.

Trump's bedtime story: “The Book”  —  It's not true President Trump doesn't read.  It's just exceptionally hard to get him to do it.  —  So the workarounds by savvy aides have become legendary in the West Wing.  Many of them revolve around the briefing binder that goes …

With Mueller Closing In, Manafort's Allies Abandon Him  —  WASHINGTON — The special counsel's accusation this week that Paul Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chairman, tried to tamper with potential witnesses originated with two veteran journalists who turned on Mr. Manafort …

U.S. officials prepare to thwart Chinese spying at Singapore summit  —  WASHINGTON — China may not have a seat at the table during President Donald Trump's upcoming nuclear summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but U.S. officials say they are preparing to counter the Chinese spies …

One Koch Brother Forces The Other Out Of The Family Business  —  An arch-conservative political machine will be down one billionaire but have more clout than ever.  —  The retirement of David Koch from Koch Industries will make it easier to see more clearly what has been true from the start …

Romney: Trump will be reelected in 2020  —  DEER VALLEY, UTAH — Republican Senate candidate Mitt Romney bluntly predicted here on Thursday evening that President Donald Trump would win reelection in 2020.  —  Addressing a group of major GOP donors, Romney — who bitterly collided …

Trump is waging a trade war in the dumbest way possible  —  President Trump says we need to be “smarter” in how we deal with other countries.  And yet his approach to extracting concessions from our trading partners has proved very, very dumb.  —  Notwithstanding Trump's Twitter declarations …

Iran defiant as it holds day of anti-Israel protests  —  Tehran (AFP) - Iran held its annual day of protest against Israel on Friday, determined to show defiance at a time of mounting pressure from the United States and its regional allies.  —  “The US, Saudi Arabia and Israel want to put Iran in a corner …

The internet was supposed to save democracy.  I asked 4 tech optimists what went wrong.  —  After Cambridge Analytica, social networks look less like a savior than a menace.  —  The internet was supposed to save democracy.  —  The web, and in particular social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter …

Manchin: Come to Think of It, Endorsing Hillary in 2016 Was Actually a Mistake  —  I mean, Hillary only lost Manchin's home state by 42 percentage points, so it's unclear why he'd be having second thoughts about calling her uniquely qualified while warmly endorsing her for president.