E.P.A. Aide Questioned Deleting Sensitive Meeting Details.  Then She Was Fired.  —  WASHINGTON — Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the subject of numerous investigations into claims that he used agency resources for personal benefit …

AP NewsBreak: US Army quietly discharging immigrant recruits  —  SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Some immigrant U.S. Army reservists and recruits who enlisted in the military with a promised path to citizenship are being abruptly discharged, the Associated Press has learned.

Fourth Ohio State wrestler says Rep. Jim Jordan knew about sexual abuse when he was coach  —  The wrestler said Jordan, a former assistant coach at Ohio State, took part in locker-room conversations where athletes discussed the abuse.  —  A fourth former Ohio State University wrestler came forward Thursday …

Schumer urges Trump to tap Merrick Garland for Supreme Court  —  Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) privately urged President Trump in a phone call earlier this week to nominate federal Judge Merrick B. Garland, then President Barack Obama's third nominee to the Supreme Court …

Michael Cohen tells friends he doesn't think Trump would pardon him  —  Berman: Is Michael Cohen ready to sing?  —  (CNN)Michael Cohen has recently told friends that he is pessimistic that President Donald Trump will offer him a pardon — one more indication that Cohen does not believe his former boss will have his back.

Ed Schultz, former Fargo radio personality, has died  —  Ed Schultz listens to a caller during a broadcast of his nationally syndicated liberal talk show on Feb. 9, 2006.  There's no reason a left-leaning show can't be successful, he says.  “The last time I checked, liberals drive vehicles,” he says.

Republicans on Russia trip face scorn and ridicule from critics at home  —  Republican lawmakers who went to Russia seeking a thaw in relations received an icy reception from Democrats and Kremlin watchers for spending the Fourth of July in a country that interfered in the U.S. presidential election and continues to deny it.

Trump Administration in Chaotic Scramble to Reunify Migrant Families  —  Faced with a court-imposed deadline to reunite families separated at the southwest border, federal authorities are calling in volunteers to sort through records and resorting to DNA tests to match children with parents.

Trade-war's eve  —  Just after midnight tonight the Trump administration is set to impose tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese goods, escalating a global trade war that has pitted the U.S. against trading partners around the world.  — “Businesses are bracing for disruptions in sales and supply chains …

Pompeo Brings ‘Rocket Man’ CD for Kim Jong-un  —  U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo left for North Korea on Thursday for denuclearization talks and brought two gifts for leader Kim Jong-un.  —  One is a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump and the other an Elton John CD with his song “Rocket Man.”

Trump's Mar-A-Lago Wants To Hire 40 More Foreign Workers  —  With the latest filing, the club has now sought to hire more than 240 foreign workers since Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign.  —  Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump's private club in Palm Beach, Florida …

The U.S. labor shortage is reaching a critical point  — Private payrolls grew less than expected in June, likely due not just to a slowdown in hiring but also a decline in the labor pool.  —  America's labor shortage is approaching epidemic proportions, and it could be employers who end up paying.

Hundreds of thousands evacuated in Japan as ‘historic’ rain falls; two dead  —  TOKYO (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of people across a wide swathe of western and central Japan were evacuated from their homes on Friday as torrential rains pounded the nation, flooding rivers …

Lions eat ‘rhino poachers’ on South African game reserve  —  At least two suspected rhino poachers have been mauled to death and eaten by lions on a South African game reserve, officials say.  —  Rangers discovered the remains of two, possibly three, people in a lion enclosure in the Sibuya reserve …

EXCLUSIVE: City nixes property tax break for Trump's NYC apartment … New York City has nixed a $48,000 tax break President Trump was set to receive on his Trump Tower condo following inquiries from the Daily News about whether he is still eligible for the savings.

Mom's secret recording catches kindergarten teacher calling 5-year-old a ‘loser’  —  By the second week of school last fall, Kandy Escotto knew something was amiss with her 5-year-old.  —  Her son, Aaron, complained about going to school.  He brought home poor grades.

Kino Jimenez, Accused MAGA Attacker, Fired by Rumble Bar  —  Kino Jimenez, who is accused of attacking a teen wearing a MAGA hat, has been fired by Rumble, a San Antonio bar, which wrote that its employee's alleged actions “go against everything that this establishment stands for.”

White Fight  —  Under the Trump administration, even naturalized citizens are now a target.  The government agency that oversees immigration applications is hiring lawyers and immigration officers to review cases of immigrants suspected of obtaining citizenship through fake identities or other false information on their applications.

Life in Trump Cabinet: perks, pestering, power, putdowns  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross came in for an Oval Office tongue-lashing after he used a mundane soup can as a TV prop.  Defense Secretary Jim Mattis got overruled by President Donald Trump's announcement that a new “Space Force” is in the offing.

He is a Member of a Violent White Supremacist Group; So Why is He Working for a Defense Contractor with a Security Clearance?  —  In partnership with: … There likely isn't such a thing as a “typical” violent white extremist in America in 2018.  Still, Michael Miselis — a University of California …

Germany willing to cut tariffs on US cars, lifting automakers' shares  —  Germany's chancellor said Thursday she's willing to back lower tariffs on U.S. auto imports as a potential European Union (EU) concession to the Trump administration - just one day after CEOs of Germany's biggest carmakers …

Federal judge denies Trump administration effort to block California's ‘sanctuary’ law … A federal judge refused Thursday to block California from restricting local law enforcement cooperation with immigration agents, an early legal victory for the state's “sanctuary” law that drew caustic but predictable reactions from both sides.

Americans Are Having Fewer Babies.  They Told Us Why.  —  Women have more options, for one.  But a new poll also shows that financial insecurity is altering a generation's choices.  —  Americans are having fewer babies.  At first, researchers thought the declining fertility rate …