Disney quietly took power from DeSantis' new board before state takeover  —  The battle between Disney and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis may not be over yet.  —  The new board handpicked by the Republican governor to oversee Disney's special taxing district said Wednesday it is considering legal action …

Russian Security Service Detains Wall Street Journal Reporter  —  Russia's main security agency said it had detained a Wall Street Journal reporter for what it described as espionage.  —  The Federal Security Service said Thursday it had detained Evan Gershkovich, a U.S. citizen, in the eastern city of Yekaterinburg.

DeSantis Burnishes Tough-on-Crime Image to Run in '24 and Take On Trump  —  The Florida governor, preparing for an all-but-declared campaign, is said to see an opening to take on the former president from the right.  —  Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida has spent months shoring up a tough …

Rupert Murdoch settles a lot of lawsuits.  Why not Dominion v. Fox News?  —  The two sides met privately but could not reach agreement on the $1.6 billion defamation claim.  Legal experts say a settlement to avert a sensational trial is still possible.  —  Over a tumultuous decade …

Ariz. governor's press secretary resigns amid backlash over gun-toting post  —  Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) asked her press secretary to resign Tuesday night amid backlash over a meme she tweeted that prominent conservatives in the state said was a threat against “transphobes.”

Shooting Prompts a Shrug in Washington, as G.O.P. Rejects Pleas to Act  —  President Biden said he had reached the limit of his powers to act alone on gun violence, and needed Congress to respond.  Republicans said they had already done all they were willing to do.

Manhattan Trump grand jury set to break for a month  —  A previously planned hiatus would push back a potential indictment of the former president.  —  NEW YORK — The Manhattan grand jury examining Donald Trump's alleged role in a hush money payment to a porn star isn't expected to hear evidence …

Texas Observer will continue publishing after staff crowdfunds nearly $300,000  —  The crusading liberal magazine had planned to lay off its staff after its nonprofit board voted to shut down.  But it reversed course on Wednesday.  —  Days after voting to cease publication and lay off its journalists …

Biden's Inflation Reduction Act Betrayal  —  Instead of implementing the law as intended, his administration subverts it for ideological ends.  —  WSJ Opinion: Joe Manchin for President?  —  America is fast approaching another needless emergency—the raising of the national debt ceiling.

Trump Asks Advisers for ‘Battle Plans’ to ‘Attack Mexico’ if Reelected  —  Trump and his MAGAfied Republican Party are pushing plans for military action against drug cartels in Mexico — with or without the Mexican government's consent  —  DONALD TRUMP IS asking for a plan to wage war in Mexico …

Bolsonaro heading home to Brazil — and an uncertain future  —  The former military general lost his bid for a second presidential term in late 2022  —  RIO DE JANEIRO — Former president Jair Bolsonaro left the United States Wednesday night on a flight home to Brazil …

Idaho to be first state to pass a Fugitive Uterus Act  —  The fact that some states still reject the core Republican concept that women are second-class citizens is intolerable to most Republicans.  And until Republicans can succeed in their ultimate goal of a national ban on abortion …

Matt Gaetz's Legislative Aide Is a Convicted War Criminal … Derrick Miller, a former U.S. Army National Guard sergeant who spent eight years in prison for murdering an Afghan civilian in 2010, now serves as a legislative assistant covering military policy for Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz.

If Twitter finally dies, where do we find the smart people?  —  For a decade, Twitter was the premier watering hole for the chattering classes.  But where does everybody go if it dries up?  —  Sometimes malls are fun.  Sometimes, they die.  These days, our longtime social media hangout …

Allen Weisselberg just fired his Trump-funded lawyers — is he about to flip?  —  Sources are telling WNBC that Allen Weisselberg, the former CFO of the Trump Organization, has fired his Trump Org lawyers.  —  Weisselberg is not the first one to do something like this.

Debt Talks Are Frozen as House Republicans Splinter Over a Fiscal Plan  —  The struggles among Republicans to put forth a budget reflect the perilous path ahead for lawmakers who must broker a debt deal by the summer to avert a catastrophic default.  —  WASHINGTON — House Republicans …

The Only Realistic Answer to Putin  —  Russia's unprovoked invasion is impossible to justify.  Now is not the time to relent in helping Ukraine.  —  Russia's unprovoked, unjustified invasion of Ukraine last year and, for that matter, its first invasion of its neighbor eight years before are impossible to justify.

Man arrested over secretly recording Republicans prompts Senate to change security policies  —  Charges were dropped against the man, who was working for a catering company and told police he recorded “multiple hours” of a Senate Republican lunch meeting, court records say.

Dmitry Muratov: The Russian journalist refusing to be silenced  —  The Russian authorities may have shut down his newspaper, but journalist Dmitry Muratov refuses to be silenced.  —  When we meet in Moscow, the editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta and Russia's Nobel Peace Prize laureate is worried …

High egg prices send profits at largest US producer soaring more than 700%  —  New York CNN —  Cal-Maine Foods, the largest egg producer in the United States, reported revenue doubled and profit surged 718% last quarter because of sharply higher egg prices.

Wee the people: Republican Boebert presses DC witness on public urination  —  Congresswoman's fixation on whether criminal code would have decriminalized public urination made biggest splash at hearing  —  In bizarre scenes in a US House hearing, the far-right Republican Lauren Boebert asked …

Nicolle Wallace smacks down Ginni Thomas for ‘demented and unethical way’ of funneling money  —  It was reported on Tuesday that Ginni Thomas, the wife to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, raised $600,000 in anonymous donations to her fringe political group over the past few years.

A Florida School Banned a Disney Movie About Ruby Bridges.  Here's What That Really Means.  —  This month, an elementary school in St. Petersburg, Fla., stopped showing a 1998 Disney movie about Ruby Bridges, the 6-year-old Black girl who integrated a public elementary school in New Orleans in 1960 …

FL university system imposes 5-year tenure review; profs, other advocates criticize the change  —  Florida's state university system is making major changes to long-time tenure protections, meaning that established professors would have to undergo a review every five years to determine the faculty members' “productivity.”

Adidas retracts opposition to Black Lives Matter's three-stripe design  —  Adidas had told the trademark office in a Monday filing that the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation's yellow-stripe design was confusingly similar to its own famous mark.  —  Sportswear maker Adidas …

Modi Tightens Grip on India's Democracy, Wielding the Judiciary  —  The ouster from Parliament of India's best-known opposition leader shows how Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party is manipulating the judiciary, critics say.  —  Reporting from New Delhi  —  The last time an Indian leader held …