Senate races to pass bill to reauthorize FAA and improve air travel
WASHINGTON — The Senate is racing against a Friday deadline to pass legislation to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration at a moment of intense uncertainty and disruption in the air travel system, but a host of policy disputes and unrelated issues are threatening to prolong the debate.
Breach grows between Biden and Israel’s leaders over Rafah invasion
JERUSALEM — Israeli leaders declared Thursday that they would not be deterred by President Joe Biden’s threat to withhold more arms shipments if the military launched a major assault on densely populated areas of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
Stormy Daniels, echoing Trump’s style, pushes back at lawyer’s attacks
NEW YORK — Donald Trump, the onetime president, and Stormy Daniels, the longtime porn actor, despise one another. But when Daniels returned to the witness stand at Trump’s criminal trial Thursday, his lawyers made them sound a lot alike.
Up, up and not OK: Letting go of balloons could soon be illegal in Florida
Balloons released in the sky don’t go to heaven. They often end up in oceans and waterways, where they’re 32 times more likely to kill seabirds than other types of plastic debris. Despite this, humans like to release them en masse, be it to celebrate a loved one’s life or a wedding, or to reveal the gender of a baby.
Biden pressures Israel to reach a cease-fire in Gaza, straining ties
TEL AVIV, Israel — The Biden administration dispatched the head of the CIA to meet Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, part of an effort to limit Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip city of Rafah and push for a cease-fire deal with Hamas.
Nuggets’ Jokic wins third NBA MVP in four seasons
He can pass like Magic, board like Moses and shoot and scowl like Bird. On Wednesday, Nikola Jokic joined those NBA legends as three-time winners of the league’s most coveted individual honor.
Ukraine says it foiled Russian plot to kill Zelenskyy
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s security services said Tuesday that they had foiled a Russian plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other top military and political figures. Two Ukrainian colonels accused of participating in the plot have been arrested on suspicion of treason.
Severe storms batter midwest, damaging buildings in Michigan
Tornadoes ripped through communities in Michigan on Tuesday evening as severe storms battered the Midwest, bringing more destruction a day after tornadoes in the southern Plains killed at least one person and damaged dozens of homes.
Lawrence Frank expresses cautious optimism about Clippers’ future: ‘The window is still open’
LOS ANGELES — In the recent past, Lawrence Frank’s end-of-season addresses have been rather emotional.
Stormy Daniels tells a story of sex with Trump as he listens in disgust
NEW YORK — When Donald Trump met Stormy Daniels, their fling seemed fleeting: He was a 60-year-old married mogul at the peak of reality television fame, and she was 27, not half his age, a Louisiana native raised in poverty and headed to porn-film stardom.
Just how dangerous is Europe’s rising far right?
PARIS — Jordan Bardella, 28, is the new face of the far right in France. Measured, clean-cut and raised in the hardscrabble northern suburbs of Paris, he laces his speeches with references to Victor Hugo and believes that “no country succeeds by denying or being ashamed of itself.”
Witness in Trump trial links former president to hush-money payoff
NEW YORK — After two weeks of enthralling jurors with stories of sex and scandal, prosecutors delved into the documents at the heart of Donald Trump’s criminal trial on Monday, a pivotal turn in the case that came on the same day the judge held Trump in contempt and threatened to jail him.
Russia to hold drills on tactical nuclear weapons in new tensions with West
BERLIN — Russia said Monday that it would hold military exercises with troops based near Ukraine to practice for the possible use of battlefield nuclear weapons, a provocative warning aimed at discouraging the West from deepening its support for Ukraine.
Biden warns Netanyahu against an offensive in Rafah
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Monday urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against a large military offensive in the southern Gaza Strip, just hours before the Israeli government voted to move forward with the long-threatened assault.
‘The Fall Guy’ fizzles with $28.5 million in ticket sales
LOS ANGELES — “The Fall Guy” seemed to have everything.
Got an idea for a toy? Toymakers want to hear from you
Near the end of 2022, Lucas Bolt, an environmental artist and Lego enthusiast in Amsterdam, was working on a design for a Lego set the company had crowdsourced to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Dungeons &Dragons, the tabletop role-playing game.
RFK Jr. claims censorship after Facebook and Instagram briefly block new ad
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made censorship — specifically, claims that the government, news media and tech platforms have tried to stifle his message — a cornerstone of his independent presidential campaign.
Gallows humor and talk of escape: Trump’s possible return rattles DC
WASHINGTON — It has become the topic of the season at Washington dinner parties and receptions. Where would you go if it really happens?
At donor retreat, Trump calls Biden administration the ‘Gestapo’
Fresh from his criminal trial in New York, Donald Trump delivered a frustrated and often obscene speech, lasting roughly 75 minutes, at a Republican National Committee donor retreat in Florida on Saturday, attacking one of the prosecutors pursuing him and comparing President Joe Biden’s administration to the Nazis.
From free speech to free Palestine: Six decades of student protest
(NYT) — An American college student looked out at a sea of protesters and spoke of a machine that had grown so “odious” that it had left people of goodwill little choice. There must be protest.
