Politics

Fox News is rather unhappy: It’s a tale of two targets. Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser and retired three-star Army general, is on the brink of financial ruin, selling his Virginia home in order to pay his mounting legal bills. Meanwhile, Andrew McCabe – the wealthy ex-FBI official fired by Attorney General Jeff Sessions whose wife is a …

IndieWire reports: Jim Carrey has debuted on social media his official portrait of Donald J. Trump, and it’s a scathing critique of the 45th President of the United States. The image shows Trump pleasuring himself as he touches his right nipple and eats ice cream. His bowl of ice cream resembles two breasts. The Trump portrait is just the latest …

The Hill reports: Most younger Americans oppose President Trump’s agenda and majorities call him “racist,” “dishonest,” and “unfit” to be president, according to a poll released Friday by The Associated Press. Just 33 percent of Americans between the ages of 15 and 34 approve of the president’s performance in office, nine points lower than the average of all adults in …

EuroNews reports: The Russian Defence Ministry has published a video showing its new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) being test-launched in the north of the country. The footage shows the Sarmat missile – dubbed ‘Satan 2’ by NATO – being launched from the Plesetsk spaceport. The missile was one of several advanced Russian weapons President Vladimir Putin promoted in his state-of-the-nation …

Barron’s reports: News broke late Thursday that Walmart is in preliminary talks to buy the insurer Humana: Sources told The Wall Street Journal that the two companies are discussing a “range of options” that includes an acquisition. Although no details of the deal are known at the moment, it would be Walmart’s biggest acquisition on record. Humana’s market value is …

The Los Angeles Times reports: The Trump administration is poised to abandon America’s pioneering fuel economy targets for cars and SUVs, a move that would undermine one of the world’s most aggressive programs to confront climate change and invite another major confrontation with California. The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to announce in the coming days that it will scrap …

Politico reports: While he may work for the West Wing, White House attorney Ty Cobb said this week that the audience for his job is Robert Mueller, the special counsel leading an investigation of the 2016 campaign. Cobb, in an interview on Wednesday with Vox, said the Trump administration’s cooperation with the Mueller investigation was delayed at one point because …

Gizmodo reports: Facebook has started fact-checking photos and videos, as a part of a larger plan to prevent foreign agents from using the platform to spread propaganda and influence elections. Executives on Thursday explained Facebook’s plans in a blog post and on a conference call with journalists. Some of the plans had already been announced—for instance, verifying election ad buyers …

The Washington Post reports: Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday rebuffed — at least for now — a call from GOP leaders to appoint a second special counsel to look into the FBI’s handling of its most high-profile probes and announced that he has asked the U.S. attorney in Utah to spearhead a broad review. Sessions made the revelation in …

Because just cutting off his WiFi wasn’t enough. Australia’s News Corp outlet reports: Electronic jammers have been placed inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London to prevent WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange having access to the internet or social media, sources say. The Ecuadorian government took the measure on Tuesday evening, stopping Assange from tweeting, using the internet or phone. He has …

The Washington Post reports: Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe on Thursday launched an online fundraiser to help cover the legal costs that might come as he navigates investigations and congressional inquiries and explores whether he will sue over his abrupt ouster from the bureau. McCabe’s team unveiled the legal defense fund, hosted on the GoFundMe website, about 2 p.m. …

The Associated Press reports: Russia’s foreign minister says Moscow will expel the same number of diplomats from the nations that have expelled Russian diplomats over the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy in Britain. Sergey Lavrov said U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman has been summoned to the Foreign Ministry on Thursday, where he was given notice that Russia is responding quid pro …

CNN reports: President Donald Trump is pivoting to infrastructure — again — on Thursday as he travels to Ohio to tout the economic benefits of his proposals to help rebuild and repair America’s ailing system. Trump will address a crowd of heavy-equipment operators, mechanics and engineers at a union training site in Richfield, Ohio, to put a spotlight on workers …

Reuters reports: Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy will face trial over charges he misused his influence to secure leaked details of an inquiry into alleged irregularities in his 2007 election campaign, a source close to the investigation said on Thursday. The case came about after investigators used phone-taps to examine separate allegations that late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi funded Sarkozy’s …

From David Shulkin’s op-ed in the New York Times: I believe differences in philosophy deserve robust debate, and solutions should be determined based on the merits of the arguments. The advocates within the administration for privatizing V.A. health services, however, reject this approach. They saw me as an obstacle to privatization who had to be removed. That is because I …

The Guardian reports: SCL, Cambridge Analytica’s predecessor, had access to secret UK information and was singled out for praise by the UK Ministry of Defence for the training it provided to a psychological operations warfare group, according to documents newly released by MPs. The document also noted that SCL – which was subsequently rebranded as Cambridge Analytica by Steve Bannon …

The Hill reports: Former Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday night did not dismiss rumors he will run for president in 2020. He told The New York Times that if he ran for president, he would do so because he felt he could unify and advance the country. In a Q&A interview streamed online, Times reporter Alex Burns asked the …

The Wall Street Journal reports: President Donald Trump criticized Amazon.com Inc. on Thursday, saying the e-commerce giant was “putting many thousands of retailers out of business.” Shares of Amazon.com slid on Wednesday amid speculation that the White House wanted to curb the company’s growing dominance. In a briefing on Wednesday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that Mr. …

The New York Post reports: Former Subway pitchman Jared Fogle has issued another desperate plea for his release — this time calling on President Trump for help. The 40-year-old is currently serving more than 15 years for distributing child pornography and traveling to have paid sex with a minor after pleading guilty in 2015. He filed a petition this week …

The New York Times reports: President Trump made a personal phone call on Wednesday to a political supporter with a huge megaphone — Roseanne Barr. Mr. Trump called Ms. Barr to congratulate her on the revival of her comedy, “Roseanne,” and to thank her for her support. The call was confirmed by Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary. …