Trump admin. decay, Russian relations and a school shooting
White House discord
On Day 3 of his presidency, Donald Trump described his top advisors as “a team that gets along.” But just three months in, that team is showing signs of decay. Chief of staff Reince Priebus has ordered a face-to-face truce between Steve Bannon and Mr. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner -- both senior advisers to the president, and leaders of warring White House factions.
Russian relations
Hours ahead of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s arrival in Moscow, world leaders threatened new sanctions against Syria, as well as Russia for propping up Syria’s dictator Bashar al-Assad. Tillerson has given Russia a choice: let the Assad regime drag it down, or join the U.S. and its allies.
Testing Tillerson
Following the U.S. missile strike on a Syrian airbase, relations between Washington and Moscow -- Cold War foes of years gone by -- are as chilly as they’ve been in many years. Can America’s new and largely untested chief diplomat make any headway?
School shooting
San Bernardino, California, is grieving again, barely a year after a deadly terror attack. Police want to know why 53-year-old Cedric Anderson walked into a classroom full of special needs children yesterday and shot his estranged wife, Karen Smith, dead. The couple was married less than three months ago.
Toppled by scandal
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, a mild-mannered Republican who was once a Baptist deacon, stepped down yesterday before a sex-tinged scandal swirling around him made it to the level of impeachment proceedings. “There have been times I have let you and our people down,” he said.
Deep water
Could America’s flood insurance system be swamped? Premiums for millions of flood zone homeowners are set to rise, and those costs could multiply if lawmakers fail to shore up the federal National Flood Insurance Program, which is now in debt to the tune of $24 billion and set to expire this year.
More top news:
U.S.
Oklahoma official draws fire for “cross-dressers” warning email
Navy makes decision about charges in sailor’s drowning death
Deadly devices temporarily banned after young boy sickened
World
North Korea “ready for any mode of war desired by the U.S.”
Stockholm attack suspect admits “terrorist crime,” lawyer says
Brutal fight for western Mosul takes heavy toll on civilians
Politics
Bill Clinton has annual visit with George H.W. Bush
Students taking N.Y. gov up on free college initiative must stay in state
Trump to sell warplanes to Nigeria
McCain calls on Tillerson to challenge Putin over Syria role
Business
How would you fix Social Security’s big problems?
Ford souping up its electric car lineup
Why fewer tax returns have been filed so far this year
Health
Parents’ smoking tied to genetic changes in kids with cancer
Survey shows mammograms not happening when they should
Science and tech
April’s spectacular “Pink Moon” rises this week
Large asteroid to whizz past Earth in the coming days
