- Terror in New York. A man plowed a pickup truck down a bike path in Manhattan, killing eight people and wounding 11. The driver, who came to the U.S. from Uzbekistan, shouted “Allahu akbar” after exiting the vehicle [New York Times].
- President Donald Trump says George Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty this week to lying to federal agents investigating Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election, was a “low-level volunteer” in the Trump campaign. However, documents show Papadopoulos was in regular contact with the most senior officials in the Trump campaign [Washington Post].
- Papadopoulos claimed in an email that top Trump campaign officials agreed to a pre-election meeting with representatives of Russian President Vladimir Putin [Bloomberg].
- Court documents show former Trump campaign head Paul Manafort holds three passports, each under a separate number, and has traveled to other countries using a phone and email account registered under a fake name [ABC News].
- President Donald Trump is getting increasing pressure from his political advisers to aggressively push back against special counsel Robert Muller‘s investigation [Washington Post].
- Top staffers from tech giants Google, Facebook, and Twitter testified before Congress on Tuesday. Here’s what they said [Axios].
- Thousands of people attended a protest in New York City against President Donald Trump organized by Russian operatives on Facebook [The Hill].
- Employees of Fox News are reportedly embarrassed about how their network is covering the growing Russia scandal [CNN Money].
- Despite President Trump’s assertion that diplomacy with North Korea is a waste of time, the U.S. is pursuing direct talks with Kim Jong Un‘s regime [Reuters].
- House Republicans are postponing the rollout of their tax reform proposal to iron out some last-minute disagreements [Politico].
- The GOP reportedly will propose keeping the tax rate for top earners at 39.6% instead of dropping it to 35% in a bid to get moderates to support the proposal [Washington Post].
- NPR’s top editor has been placed on leave after two women allege he made unwanted physical contact with them when he was with another news organization [Washington Post].
On this day in history:
- 1512 – The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, is exhibited to the public for the first time.
- 1520 – The Strait of Magellan is first discovered and navigated by European explorer Ferdinand Magellan.
- 1604 – William Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello is performed for the first time at Whitehall Palace in London.
- 1611 – William Shakespeare’s play The Tempest is performed for the first time.
- 1765 – The British Parliament enacts the Stamp Act on the Thirteen Colonies to help pay for British military operations in North America.
- 1800 – John Adams becomes the first president to live in the White House.
- 1938 – Seabiscuit beat War Admiral in horse racing’s “match of the century.”
- 1950 – Two Puerto Rican nationalists tried to force their way into the Blair House in Washington in an attempt to assassinate President Harry Truman.
