TOP STORIES
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INSIDE TRUMP’S FIRST BIG CHANGE TO OBAMACARE”President Donald Trump’s administration has taken its first action to change the way the health insurance marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act operate, aiming to shore them up for next year’s sign-up period.” Here’s why the move could contribute to shutdown fears. [HuffPost]
‘MOTHER OF ALL BOMBS’ KILLS 36 ISIS MILITANTS The U.S. military deployed its largest non-nuclear device Thursday to target a network of Islamic State militants in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province. [HuffPost]
TRUMP SIGNS OFF ON ALLOWING STATES TO DEFUND PLANNED PARENTHOOD “Trump signed a resolution on Thursday that will allow states to withhold Title X family planning funds from Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers.” [HuffPost]
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT NORTH KOREA’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM As Vice President Mike Pence heads to Seoul over growing tensions, which North Korea says are due in part to the president’s “aggressive” tweets. And here’s why preemptive strikes may be off the table. [HuffPost]
HOW BRITISH SPIES BEAT U.S. INTELLIGENCE TO DISCOVERING THE RUSSIA-TRUMP CAMPAIGN LINKS From as early as 2015. [The Guardian]
WEST WING MUSICAL CHAIRS While Steve Bannon may be on the way out, fellow hardliner Jeff Sessions isn’t going anywhere. And take a look at The Washington Post profile of the ascendant Gary Cohn. [HuffPost]
THINGS FOR UNITED KEEP GOING FROM BAD TO WORSE The lawyer for David Dao, the man forcibly removed from the plane, says he suffered a broken nose, knocked-out teeth and a concussion, and that he’ll need facial reconstruction. Here’s why the event has resulted in such a visceral reaction from Asian-Americans, as well as how the United PR team could have handled this so poorly. And to compound it all, a scorpion stung a passenger after falling out of an overhead bin ― and no, this is not some sort of promo stunt for “The Mummy.” [HuffPost]
CHOATE ACKNOWLEDGES SEXUAL ABUSE THAT ‘WENT ON FOR DECADES’ The elite boarding school said at least 12 teachers had molested students going back to the 1960s. [NYT]
MEET THE 7 MEN SET TO BE EXECUTED IN ARKANSAS THIS MONTH Over the span of 11 days. [HuffPost]
CHOLERA IS ABOUT TO HIT SOMALIA HARD Up to 50,000 cases are expected in the famine-threatened country this summer. [Reuters]
WHAT’S BREWING
IT’S OFFICIAL: LOVE IS DEAD AND THE SAD AFFLECK MEME WILL BE BACK Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck have officially filed for divorce. [TMZ]
CANADA HAS MOVED TO LEGALIZE RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA Starting July of next year. [HuffPost]
GOOD NEWS, YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO MOVE TO ANOTHER PLANET SOONER THAN WE THOUGHT And one in our solar system, no less. [HuffPost]
AN APPLE TAKEOVER OF DISNEY COULD BE IN THE WORKS You think the Apple logo would add the mouse ears? Maybe? [Variety]
TWITTER HAD NO TIME FOR THE NY POST ARTICLE TITLED: ‘WHY I WON’T DATE HOT WOMEN ANY MORE’ And it only went downhill from there. And now is as good as any to remind you all of that time Michael Lewis wrote a similar piece. [HuffPost]
WHEN REALITY TV WORLDS COLLIDE Turns out this “Real Housewife” dated the president. [HuffPost]
THIS TALE AS OLD AS TIME BROUGHT IN THE BIG MONEY The “Beauty and the Beast” live-action remake has crossed the billion-dollar mark in box office sales worldwide. [HuffPost]
BEFORE YOU GO
Say goodbye to your weekend: Kendrick Lamar dropped his new album.
“A baby or your money back.”
Democrats are going after Jared Kushner’s security clearance.
In peak ‘90s news, the Tamagotchi is returning, so you can try to keep something besides succulents alive in your apartment (look, it’s harder than the hipsters make it seem).
The guy about to run the military draft was originally supposed to have a top job at the EPA ― until he bothered the head of the EPA too much.
As a pro tip ― don’t compare things to Rosa Parks.
Turns out Mar-a-Lago had quite the spate of health code violations in January.
You have to love panda diplomacy.
The ethos of the ex-boyfriend shirt.
Looks like Kendall Jenner is going to forget that whole pesky Pepsi commercial debacle ever happened.
In honor of the release of the “Fate of the Furious,” a ranking of all eight movies in the “Fast And Furious” series (yes, there are eight).
This leopard learned the hard way why you don’t try to eat porcupines.
Happy Friday: Here are baby goats learning to jump.
And test how much you’ve been paying attention to the news of the week with the HuffPost Headline Quiz.