First Run News

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) hit back at the Republican National Committee chairwoman’s dismissal of a report that President Trump is under investigation for obstruction of justice. Ronna Romney McDaniel, the chairwoman of the RNC, responded to a Washington Post report Wednesday that special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating Trump for obstruction of justice, saying that there's "no proof". “Mueller's unfounded accusation against [Trump] changes nothing.

The rules of baseball can be pretty simple, especially when it comes to “three strikes, you’re out.” That type of thinking shouldn’t be limited to baseball though; there are other places where these rules could apply—such as Washington. If a law fails to live up to expectations, doesn’t benefit consumers, and harms small financial institutions, we should get rid of that policy. Yet, as the House demonstrated just weeks ago, that doesn’t always happen.

WASHINGTON — As one of the longest economic expansions in American history chugs into its ninth year, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday it was raising its benchmark interest rate to a range of 1 percent to 1.25 percent. The Fed accompanied the widely expected rate increase with a further show of confidence: a description of its plans to start reducing its portfolio of more than $4 trillion in bonds later this year.

The fire that engulfed an apartment tower in London on Wednesday joins a list of disasters that have marked the city’s history. Few were more prominent than the Great Fire of 1666, which wiped out 80 percent of the city and led to a rebuilding that laid the groundwork for London as we know it today.

LONDON — A fire tore through a 24-story West London apartment building early Wednesday, killing at least 12 people and injuring more than 70. The cause is still under investigation. The fire was first reported at 12:54 a.m. The site was Grenfell Tower in North Kensington, built in 1974, which housed at least 400 people in 120 apartments across 20 residential floors. Firefighters responded within six minutes.

LONDON — Adib Abbas, an observant Muslim, was preparing an early morning Ramadan meal in a ninth-floor apartment at Grenfell Tower when he suddenly smelled gas. On the same floor, Hanan Wahabi woke up and realized that something was terribly wrong.

LONDON — Adib Abbas, an observant Muslim, was preparing an early morning Ramadan meal in a ninth-floor apartment at Grenfell Tower when he suddenly smelled gas. On the same floor, Hanan Wahabi woke up and realized that something was terribly wrong.

The political news cycle is fast, and keeping up can be overwhelming. Trying to find differing perspectives worth your time is even harder. That’s why we have scoured the internet for political writing from the right and left that you might not have seen. Has this series exposed you to new ideas? Tell us how.