Here’s your daily look at late-breaking news, coming events and the stories that will be talked about Tuesday.
1. Secretive lobbying campaign detailed
A Trump fundraiser and an adviser to the crown prince of Abu Dhabi pushed anti-Qatar policies at the highest levels of America’s government, expecting big paydays in return, the AP finds.
A truce in the trade conflict between the U.S. and China lightens tensions — but the long-run picture may not be so sunny.
3. Why change is doubtful, despite massacre
Guns are so hard-wired into Texas culture that last week’s deadly school rampage is seen as unlikely to result in any significant restrictions on access to weapons in the state.
The Trump administration demands that Iran make wholesale changes in its military and regional policies or face “the strongest sanctions in history.”
Syria’s military captures an enclave in southern Damascus from IS militants, bringing the entire capital and its suburbs under full government control for the first time since the civil war began in 2011.
6. Afghanistan still ‘dangerous and volatile’
The Trump administration’s revamped strategy in the war zone has made little progress against the Taliban insurgency, a government watchdog says.
7. How humans tip the global scale
Scientists now can estimate how much the different types of life on Earth weigh — and humans don’t nearly measure up to plants, bacteria or even earthworms.
Pope Francis’ reported comment to a gay man has been embraced by the LGBT community as another sign of the pontiff’s desire to make gay people feel welcome in the Catholic Church.
9. Who’s getting into the TV biz
The streaming service Netflix says Barack and Michelle Obama have signed a multi-year deal to produce films and series.
Richard N. Goodwin, a political aide and husband of historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, wrote historic speeches for the Kennedys and Lyndon Johnson.
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