| Washington U.S. President Donald Trump will return home to New York City today for the first time since taking office. Police are bracing for protests. House Republican leaders have expressed confidence the Republican’s plan to repeal Obamacare would pass. Several party moderates who previously objected to it got behind it on Wednesday, giving the effort new momentum. FBI Director James Comey said it made him "mildly nauseous" to think his announcement of the reopening of an investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails affected the 2016 presidential election, but he had no regrets and would make the same decision again. President Trump vowed on Wednesday to do "whatever is necessary" to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians as he hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House, but gave no sign of how he could revive long-stalled negotiations. President Donald Trump will take executive action on Thursday to ease a ban on political activity by churches and other tax-exempt institutions, a senior White House official said.
Europe Prince Philip, the 95-year-old husband of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, will retire from carrying out royal engagements later this year, Buckingham Palace announced on Thursday. Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron clashed over their vision of France's future, the euro and ways of fighting terrorism in a heated televised debate before Sunday's run-off vote for the presidency. Sixty-three percent of viewers found Macron more convincing than Le Pen in the debate, according to a snap opinion poll by Elabe for BFMTV, reinforcing his status as favorite to win. European leaders are seeing the EU’s soft power waning. "Brexit, the migration crisis. These have really had an effect on us," said one senior EU diplomat. "We have not lost all our soft power, but we do feel our moral authority is not as strong as it used to be."
May the 4th be with you 
A fan dressed as a Storm Trooper from 'Star Wars' reacts at the Taipei Metro (MRT) during Star Wars Day in Taipei, Taiwan May 4, 2017. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
North Korea China said it wants to be good neighbors with North Korea, after the isolated country's state news agency published a rare criticism of Chinese state media commentaries calling for tougher sanctions over the North's nuclear program.
Business Tesla reported that its first-quarter revenue more than doubled and, while saying the upcoming Model 3 was on schedule for July, it downplayed the mass-market vehicle to give a sales pitch for its more expensive Model S. Signs that centrist Emmanuel Macron was heading for victory in France's presidential election and reassuring results from HSBC pushed European shares to a near two-year high, despite some wary signals from China and commodity markets.
U.S. Iowa and Tennessee are getting closer to banning abortions after 20 weeks. The Chicago Police Department's suicide rate stands 60 percent higher than the national average according to a recent U.S. Department of Justice report. Critics say the problem has been exacerbated by a lack of mental health resources. | 
