WASHINGTON (AP) – A federal judge Thursday cleared the way for a New York offshore wind project to resume construction, a victory for the developer who said a Trump administration order to pause it would likely kill the project in a matter of days. District Judge Carl J. Nichols ruled construction on the Empire Wind project could go forward.

Donald Trump is determined to maintain Republicans’ threadbare House majority this fall and avoid a repeat of his first presidency, when Democrats won control of the chamber in midterm elections and went on to impeach him twice. This time, Trump is involved in candidate recruiting, dispensing strategic advice and promising he will not let history repeat.

LONDON (AP) – Britain’s Conservative Party, which governed the country from 2010 until it suffered its worst-ever electoral defeat two years ago, was plunged into fresh turmoil Thursday after its leader sacked the man widely seen as her greatest rival for apparently plotting to defect from the party.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The president was barely a year into his administration when a health care debate began to consume Washington. On Capitol Hill, partisan divides formed as many Democrats pressed for guaranteed insurance coverage for a broader swath of Americans while Republicans, buttressed by medical industry lobbying, warned about cost and a slide into communism.

NEW YORK (AP) – A surging stock market and a flurry of deal making padded the profits of Wall Street’s two big investment banks, which both saw a double-digit jump in profits in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs’s net earnings rose 12% from a year earlier, posting a profit of $4.62 billion, or $14.01 a share. Meanwhile Morgan Stanley said it earned $4.4 billion.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) – Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez is set Thursday to deliver her first state of the union speech, addressing an anxious country as she navigates competing pressures from the United States – which toppled her predecessor less than two weeks ago – and a government loyal to former President Nicolás Maduro.

WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.

MOSCOW (AP) – Russia on Thursday ordered a British diplomat to leave the country over allegations of spying, charges that were dismissed as “baseless” by the U.K. Russia’s Federal Security Service, known by its Russian acronym FSB, alleged the member of embassy staff had worked for British intelligence. It did not provide evidence.