Tracey Mumford

Democratic Senator Cory Booker said Nome's firing, quote, changes nothing about their position.

This week, The Times released a look at how the number of billionaires in the U.S.

has soared and where all that money is coming from.

Since 2017, the net worth of the wealthiest Americans has grown at a pace unmatched by any other income group, and the top 1% now collectively own as much stock and mutual funds as the remaining 99% of the country.

Some of this can be traced back to tax cuts a decade ago.

My colleague Katie Benner says the 2017 tax law did a few things that gave obvious benefits to the wealthy, like allowing owners of private jets to write off the cost of the planes and doubling the amount of tax-free money someone can pass along to their heirs.

Katie says that moving forward, an urgent question will be how America's billionaires use their growing influence.

Figures like Elon Musk have sunk record amounts into elections.

President Trump's cabinet now includes 12 billionaires.

And many of the other richest people in the country are increasingly leveraging their wealth for political power.

And finally, the Paralympics are kicking off in Italy for the 50th anniversary of the Games.

Today, though, several countries are boycotting the opening ceremony over a decision to let Russia participate.

Russian athletes will be competing under their country's flag for the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Ukraine is boycotting, so are officials from Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, and the U.K.,

My colleagues at The Athletic will have full coverage.

In all, more than 600 athletes from around the world will be competing across six sports, including wheelchair curling, sled hockey, snowboard, and biathlon.

Those are the headlines.

If you'd like to play the Friday News Quiz, stick around.

It's just after the credits.

This show is made by Will Jarvis, Margaret Kadifa, Jan Stewart, and me, Tracy Mumford.