The U.S. Capitol was briefly evacuated Wednesday evening after police identified an aircraft that they said posed "a probable threat.” But the plane was actually carrying members of the U.S. Army Golden Knights, who then parachuted into Nationals Park for a pregame demonstration. The alert from the U.S. Capitol Police sent congressional staffers fleeing from the Capitol and legislative building around 6:30 p.m. The incident suggested a stunning communications failure between the military and the Capitol Police, all the more remarkable because of Washington’s focus on improving security since the January 6, 2021, attack on the building by supporters of then-President Donald Trump.

The sweeping measure's centerpiece is an election crimes unit. Gov. Ron DeSantis’ own reelection will be governed by its provisions. The action sets stage for ongoing debate over election fraud. Get the lowdown here.

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy had a “positive” call with Donald Trump, despite the release of an audio recording critical of the former president shortly after the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. That's according to two people familiar with the call and granted anonymity to discuss it. McCarthy is shoring up support from Republicans after The New York Times posted audio of a Jan. 10, 2021, conversation in which McCarthy told GOP leaders he'd urge Trump to resign. Trump says he has had "a very good relationship" with McCarthy, who is in line to become House speaker if Republicans win control in the fall’s election. 

President Joe Biden has granted the first three pardons of his term. Biden is providing clemency to a Kennedy-era Secret Service agent from Chicago convicted of federal bribery charges that he tried to sell a copy of an agency file. Biden also has pardoned two people who were convicted on drug-related charges in Texas and Georgia but went on to become pillars in their communities. The Democratic president also has commuted the sentences of 75 others for nonviolent, drug-related convictions. The White House announced the clemencies as it launched a series of job training and reentry programs for those in prison or recently released.

Australia’s prime minister warns that thousands of asylum seekers will attempt to reach the country by boat if the opposition party wins elections on May 21. The annual number of asylum seekers arriving in Australian waters by boat peaked at more than 20,000 in 2013, the year the conservative government was elected and began turning back boats. Boat arrivals have since become almost nonexistent. Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday suggested his government’s success against the people smuggling trade had inspired Britain’s plan to put some asylum seekers on one-way flights to Rwanda. The opposition plans to provide boat arrivals with a more secure visa status if elected.   

The Supreme Court is questioning lower-court orders that have blocked the Biden administration from ending a controversial Trump-era immigration program for asylum-seekers. Questions from conservative and liberal justices during nearly two hours of oral arguments on Tuesday suggested that the court could free the administration to end the “Remain in Mexico” policy that forces some people seeking asylum in the U.S. to wait in Mexico for their hearings. President Joe Biden suspended the program on his first day in office. After Texas and Missouri sued, lower courts required immigration officials to reinstate it, though the current administration has sent far fewer people back to Mexico than its predecessor.

After a secrecy-shrouded visit to Ukraine's capital, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Russia is failing in its war aims and “Ukraine is succeeding.” The trip by Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was the highest-level American visit to Kyiv since Russia invaded in late February. Blinken and Austin told Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy and his advisers the U.S. would provide more than $300 million in foreign military financing and had approved a $165 million sale of ammunition. Ukraine’s foreign minister praises the visit by Blinken and Lloyd. President Joe Biden also has announced his nomination of veteran diplomat Bridget Brink to serve as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.

A play that offers an audaciously Shakespearean take on recent and future U.S. politics is running at London's Old Vic theater. The title of Mike Bartlett’s “The 47th” refers to the next president of the United States, who will be the 47th holder of the office. The play play depicts a high-stakes 2024 election battle in which former President Donald Trump, the 45th, and President Joe Biden, the 46th, are key players along with Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump’s daughter, Ivanka. Actor Bertie Carvel, who plays Trump, says he loves the “daring and the audacity” of the play but that it's “not a hatchet job.” London critics are praising Carvel's performance.

In taking on Disney, Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is testing the limits of his combative leadership style while sending an unmistakable message to his rivals. And that message is that there's nothing or no one he won’t fight as he plots his political future. Those who know DeSantis aren't surprised by his decision to punish the entertainment giant for challenging his political priorities. The 43-year-old Republican has repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to fight while in office. But DeSantis’ decision to use the levels of government to settle a political feud with Disney is a step further than he's gone before. 

A coach who crosses himself before a game. A teacher who reads the Bible aloud before the bell rings. A coach who hosts an after-school Christian youth group in his home. Those were some of the hypothetical scenarios Supreme Court justices discussed Monday while hearing arguments about a former public high school football coach who wanted to kneel and pray on the field after games. The justices were wrestling with how to balance the religious and free speech rights of teachers and coaches with the rights of students not to feel pressured into participating in religious practices. The court’s conservative majority seemed sympathetic to the coach while its three liberals seemed more skeptical.