EPA chief — Scott Pruitt, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, has emerged as a hero to President Donald Trump’s supporters for his hand in rolling back environmental rules at an agency long disliked by farmers, the fossil fuel industry and the far right. And he has occasionally shocked his employees by criticizing the agency. Now, people close to Pruitt say he is using his perch as Trump’s deregulatory czar to position himself for further political prominence — starting with a run for office in his home state of Oklahoma. He is widely viewed as a future candidate for senator or governor there.

Pilot sues airline — An Alaska Airlines pilot has sued the airline, alleging she was drugged and raped by another pilot during a layover last year. The lawsuit by Betty Pina, 39, was filed in King County Superior Court in Washington state Wednesday, 20 days after it was presented to the airline on Feb. 13. A copy of the complaint was provided by her lawyer, Eric John Makus. The lawsuit says Pina, an Army veteran who flew helicopter missions in Afghanistan, blacked out, and when she came to early the next morning, she was in his hotel room bed, naked from the waist down.

Wooing Irish-Americans — Every St. Patrick’s Day for two decades, Gerry Adams or other leaders of Sinn Fein, the party once known primarily as the Irish Republican Army’s political arm, have come to the U.S. to lobby Washington politicians and rally Irish-American donors. This year, there was a new item on Adams’ agenda: Passing the torch to the party’s new president, Mary Lou McDonald, who was elected last month. In an interview, McDonald said she hoped U.S. support could help Sinn Fein manage two crises in Northern Ireland: the collapse of its power-sharing government and the British exit from the European Union, which could reimpose a border between the Republic and the North.

Hitler included in ‘who will inspire you’ — An Indian publisher came under fire this past week for including Hitler in a children’s book about world leaders who have “devoted their lives for the betterment of their country and people.” “Dedicated to the betterment of countries and people? Adolf Hitler? This description would bring tears of joy to the Nazis and their racist neo-Nazi heirs,” Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights organization, said. Published by the Pegasus imprint of India’s B. Jain Publishing Group, the book spotlights 11 leaders “who will inspire you,” according to a description on the publisher’s website.

North Korea-Sweden talks — The Swedish and North Korean foreign ministers concluded three days of talks in Stockholm on Saturday over the security situation on the Korean Peninsula, discussions that may help facilitate a meeting between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, leader of North Korea. The two sides “discussed opportunities and challenges for continued diplomatic efforts to reach a peaceful solution to the conflict.” according to a statement issued by the Swedish Foreign Ministry. The statement added: “Sweden underlined the need for North Korea to dismantle its nuclear arms and missiles program in line with several Security Council resolutions.”

China’s Xi begins term — Xi Jinping started his second term as China’s president on Saturday, flanked by a new vice president, Wang Qishan, who is shaping up as a potent deputy to Xi, with a potentially powerful say in grappling with the Trump administration over trade disputes. Xi and Wang shook hands after the National People’s Congress, the Communist Party-controlled legislature, endorsed them for the posts. Xi won all of the 2,970 votes cast for president, and all but one legislator voted for Wang for vice president.

Russia expels British diplomats — Russia on Saturday ordered 23 British diplomats to leave the country within a week, escalating a diplomatic crisis after a former Russian spy and his daughter were poisoned with a military grade nerve agent on British soil. The order came days after Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain expelled the same number of Russian diplomats and called off high-level contacts between the two governments. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry cast Russia as the aggrieved party, asserting that Russia was acting “in response to the unfounded accusation against the Russian Federation for what happened in Salisbury.”