World: One Paris police officer was killed and another wounded yesterday on the famous Champs-Elysees by a gunman firing a machine gun. The shooter was killed by other officers.

Witnesses said the gunman got out of a car driven by another man. The entire area not far from the Eiffel Tower was closed by police.

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack just days from France’s national election. It could tip some votes toward Marine Le Pen, the far- right candidate who’s promised to crack down on terrorism, control Muslim immigration, and make France “more French.”

Pay Imbalance: Bill O’Reilly is being paid as much as $25 million to leave Fox News, according to several news outlets. He had just signed a new contract for $25 million a year.

Evidently Fox didn’t have a morals and behavior clause in the contract.

The NY Times reports that 21^st Century Fox, the parent of Fox News, has already paid out about $20 million in settlements to women who have complained about sexual harassment by several male executives, but have paid about $65 million in severance to the men who got fired for their behavior.

Spilled Milk: While signing an order intended to protect the US steel industry from imports, President Trump lashed out yesterday at a new foreign trade enemy; Canada. “What they’ve done to our dairy farm workers is a disgrace,” Trump said while ordering an investigation into whether steel imports endanger national security. “We can’t let Canada or anybody else take advantage and do what they did to our workers and to our farmers.” Farmers in Wisconsin have complained about changes in Canadian regulations on ultra-filtered milk, which is used for cheese and yogurt.

To Your Health: President Trump is talking about reviving the effort to repeal and replace Obamacare. “The plan gets better and better and better. And it’s gotten really, really good.” What plan he’s talking about, he doesn’t say. The original Republican plan was pulled because it wouldn’t pass and whatever plan Trump is talking about has not been evaluated for cost.

The big item that’s coming down the tracks next is keeping the government from shutting down, even while Trump expects Congress to deal with health care first. Congress must pass a spending bill, and have the president sign it by midnight next Friday, to avoid a government shutdown.

Outsourcing: General Motors says it has shut down its plant in Venezuela after it was taken over by the government. GM calls it an “illegal judicial seizure.” The plant usually employs 2,700 people and feeds 79 dealers.

But there’s more to this. The Associated Press reports that the GM plant in Valencia has not built a car since 2015. They once made about 172,000 cars in a year. In economic meltdown, Venezuela is unable to scrape together the US dollars to buy parts and supplies for the cars.

Nation: The State of Arkansas overnight executed a prisoner for the first time since 2005. Ledell Lee was convicted of murder more than 20 years ago. The state plans to execute three more men before the end of the month when their lethal drugs expire. — The University of California at Berkeley has reversed its decision to stop right-winger Ann Coulter from speaking because of security threats. University officials had said they feared violence, but they were pummeled by free speech advocates from both the right and the left.

Open House: While the White House has closed public access to its visitor logs, they did reveal that the brain trust of Ted Nugent, Kid Rock and Sarah Palin were in the house for dinner Wednesday night. It must have been a scintillating conversation.

Nugent later wrote on his Facebook page, ““We discussed specifically the counterproductive follies of the Endangered Species Act and the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as the US Fish & Wildlife Service, BLM and other out of control bureaucracies.”

Answering CNN’s Jake Tapper about how that group came together, Palin said “Jesus was booked.”

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