Infighting at the National Rifle Association exploded Wednesday, when the powerful association severed ties with its longtime public relations firm, suspended operations of its fiery online TV station and lost its top lobbyist.

Lobbyist Chris Cox, long viewed as the likely successor to CEO Wayne LaPierre, was placed on administrative leave about a week ago by the NRA, which claimed he was part of a failed attempt to extort LaPierre and then announced his resignation Wednesday.

It also came within hours of the association officially severing ties with Ackerman McQueen, the Oklahoma-based public relations firm that has shaped some of the NRA’s most memorable messages in the past decades.

Infighting spilled out at the NRA’s annual meeting in April when Oliver North, then NRA president, threatened to expose questionable personal and travel expenses unless LaPierre stepped down. Instead, LaPierre turned the tables and accused North of trying to extort him into submission, which led to North’s ouster.

In the past few months, the NRA has filed several lawsuits against Ackerman McQueen, accusing it of refusing to document its billings and of seeking to undermine the association. Ackerman McQueen has countersued, claiming the NRA is trying to renege on its financial obligations and smear the firm.

Ackerman McQueen also created and operated NRATV. In a statement posted Wednesday on the NRA website, LaPierre said it would no longer be airing live programming and would be evaluating the station’s future.

US told Palestinian economic plan must have political vision

MANAMA, Bahrain — The Trump administration’s $50 billion economic support plan for the Palestinians cannot succeed without addressing the political elements of a Middle East deal, international financial chiefs and global investors said Wednesday in comments that pushed back on the U.S. insistence that the two must be separated.

Panelists at the two-day conference in Bahrain welcomed the proposal’s ambitious investment and development goals, but warned it would fall short without good governance, rule of law and realistic prospects for lasting peace through a political vision.

Their views were aired as the Palestinians repeated their rejection of the so-called Peace to Prosperity plan because it ignores their political demands, including an end to the Israeli occupation and the creation of an independent state.

Senior EPA official steps down amid ethics probe in House

WASHINGTON — A top Environment Protection Agency official who helped lead the Trump administration’s rollback of Obama-era restrictions of carbon emissions is resigning amid a congressional probe into whether he improperly aided former fossil fuels and chemical industry clients.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee opened an investigation in April following media reports questioning EPA Assistant Administrator Bill Wehrum’s compliance with ethics rules barring political appointees from acting on issues involving their former employers for at least two years.

Documents obtained through a public records request showed Wehrum met with former clients and industry lawyers from his former firm without disclosing the contacts on his official calendar.

Former Israeli PM Barak stages return to end ‘Netanyahu’s rule’

JERUSALEM — Israel’s former Prime Minister Ehud Barak announced Wednesday that he is returning to politics and forming a new party that will aim to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in upcoming elections.

Speaking at a Tel Aviv news conference, Barak called for an end to “Netanyahu’s rule with the radicals, racists and the corrupt, with the Messianists and his corrupt leadership.”

The 77-year-old Barak, who was once Netanyahu’s army commander, served as military chief and then prime minister from 1999-2001. Most recently, he served as Netanyahu’s defense minister. He retired from politics in 2013, but has been an outspoken critic of Netanyahu since.

Barak’s new party has yet to be named.

Court upholds precedents on power of agencies

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a conservative push to limit the power of federal agencies.

The high court declined to overrule two past cases that had been criticized by conservatives as giving unelected officials vast lawmaking power.

Chief Justice John Roberts broke with his more conservative colleagues and joined the court’s four liberal justices in refusing to overrule the earlier cases.

The case the court was considering has to do with how courts should respond when an agency — such as the Transportation Security Administration or Mine Safety and Health Administration — writes a regulation that is ambiguous. Previous cases said judges should defer to an agency’s interpretation of its own ambiguous regulation if the interpretation is reasonable.

Senate panel OKs bill to raise federal smoking age

WASHINGTON — A Senate panel approved a bipartisan bill Wednesday that would raise the country’s smoking age to 21 from 18, a step the measure’s sponsors hailed as progress toward combating the rise in youth vaping.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved the Tobacco-Free Youth Act, which was co-sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.

It remains unclear when the measure will be brought to the Senate floor.

The measure would make it illegal to sell a tobacco product to any person under 21 years old in all states. It would include military personnel, a category that is exempted in some states that have raised the legal age.

In Afghanistan: The U.S. military said two of its service members were killed Wednesday in Afghanistan.

The deaths occurred a day after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited the Afghan capital of Kabul, where he said Washington was hopeful of a peace deal before Sept. 1. At a news conference Wednesday in New Delhi, Pompeo said he was aware of the two deaths. He offered his condolences.

In announcing the deaths, the U.S.-led military coalition in Kabul said only that they had been killed, with no explanation. Later, a U.S. official said the two died of gunshot wounds sustained during combat while on a joint patrol with Afghan forces.