Trump says Germany ‘is captive to Russia’ in fiery opening salvo against NATO  —  BRUSSELS — President Trump unleashed a blistering attack Wednesday on Germany and other NATO allies, wasting no time to take the offensive before a week of high-stakes diplomacy on both sides of the former Cold War divide.

The elite world of Brett Kavanaugh  —  The Chevy Chase Lounge is a neighborhood joint where bartender Tim Higgins is accustomed to bantering with long-standing patrons, including a middle-aged guy named Brett who likes to pop in for a Budweiser and a burger after coaching his daughters' basketball games.

EXCLUSIVE: Ocasio-Cortez with another surprise election win - in a district she wasn't even running in … Things are going so well for insurgent Democratic congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that she's winning primaries she didn't even enter.  —  In addition to recently …

Battling Fake Accounts, Twitter to Slash Millions of Followers  —  Twitter will begin removing tens of millions of suspicious accounts from users' followers on Thursday, signaling a major new effort to restore trust on the popular but embattled platform.  —  The reform takes aim at a pervasive form of social media fraud.

Border Protection says NYC mayor crossed border illegally  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and his security detail violated both Mexican and U.S. immigration laws by crossing the border on foot during a visit near El Paso, Texas, U.S. Customs and Border Protection alleges …

Once partners, ‘Game Change’ authors feuding over their shattered franchise  —  Until their split last year, Mark Halperin and John Heilemann were the golden boys of American political journalism.  Their collaboration led to a best-selling book about the 2008 presidential campaign, “Game Change …

Former Obama Officials Are Riding Out The Trump Years By Cashing In  —  The revolving door takes a spin.  —  The last 18 months have been difficult for former members of the Obama administration.  They've been replaced by a regime, which, in the words of former Domestic Policy Council …

The only good online fandom left is Dune  —  As corporations take control of nerd culture, science fiction's most esoteric epic remains gloriously untamed.  —  Escapism in the year 2018 is a strange thing.  If you want to refresh a brain beshitted by weeks and months of workaday corruption and brutality …

Rick Scott and family made $550M in one transaction.  How ‘blind’ is his blind trust?  —  TALLAHASSEE  —  The reason Gov. Rick Scott's net income rose 55 percent in 2017 has to do with electric cars, China partnerships, a company turnaround, and a single transaction that resulted …

Obama Tops Public's List of Best President in Their Lifetime, Followed by Clinton, Reagan  —  Reagan is top choice among Boomers, Silents  —  When asked which president has done the best job in their lifetimes, more Americans name Barack Obama than any other president.

Pence launches Midwest damage control mission  —  With anxiety rising over Trump's trade policies, the vice president is stumping for endangered incumbents and reassuring big GOP donors.  —  CHICAGO — Vice President Mike Pence begins a campaign swing through the Midwest on Wednesday designed …

Yup - we were duped.  Ya' got me, Sacha.  Feel better now?  —  I join a long list of American public personalities who have fallen victim to the evil, exploitive, sick “humor” of the British “comedian” Sacha Baron Cohen, enabled and sponsored by CBS/Showtime.

Papa John's Founder Allegedly Used N-Word On Conference Call  —  Papa John's founder and CEO John Schnatter at the Indy 500 in Indianapolis, Indiana in May 2015.  (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)  —  John Schnatter—the founder, chairman and public face of pizza chain Papa John's …

CIVITAS POLL: McCready Leads in NC-09 Congressional Race  —  RALEIGH, N.C. - In the latest Civitas Poll, Democrat congressional candidate Dan McCready leads Republican Mark Harris by 7 points.  —  The poll, conducted July 5-8, 2018, surveyed 543 likely voters in North Carolina's 9thcongressional district …

Michael Cohen has made ‘a declaration of independence’ from President Trump, lawyer says  —  Michael Cohen's new attorney says his client has made a “declaration of independence” from Donald Trump  —  and no longer would take a bullet for the president in any investigation.

A taste of Chipotle's new menu items proves: It's no Taco Bell  —  Americans' love for Taco Bell, the nation's large Tex-Mex fast-food chain, must be vexing for Chipotle Mexican Grill, which has long prided itself on its whole and responsibly sourced ingredients.

Pompeo's North Korea meeting went ‘as badly as it could have gone’  —  Kim Jong Un snubbed Mike Pompeo, source says  —  (CNN)It began with great expectations, an eagerly-anticipated meeting with a reclusive leader, and a gift bag that included an Elton John CD.

Tribune editorial: Our treatment of refugee children is a national disgrace  —  In Thailand, 12 children and their soccer coach made a wrong turn, got themselves trapped in a cave and quickly became the target of an all-hands-on-deck rescue effort mounted by national and provincial officials and eager volunteers from all over the world.

Woman calls cops on black 12-year-old boy delivering newspapers in Ohio neighborhood  —  A fledgling paperboy working alongside his mother in suburban Columbus, Ohio, came face-to-face with a cop after a neighbor thought he was up to no good.  —  The nosy neighbor spied the 12-year-old boy …

Here Is the Column That Business Insider Spiked  —  Defending an actress for being hired to do a job is apparently beyond the pale these days. … Scarlett Johansson is the latest target of the social-justice warrior mob.  The actress is being chastised for, well, acting.

President Obama on Gerrymandering, Redistricting, & the 2018 Midterm Elections  —  Former President Barack Obama highlights the damaging effects of partisan and racial gerrymandering on our democracy and calls on Americans to get engaged in the 2018 mid-term elections as it is a critical year …