Special Report: Hong Kong leader says she would ‘quit’ if she could, fears her ability to resolve crisis now ‘very limited’  —  HONG KONG (Reuters) - Embattled Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said she has caused “unforgivable havoc” by igniting the political crisis engulfing the city and would quit …

Does Joe Biden Want to Be Doing This?  —  On certain days, Biden 2020 can feel more like a dutiful slog than the last march of a happy warrior.  —  “How badly do you want to be president?”  Joseph R. Biden Jr. was asked after a recent speech in Prole, Iowa.

Trump's lost summer: Aides claim victory, but others see incompetence and intolerance  —  When President Trump presided over the battle tanks and fighter jets, the fireworks and adoring fans on July 4, he couldn't have known that the militaristic “Salute to America” — as well to himself …

Tony Blair: BoJo's Laying A Trap, And Corbyn's The Bait  —  “We want a general election,” Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn declared today, in order to “do everything we can in the coming weeks to prevent a no deal [Brexit].”  His more wily predecessor warned in response that Corbyn's walking into “an elephant trap.”

The Impact of Mass Shootings on Gun Policy  —  NBER Working Paper No. 26187  —  NBER Program(s):Health Economics, Law and Economics, Labor Studies, Public Economics, Political Economy … You may purchase this paper on-line in .pdf format from SSRN.com ($5) for electronic delivery.

President Donald Trump, On Category 5 Hurricanes  —  Today Donald Trump stated in reference to Hurricane Dorian that “I'm not sure that I've even ever heard of a Category 5 [...] A Category 5 is something that I'm not even sure that I've ever heard the term.”

West Texas Shooting Spree Terrorized Two Towns and Killed 7  —  ODESSA, Tex. — The 36-year-old man who terrorized two West Texas towns with an assault-style rifle Saturday had been fired from his trucking job a few hours before he led the authorities on a chaotic high-speed chase that ended …

No ‘Mixed’ or ‘Gay’ Couples, Mississippi Wedding Venue Owner Says on Video  —  LaKambria Welch claims her brother and his fiancée had been in contact with the owner of Boone's Camp Event Hall making wedding arrangements for about a week when, suddenly, the owner of the Booneville …

From Icon to Just a Con  —  Most of us who came of age in the 1970s revered the university—even as it was still reeling from 1960s protests and beginning a process that resulted in its present chaos and disrepute.  —  Americans of the G.I. Bill-era first enshrined the idea of upward mobility through …

$1,000 a month, no strings attached  —  JACKSON, Miss. — Cheryl Gray had sat through so many presentations about programs to lift herself out of poverty that she could practically recite all the advice.  But the one she heard last November seemed too generous to be true.

Reporter calls White House ‘unprofessional’ in cutting off his access  —  Playboy reporter Brian Karem on Sunday called the White House's decision to suspend his press pass “unprofessional,” adding that he had just made “a joke.”  “And I'll never apologize for a joke that got a laugh.”

Top literary agents say Trump's ex-personal secretary could make millions  —  A couple of Washington's top literary agents say President Trump's former personal secretary, Madeleine Westerhout, could make millions if she writes a tell-all of her time working for the president.

How Much Will the Trade War Cost You by the End of the Year?  —  A new wave of tariffs by the Trump administration went into effect on Sunday, rendering the majority of goods imported to the United States from China subject to import taxes.  —  It is the latest move in a drawn-out conflict between the world's two largest economies.