Trump expected to sign executive order that could threaten punishment against Facebook, Google and Twitter over allegations of political bias  —  The president is expected to sign the order on Thursday.  —  President Trump is preparing to sign an executive order Thursday that could open …

‘Sorry, no mask allowed’: Some businesses pledge to keep out customers who cover their faces  —  For 64 days, Kevin Smith had shut down the Liberty Tree Tavern to comply with government orders.  Now he was cleaning and disinfecting and removing stools to cut seating by three-quarters as he prepared to reopen the bar.

Trump is courting a landslide defeat  —  US president's bungled coronavirus response has alienated crucial older voters  —  Donald Trump's 2016 victory caught most people by surprise, including him.  The safest position since then has been to assume he will do it again.

‘We Loved Each Other’: Fauci Recalls Larry Kramer, Friend and Nemesis  —  In public, the activist berated the infectious disease expert for federal inaction on AIDS.  But their affection lasted decades and changed the course of the epidemic.  —  “How did I meet Larry?

The Psychopath in Chief … Among the accomplishments Trump parades most proudly is that he has won eighteen golf club championships.  Like so many of his claims, this one is pure fiction.  When the sportswriter Rick Reilly investigated for his book Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump …

Get Republicans to Vote Against Trump?  This Group Will Spend $10 Million to Try  —  A new organization, Republican Voters Against Trump, is testing the premise of whether there are really any persuadable voters left.  —  WASHINGTON — Four years ago, 50 of the country's …

Americans on Unemployment Benefits Post First Drop of Pandemic  — Continuing claims fell to 21.1 million in week ended May 16  — Initial jobless claims totaled 2.12 million last week  —  U.S. states' jobless rolls shrank for the first time during the coronavirus pandemic …

‘Callous liars’: Pennsylvania Democrats say GOP put them at risk by hiding member's positive covid-19 test  —  Democratic state legislators in Pennsylvania accused their Republican counterparts Wednesday of keeping a GOP lawmaker's positive coronavirus diagnosis under wraps for days …

The Trump campaign's new chief of staff was arrested on campaign finance charges in 2016 after cops busted her boyfriend for cocaine and found incriminating texts on his phone  — Stephanie Alexander was named chief of staff of Donald Trump's re-election campaign on Tuesday.

Texas Supreme Court: Lack of immunity to coronavirus alone isn't enough for mail-in ballot  —  Although the court sided with state Attorney General Ken Paxton's interpretation of what constitutes a disability, it indicated that it is up to voters to assess their health and determine if they meet …

George Floyd protest turns violent, deadly; Minneapolis mayor requests National Guard  —  “We can have peaceful demonstrations,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.  “But I also have to ensure the safety of everyone in the city.”  —  The mayor of Minneapolis has requested help …

Barr appoints Texas prosecutor to review Obama officials' ‘unmasking’ requests  —  Attorney General William P. Barr has appointed a U.S. attorney in Texas to scrutinize Obama-era officials who sought to identify anonymized names in government documents that turned out to be people connected …

How the pandemic spread and contracted on its way to killing 100,000 Americans  —  The first coronavirus death in the United States wasn't the first coronavirus death in the United States.  —  We learned on Feb. 29 that someone had died of covid-19, the disease caused by the virus …

Trump continues to claim broad powers he doesn't have  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Threatening to shut down Twitter for flagging false content.  Claiming he can “override” governors who dare to keep churches closed to congregants.  Asserting the “absolute authority” to force states to reopen, even when local leaders say it's too soon.

Famed Democratic pollster: Warren as VP would lead to Biden victory  —  Stan Greenberg, one of the Democratic Party's longtime leading pollsters, urged Hillary Clinton in 2016 to pick Elizabeth Warren as her vice president.  He thinks Clinton would be president had she listened.

Pence Chief Of Staff Owns Stocks That Could Conflict With Coronavirus Response  —  Audio will be available later today.  —  Marc Short, the chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, owns between $506,043 and $1.64 million worth of individual stocks in companies doing work related …

Japan ends its COVID-19 state of emergency  —  Science's COVID-19 reporting is supported by the Pulitzer Center.  —  Japan yesterday declared at least a temporary victory in its battle with COVID-19, and it triumphed by following its own playbook.  It drove down the number of daily new cases …

“Everyone Is Shocked”: CBS News Hit Hard by Layoffs  —  “I'm really sorry,” network president Susan Zirinsky said Wednesday on an all-staff Zoom meeting about the cuts.  “There is not a person who won't be missed.”  —  CBS News was hit hard by a round of corporate cost-cutting that saw …

Minneapolis venture capitalist loses office lease after viral video accuses him of racial profiling  —  Subject of video said he believed some of the men were not tenants.  —  TEXT SIZE  —  A Minneapolis venture capitalist's office lease has been terminated after a video went viral showing …

New poll shows Sara Gideon leading Susan Collins by 9 points  —  Ethan: Did you take a look at the new poll on the U.S. Senate race I just sent?  It shows U.S. Sen. Susan Collins losing 51 percent to 42 percent to House Speaker Sara Gideon!  —  Phil: A-yuh.  Sobering news for Susan.

When hard data are ‘heartbreaking’: Testing blitz in San Francisco shows Covid-19 struck mostly low-wage workers  —  Early in the coronavirus outbreak, as the first infected patients trickled into Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, Diane Havlir noticed a troubling trend.

U.S. to Expel Chinese Graduate Students With Ties to China's Military Schools  —  The move is the latest in the Trump administration's efforts to impose limits on Chinese students.  But many university officials say the government is paranoid, and that the United States will lose out.

The Finance 202: The Fed has bracing news for anyone expecting a sharp economic rebound  —  The ongoing crisis brought on by the pandemic shutdowns has caused “steep” job losses, with activity “falling sharply” across the map, the central bank's latest survey of economic conditions on the ground finds.

You cannot keep from getting swept up in Trump's agenda without a firm grasp on your own  —  The 2020 campaign is here.  Those who are covering it had better figure out what they are for, or they will end up as his enablers— as they were in 2016.  —  Not sure how long I'm going to be doing this.

U.S. economy shrank at 5% annual rate in the first quarter  — The U.S. economy shrank at an even faster pace than initially estimated in the first three months of this year with economists continuing to expect a far worse outcome in the current April-June quarter.

New FBI document confirms the Trump campaign was investigated without justification  —  Late last week the FBI document that started the Trump-Russia collusion fiasco was publicly released.  It hasn't received a lot of attention but it should, because not too long from now this document likely …