Biden opens 13-point advantage as Trump popularity drops to seven-month low: Reuters/Ipsos poll  —  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has opened up a 13-point lead over President Donald Trump - the widest margin this year - according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll …

260 workers test positive for COVID-19 at Orlando International Airport  —  2,993 people have died from COVID-19 in the state  —  TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Gov. Ron DeSantis said 260 workers at the Orlando International Airport have tested positive for the coronavirus after nearly 500 employees were tested.

Bolton Says House Should Have Investigated Trump for Impeachable Actions Beyond Ukraine  —  In his new book, John R. Bolton, the former national security adviser, describes episodes where the president sought to halt criminal inquiries.  He also says President Trump's loyalists mocked him behind his back.

House Republican leaders condemn GOP candidate who made racist videos  —  The House's highest-ranking Republicans are racing to distance themselves from a leading GOP congressional candidate in Georgia after POLITICO uncovered hours of Facebook videos in which she expresses racist, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic views.

Michigan May be a Nightmare for the GOP  —  The state party's transformation didn't start with Trump.  But his weak polling could plunge MIGOP into wrack and ruin.  —  Simon & Garfunkel sang “Michigan seems like a dream to me now” as they went off to look for America.

Cassandra Fairbanks ​Claims Antifa Attacked Her​.  Police Reports and Neighbors Say Otherwise  —  Cassandra Fairbanks and her right-wing media colleagues solicited nearly $25,000 ​in a fundraiser ​benefiting​ Fairbanks after she claimed she was targeted …

Fauci: No Need for a Second Lockdown for COVID-19  —  The infectious-diseases specialist doesn't think we'll have another New York City.  But he's nervous about re-openings and said he personally wouldn't go to Trump's rallies.  —  With top officials in the Trump White House declaring …

Scoop: Republican operatives launch pro-Biden super PAC  —  A group of prominent Republican operatives that includes former officials from the Trump and George W. Bush administrations are launching a super PAC to turn out GOP voters for Joe Biden in November, organizers tell Axios.

Aunt Jemima brand to change name, remove image that Quaker says is ‘based on a racial stereotype’  —  The Aunt Jemima brand of syrup and pancake mix will get a new name and image, Quaker Oats announced Wednesday, saying the company recognizes that “Aunt Jemima's origins are based on a racial stereotype.”

How Exactly Do You Catch Covid-19?  There Is a Growing Consensus  —  Surface contamination and fleeting encounters are less of a worry than close-up, person-to-person interactions for extended periods  —  Six months into the coronavirus crisis, there's a growing consensus about a central question: How do people become infected?

Texas coronavirus hospitalizations surge 11% in a single day  — The number of people sickened with Covid-19 across Texas' hospitals hit a new high Wednesday, surging about 11% in a single day.  — The total Wednesday marks the eighth new high in the state in less than two weeks.

Why Trump's lawsuit against John Bolton will fail  —  Theodore J. Boutrous Jr. is a partner in the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and specializes in First Amendment law.  —  The Trump administration's lawsuit against John Bolton is a paper tiger, designed for a showy roar of outrage but with little prospect of any real bite.

Trump Considers Suing His Niece Over Her Tell-All Book, Saying She Signed an NDA  —  The president has long favored using legal threats to stop people from writing bad books about him.  Going after his own family may be next.  —  This past Sunday, news broke that the president's niece …

Pelosi asks House committees to require masks, setting up clash with GOP holdouts  —  Masks have become the norm inside the House of Representatives, where some politicians now embrace the novel coronavirus precaution with colorful odes to their home districts.

Inside The Dangerous Online Fever Swamps Of American Police  —  Cops have a far-right media ecosystem of their own, where they post racist memes, spread disinformation and call for violence against antifa.  —  Around the time news broke on Monday afternoon that the New York City Police Department …

EBay's Former PR Chief Is ‘Executive 2’ in Cyberstalking Indictment  — Six employees allegedly cyberstalked newsletter proprietors  — Former EBay CEO, ousted last year, is said to be ‘Executive 1’  —  EBay Inc.'s former communications chief is “Executive 2” in a federal indictment …

Solicitor General Noel Francisco Announces Departure from Department of Justice  —  Solicitor General of the United States Noel Francisco announces his departure from the Department of Justice, effective as of July 3, 2020.  —  “Solicitor General Noel Francisco has represented …

Revealed: officer who killed Rayshard Brooks accused of covering up 2015 shooting  —  The Atlanta police officer who shot and killed Rayshard Brooks was accused of covering up an earlier shooting he and other officers participated in, according to a judge who reviewed the case.

The awkward lessons of my luxury lockdown in Kensington  —  Pandemic shows us we owe the most to the people who surround and support us  —  All of us have had to put up with restrictions “of a kind that we have never seen before in peace or war”, as UK prime minister Boris Johnson put it.

Beijing's new outbreak raises fears for rest of the world  —  BEIJING (AP) — China raised its emergency warning to its second highest level and canceled more than 60% of the flights to Beijing on Wednesday amid a new coronavirus outbreak in the capital — a sharp pullback for the nation …

NBC Said Google Is Demonetizing The Federalist for Spreading Fake News; Google Says the NBC Report Is Fake News  —  On Tuesday, NBC claimed that Google had made the decision to demonetize The Federalist after NBC's own News Verification Unit presented the search engine with evidence …

Mississippi official: Black people ‘dependent’ since slavery  —  JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — After rejecting a proposal to move a Confederate monument, a white elected official in Mississippi said this week that African Americans “became dependent” during slavery and as a result, have had a harder time …

Trump turns to establishment players to offset his renegade instincts  —  Nearly two years after boasting that his gut tells him “more sometimes than anybody else's brain,” President Donald Trump is ditching his go-it-alone approach — hoping the instincts and experiences of seasoned Republican players …

Georgia elections chief launches plan to avoid repeated problems  —  Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger introduced proposals Wednesday to avoid another election debacle, calling for more voting locations, technical support and poll worker training.

GOP senator: Proposal to remove Confederate names from military bases ‘picks on South unfairly’  —  (CNN)A Senate amendment to remove the names of Confederate leaders on military property “picks on the South unfairly,” a GOP senator said Tuesday, the latest sign that President Donald Trump's opposition …

People of color account for majority of coronavirus infections, new CDC study says  —  WASHINGTON — African-Americans and Latinos are vastly overrepresented when it comes to coronavirus infections, according to an analysis released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday morning.

Justice Department to Propose Limiting Internet Firms' Protections  —  The action follows President Trump's executive order seeking to weaken broad immunity enjoyed by Facebook, Twitter and other platforms  —  WASHINGTON—The Justice Department is set to propose a roll back of legal protections …

Emissions Are Surging Back as Countries and States Reopen  —  After a drastic decline this spring, global greenhouse gas emissions are now rebounding sharply, scientists reported, as countries relax their coronavirus lockdowns and traffic surges back onto roads.

Montgomery City Council votes down mask ordinance, sends doctors out in disgust  —  Jackson Hospital pulmonologist William Saliski cleared his throat as he started describing the dire situation created by the coronavirus pandemic in Montgomery to its City Council before they voted on a mandatory mask ordinance.

Fact check: Yes, Kente cloths were historically worn by empire involved in West African slave trade  —  The claim: Kente scarves worn by Democrats were historically worn by rich African slave owners and traders  —  On June 8, Democratic members of Congress wearing kente cloths and face masks knelt …

Lafayette Square could decide Trump's legacy — and election  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Charlottesville.  Helsinki.  The children in cages at the Mexican border.  —  And now Lafayette Square.  —  Only a few legacy-defining moments have clung to President Donald Trump, who often appears …

Mark Zuckerberg: Historic Facebook campaign will boost voter registration, turnout and voices  —  The 2020 election is going to be unlike any other.  It was already going to be a heated campaign, and that was before the pandemic — and before the killing of George Floyd and so many others forced us yet again …

How Black N.Y.P.D. Officers Really Feel About the Floyd Protesters  —  Most officers of color share the protesters' mission to defeat racism, but the unrest has reminded the officers that they are still often seen as the enemy.  —  Edwin Raymond, a black lieutenant in the Police Department …

ICU bed use, ER visits hit new highs for Arizona COVID-19 cases  —  Arizona's daily coronavirus numbers climbed again Monday, continuing more than two weeks of high numbers of reported cases, deaths and hospitalizations.  —  The state reported 1,014 new cases Monday.

The myth of an objective press benefits the powerful at the expense of the people  —  The loss of “objectivity” in journalism can be a rise in egalitarianism  —  On Sunday, Fox News' MediaBuzz opened with host Howard Kurtz warning of “a serious threat to journalism.”

The Smart Money Is on Val Demings  —  The congresswoman / grandmother / former police chief is the best bet—literally—for Biden's VP.  —  I'm going to do something I've never done here before and probably won't do again.  So bear with me.  —  I got a long—crazy long—email from a reader about Biden's VP choice.