Russia Secretly Offered Afghan Militants Bounties to Kill U.S. Troops, Intelligence Says  —  The Trump administration has been deliberating for months about what to do about a stunning intelligence assessment.  —  WASHINGTON — American intelligence officials have concluded …

Live updates: Florida reports nearly 9,000 new coronavirus cases; Texas reverses course to stave off surge  —  The Washington Post is providing this important information about the coronavirus for free.  For more free coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, sign up for our Coronavirus Updates newsletter …

The Trump Referendum  —  He still has no second term message beyond his own grievances.  —  By The Editorial Board  —  President Trump may soon need a new nickname for “Sleepy Joe” Biden.  How does President-elect sound?  On present trend that's exactly what Mr. Biden will be on Nov. 4 …

Republican nightmare: Trump vote-by-mail demonizing driving down GOP participation  —  President Trump's extreme opposition to mail-in ballots is more likely hurting him and down-ballot Republicans than it is helping him.  —  Mounting evidence in voter registration data, a survey …

E.U. Plans to Bar Most U.S. Travelers When Bloc Reopens  —  Europe will allow outsiders to begin entering again on July 1, but the U.S. and Russia are now among the nations considered too risky because they have not controlled the coronavirus outbreak.  —  BRUSSELS — The European Union …

The Daily 202: Trump's legal argument for throwing out all of the ACA is a nightmare for Senate Republicans  —  President Trump insists on the campaign trail that he wants to protect insurance coverage for people with preexisting conditions.  His legal team just told the Supreme Court otherwise.

D.C. statehood approved by U.S. House for first time in history  —  For the first time since the establishment of the District of Columbia 230 years ago, the House of Representatives voted to declare the city as the nation's 51st state, a legislative milestone that supporters say begins to right historic wrongs.

You Want a Confederate Monument?  My Body Is a Confederate Monument  —  The black people I come from were owned and raped by the white people I come from.  Who dares to tell me to celebrate them?  —  Ms. Williams is a poet.  —  NASHVILLE — I have rape-colored skin.

Why Do These Trump Campaign Ads Link to Brad Parscale's Facebook Page?  —  For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis and more, subscribe to Mother Jones' newsletters.  —  The Trump campaign is running Facebook ads from a page for campaign manager Brad Parscale …

Coronavirus task force returns, but downplays new flareups as local ‘hot spots’  —  The White House Coronavirus Task Force is back on camera — but it wants Americans to know that everything is under control.  —  The panel held a public briefing on Friday for the first time since late April …

Mary Trump once stood up to her uncle Donald.  Now her book describes a ‘nightmare’ of family dysfunction.  —  Mary L. Trump was embroiled in a feud over her inheritance two decades ago when her uncle Donald Trump and his siblings punched back in classic style.

Biden Is Getting a Lot of Advice on His V.P. Here's What Voters Think.  —  A large majority of voters say race should not be a factor in his decision, and none of the best-known candidates has emerged as a favorite.  —  Joseph R. Biden Jr. appears to face limited political pressure from voters …

Mississippi appears to have enough votes to change state flag, senior lawmaker says  —  Mississippi lawmakers who want to remove the Confederate battle emblem from the state's flag appear to have enough votes in the state Legislature to make the change, a senior state lawmaker said Friday.

Senate panel demands testimony from ex-Obama officials in revived Biden probe  —  A Senate committee is re-engaging former Obama administration officials as part of an investigation targeting Joe Biden's son, demanding transcribed interviews and documents for the Republican-led probe.

Trump Retreats to His Hannity Bunker  —  Beaten by the pandemic and down in the polls, a President and his propagandist create an alternate reality.  —  June began poorly for President Trump, and it's ending worse.  Despite his optimistic pronouncements about the coronavirus …

Appeals court rules funding for Trump border wall construction ‘unlawful’  —  The Trump administration does not have the authority to use military funding to pay for construction of a border wall, a federal appeals court panel ruled on Friday.  —  In a 2-1 ruling, a 9th U.S. Circuit Court …

Feds Point to Daily Caller Writer as Part of Abramoff Payola Scheme  —  Derek Hunter says he wasn't paid by the disgraced lobbyist to plug his bitcoin project.  But the SEC cites his article, among others, in their complaint.  —  When federal prosecutors charged Jack Abramoff on Thursday …

The DOJ Decided Not to Prosecute Trump.  It's Hiding the Reason Why.  —  The Department of Justice has confirmed the existence of a memo laying out its rationale for not bringing charges against President Trump, but it refuses to make its reasoning public.  In response to ongoing litigation involving …

America Didn't Give Up on Covid-19.  Republicans Did.  —  Partisanship has crippled our response.  —  Earlier this year much of America went through hell as the nation struggled to deal with Covid-19.  More than 120,000 Americans have now died; more than 20 million have lost their jobs.

Florida governor under fire over claims state is ‘cooking the books’ on Covid-19  —  Ron DeSantis angrily dismisses allegation from fired scientist that officials are massaging figures to hide true impact of coronavirus  —  Republican Florida governor Ron DeSantis's faltering response …

Wrongly arrested Black man sues a Georgia city and police officers for excessive force and injury  —  Wrongly arrested Black man sues police and Georgia city  —  (CNN)A Black man who was slammed to the ground as he was wrongly arrested is suing the Georgia city of Valdosta …

How Arizona ‘lost control of the epidemic’  —  PHOENIX — A drive-up testing site equipped for several hundred people in West Phoenix was swarmed on Saturday by about 1,000 people, leaving some baking in their cars for hours.  —  A nearby testing station has already reached capacity for this weekend …

Unilever to Halt U.S. Ads on Facebook and Twitter for Rest of 2020  —  The company cites hate speech and polarized politics as reasons for ad suspension  —  Consumer goods giant Unilever UL -.46% PLC said it will halt U.S. advertising on Facebook Inc. FB -6.95% and Twitter Inc. TWTR -6.98% …

MSNBC may soon reward homophobic conspiracy theorist with plum prime-time gig  —  MSNBC's Joy Reid is apparently in talks to take over the 7 p.m. weekday spot previously held by former anchor Chris Matthews, who resigned abruptly in March following allegations that he made inappropriate comments to a network guest.

Bill Gates: US ‘not even close’ to doing enough to fight pandemic  —  (CNN)Microsoft founder Bill Gates said Thursday that the current coronavirus picture, both globally and in the US, is “more bleak” than he would have expected.  —  Speaking to CNN's Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta …

People Spent Thousands To Go On A Cruise With Glenn Beck.  Now They Can't Get Their Money Back.  —  Last June, Jeff and Jennifer Welliver heard about a cruise around the Mediterranean, to be hosted by conservative radio host Glenn Beck and featuring other right-wing luminaries like Bill O'Reilly.