Jeffrey Epstein Confidante Ghislaine Maxwell Arrested, Sources Say  —  Maxwell was accused in a civil suit of allegedly helping Epstein traffic underage girls; he died by suicide awaiting trial last year  —  Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite and heiress who became a confidante …

His troops have suffered a very different fate.  —  Only a few hours had passed since President Trump pardoned 1st Lt. Clint Lorance and the men of 1st Platoon were still trying to make sense of how it was even possible.  —  How could a man they blamed for ruining their lives …

More Voters Rule Out Trump Than Biden  —  Mixed results on who has presidential ‘stamina’  —  West Long Branch, NJ - Half of the nation's electorate says they have ruled out voting for Donald Trump in November, while 4 in 10 say the same about Joe Biden.  Biden currently holds a 12 point lead …

Afghan Contractor Handed Out Russian Cash to Kill Americans, Officials Say  —  A small-time businessman became a key middleman for bounties on coalition troops in Afghanistan, U.S. intelligence reports say.  Friends saw him grow rich, but didn't know how.  —  KABUL, Afghanistan …

Supreme Court to decide if House gets Mueller grand jury material  —  WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court said Thursday it will decide whether House investigators can get access to grand jury material gathered by Robert Mueller's special counsel team.  —  The court agreed to hear the case during its new term that begins in the fall.

Zuckerberg Tells Facebook Staff He Expects Advertisers to Return ‘Soon Enough’  —  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees he was reluctant to bow to the threats of a growing ad boycott, saying in private remarks that “my guess is that all these advertisers will be back on the platform soon enough.”

Jeff Sessions Just Told Us Who He Is  —  The Senate candidate tells his version of the Obama beer summit story.  —  It's not often that a man who has spent three and a half decades in public life opens a window into his truest self.  But that's what Jeff Sessions did in the course of a New York Times profile.

In the Covid-19 Economy, You Can Have a Kid or a Job.  You Can't Have Both.  —  Our struggle is not an emotional concern.  We are not burned out.  We are being crushed by an economy that has bafflingly declared working parents inessential.  —  Last week, I received an email from my children's principal …

Trump's pick for ambassador involved in racist smear against black politician  —  President Trump's nominee to be ambassador to Norway is facing demands that he abandon his pursuit of the diplomatic post following the unearthing of a 1994 court filing indicating his involvement in the production …

Young people are throwing coronavirus parties with a payout when one gets infected, official says  —  (CNN)Some young people in Alabama are throwing Covid-19 parties, a disturbing competition where people who have coronavirus attend and the first person to get infected receives a payout, local officials said.

Democratic ad makers think they've discovered Trump's soft spot  —  Donald Trump wasn't halfway through his speech in Tulsa, Okla., and Democratic ad makers in Washington and New York were already cutting footage for an air raid on the slumping president.  —  They didn't focus …

More than 40 Bay Area school principals in quarantine after in-person meeting  —  More than 40 school principals in the South Bay are in quarantine after being exposed to COVID-19 during an in-person meeting held by the Santa Clara County Unified School District.

The 53 countries supporting China's crackdown on Hong Kong  —  China's Foreign Ministry and state media have declared victory after 53 countries joined a statement at the UN Human Rights Council supporting Beijing's new national security law for Hong Kong — compared to 27 who criticized the law.

Donald Trump Is All Done Caring  —  His only reason for getting re-elected is so that he can keep having rallies.  —  The presidency is no fun.  Thomas Jefferson called it “a painful and thankless office” and said it brought him “nothing but unceasing drudgery and daily loss of friends.”

Parscale claims Trump beating Biden where it counts  —  Trump's campaign manager argues the president's ‘dominating’ Biden when it comes to enthusiasm  —  Pushing back against public opinion polls that indicate President Trump's trailing Democratic challenger Joe Biden …

Record jobs gain of 4.8 million in June smashes expectations; unemployment rate falls to 11.1%  — Nonfarm payrolls rose by 4.8 million in June, much better than the expected increase of 2.9 million.  — The unemployment rate fell to a crisis low of 11.1%, also better than the 12.4% estimate.

Analysts: Fire at Iran nuke site hit new centrifuge facility  —  DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A fire and an explosion struck a building above Iran's underground Natanz nuclear enrichment facility early on Thursday, a site that U.S.-based analysts identified as a new centrifuge production plant.

The RNC Is Paying a Former Apprentice Hand Accused of Having Trump Dirt  —  Chuck Labella worked on Trump's show for years.  Now, despite having no ostensible political work on his resume, he's helping with the 2020 convention.  —  Last year, the Republican National Convention began cutting checks …

The House: Democratic Murmurings in the Texas Suburbs - and Elsewhere  —  11 rating changes, most in favor of Democrats  —  KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE  — Joe Biden's currently strong lead in the presidential race is being felt in the suburbs, which if it lasts could imperil Republicans in some of their formerly dark red turf.

Trump administration hires tech firm to build a virtual border wall, an idea Democrats have praised  —  The Trump administration has awarded a major border security contract to a California technology start-up that will use artificial intelligence on an unprecedented scale …

Oregon State Police don't wear coronavirus masks while patronizing coffee shop, despite governor's order  —  A group of Oregon State Police troopers appeared to defy Gov. Kate Brown's statewide mask order while in uniform Wednesday, entering a Corvallis coffee shop without wearing required face coverings …

The U.S. Is Lagging Behind Many Rich Countries.  These Charts Show Why.  —  The United States is different.  In nearly every other high-income country, people have both become richer over the last three decades and been able to enjoy substantially longer lifespans.  —  But not in the United States.

The Anti-Trump Movement Will Outlast Trump  —  The Trump years have scrambled old ideological lines.  So perhaps it is not so surprising that in recent days George F. Will, the elegant dean of conservative columnists, and Matt Taibbi, a raucous liberal iconoclast, found themselves gnawing on different parts of the same bone.

He Built a Privately Funded Border Wall.  It's Already at Risk of Falling Down if Not Fixed.  —  Trump supporters funded a private border wall on the banks of the Rio Grande, helping the builder secure $1.7 billion in federal contracts.  Now the “Lamborghini” of border walls is in danger …

Gun Demand Is Off the Charts in America  — Smith & Wesson, Sturm Ruger rally on consumer buying spree  — Background checks for firearms rise to record in June  —  U.S. consumers are rushing to buy guns as the Covid-19 pandemic and protests over police brutality combine …

Cook Political Report: GOP Losing Members of Congress at Breakneck Pace Since Trump Took Office  —  According to Dave Wasserman, the U.S. House editor of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, the Republican Party is losing members of Congress at a breakneck pace.