Covid-19 Live Updates: 4 Pence Aides Test Positive  —  Six states broke records as the virus surged at an alarming pace.  Dr. Anthony Fauci suggested the U.S. might need a national mask mandate.  —  RIGHT NOW Pence's chief of staff and three other aides test positive for the virus.

Health Agency Scraps Coronavirus Ad Campaign, Leaving Santa Claus in the Cold  —  The $250 million federally funded effort had aimed to ‘defeat despair, inspire hope’ on pandemic  —  A federal health agency halted a public-service coronavirus advertising campaign funded by $250 million …

Our choice is Joe Biden*  —  This year's general election ballot presents the voter with a dilemma.  We have wrestled with this year's choices, as we imagine many voters have.  Up and down the ticket we are faced with choices in political ideologies, personalities, backgrounds and governing styles.

Staffers for Kelly Loeffler test positive for COVID-19  —  She tested negative and plans to participate in Monday's Supreme Court confirmation vote.  —  WASHINGTON — Two people who work for U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler recently tested positive for the coronavirus.

Trump, Biden favorability unchanged as 2020 race heads into final week: POLL  —  The new ABC News/Ipsos comes just over a week until Election Day.  —  Polling 101: Should You Trust The Polls In 2020?  FiveThirtyEight  —  FiveThirtyEight database journalist Dhrumil Mehta explains why you shouldn't give up on polling.

Biden rebounds to edge over Trump in Texas, as Hegar slightly narrows Cornyn's lead in Senate race  —  A new Dallas Morning News/UT-Tyler poll shows Texas is up for grabs, with the former vice president posting gains among independents, Hispanics.  —  AUSTIN — Former Vice President Joe Biden …

Tumult at home, ailing alliances abroad: Why Trump's America has been a ‘gift’ to Putin  —  ‘The 45th President’: One in a series looking back at the Trump presidency  —  Under President Trump, the United States has abandoned international climate and nuclear arms agreements.

Pope Francis Appoints First African-American Cardinal  —  Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, who led the Roman Catholic Church's response to the sexual abuse crisis in the early 2000s, was among 13 new cardinals named on Sunday.  —  ROME — Pope Francis said on Sunday that Wilton Gregory …

Trump privately tells donors it would be ‘very tough’ for GOP to hold Senate  —  President Trump privately told donors this past week that it will be “very tough” for Republicans to keep control of the Senate in the upcoming election because some of the party's senators are candidates he cannot support.

Why Trump Can't Take Red Counties in North Carolina for Granted  —  Even some people in Gastonia, N.C., are a little perplexed about why the president was holding a rally in a small community that's already in his camp.  —  GASTONIA, N.C. — Republicans in Gaston County still have pictures …

Here's Who Biden Is Considering for Top Jobs in His Administration  —  For a few months now, senators, ex-lawmakers, donors, operatives, local leaders, investors, and activists have quietly been nudging a small group of Democratic officials in D.C. and Delaware.

Americans Have Lost Sight of What Fascism Means  —  How do Americans decide what to be outraged about?  It seems like ancient history now, but that was one of the questions The New York Times inadvertently raised in June when it appended an editor's note to an op-ed by Senator Tom Cotton …

Brad Pitt narrates new Biden campaign ad airing during World Series  —  (CNN)Actor Brad Pitt narrated an ad for Joe Biden's presidential campaign that's airing Saturday night during the fourth game of the World Series.  —  The 60-second spot during Major League Baseball's highly watched …

Appeals court stops more paper backups of Georgia voter records  —  A federal appeals court on Saturday ruled against requiring up-to-date paper copies of voter registration and absentee voting information at Georgia polling places on Election Day.  —  The three-judge panel …

Why I voted for Trump in 2016 and will vote for him again  —  In March of 2016, I wrote that I would likely support Donald Trump because he was the only presidential candidate speaking for working-class Americans.  I also viewed the contempt for Trump by the media and elite of both parties as contempt for his supporters as well.

China Trade War Didn't Boost U.S. Manufacturing Might  —  Factory production peaked in 2018, data show; Trump advisers say tariff campaign will yield benefits over time  —  WASHINGTON—President Trump's trade war against China didn't achieve the central objective of reversing a U.S. decline …

Coronavirus bears down on a small Montana town  —  When Steve Qunell won a seat on the City Council last year in this town of 8,000, he figured he'd be dealing with potholes and affordable housing.  —  Instead, he finds himself at the center of a raging debate over how to fight the coronavirus …

'Deep down, he's a terrified little boy': Bob Woodward, John Bolton and others on Trump  —  The authors of recent exposés, including Mary Trump and Anthony Scaramucci, on the president, his time in office - and what they expect to happen at the polls  —  Interviews by Jude Rogers and Andrew Anthony

Stop Calling Famous Composers by Their Last Names  —  There will be a time when we'll go to concerts again.  We will buy our tickets, shuffle shoulder to shoulder down the aisle, and find our seats.  The lights will dim, and the conductor will walk onto the stage to introduce the program.