POLITICO Playbook: What the Duckworth-AAPI episode revealed  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  For months, Sen. TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D-Ill.) had been nudging the Biden administration to appoint more Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to the Cabinet — to no avail.  When she brought up the issue again …

Medium Editorial Team Update  —  We announced a buyout and leadership change to the Medium editorial team today.  Below is the email I sent to the company.  —  Team,  —  We are making some changes to our editorial strategy and leadership and giving a voluntary exit option to employees who would like to take a different path.

Officer Brian Sicknick Died After the Capitol Riot.  New Videos Show How He Was Attacked. … New videos obtained by The New York Times show publicly for the first time how the U.S. Capitol Police officer who died after facing off with rioters on Jan. 6 was attacked with chemical spray.

Duckworth backs off threat to oppose Biden nominees over lack of Asian American representation  —  Sen. Tammy Duckworth on Tuesday night backed down from her threat to block future Biden picks over a lack of nominees of Asian American descent after receiving “assurances” …

Boulder shooting suspect Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa was short-tempered, violent, former teammates say  —  The 21-year-old Arvada man has been charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder  —  sbradbury@denverpost.com, CONRAD SWANSON, JOHN MEYER |  jmeyer@denverpost.com and NOELLE PHILLIPS |

Trump's presidency was a disaster for his business  —  Michael D'Antonio is the author of the book “Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success” and co-author, with Peter Eisner, of the book “High Crimes: The Corruption, Impunity, and Impeachment of Donald Trump.”

Biden's New Deal: Re-engineering America, quickly  —  President Biden recently held an undisclosed East Room session with historians that included discussion of how big is too big — and how fast is too fast — to jam through once-in-a-lifetime historic changes to America.

Israel Election Live: In Reversal, Updated Exit Polls Now Show Netanyahu Losing Majority  —  Israel elections 2021: Kahanist party makes major gains, according to exit polls ■ Gantz, Meretz spring back from brink of demise ■ Coronavirus regulations may delay vote count ■ Voter turnout lowest since 2013

Steyer polls the Newsom recall — offering himself as an alternative  —  Tom Steyer is polling the California recall.  —  And the billionaire environmental activist and erstwhile presidential hopeful has included his own name among the list of possible contenders to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom …

New poll finds voters cautiously optimistic about City's future, though half are presently undecided in the upcoming race for mayor  —  Pulse of the Primary: 2021 NYC Mayor's Race, presented by Fontas Advisors and Core Decision Analytics (CODA), released its second set of poll results on March 24th.

EU moves toward six-week vaccine export cut  —  The European Commission is proposing controversial new rules that would let the EU slash vaccine exports for six weeks to places like the U.K. and U.S. — countries that are either receiving EU-made vaccines but not sending other shots back …

An Unusually Optimistic Conversation With Bernie Sanders  —  I'm Ezra Klein and this is “The Ezra Klein Show.”  —  There were times, so many times during 2020 election when I was pretty certain Senator Bernie Sanders was going to win the Democratic primary and then win the presidential …

Former professor says Yale fired her over tweet on Trump, Dershowitz  —  Bandy Lee MED '94 DIV '95, a formerly Yale-affiliated faculty member in the School of Medicine and Yale Law School, filed a complaint against the University on Monday alleging “unlawful termination …

G.O.P. and Allies Draft ‘Best Practices’ for Restricting Voting  —  As Republican legislatures seek to usher in a raft of new voting restrictions, they are being prodded by an array of party leaders and outside groups working to coordinate the efforts.  —  In late January …

Man Says He Found Shrimp Tails in Cinnamon Toast Crunch  —  Crave those crazy ... shrimp tails?  —  Cereal is a staple of the American breakfast table, consumed by millions of people every day and tied, for many, with memories of childhood.  So when a story began circulating this week …

AP journalist Thein Zaw released from detention in Myanmar  —  YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Thein Zaw, a journalist for The Associated Press who was arrested more than three weeks ago while covering a protest against the coup in Myanmar, was released from detention on Wednesday.

'I don't want to be the one who gives it to people': Many Americans won't eat out, fly until herd immunity arrives  —  A growing share of Americans would feel safe resuming activities like dining out or flying within a few weeks of their second dose of COVID-19 vaccine, but about 25% to 30% …

National Guardsmen transporting Covid-19 vaccines held at gunpoint in Texas … National Guardsmen transporting Covid-19 vaccines through Texas on Monday were held at gunpoint, police said.  —  Larry Harris is accused of following a convoy of National Guard soldiers before attempting to run …

The Iowa steal: To Democrats, ‘democracy’ means unbridled majority power  —  Democratic candidate Rita Hart is trying to steal a U.S. House seat in Iowa.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is helping her do it.  —  Pelosi wants to overturn Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks's very narrow win in Iowa's 2nd Congressional District.

Jim Crow Is Not on the Georgia Ballot  —  Here are the actual proposals being cast as ‘voter suppression.’  —  The battle over voting rules is erupting again, and Georgia is back as political ground zero.  It's “a redux of Jim Crow, in a suit and tie,” says Democrat and media favorite Stacey Abrams with her usual understatement.

In federal lawsuit, James Huntsman, of prominent Utah family, accuses Mormon Church of fraud  —  James Huntsman, of a prominent Mormon family from Utah, filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday accusing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of fraud, saying it spent members' tithes meant for charity on commercial purposes.

He worked in Russian media.  He recognizes the same tactics at Fox News.  —  In a newly released report, U.S. intelligence agencies outline how Russia yet again sought to subvert American democracy.  The findings confirm that the Kremlin tried to plant damaging disinformation …

Amazon Delivery Drivers Forced to Sign ‘Biometric Consent’ Form or Lose Job  —  The new cameras, which are being implemented nationwide, use artificial intelligence to access drivers' location, movement, and biometric data.  —  Lauren Kaori Gurley  —  Amazon delivery drivers nationwide have to sign a …

Blue-state Republicans slump without Trump as foil  —  Some of the nation's most popular governors have been knocked off their pedestals.  —  Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker's coronavirus approval ratings have dropped from a high of 80 percent last April to 59 percent in February, according to the Covid States Project.

Every Democrat who fears filibuster reform should read these two new works  —  In a way, it's fitting that Democrats are celebrating the 11th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act even as they are intensely debating major structural reforms, such as ending the legislative filibuster and granting statehood to Washington, D.C.

Some Younger Amazon Workers in Bessemer, New to Unions, Are Still Undecided … Jason receives upwards of two dozen text messages a day about his warehouse's union drive.  Some are pro-union, and some against it.  There are those from Amazon, his employer, to “protect what you have.”

Scott Stringer Brings ‘30 Years of Real Experience’ in NY Politics to Mayoral Run  —  Scott Stringer, a veteran of more than three decades in New York politics, is running for mayor at a time his city is facing one of its worst-ever crises.  —  “Post-COVID New York City is going to require …

No, the ‘presidential salute’ isn't a thing — and neither is the ‘vice presidential salute’ … The hotly debated issue of the “presidential salute” is once again making the rounds online, except this time it has broadened in scope to include the “vice presidential salute.”