BCA identifies officer in Daunte Wright shooting  —  Monday night, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension identified the officer who shot and killed 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center Sunday.  —  The BCA identified the long-time veteran of the Brooklyn Center Police Department as Officer Kim Potter.

Trump: McConnell ‘helpless’ to stop Biden from packing court  —  Former President Trump said late Monday that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is “helpless” against considerations by President Biden to expand the number of Supreme Court justices serving on the bench.

The Supreme Court Broke Its Own Rules to Radically Redefine Religious Liberty  —  Late on Friday night, the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision in Tandon v. Newsom, which blocked California's COVID-related ban on religious gatherings in private homes.  Chief Justice John Roberts dissented …

Lachlan Murdoch dismisses ADL complaint, says Fox sees no problem with Tucker Carlson's ‘replacement theory’ remarks  —  New York (CNN Business)Fox Corporation chief executive Lachlan Murdoch dismissed the Anti-Defamation League's demand that the company f ire host Tucker Carlson …

U.S. Calls for Pause on Johnson & Johnson Vaccine After Clotting Cases  —  The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control will stop using the vaccine at federal sites and urge states to do so as well while they investigate the safety issues.

Israeli Defense Officials Warn Leaks on Iran Operations ‘Will Blow Up in Our Faces’  —  Some officials fear that inter-agency battles for prestige and political motives are leading to the series of reports and could push Iran to a severe reaction  —  A recent series of reports attributing …

The warning signs of a longer pandemic  —  All the things that could prolong the COVID-19 pandemic — that could make this virus a part of our lives longer than anyone wants — are playing out right in front of our eyes.  —  The big picture: Right now, the U.S. is still making fantastic progress on vaccinations.

Another cruise line will require vaccines; DeSantis says no  —  SilverSea Cruises became the second major cruise line to announce it will require COVID-19 vaccinations for all passengers when it resumes global itineraries on June 5.  —  The decision could set up a confrontation with Florida …

Arclight Cinemas And Pacific Theatres Won't Be Reopening; Parent Company Decurion Hands Keys Back To Landlords  —  EXCLUSIVE: Refresh for more details The last thing we needed to hear as the box office and exhibition were rebounding from the pandemic was a piece of bad news …

And like that —poof—he was gone.  —  A note about me and Mother Jones.  —  3 hr ago  —  Personal news: I am no longer editorial director at Mother Jones.  You need to find new reasons to pretend to cancel your subscriptions.  —  I was hired at MJ in July of 2013 as their engagement editor.

‘Darn’ Tootin' It Is!':  Gov. Tate Reeves Again Declares Confederate Heritage Month, SCV Says  —  Despite asking Gov. Tate Reeves' office since late March if he planned to again declare April as Confederate Heritage Month with no response, this publication just found what appears to be this year's proclamation.

NCAA Board of Governors Statement on Transgender Participation  —  The NCAA Board of Governors firmly and unequivocally supports the opportunity for transgender student-athletes to compete in college sports.  This commitment is grounded in our values of inclusion and fair competition.

Scoop: Biden weighs Ken Salazar for ambassador to Mexico  —  The Biden administration is vetting Ken Salazar, a former senator and Interior secretary, to serve as U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Axios has learned.  —  Why it matters: President Biden is close to publicly naming a slate of ambassadors.

Why it's good that corporations are defending democracy  —  With more corporations making public displays of support for democracy amid ongoing GOP assaults on voting rights, it's easy to mock them for “wokeness,” or to discern deeply cynical motives at play.

Dem pollsters acknowledge ‘major errors’ in 2020 polling  —  Five of the biggest Democratic firms have signed onto a joint statement that seeks to explain what went wrong in last year's election.  —  County employees process mail-in ballots in Las Vegas.  A group of top Democratic Party pollsters …

Reuters to name Alessandra Galloni as its next editor-in-chief  —  (Reuters) -Reuters News is set to name one of its top editors, Alessandra Galloni, as its next editor-in-chief, the first woman to lead the globe-spanning news agency in its 170-year history.

Pro-Trump attorney Lin Wood makes chaotic appearance in Charleston ahead of SC GOP chair bid  —  NORTH CHARLESTON — Chaos erupted at the Charleston County GOP meeting when attorney Lin Wood pushed conspiracy theories that Donald Trump won the 2020 election.

Ted Cruz Says ‘Americans Will Die’ From Biden-Approved Aid to Palestinians  —  Texas GOP Senator Ted Cruz said that President Joe Biden's recent announcement that Palestine will receive $250 million in U.S. funding will lead to Americans and Israelis getting killed.

‘Felt like a setup’: WhatsApp chat shows Gaetz ally scrambling to contain fallout  —  MIAMI — The feds were closing in.  And Rep. Matt Gaetz's friend, Joel Greenberg, was in a panic.  —  The Florida county tax collector was five days away from a federal indictment for sex trafficking involving …

Subpoenaing the Brookings Institution, Durham Focuses on Trump-Russia Dossier  —  The special counsel scrutinizing the Russia inquiry, a Trump-era leftover, appears to be retreading ground that an inspector general explored in 2019.  —  WASHINGTON — Exiled from Twitter …

Political checkmate: more legal moves to block troublesome Hong Kong opposition  —  A redrawing of geographical boundaries to further weaken any advantage the opposition could have is on the cards Criminalising any advocacy for voters to cast blank ballots will be among the other moves …

The Long Struggle Against Giving Up  —  The failed Amazon union drive in Alabama will be vindicated by history.  —  Watching on Zoom late last week as an NLRB official spent hour after hour pulling paper ballots out of a cardboard box and hollering ​"NO" at high volume was excruciating.

Marijuana legalization has won  —  Marijuana legalization is sweeping states from Virginia to New Mexico.  The writing is on the wall.  —  The US is nearing a tipping point of sorts on marijuana legalization: Almost half the country — about 43 percent of the population …

Andew Yang and the Age of Blah  —  Yeah yeah yeah NFT, Cryto-Currency, UBI, Electric Car, just get me the hell out of here  —  The mood among political observers in New York is glum, fatalistic, mordant: Andrew Yang is going to be mayor.  His campaign of corny jokes, silly spectacles …

CA teacher goes off on students who want school reopened  —  A lovely story out of San Marcos, California, where high school teacher Alissa Piro was remotely teaching one of her classes via Zoom earlier this year.  One of her students apparently made the mistake of bringing up a lawsuit …