G.O.P. Bills Target Protesters (and Absolve Motorists Who Hit Them)  —  As the nation reacts to the guilty verdict a jury handed to Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd, Republican-led states are introducing punitive new measures governing protests.  —  Republican legislators …

The Postal Service is running a running a ‘covert operations program’ that monitors Americans' social media posts  —  The law enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service has been quietly running a program that tracks and collects Americans' social media posts, including those about planned protests …

Columbus Police Shoot And Kill Black, Teenage Girl  —  A 16-year-old Black girl was fatally shot by an officer outside of her home after she called the police for help on Tuesday afternoon, according to her family.  —  The girl has been identified as Ma'Khia Bryant by her aunt, Hazel Bryant.

Lofgren: Capitol Police official being investigated for directions to pursue only ‘anti-Trump’ protesters Jan. 6  —  A Capitol Police official radioed units outside of the building on the morning of Jan. 6 and told them only to scout for anti-Trump troublemakers — not pro-Trump protesters …

Welcome to the YOLO Economy  —  Burned out and flush with savings, some workers are quitting stable jobs in search of postpandemic adventure.  —  Something strange is happening to the exhausted, type-A millennial workers of America.  After a year spent hunched over their MacBooks …

Scoop: Chris Christie friends believe he's running in 2024  —  Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is seriously considering running for president in 2024, three people familiar with his thinking tell Axios.  —  Driving the news: While Christie isn't saying anything publicly about his thinking …

Biden announces small business tax credits for vaccine PTO  —  President Biden on Wednesday called on all employers to provide workers paid time off to get vaccinated or recover from COVID side effects, and said he'll include a paid tax credit for small businesses that do so.

As It Happened: Russians Protest in Support of Navalny  —  Putin's most outspoken critic has been on hunger strike in prison for three weeks, demanding to see his own doctors for a host of ailments.  —  Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's team called for protests across the country …

Manhattan to Stop Prosecuting Prostitution, Part of Nationwide Shift  —  The district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., moved to dismiss thousands of cases dating back decades, amid a growing movement to change the criminal justice system's approach to prostitution.

Foxconn mostly abandons $10 billion Wisconsin project touted by Trump  —  Taiwan electronics manufacturer Foxconn is drastically scaling back a planned $10 billion factory in Wisconsin, confirming its retreat from a project that former U.S. President Donald Trump once called “the eighth wonder of the world.”

Lawmakers reveal — and dispute — FBI conclusion about 2017 baseball field shooting  —  A congressman who was on the baseball field during the 2017 shooting that nearly killed GOP Whip Steve Scalise says the FBI privately informed lawmakers it ruled the attack a “suicide by cop,” …

Open Letter: A Call-In To The Portland Protest Community  —  In response to ongoing behavior seen as detrimental to Black Liberation, Black protesters have drafted a letter addressing the larger Portland Protest Community, so that our values and observations are clear to all.

Senate GOP preserves earmark ban, adds strict debt ceiling posture  —  Senate Republicans kept their decade-long earmarks ban on Wednesday but installed a new internal GOP rule that demands spending cuts as a condition for raising the debt ceiling.  —  The decision to keep the earmarks ban …

Biden's associate attorney general nominee Vanita Gupta confirmed after GOP senator breaks ranks  —  (CNN)The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Vanita Gupta to be associate attorney general in a narrow 51-49 vote after Sen. Lisa Murkowski joined with Democrats in support of President Joe Biden's Justice Department nominee.

How Josh Hawley and Marjorie Taylor Greene Juiced Their Fundraising Numbers  —  Politicians get the veneer of grassroots support, while shadowy consultants get rich. … Two of the leading Republican firebrands in Congress touted big fundraising hauls as a show of grassroots support …

Carr steps down from Republican AGs group under fire for robocall  —  Chris Carr has stepped down as chairman of a national group that advocates for Republican attorneys, citing a “significant difference of opinion” in the organization's direction following a robocall that urged people to march …

Fox News Thinks Tucker Carlson Is Still Good for Business  —  Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive officer of the Anti-Defamation League, asked advertisers gathered Tuesday for Global Marketer Week to press Fox Corp. to fire its resident flamethrower and ratings-magnet, Tucker Carlson.

Iran Nuclear Deal Talks Advance as U.S. Offers Sanctions Relief  —  Biden administration signals openness to easing measures against oil, finance and other sectors, but Tehran wants to see specifics  —  The Biden administration has signaled it is open to easing sanctions against critical elements …

Introducing Pawprints  —  A newsletter from @nycsouthpaw, an internet lawyer dog  —  Thank you for finding your way here.  —  Over the years, a surprising number of you have written me very kind notes asking for a newsletter or a blog, hoping in some cases to keep up with what I'm doing …

Mark Bittman's Beef With Capitalism  —  What we grow determines how we eat, and what we eat determines how we live and die.  These simple but overlooked truths drive the work of the longtime food writer Mark Bittman, whose new book, Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food …

‘It is much worse this time’: India's devastating second wave … Every night funeral pyres blaze on the banks of the Ganges, a grim symbol of the ferocious Covid-19 wave sparking a health crisis and human tragedy in India that is far surpassing anything seen last year.

Andrew Giuliani to meet with Trump as he preps NY gubernatorial bid  —  (CNN)Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and a former public liaison official inside the Trump White House, will meet with the former President at Mar-a-Lago next week as he finalizes …

California's coronavirus case rate now the lowest in the continental U.S.  —  California's coronavirus case rate is now the lowest in the continental U.S., an achievement that reflects months of hard-won progress against the pandemic in the aftermath of the state's devastating fall-and-winter surge.