Reaching ‘Herd Immunity’ Is Unlikely in the U.S., Experts Now Believe  —  Widely circulating coronavirus variants and persistent hesitancy about vaccines will keep the goal out of reach.  The virus is here to stay, but vaccinating the most vulnerable may be enough to restore normalcy.

The mask slips, revealing the truth about the GOP voter suppression game  —  Republicans are responding to their 2020 losses by doing everything they can to restrict the size of the electorate wherever possible, in ways they think will advantage them.  To disguise this ugly game …

Senate Dems agonize over voting rights strategy  —  Senate Democrats made a major commitment to muscle through Speaker Nancy Pelosi's ethics and voting reform bill.  Yet many say they have no idea how to pass it and wonder what exactly the end game is for a signature Democratic priority.

ESPN's Kevin Merida named L.A. Times executive editor  —  The Los Angeles Times has named veteran journalist Kevin Merida as its top editor and tasked him with transforming the storied 139-year-old newspaper into a digital powerhouse that thrives for decades to come.

Rudy Giuliani raids signal accountability is coming for the Donald Trump era  —  The FBI raids of Giuliani's home and office should worry former President Trump and all who followed his lead in playing fast and loose with the law.  —  Former President Donald Trump and his cronies should beware.

Millions Are Saying No to the Vaccines.  What Are They Thinking?  —  Several days ago, the mega-popular podcast host Joe Rogan advised his young listeners to skip the COVID-19 vaccine.  “I think you should get vaccinated if you're vulnerable,” Rogan said.  “But if you're 21 years old, and you say to me, ‘Should I get vaccinated?’

Cheney stokes GOP rift with ‘big lie’ rebuke of Trump  —  Rep. Liz Cheney on Monday escalated her feud with former President Donald Trump and his supporters in Congress, issuing a less-than-subtle swipe at the former president's latest attempt to claim the 2020 election was stolen from him.

New York, New Jersey, Connecticut ending most restrictions on May 19  —  New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are lifting most Covid-19-related restrictions on May 19, signaling a denouement for some of the country's strictest lockdown orders and social distancing protocols imposed during the pandemic.

Lin Wood Is Just Asking Questions  —  On a late pandemic Friday night, the Richland County Republican Party held its convention in a drab, windowless conference room, with the AC blowing full blast.  —  Among the overwhelmingly maskless congregants was Lin Wood, candidate for state party chairman …

Mitch McConnell: 1619, American slavery starting point, not an important date in history  —  LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday he doesn't think 1619 is one of the most important points in U.S. history.  —  That's the year the first enslaved Africans …

Justice Clarence Thomas, Long Silent, Has Turned Talkative  —  The Supreme Court's orderly telephone arguments, prompted by the pandemic, have given the public a revealing look at its longest-serving member.  —  WASHINGTON — Justice Clarence Thomas, who once went a decade without asking …

Facebook and the Normalization of Deviance  —  The trouble with waiting to address problems long after you know that they exist.  —  When the sociologist Diane Vaughan came up with the term “the normalization of deviance,” she was referring to nasa administrators' disregard of the flaw …

‘A troubled man’: Kansas Senate leader decries Rep. Mark Samsel's ‘deranged rantings’  —  Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson on Sunday condemned the “deranged rantings” of Rep. Mark Samsel, caught on video Wednesday talking to high school students about religion, sex and suicide.

Swiss Billionaire Quietly Becomes Influential Force Among Democrats  —  Hansjörg Wyss, who recently dropped his bid to buy Tribune Publishing, has been a leading source of difficult-to-trace money to groups associated with Democrats.  —  WASHINGTON — He is not as well known …

San Francisco archbishop suggests Pelosi, Biden be denied Communion  —  He warned public figures who support abortion ‘should not come forward to receive Holy Communion’  —  Planned Parenthood files lawsuit over South Carolina abortion ban  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's hometown bishop …

‘Good Jewish boy’ or chief ‘infiltrator’?  NJ man spent years as fake rabbi in Israel, groups say  —  A self-professed “good Jewish boy from New Jersey,” Rabbi Michael Elkohen had come a long way.  —  In the ultra-Orthodox enclave in Jerusalem where Elkohen now lives …

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT.  THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.  —  FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN ANCHOR: This is GPS, the GLOBAL PUBLIC SQUARE.  Welcome to all of you in the United States and around the world.  I'm Fareed Zakaria.  —  (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

American Politics Now Has Two Big Racial Divides  —  There's been a recent flurry of studies and analyses that take a deeper look at the results of the 2020 election.  These examinations don't contradict our early interpretation of the results from the days and weeks immediately following Election Day …

There's not just one kind of vaccine hesitancy  —  Around 10% of Americans aren't very eager to get the vaccine, but they're not really hesitant either — they're just waiting to get it until they get around to it, according to new Harris polling.  —  Why it matters: Making vaccination …

In bitterly divided election in Southlake, Texas, opponents of anti-racism education win big  —  SOUTHLAKE, Texas — Nine months after officials in the affluent Carroll Independent School District introduced a proposal to combat racial and cultural intolerance in schools …

Voices on the Vote  —  Impediments and Confidence in the 2020 Election  —  Elections, Political Parties, Race & Ethnicity  —  TABLE OF CONTENTS:  — Changes in Voting Methods  — Confidence in Accurate Vote Counts  — Informing Election Reforms  — Appendices  —  Key Findings

The slow, painful death of Trump allies' voting-machine conspiracy theories  —  Among the many wild conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, few rank as high when it comes to both baselessness and reach as those involving voting machines.  The theory that voting machines were programmed …

Push against trans athletes in girls' sports fails in Kansas  —  TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Conservative Republican legislators in Kansas failed Monday to override Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's veto of a proposed ban on transgender athletes in girls' and women's school sports.

Day 1 of the End of the U.S. War in Afghanistan  —  The scenes over the weekend were almost as if a trillion-dollar effort had morphed into a garage sale.  —  KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — On the morning of May 1, an Afghan transport aircraft landed at this sprawling military base in the country's south.

Canadian chapter of the Proud Boys, designated a terrorist group by the government, says it has ‘dissolved’  —  TORONTO — Nearly three months after Canada declared the Proud Boys a terrorist entity, the Canadian chapter of the militant far-right group claims it has “officially dissolved.”

Help, We Can't Stop Writing About Andrew Yang  —  The outsider brings provocative ideas and good vibes.  But can an “empty vessel” really make it through New York's shark-infested media waters?  —  In January of last year, as the Iowa caucuses neared and before I'd heard of Covid-19 …

In South Texas, Hispanic Republicans Try to Cement the Party's Gains  —  Conservative Hispanic leaders, especially women, are ascendant in the Rio Grande Valley, where Republicans are trying to forge lasting bonds with voters who swung sharply to the right in 2020.

India accounts for 1 in 3 new Covid cases being recorded.  Here is its second wave in 5 charts  — Cases started rising in February, when India reported an average of about 10,000 infections a day.  — But the situation progressively worsened in April, ending the month by repeatedly setting new global records for daily cases.