Microsoft Directors Decided Bill Gates Needed to Leave Board Due to Prior Relationship With Staffer  —  Company's board members began investigation in 2019 into woman's allegations of prior sexual relationship with Bill Gates; Mr. Gates's spokeswoman says decision to leave board in 2020 wasn't related to the matter

How a Jeopardy!  Contestant's Hand Gesture Became Part of a Conspiracy  —  How hundreds of “Jeopardy!” contestants talked themselves into a baseless conspiracy theory — and won't be talked out of it.  —  It is an ironclad rule of the private Facebook group of past “Jeopardy!” …

Episode 9: Trump's war with his generals  —  Axios' “Off the rails” series documents the end of the Trump administration, from election night 2020 through the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol.  —  One important piece is only now beginning to emerge: Former President Donald Trump's last-minute bid …

AT&T to spin off HBO, other WarnerMedia assets in a huge deal with Discovery.  What went wrong?  —  Three years ago, AT&T Inc. marched into Hollywood with big ambitions to be a 21st century media colossus, connecting its booming cellphone business with legendary media properties — HBO …

Teflon Joe muddies GOP's midterm strategy  —  When the National Republican Senatorial Committee sought to attack four vulnerable Senate Democrats in a series of new ads this spring, President Joe Biden was nowhere to be found.  Instead, the NRSC juxtaposed photographs of the senators …

US investigates second suspected case of mystery ‘syndrome’ near White House  —  (CNN)Two White House officials were struck by a mysterious illness late last year — including one who was passing through a gate onto the property — newly revealed details that come as investigators …

For Trump, Hamas and Bibi, It Is Always Jan. 6  —  There are many ways to understand what is happening today between Hamas and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu of Israel, but I prefer to think about it like this: They are each having their own Jan. 6 moment.  —  Just as a mob was unleashed …

US for 3rd time blocking Security Council joint statement calling for ceasefire — diplomats tell ToI  —  NEW YORK — For the third time in a week, the US is blocking a joint statement from the Security Council calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, two diplomats involved tell The Times of Israel.

Google, Deloitte, and Citigroup quietly collaborate with GOP group pushing voter suppression  —  Several large corporations that have recently issued public statements supporting voting rights — including Google, Deloitte, and Citigroup — are also funding and collaborating …

The World Economy Is Suddenly Running Low on Everything  —  A year ago, as the pandemic ravaged country after country and economies shuddered, consumers were the ones panic-buying.  Today, on the rebound, it's companies furiously trying to stock up.  —  Mattress producers to car manufacturers …

Tax the rich?  Executives predict Biden's big plans will flop  —  President Joe Biden wants to fund his $4.1 trillion infrastructure and family policy agenda with a huge pile of tax increases on corporations and the wealthy.  The business community is dismissing the threat.

The GOP's Telltale Signs of Authoritarianism  —  Trump dominates its money and its mind.  —  The Republican party is an authoritarian party, not just in its unabashed hostility to democracy and the rule of law, but also in its internal organization.  It exhibits many of the classic signs …

Trump Has Blown Off Rudy Giuliani's Pleas for Help as Feds Circle  —  Giuliani appears to be in hot water, and his allies keep asking for Trump's help.  But so far, the ex-president isn't willing to ride to the rescue of his one-time lawyer.  —  In the weeks since the feds raided Rudy Giuliani's apartment …

Kamala Harris's Impossible Vice Presidency  —  Air Force Two is a smaller plane than Air Force One.  The exterior is the same light-blue and white, but unlike the commander in chief's plane, the vice president's aircraft is open plan—from the back, you can see all the way to the front, where a small office doubles as a bedroom.

Should Joe Biden worry about soaring lumber prices?  —  WASHINGTON — If a tree falls in a Canadian forest and a logger has to drive 16 hours to haul it out, does it crush the U.S. president's economic agenda?  —  That improbable question may be on the minds of some in Washington …

Photo emerges of Republican barricading chamber doors during US Capitol attack after he compared rioters to ‘tourists’  —  ‘Do Georgians always barricade doors against normal, everyday tourists?’ one critic asked  —  A photo has emerged of Andrew Clyde, the Republican congressman who claimed …

Piggy bank-filling payments for nearly 90 percent of kids will start July 15  —  The federal government will begin sending monthly payments worth up to $300 per child to millions of Americans beginning July 15, in what is perhaps the most ambitious government initiative of the Biden administration so far.

Chinese businessman with links to Steve Bannon is driving force for a sprawling disinformation network, researchers say  —  Guo Wengui, living in self-exile in New York City, is at the center of a digital web pushing election and covid falsehoods, according to Graphika research

Will Democrats mask America forever?  —  After a full year of staying home, social distancing, and keeping our faces covered, last week's announcement from the CDC was the one many of us had been waiting for: fully vaccinated Americans were finally cleared to get back to normal.

Social app Parler is cracking down on hate speech - but only on Apple devices  —  Shut down after the Jan. 6 riot, Parler is using a new artificial intelligence moderation system with more stringent standards for the App Store than other platforms.  —  When social media network Parler came …

Can McCarthy still discipline MTG?  —  GREENE HOUSE EFFECT: Even if Kevin McCarthy wanted to punish Marjorie Taylor Greene for her hallway antics last week, could he?  —  McCarthy (R-Calif.) no longer can deploy his most powerful weapon: removing her from her two committees.