Intelligence on Sick Staff at Wuhan Lab Fuels Debate On Covid-19 Origin  —  Report says researchers went to hospital in November 2019, shortly before confirmed outbreak; Adds to calls for probe of whether virus escaped lab  —  WASHINGTON—Three researchers from China's Wuhan Institute …

Belarus Forces Down Ryanair Flight Carrying Journalist  —  The dissident, Roman Protasevich, co-founded a Telegram channel that is a popular opposition outlet in Belarus.  The plane was flying from Athens to Lithuania when it was forced down.  —  MOSCOW — The strongman president of Belarus sent …

Dismissed in 2012, this diagnosis of GOP ills has now become undeniable  —  (CNN)The essay described congressional extremists, their rejection of truth, a party turning into authoritarians or “an apocalyptic cult.”  It bore a striking headline:  —  “Let's just say it: The Republicans are the problem.”

Senators reach bipartisan agreement on $300 billion for highways, roads and bridges  — The legislation, released by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, would increase funding by 34% to a baseline of about $300 billion over five years.  — House Republicans last week introduced …

‘I would do it again’: Suspect accused of pummeling NYC Jewish man shows no remorse  —  The Brooklyn man accused of beating a Jewish man in a hate attack in Midtown proclaimed from his jail cell that he would “do it again,” prosecutors said on Saturday.  —  Waseem Awawdeh, 23 …

Rand Paul: 'I'm not getting vaccinated'  —  Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Sunday that he will not be getting vaccinated against COVID-19.  —  During an interview with John Catsimatidis on his radio show on WABC 770 AM, Paul, an ophthalmologist, said he he's making the personal decision because he's already had COVID-19.

A Year After George Floyd: Pressure to Add Police Amid Rising Crime  —  Los Angeles, like other cities across the nation, is facing a rise in gun violence.  And the police budget is growing.  —  LOS ANGELES — Helen Jones grew up in Watts in a time of gang wars and a crack epidemic …

Polling places for urban voters of color would be cut under Texas Senate's version of voting bill being negotiated with House  —  Voters in some urban, Democratic areas of Harris and Tarrant counties would see a drastic drop in polling places under the Senate version of Senate Bill 7, a Texas Tribune analysis shows.

Hail Kevin McCarthy, People Pleaser and Trump Appeaser  —  Ms. Cottle is a member of the editorial board.  —  Representative Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader, is frequently derided as a weak, hollow, craven, opportunistic, transactional, nakedly ambitious political animal with no core principles.

CNN Drops Rick Santorum After Racist Comments About Native Americans  —  The former GOP senator lost his contract with the network after claiming there was “nothing” in America before white colonizers arrived.  —  CNN has terminated its contract with senior political commentator Rick Santorum after racist …

Police records show threats to kill lawmakers in wake of Capitol attack  —  Leaked files show how police stepped up surveillance efforts after January insurrections for signs of violence from far-right groups  —  Washington's Metropolitan police department recorded threats to lawmakers …

George Will: “I'd Like To See January 6 Burned Into The American Mind As Firmly As 9/11”  —  George Will said on ABC's “This Week” roundtable that the Capitol riot on January 6 deserves to be “burned into the American mind as firmly as 9/11, because it was that scale of a shock to the system.”

Collins expresses support for Jan. 6 commission, with conditions  —  Sen. Susan Collins on Sunday said she supported the establishment of an independent commission to probe the Jan. 6 insurrection and expressed optimism that Democrats' House-passed bill to do so could make it through the Senate with some modifications.

QAnon is spreading amongst evangelicals.  These pastors are trying to stop it  —  When Pastor James Kendall stepped on to the stage of his small church in Madera, California he knew that day's sermon was going to take him in a direction unlike most.  He had seen some troubling Facebook posts from members of his congregation.

A Liberal Zionist's Move to the Left on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict  —  Peter Beinart, once a staunch defender of Israel, is arguing for the Palestinians' right to return.  —  In the fights over the future of Israel and Palestine, in which enmities are often understood to be both ancient and eternal …

Columbia Prep students and parents reel after class on ‘porn literacy’  —  Parents at the posh Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School are outraged they were never told of a fourth “R” being added to the curriculum: raunch.  —  In addition to the usual reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic …