Justice Dept. releases part of internal memo on not charging Trump in Russia probe  —  The Justice Department late Monday night released part of a key internal document used in 2019 to justify not charging President Donald Trump with obstruction, but also signaled it would fight a judge's effort to make the entire document public.

Timeline: How the Wuhan lab-leak theory suddenly became credible  —  The source of the coronavirus that has left more than 3 million people dead around the world remains a mystery.  But in recent months the idea that it emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) …

Attacks on Jews Over Israel Are a Gift to the Right  —  Violence between Jews and Muslims in the Middle East is often accompanied by spikes in anti-Semitic activity in the United States, but what's happened over the last week or so has been different.  —  As Jonathan Greenblatt …

Infrastructure talks hit a wall as Senate GOP and White House exchange blame  —  Republicans allege that Biden's aides reversed course  —  The prospects for a bipartisan infrastructure deal dimmed even further Monday, as Senate Republicans alleged that the White House had agreed to narrow …

Florida, in a First, Will Fine Social Media Companies That Bar Candidates  —  The new law is a direct response to Facebook's and Twitter's suspensions of former President Donald J. Trump.  —  WASHINGTON — Florida on Monday became the first state to regulate how companies like Facebook …

Axios-Ipsos poll: Re-emerging without trust  —  Americans are taking off their masks and re-engaging publicly at levels not seen since the start of the pandemic, with the most dramatic shifts in people over 50 and those who've been vaccinated, according to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.

Mysterious air base being built on volcanic island off Yemen  —  DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A mysterious air base is being built on a volcanic island off Yemen that sits in one of the world's crucial maritime chokepoints for both energy shipments and commercial cargo.

Suspicious package sent to Rand Paul's home  —  The FBI and Capitol Hill police are investigating a suspicious package containing white powder that was delivered to the home of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Monday, according to a senior adviser to the senator.  —  A large envelope arrived …

Kevin McCarthy wants to arm his caucus for the 2022 battle  —  For Republicans to win back the majority in the House, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said GOP candidates, whether they are incumbents or challengers, must spend time with voters in their communities and come up with solutions about their concerns.

How the West Must Handle Lukashenko's Threat to the International Order  —  Designating the Belarusian dictator as a terrorist would be one step.  But leaders must also pressure Vladimir Putin.  —  2 hr ago  —  Alexander Lukashenko's 27 years in power in Belarus have been marked by murder, brutality, and repression.

Moderna Announces TeenCOVE Study of its COVID-19 Vaccine in Adolescents Meets Primary Endpoint and Plans to Submit Data to Regulators in Early June  —  Primary endpoint of non-inferior immunogenicity versus the Phase 3 study adult comparator group was met  —  No cases of COVID-19 observed …

Support for Israel among young US evangelical Christians drops sharply — survey  —  Since 2018, backing for Israel down from 75% to 33% now; nearly half of evangelicals aged 18-29 say they favor establishment of Palestinian state, voted for Biden over Trump

Jen Psaki Smashes Peter Doocy As He Tries To Blame Biden For COVID Deaths  —  Video: … Doocy asked, “On the origins of covid, there is a new Wall Street Journal story that three researchers at the Wuhan Institute of urology were hospitalized with symptoms consistent with covid-19 and common seasonal illness of November 2019.

Arrested insurrectionist visited Ted Cruz's house — and brought 11 molotov cocktails to Jan. 6 riot: report  —  Lonnie Coffman of Alabama will remain in a Washington, DC-area jail until his trial, I federal judge ruled on Monday.  —  “A north Alabama man facing multiple charges in connection …

How Matt Gaetz helped make Ron DeSantis  —  TALLAHASSEE — Just weeks after he took office as governor, Ron DeSantis held a press conference with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) that left Florida's political class befuddled.  —  Standing with Republicans DeSantis and Gaetz was a major Democratic donor …

How Libs Can Stop Owning Themselves Online  —  The Right has mastered trolling as a political communications strategy and Dems have to stop falling for it  —  In the last few weeks, Senator Ted Cruz, no stranger to Twitter controversy, has  — Retweeted a Russian propaganda video while calling the U.S. military “emasculated.”

‘The final straw’: How the pandemic pushed restaurant workers over the edge  —  Jim Conway started working in restaurants in 1982, making $2.13 an hour, plus tips.  —  And though the world has changed significantly in the nearly 40 years since then, his hourly wage has not.

Nancy Mace's Challenger Holds ‘Mask-Burning’ Event  —  A Republican challenger to incumbent congresswoman Nancy Mace held a mask-burning bonfire over the weekend, calling the gathering a statement against oppression and tyranny.  —  “This is saying no to tyranny,” said Lynz Piper-Loomis …

January 6th just the beginning, as ‘second civil war’ is plotted  —  The threat of violence is escalating —against Democrats but also against any GOP dissenter, fearful of being “Mike Pence'd” … One of the ways in my job that I'm able to gauge what's happening on the right is by the exhaustive amount of email I get.

Blinken Spotlights Plight of Palestinians in Effort to Shore Up Israel-Hamas Truce  —  ‘We have to use the space created to address a larger set of underlying issues and challenges,’ says U.S. secretary of state  —  TEL AVIV—Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Jerusalem on Tuesday …

WWE's Cena apologises to China after Taiwan country reference  —  John Cena says on Taiwanese TV that it would be ‘the first country to watch the film’ American quickly backtracked on Weibo, saying he made ‘one mistake’ after doing ‘a lot of interviews’ John Cena backtracks comments …

Rising Democratic star Val Demings wants to challenge Sen. Marco Rubio.  Could she win?  —  Her network of Black women's civic organizations would give her a critical boost  —  Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.) is reportedly planning to run for U.S. Senate against incumbent Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

Judge blocks Georgia law that banned state business from Israel boycotters  —  A federal judge in Atlanta struck a major blow against a Georgia law that bans people who boycott Israel from entering into contracts with the state.  —  Judge Mark Cohen ruled that the University System …

Actor Mark Ruffalo apologizes for suggesting Israel committed ‘genocide’  —  “It's not accurate,” he said.  “It's inflammatory, disrespectful & is being used to justify antisemitism here [in the US] & abroad.”  —  American actor Mark Ruffalo, a frequent critic of Israel …

Labor shortages end when wages rise, say some local businesses  —  As his six restaurants started ramping up for a post-pandemic world, Brian Will was struggling to find employees, so he went with the classic economics response for hard-to-find things.  —  He paid more.

Simone Biles Dials Up the Difficulty, ‘Because I Can’  —  The Olympic gold medalist's new vault is so dangerous that gymnastics, for now, limits the scoring rewards for trying it.  Biles says that's unfair.  —  INDIANAPOLIS — Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast in history …

“Fact-Checking” Takes Another Beating  —  Fact-checkers are great, but the media business keeps trying to solve its credibility problem by misrepresenting what they do  —  The news business just can't stop clowning itself.  The latest indignity is an international fact-checking debacle originating …