POLITICO Playbook: Manchin and Sinema still might get their way  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  President JOE BIDEN is at NATO headquarters in Brussels today explaining his decision to pull out of Afghanistan to allies who felt blindsided.  The House is back in session and will soon be debating …

Netanyahu Plots Comeback Even Before New Government Sworn In  — 'We'll be back — soon,' he said before successor was sworn in  — Coalition is shaky, but comeback threat might prop it up  —  Benjamin Netanyahu, unseated after a bruising, two-year battle to hold on to his job, is already plotting a comeback.

Ralph Northam Reflects on His Journey Back From the Edge  —  When a racist picture was discovered on his yearbook page, the governor of Virginia refused to resign.  Now he's leaving office with a widely praised progressive record on racial justice.  —  RICHMOND, Va. — Just two years ago …

Why The New Yorker's Stars Didn't Join Its Union  —  The 96-year-old magazine, known for its revered writers and sophisticated audience, is being consumed by a labor dispute.  —  Writers for The New Yorker have been known to refer to the editor, David Remnick, as “Dad,” …

Kayleigh McEnany Claims ‘I Never Lied’ as Trump's White House Press Secretary, Cites Belief in God  —  Former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany proclaimed Sunday that her faith in God prevented her from ever telling a single lie during her tenure as former President Donald Trump's chief spokesperson.

The NYC Mayor's Race Is a Warning for Progressives  —  Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the most prominent progressive politicians in the country, warned last week that her hometown is at high risk of having a decidedly moderate mayor.  Standing in New York's City Hall Park …

Exclusive: US assessing reported leak at Chinese nuclear power facility  —  (CNN)The US government has spent the past week assessing a report of a leak at a Chinese nuclear power plant, after a French company that part owns and helps operate it warned of an “imminent radiological threat,” …

'I didn't take an oath to defend Donald Trump': Rep. Tom Rice tests whether Republican voters will support a conservative who crossed Trump  —  MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Republican Rep. Tom Rice of South Carolina has been a reliable conservative during his five terms in Congress …

Westminster Dog Show 2021: Wasabi the Pekingese Wins Best in Show  —  Wasabi's victory capped an unusual Westminster, held at a riverside estate in Westchester County instead of its usual home at Madison Square Garden because of the coronavirus pandemic.  —  TARRYTOWN, N.Y. — Wasabi …

Novavax's coronavirus vaccine is 90 percent effective, study finds  —  The vaccine is one of six the U.S. bet on but is likely to have its biggest impact globally  —  Novavax, a Maryland biotechnology company that endured delays in developing a coronavirus vaccine, revealed results Monday showing …

‘Network’ & ‘Superman’ Actor Ned Beatty Dead at 83  —  EXCLUSIVE  —  REMEMBERING NED BEATTY  —  3:28 PM PT — Ned's manager tells us ... his client died around 7:30 AM this morning of natural causes, surrounded by friends and loved ones.  —  Ned Beatty — a veteran character actor …

Apple Is Said to Have Turned Over Data on Trump's White House Counsel in 2018  —  The company notified Donald F. McGahn II last month that it had been subpoenaed for his account information three years ago.  —  WASHINGTON — The Justice Department subpoenaed Apple for information in February 2018 …

Biden will give Putin a list of demands.  The Russian president may ignore them.  —  But those demands raise a question that is vexing U.S. policymakers and the United States' European allies: What happens if Putin ignores the demands, as he has signaled he will do?

Lobbyists for Putin's Pipeline Dodge Foreign Agent Laws  —  The State Department labels Nord Stream 2 executives as ‘foreign persons’  —  Beltway firms lobbying for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline have dodged foreign lobbying laws, even though the Biden administration has affirmed that the company behind …

Anatomy of the Woke Madness  —  How did such collective madness infect a once pragmatic and commonsensical America?  —  Wokeism has become our most popular secular religion—at least for a moment dethroning climate change.  It reduces all of the past and present into puerile binaries between “whites” and “non-whites.”

This is the Republicans' back-up plan in case they can't suppress enough votes  —  Like termites, destructive but largely unseen, anti-democracy forces around the country are gnawing at the foundations of America's free and fair elections.  —  State by state, the termites are trying to change …

What the Rich Don't Want to Admit About the Poor  —  I'm not going to pretend that I know how to interpret the jobs and inflation data of the past few months.  My view is that this is still an economy warped by the pandemic, and that the dynamics are so strange and so unstable that it will be some time before we know its true state.

Tom Hanks Is A Non-Racist.  It's Time For Him To Be Anti-Racist  —  First, I must note how much I love Tom Hanks as a performer, Hollywood citizen and all-around stand-up guy.  —  Of course, he's a consummate actor, with two Oscars and starring roles in landmark films such as Philadelphia and Forrest Gump.

House GOP prays Trump can kick his habit of 2020 grievances  —  Donald Trump just can't seem to quit 2020.  That means Republicans can't either.  —  The former president is returning to the national spotlight with plans to play a central role in the GOP's push to reclaim power …

Breyer's Departure Could Make the Supreme Court More Conservative  —  Progressives are pushing the 82-year-old justice to clear the way for a more liberal replacement  —  The recent left-wing push for Justice Stephen Breyer to retire in favor of a younger liberal justice is likely …