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 …

Putin dismisses criticism of hacking and internal crackdowns ahead of Biden summit … MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin denied ordering a hit on political rival Alexei Navalny, but in an exclusive interview with NBC News he did not guarantee that the jailed Kremlin critic …

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,” …

Yup, the Wuhan Institute of Virology Kept Live Bats within Its Walls  —  On the menu today: New evidence shows that despite the contentions of Peter Daszak, the Wuhan Institute of Virology did indeed have live bats within its walls; a spectacularly inaccurate op-ed attempting to dispel the lab-leak theory …

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,” …

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 …

McConnell signals GOP would block Biden Supreme Court pick in '24  —  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) signaled Monday that Republicans, if they win back control of the chamber, wouldn't advance a Supreme Court nominee if a vacancy occurred in 2024, the year of the next presidential election.

These 25 rainbow flag-waving corporations donated more than $10 million to anti-gay politicians in the last two years  —  This month, corporations are plastering their social media avatars with rainbows, sponsoring Pride parades, and declaring their unwavering commitment to the LGBTQ community.

Justice Dept. Official to Step Down Amid Uproar Over Leaks Inquiry  —  John Demers, a Trump appointee who remained in the department, would typically have been briefed on investigations like those involving the secret collection of journalists' phone records.

Exclusive: Saudi assassins picked up illicit drugs in Cairo to kill Khashoggi  —  Early on the morning of Oct. 2, 2018, a Gulfstream jet carrying a team of Saudi assassins on its way to Istanbul made a quick stopover in Cairo.  The purpose: to pick up a lethal dose of “illegal” …

Supreme Court puts off decision on reviewing Harvard race-conscious admissions system  —  The Supreme Court on Monday put off a decision on reviewing whether Harvard's consideration of race to build a diverse student body discriminates against Asian Americans, the latest attempt to convince …

'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 …

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 …

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.

Demonizing Critical Race Theory  —  Critical race theory is the political right's new boogeyman.  —  The theory, born in the 1970s among legal scholars, uses race as a lens through which to examine structures of power.  It was, I would argue, a relatively obscure concept — not because it lacked merit, but because it was novel.

Temp checks, digital menus and ‘touchless’ mustard: The maddening persistence of ‘hygiene theater’  —  At an ice cream shop in Rockville, Md., gloved servers scoop the frozen treat into cups, but a sign taped to the front window says “No cones: Covid.”  At McDonald's outlets along I-95 in Virginia …

The Delusions of the Radical Centrist  —  Thanks to various defects in our system of government, there are only two viable political parties in the United States.  The leadership of one is currently trying to take money away from capitalists and invest it in public infrastructure …

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 …

In Congress, Republicans Shrug at Warnings of Democracy in Peril  —  As G.O.P. legislatures move to curtail voting rules, congressional Democrats say authoritarianism looms, but Republicans dismiss the concerns as politics as usual.  —  WASHINGTON — Senator Christopher S. Murphy concedes …

‘Full of s—’: Candidates warned not to fake Trump endorsement  —  Lynda Blanchard donated nearly $1 million to pro-Donald Trump political committees, served as his ambassador to Slovenia and launched her Alabama Senate campaign with a video spotlighting her Trump bumper sticker-adorned pickup truck.

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 …

Questions for FBI Director Wray About the January 6 Attack  —  On Tuesday, Congress will have another opportunity to ask questions of FBI Director Christopher Wray.  The hearing of the House Oversight Committee is aptly titled, “The Capitol Insurrection: Unexplained Delays and Unanswered Questions.”

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.”

Painfully Confused Capitol Rioter Claims He's Running for Congress  —  JOKER  —  A New Hampshire man who admits he chugged wine after joining the mob at the Capitol riot says he is running against Congresswoman Anne Kuster.  There are a couple of problems, though.