“You're Gonna Have a Fucking War”: Mark Milley's Fight to Stop Trump from Striking Iran  —  Inside the extraordinary final-days conflict between the former President and his chairman of the Joint Chiefs.  —  The last time that General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff …

Leaving Trump behind  —  Donald Trump's cultural and long-term political legacy will be debated for decades.  But his legacy for the Republican Party will be tested far sooner than that.  He has the power to leave the GOP and the conservative movement intact or disastrously divided.

Reuters journalist killed covering clash between Afghan forces, Taliban  —  Reuters journalist Danish Siddiqui was killed on Friday while covering a clash between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters near a border crossing with Pakistan, an Afghan commander said.

Explosive Interview Directly Implicates Trump in Tax Scheme  —  As investigators look into a scheme at the Trump Organization to avoid paying taxes on employee benefits, one witness has set the scene to show Trump was involved.  —  A witness in the New York investigation against the Trump Organization …

L.A. County will require masks indoors amid alarming rise in coronavirus cases  —  Just a month ago, Los Angeles County and the rest of California celebrated a long-awaited reopening, marking the tremendous progress made in the battle against COVID-19 by lifting virtually all restrictions on businesses and other public spaces.

Two men charged over plan to attack Democratic Party office in Sacramento  —  A federal grand jury indicted two men on multiple charges in connection to an alleged plot to attack the  —  Democratic Party's headquarters in Sacramento.  —  Ian Rogers, 45, and Jarrod Copeland, 37 …

Hunter Biden's prosecutor rejected moves that would have revealed probe earlier  —  Last summer, federal officials in Delaware investigating Hunter Biden faced a dilemma.  The probe had reached a point where prosecutors could have sought search warrants and issued a flurry of grand jury subpoenas.

Ticket sales are moving slowly for the coming Trump-O'Reilly stadium tour  —  Donald Trump is having trouble selling advance tickets for his upcoming speaking tour with conservative pundit Bill O'Reilly, according to interviews with ticketing officials for the venues.

‘How Did We End Up Back Here Again?’  —  For America, the pandemic might be fading.  For places like southwest Missouri, this year will be worse than last.  —  The summer wasn't meant to be like this.  By April, Greene County, in southwestern Missouri, seemed to be past the worst of the pandemic.

Trump showerhead rule to increase water flow getting dumped  —  So much for Donald Trump's quest for “perfect” hair.  —  President Joe Biden's administration is reversing a Trump-era rule approved after the former president complained he wasn't getting wet enough because of limits on water flow from showerheads.

Democrats' New Amnesty Gambit  —  If a $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill isn't bad enough, how about a $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill that tortures the Senate rules to include a highly contentious, consequential policy change that wouldn't have a prayer of passing otherwise?

Democratic, Republican Confidence in Science Diverges  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sixty-four percent of U.S. adults say they have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in science, compared with 70% when Gallup last measured it more than four decades ago.

Biden selects Jane Hartley as ambassador to U.K.  —  President Biden will nominate Jane Hartley, a former ambassador to France, to serve as ambassador to the United Kingdom, according to two people with knowledge of the decision.  —  The ambassador to the Court of St. James's is considered …

CNN Snares Kasie Hunt From NBC in Big Bet on Streaming (EXCLUSIVE) … CNN has snatched Kasie Hunt, the Capitol Hill correspondent long viewed as a rising star at NBC News, as part of an aggressive bid to push the WarnerMedia cable-news outlet into the new frontier of streaming video.

As COVID-19 surges again, what experts say about the millions of unvaccinated  —  U.S. coronavirus cases have doubled in recent weeks.  —  As Americans start packing bars and live venues once again in the age of mass COVID-19 vaccination — with many abandoning masks and social distancing measures …

Arizona election audit reports ‘inconsistencies’; judge rules records must be public  —  The outside contractors conducting the Senate's audit of the 2020 election told GOP lawmakers Thursday they already identified a series of inconsistencies between information Maricopa County reported and what they've found.

It's Time to Name Anti-Palestinian Bigotry  —  IN JUNE, three Republicans in the House of Representatives—Michael Waltz, Jim Banks and Claudia Tenney—introduced a resolution censuring Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Presley, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for, among other things …

Oligarchs' Favorite U.S. Visa Might Not Last  —  Calls are growing louder to fix the “golden visa” program that has flooded the United States with dubious foreign money.  —  Thanks in large part to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, “golden visas” and “golden passports”—visas and passports granted …

Kevin McCarthy's trip shows House Republicans see the path back to power is with Donald Trump  —  (CNN)The House GOP's plan to win back power is becoming increasingly centered on one man: Donald J. Trump.  —  On Thursday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy became the latest in a parade …

MAGA World's ‘Freedom Phone’ Actually Budget Chinese Phone  —  MAGA Influencers are pushing a phone preloaded with apps like Parler and Rumble that appears to be a vastly more expensive version of a phone made in China.  —  The pro-Trump internet went wild on Wednesday for the Freedom Phone …

Live Updates: Europe Flooding Death Toll Passes 100 as Climate Change Worsens Extreme Rainfall  —  Most of the dead were in Germany, where hundreds were still missing.  Search-and-rescue efforts were hampered, and more rain threatened.  —  Here's what you need to know:

Justice in legal knot in Mo Brooks, Trump case  —  The Justice Department is facing a decision over whether to help insulate Rep. Mo Brooks from a civil lawsuit claiming the Alabama Republican was among those responsible for inciting a mob to storm the Capitol on January 6.

Facebook has a vaccine misinfo problem...  ...But the White House + Olivia Rodrigo are coming to the rescue  —  This week, Kevin Roose at the New York Times reported on Facebook's internal discussions about restricting access to their transparency data because they don't like how it makes them look.

Might Trauma Affect Gender Identity?  —  , SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW, FAITH AND REASON INSTITUTE  —  Another month, another social milestone.  On June 27, Kataluna Enriquez became the first transgender woman in history to be crowned Miss Nevada USA, thereby qualifying to compete in November's national Miss USA contest.

Our Woke Book Burners  —  Books are not violence … Apparently, we have to remind people about this again: … We've devoted a great deal of time lately to discussing illiberalism and authoritarianism, and justifiably so.  But we have to recognize that liberalism and free expression face …

The pandemic-fueled decline of cash  —  Cash is getting a bad reputation.  It was already on the ropes but the pandemic accelerated a decline that's been underway.  —  Why it matters: Consumers used less cash in 2020.  That along with a trend toward digital transactions in the smaller-dollar realm …

Four Pinocchios for Ron Johnson's campaign of vaccine misinformation  —  “The fact of the matter is it looks like natural immunity is as strong if not stronger than vaccinated immunity. ...  There is a risk to the vaccine.  Again, it's very small, but there are some pretty serious side effects, including death.

The Dreaded Misery Index Is On The Rise Under Biden  —  Young adults today are likely unfamiliar with the term “misery index.”  But they could soon learn about it the hard way, thanks to President Joe Biden's economic incompetence.  —  The misery index, a measure started under President Lyndon Johnson …

It's been 58 days since Ben & Jerry's posted on social media.  Here's how its silence may be tied to the Middle East  —  On May 18, Ben & Jerry's posed a simple question on Twitter: “Any mint lovers out there?”  —  The beloved Vermont ice cream company usually posts to social media daily …