Delta Is Driving a Wedge Through Missouri  —  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.  Intensive-care units that once overflowed had emptied.  Vaccinations were rising.

Sen. Joe Manchin, key Democratic holdout on federal voting protections, coming to Texas for fundraiser hosted by several GOP donors  —  The fundraiser comes just a day after Manchin met with Texas House Democrats on Capitol Hill who are desperate for his support of the congressional efforts …

I Alone Can Fix It review: Donald Trump as wannabe Führer - in another riveting read  —  Gen Mark Milley saw that the US was in a ‘Reichstag moment’ - four days before the Capitol riot.  With this and much more startling reporting, Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker of the Washington Post deliver the goods once again

AP: Few Arizona voter fraud cases undercut Trump's claims  —  PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona county election officials have identified fewer than 200 cases of potential voter fraud out of more than 3 million ballots cast in last year's presidential election, undercutting former President Donald Trump's claims …

Convincing the Skeptics  —  Vaccine resisters can't be persuaded if they feel disrespected.  —  here's no doubt that vaccination rates have hit a wall of skepticism: 48.5 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, and 56.1 percent have had at least one dose of the vaccine.

McConnell calls for withdrawal of Biden public lands nominee  —  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is joining a chorus of Republicans calling on the White House to withdraw President Biden's pick to lead the Bureau of Land Management over a decades-old tree spiking incident.

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.

Psaki excoriates criticism of Biden administration work on vaccine misinformation  —  The White House press secretary ripped Fox News' Peter Doocy for saying the federal government was ‘spying’ on social media users  —  White House press secretary Jen Psaki forcefully defended …

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 …

Judge won't let contractor see Capitol Riot grand jury evidence  —  A federal judge has thrown a monkey wrench into the prosecution of more than 500 Capitol riot defendants by denying the Justice Department's request to share grand jury materials with a contractor hired to organize …

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.

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 …

To Trump's hard-core supporters, his rallies weren't politics.  They were life.  —  What 2020 looked like from the front row on the campaign trail  —  Donald Trump soaked in the adoration as he commanded a rally stage inside a massive central Florida arena.  I stewed in my seat and stopped taking notes.

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.

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.

Could Banking Magic Save Cities From Climate Disaster?  —  Mr. Yablon, a journalist who writes about policy and economics, is a contributing opinion writer for Business Insider.  —  A flawed but historically robust emergency response to the Covid-19 pandemic by Congress …

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.

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.

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.

U.S. judge blocks new applications to DACA program for ‘dreamer’ immigrants  —  A U.S. federal judge in Texas on Friday blocked new applications to a program that protects immigrants who were brought to the United States as children from deportation but said the hundreds of thousands …

GB News in crisis as exec quits and presenter is pulled for ‘taking the knee’  —  Director of programming at TV channel resigns and Guto Harri taken off air after viewer backlash  —  GB News has been plunged into crisis as news of a senior executive's resignation emerged hours after a presenter …

Biden Will Nominate Industry Ally for Patent Office  —  It's an about-face from the president's previous commitment to waive patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines.  —  President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the East Room of the White House, July 15, 2021, in Washington.