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 …

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.

“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 …

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 …

Two men charged in plot to attack Democratic Party headquarters in Sacramento  —  WASHINGTON — Two men have been indicted by a federal grand jury on multiple charges in connection with an alleged plot to attack the Democratic Party headquarters building in Sacramento after last year's presidential election.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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.

California man was arrested with an arsenal of weapons and a racist manifesto, officials say  —  A California man is in custody after police found a cache of weapons, ammunition, and racist writings in his vehicle saying he wanted to wipe out the Black, Hispanic and Jewish populations, officials said Thursday.

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.

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?

Covid Still Killing Americans Faster Than Guns, Cars and Flu Combined  —  The U.S. remains a dangerous place for the unvaccinated  —  Even with half the U.S. vaccinated, Covid-19 continues to kill people faster than guns, car crashes and influenza combined, according to a review of mortality data.

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 …

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.

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 …