Sinema doesn't support Democrats' $3.5T bill, clinches bipartisan infrastructure deal  —  Sen. Kyrsten Sinema does not support Democrats' $3.5 trillion budget plan that aims to deliver major components of President Joe Biden's economic agenda that Democrats hope to pass after moving …

Turns Out Mo Brooks Was Wearing Body Armor to Trump's Very Peaceful Jan. 6 Rally  —  Rep. Mo Brooks may be done with Jan. 6, but Jan. 6 isn't done with him.  —  The Alabama representative, notorious for his speaking role at the Jan. 6 rally leading up to the invasion of the Capitol …

Two False Narratives About the Capitol Riot  —  As the Jan. 6 committee meets, politics drowns out the actual story.  —  By The Editorial Board  —  The House inquiry on the events of Jan. 6 held its opening hearing Tuesday, and it showed why no Republican should try to brush aside the ugliness of the Capitol riot.

U.S. GDP increased at 6.5% pace in the second quarter, well below expectations  — GDP rose at a 6.4% annualized pace in the second quarter, according to the Commerce Department's first estimate Thursday.  — That was well below the Dow Jones estimate of 8.4%.

St. Louis County Health Director: I Was Assaulted, Called ‘Brown C—  ’ After Mask Plea  — Dr. Faisal Khan, acting director of the St. Louis County Department of Health. … Dear Chairwoman Days,  —  I appreciated the opportunity to share the latest data, scientific research …

Arizona's GOP ballot review has raised more than $5.7 million in private donations, organizers say  —  A private contractor conducting a Republican-commissioned review of 2020 presidential ballots in Arizona's largest county announced late Wednesday that it has collected more than $5.7 million in private donations to fund the process.

CDC reversal on indoor masking prompts experts to ask, 'Where's the data?'  —  New recommendations from federal health officials this week on when vaccinated Americans should don face masks came with a startling bolt of news: People who have had their shots and become infected with the delta variant …

As Trump pushed for probes of 2020 election, he called acting AG Rosen almost daily  —  President Donald Trump called his acting attorney general nearly every day at the end of last year to alert him to claims of voter fraud or alleged improper vote counts in the 2020 election, according to two people familiar with the conversations.

RNC fact-checks Biden on driving ‘18-wheeler’  —  The Republican National Committee circulated a “fact check” on Twitter of whether President Joe Biden drove an 18-wheeler after a speech on manufacturing to a Mack truck facility in Pennsylvania.  —  “There is *zero evidence* that Biden 'used …

Meet the Corporations That Went Back on Their Word Not to Support the Sedition Caucus  —  They promised not to support Republicans who voted not to certify the election results.  And then they changed their minds and hoped Americans wouldn't notice.  —  Following the January 6 insurrection …

Trump allies blame conservative leader for failed Texas endorsement  —  Susan Wright's defeat in a Republican runoff dealt a blow to Trump's aura of invincibility as a GOP kingmaker.

Pass ‘Manchin Plus’ voting and election protection with or without Republicans  —  I implore my former Republican colleagues to step forward.  If they don't, Manchin and other Democrats must override the filibuster to save democracy.  —  American democracy is at a critical juncture.

Biden shifts onus for pandemic onto the unvaccinated as he readies federal worker vaccine requirement  —  Avlon: Unvaccinated are holding us hostage  —  WASHINGTON (CNN)President Joe Biden, who for months used techniques like public service announcements and grassroots campaigns …

A Fresh Reminder of Russiagate's Failed Guardian(s) of Integrity  —  Above left, RCI writer Aaron Maté in a tense 2017 interview with Luke Harding of the Guardian (full video below).  Harding was lead author on a supposed blockbuster this month ignored by major news outlets …

Fund the police — it saves lives  —  “We must invest less in police and more in social workers,” President Joe Biden's Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke wrote in June of 2020.  Clarke went on to say the Black Lives Matter movement slogan to “defund the police” is a “unifying call” …

Something strange is happening in Britain.  Covid cases are plummeting instead of soaring.  —  LONDON — This is a puzzler.  Coronavirus cases are plummeting in Britain.  They were supposed to soar.  Scientists aren't sure why they haven't.  —  The daily number of new infections recorded …

Pandemic Aid Programs Spur a Record Drop in Poverty  —  The most comprehensive study yet of the federal response to the pandemic shows huge but temporary benefits for the poor — and helps frame a larger debate over the role of government.  —  WASHINGTON — The huge increase in government aid prompted …

‘Election integrity committee’ in York County accused of voter intimidation  —  A group calling itself an “election integrity committee” drew allegations of voter intimidation after its members reportedly knocked on doors across York County asking about how and for whom residents voted.

Tunisia's crisis tests Biden's democracy agenda  —  You're reading an excerpt from the Today's WorldView newsletter.  Sign up to get the rest, including news from around the globe, interesting ideas and opinions to know, sent to your inbox every weekday.  —  Since he took office …

She risked everything to expose Facebook.  Now she's telling her story.  —  The world first learned of Sophie Zhang in September 2020, when BuzzFeed News obtained and published highlights from an abridged version of her nearly 8,000-word exit memo from Facebook.

Deshaun Watson and the Texans Opened Camp With Business as Unusual  —  The quarterback remains the subject of 22 civil lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct.  But you wouldn't have known that as training camp opened Wednesday.  —  HOUSTON — At 9:26 a.m. Wednesday …

Charlie Kirk's pro-Trump youth group stokes vaccine resistance as covid surges again  —  Turning Point USA and its affiliates are urging students to resist mandates and spreading baseless claims about “medical raids,” part of a bid for donations  —  A young emergency room doctor stood …

Simone Biles and the Power of ‘No’  —  By withdrawing from competition citing concerns over her mental health, Biles showed that resisting expectations can be more powerful than persisting through them.  —  No.  —  What a small and simple word.  —  What transformative power it possesses.

China's New Ambassador to the U.S. Adopts Placating Tone  —  NEW YORK—China's new envoy to the U.S. struck a conciliatory note upon his arrival in Washington on Wednesday, pledging to repair the increasingly testy relationship between the two world powers days after Chinese Foreign Ministry officials greeted …

Iran Attempted To Abduct at Least 3 American Journalists in 2019 and 2020  —  Iran watchers say Biden admin downplays threats as it negotiates nuclear deal  —  At least three U.S. journalists working for Voice of America were the subjects of attempted Iranian abduction and surveillance efforts …

Jared Kushner to leave politics, launch investment firm - sources  —  Jared Kushner, a top adviser to former President Donald Trump, plans to launch an investment firm in coming months, a move that will take him away from politics for the foreseeable future, sources familiar with the plan said on Wednesday.

Rumblings: Teachers union head, Fed chair hint that schools might not reopen on schedule  —  I've said it before, but once again for emphasis: If you have school-aged kids and you live in a blue state, you're courting disaster by not moving before the fall semester.  Which is now only a month or so away.

The CDC's hysterical mask flip-flop might be its final undoing  —  The real problem, conclude many, is this bogus freedom of choice.  This is why there is more constant talk about vaccine mandates, and why NPR gets breathless with excitement at every new directive - from the Department of Veterans Affairs …