DJ posts stealth pics of Obama's ‘epic’ birthday party — before being forced to delete them  —  A performer at former President Barack Obama's birthday party managed to take stealth pictures of the opulent Martha's Vineyard event and share them with Instagram followers.

Executive assistant who accused Cuomo of groping speaks publicly for the first time: “The governor needs to be held accountable”  —  An executive assistant to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo — in her first public comments since accusing Cuomo of sexual harassment — told “CBS This Morning” …

Too many people are dying right now.  —  A few weeks ago, in a back-of-the-envelope calculation during an interview with Eric Topol of Scripps, I suggested that because of widespread vaccination of the most vulnerable elderly, we may have reduced overall mortality risk in the country by 90 percent.

Trump's coup attempt grows even more worrisome as new details emerge  —  What happened on Jan. 6 was horrifying: an attempted coup, inflamed by social media, incited by the defeated president and televised in real time.  What happened before Jan. 6, we are coming to learn, was equally horrifying …

The Taliban seize Kunduz, a major city in northern Afghanistan.  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban seized the city of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan on Sunday, officials said.  It is the first major city to be overtaken by the insurgents since they began their sweeping military offensive in May.

The rule of law is pushing back against Trump's big lie  —  Opinion by Norman Eisen and Joanna Lydgate  —  Norman Eisen, a former ambassador to the Czech Republic and former President Barack Obama's “ethics czar,” was special impeachment counsel to House Judiciary Committee in 2019-2020.

Andrew Sullivan, No One's Ally, Tells It as He Sees It … When you purchase an independently reviewed book through our site, we earn an affiliate commission.  —  OUT ON A LIMB  —  Selected Writing, 1989-2021  —  It's truly hard to provide a short description of “Out on a Limb,” Andrew Sullivan's newest book.

For first time, average pay for supermarket and restaurant workers tops $15 an hour  —  $15 an hour is suddenly the rule, not the exception, for U.S. workers.  It's a major shift from pre-pandemic norms.  —  The U.S. labor market hit a new milestone recently: For the first time …

‘Lynchings in Mississippi never stopped’  —  JACKSON, Miss. — Since 2000, there have been at least eight suspected lynchings of Black men and teenagers in Mississippi, according to court records and police reports.  —  “The last recorded lynching in the United States was in 1981,” …

Trump Spox Attacks Fox News for Editing Election Lie Out of Trump Interview With Dan Bongino on YouTube  —  Trump spokeswoman Liz Harrington went on the attack against Fox News after finding that they edited former President Donald Trump's unsubstantiated election claims out of an interview he gave to the network.

What some progressive activists fail to realize: Democrats like their party  —  (CNN)Mainstream Democrats have been winning a lot of big primaries in 2021.  Their latest win came on Tuesday in the primary for Ohio's 11th Congressional District special election: local legislator …

COVID-19 cases among kids overwhelming Florida hospitals: doc  —  Pediatric hospitals in Florida have become “completely overwhelmed” with young patients battling COVID-19 amid the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant, a doctor says.  —  The grim development comes as Florida …

‘This Is Really Scary’: Kids Struggle With Long Covid  —  Lingering physical, mental and neurological symptoms are affecting children as well as adults, including many who had mild reactions to the initial coronavirus infection.  —  Will Grogan stared blankly at his ninth-grade biology classwork.

The Case Against Masks for Children  —  It's abusive to force kids who struggle with them to sacrifice for the sake of unvaccinated adults.  —  Do masks reduce Covid transmission in children?  Believe it or not, we could find only a single retrospective study on the question, and its results were inconclusive.

Neighbors' Deaths From Covid-19 Have an Arkansas Town Reassessing Vaccines  —  With many still deeply skeptical of the vaccines, community leaders are trying everything to persuade a reluctant populace to take them  —  GREENWOOD, Arkansas—Michael Lejong fully intended to get vaccinated for Covid-19 …

Criminal-Justice Reformers Chose the Wrong Slogan  —  “Defund the Police” is a disaster.  Under-policing is a form of oppression too. … after george floyd's murder, when sweeping criminal-justice reforms seemed more possible than ever, many Black Lives Matter activists and their allies settled …

The U.S. edges China for the most gold medals.  —  The United States has won the most medals at the Tokyo Olympics and will be the only country to take home more than 100.  But on the last day of competition, the race for the most gold medals was a tight contest between the United States and China.

Democratic leaders are increasingly at odds with their own voters  —  Even as Democratic moderates cheer Shontel Brown's upset victory in Ohio, they're still being held hostage to the Squad's demands.  —  Democrats are a Shontel Brown party stuck in a Cori Bush world.

A Bosnian woman walks among gravestones at the Potocari Memorial Center to victims of the Bosnian genocide near SrebrenicaCredit: AP Photo/Amel Emric  —  The most cynical form of genocide denial has to be the use of Jews as a means to downplay war crimes.  —  But that's exactly what Serb ethnonationalist politicians are doing.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez does not rule out 2022 challenge to Chuck Schumer  —  (CNN)New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez does not know what her political future holds — and that includes whether she might challenge Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in a 2022 primary.

Enough already — it's time to follow New York's lead on vaccine mandates  —  New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio stepped out on the national stage last week and declared that as of Aug. 16, the city will require proof of at least one dose of an approved COVID-19 vaccine for anyone who wants …