Cuomo's Top Aide, Melissa DeRosa, Resigns as He Fights to Survive  —  The governor's confidante helped lead efforts to retaliate against one of the women who accused him of sexual harassment, the attorney general's report found.  —  ALBANY, N.Y. — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's top aide …

Earth is warming faster than previously thought, scientists say, and the window is closing to avoid catastrophic outcomes  —  (CNN)As the world battles historic droughts, landscape-altering wildfires and deadly floods, a landmark report from global scientists says the window is rapidly closing …

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. Is Granted Preliminary Injunction Allowing it to Sail from Florida with 100% Vaccination of Guests and Crew  —  Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.  —  Company Goes to Great Lengths to Prioritize Health and Safety of its Guests, Crew and the Communities Visited

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 …

As Taliban Capture Cities, U.S. Says Afghan Forces Must Fend for Themselves  —  The muted American response to the Taliban siege shows in no uncertain terms that the U.S. war in Afghanistan is over.  —  WASHINGTON — If the Taliban had seized three provincial capitals in northern Afghanistan a year ago …

What Bobby McIlvaine Left Behind  —  When Bobby McIlvaine died on September 11, 2001, his desk at home was a study in plate tectonics, coated in shifting piles of leather-bound diaries and yellow legal pads.  He'd kept the diaries since he was a teenager, and they were filled with the usual diary things …

POLITICO Playbook: What Biden, Schumer, McConnell, Sinema and Portman learned from BIF  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  BREAKING: Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN weighs in on Congress' handling of the debt ceiling.  —  “In recent years Congress has addressed the debt limit through regular order …

The world is nowhere near the end of the pandemic, says famed epidemiologist Larry Brilliant  — The pandemic is not coming to an end soon — given that only a small proportion of the world's population has been vaccinated, said Larry Brilliant, a well-known epidemiologist.

‘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.

Off the Wall  —  Here's a delightful headline, followed by a charming article, written by a guy named Jonathan V. Last.  I don't think he likes me.  Strap in.  It's a doozy.  —  MIKE ROWE'S DIRTY LIES  —  The voice of the working class goes anti-anti-anti-vaxx.

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 …

Trump Sails Away as Rudy Giuliani Drowns in Legal Bills  —  As Rudy Giuliani struggles with mounting legal bills, the former president's longtime friend can't even get a Retweet.  —  As Rudy Giuliani's legal bills have piled up in recent months—and as federal investigators intensify …

How cancel culture hurts the Left  —  There's a running joke on the Left about people who claim to have been silenced for their conservative views — while standing atop the platform of a podcast, TV show, or newspaper column that has an audience of millions.

‘Goldilocks virus’: Delta vanquishes all variant rivals as scientists race to understand its tricks  —  The variant battle in the United States is over.  Delta won.  —  Since late last year, the country has been overrun by a succession of coronavirus variants, each with its own suite …

The U.S. government is designed for failure.  And, a new study shows, it's getting worse.  —  When President John F. Kennedy took office in 1961, he needed Senate approval for 779 of his appointments.  —  That was a highly irrational way to run a government.

Latvia warns of risk of ‘incident’ between Nato and Russia  —  Belarus ‘border crisis’ and military exercise could cause ‘misunderstanding’, says foreign minister  —  The “weaponisation” of migration by Belarus on its border with Lithuania and an imminent military exercise involving Russian …

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 …

GOP megadonors flock to Tim Scott, building 2024 buzz  —  Republican Sen. Tim Scott boarded a plane to Hawaii earlier this year to meet with one of the richest people in the world: Tech titan Larry Ellison.  —  Ellison's remote Lanai Island home was well out of the South Carolina senator's way.

What Redistricting Looks Like In Every State  —  An updating tracker of proposed congressional maps — and whether they might benefit Democrats or Republicans in the 2022 midterms and beyond.  —  National Overview  — STATES WITH PROPOSED MAPS  — National Overview  —  STATES TO WATCH

GOP Cash Machine's Behavior Is ‘Nothing Short of Scandalous’  —  ‘HIGHLY UNUSUAL’  —  “I can't think of any mechanism or loophole that would permit this.  Really.” said former FEC commissioner Ann Ravel.  —  WinRed PAC, the for-profit Republican fundraising juggernaut …