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 …

‘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.

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 …

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

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 …

Democrats omit debt limit from budget that launches $3.5T party-line spending plan  —  Senate Democrats released a $3.5 trillion budget on Monday morning that doesn't tackle the imminent need to raise the debt ceiling, setting the stage for a dramatic standoff with Republicans this fall.

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 …

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 …

Florida church reeling after six members die within 10 days amid spike in cases  —  For George L. Davis, a bishop at Impact Church in Jacksonville, getting vaccinated against the coronavirus was an act of faith.  He says that he believes in divine creation, and that the shot is a miracle …

Anti-Vaxxers Got Fooled by Fake ‘Snitch on Your Unvaccinated Friends’ Site  —  A website purportedly offering money to people willing to snitch on their unvaccinated family, friends, and neighbors for breaching vaccine mandates has gone viral in anti-vaxxer circles.

Why Liberals Hate Hungary's Viktor Orban So Much  —  Hungarian President Viktor Orban was a once a dissident against communism.  Then he turned to faith and flag—and became a heretic against liberalism.  —  “The right's entrancement with [Hungarian President Viktor] Orban has emerged fitfully over the last decade.

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 …