U.S. Asks Taliban to Spare Its Embassy in Coming Fight for Kabul  —  The demand seeks to stave off an evacuation of the embassy by dangling aid to future Afghan governments — even one that includes the Taliban.  —  WASHINGTON — American negotiators are trying to extract assurances …

Jamie Spears Agrees to Step Down as Britney's Conservator  —  EXCLUSIVE  — 30.7K … Jamie Spears has agreed it's time to step down as conservator of Britney's estate — he just said so in new legal docs — and he wants to work with the court on an orderly transition.

2020 Census Statistics Highlight Local Population Changes and Nation's Racial and Ethnic Diversity  —  U.S. Census Bureau Delivers Data for States to Begin Redistricting Efforts  —  AUG. 12, 2021 — The U.S. Census Bureau today released additional 2020 Census results showing an increase …

How the Pandemic Now Ends  —  In September 2020, just before COVID-19 began its wintry surge through the United States, I wrote that the country was trapped in a pandemic spiral, seemingly destined to repeat the same mistakes.  But after vaccines arrived in midwinter, cases in the U.S. declined and …

Trump-loving Minnesota GOP strategist arrested for underage sex trafficking  —  Another Republican has been arrested under suspicion of underage sex trafficking.  —  According to the Daily Beast, wealthy Minnesota GOP strategist Anton Lazzaro was arrested in Minneapolis Thursday morning, the FBI confirmed.

Rachel Maddow Seriously Considers Leaving MSNBC  —  As her contract draws to a close, sources told The Daily Beast, the MSNBC icon has been weighing taking her brand elsewhere. … Rachel Maddow has been MSNBC's most high-profile on-air personality for more than a decade …

Donald's Plot Against America  —  I felt as though I had stumbled across a crime scene so violent that I couldn't process it, let alone synthesize the images in front of me.  The parts remained stubbornly separate, and there was no way to grasp the meaning of the whole.

Rumble, a YouTube rival popular with conservatives, will pay creators who ‘challenge the status quo’  —  The video site has exploded during the pandemic as a home for anti-vaccine misinformation and conservative complaints about Big Tech censorship  —  A fast-growing YouTube rival popular …

Gaetz associate providing feds intel, documents as probe into congressman continues: Sources  —  Former tax collector Joel Greenberg is cooperating with investigators.  —  As the federal investigation into Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz continues into the summer, sources tell ABC News that Gaetz's …

California dad killed his kids over QAnon and ‘serpent DNA’ conspiracy theories, feds claim  —  A California surfing school owner who was charged with killing his two children in Mexico is a follower of QAnon and Illuminati conspiracy theories who thought the children “were going to grow …

‘Everybody I Know Is Pissed Off’  —  The vaccinated, across party lines, have kind of had it with the unvaccinated, an array of new polls suggests.  —  While most state and national GOP leaders are focused on defending the rights of unvaccinated Americans, new polling shows that the large majority …

San Francisco to become first major U.S. city to mandate full vaccination for many indoor activities  —  San Francisco will become the first major city in the country to require proof of full vaccination against the coronavirus for a variety of indoor activities, including visiting bars restaurants …

Covid Live Updates: Largest U.S. Teachers' Union Backs Vaccine Mandate  —  The support from the National Education Association follows that of the powerful American Federation of Teachers.  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will require 25,000 of its health workers to be vaccinated.

DeSantis moderates school board salary threats  —  Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration signaled earlier this week that it would slash the pay of Florida school superintendents and school board members who defy the governor on school masks .  —  But now — as two Florida districts …

Statement of President Joe Biden on the Fourth Anniversary of the Events at Charlottesville, Virginia … Four years ago today in Charlottesville, Virginia the battle for the soul of America was laid bare for all to see.  —  The forces of hate and violence were summoned from the shadows as Neo-Nazis …

Next Up for a Trump Tabloid Ally: Trying to Make It in the Hamptons  —  Dylan Howard, known for the “catch and kill” deals during the #MeToo reckoning, teams up with an Italian publisher for a publication aimed at the Hamptons crowd.  —  In late May, the luxury brand Ferragamo threw …

The March of the Karens  —  The name has come to represent an entitled and belligerent white woman.  But what does this narrative say — and elide — about racism and sexism today?  —  By Ligaya MishanArtwork by Carmen Winant  —  WORDS ARE HAUNTED things.

Texas children and children's hospitals are under siege from two viruses: RSV and COVID-19  —  More children are being treated in Texas hospitals for COVID-19 than ever before, and an unseasonable outbreak of respiratory syncytial virus is adding to the stress on children's hospitals.  —  Copy link

Emails: Senior DOJ officials wrangled over baseless Trump voter fraud allegations  —  During Donald Trump's final weeks in office, top Justice Department officials wrangled over how the FBI should handle a particularly wacky voter fraud allegation promoted by the then-president and his allies.

Don't Panic, But Breakthrough Cases May Be a Bigger Problem Than You've Been Told Current public-health messaging may understate the scale and risk.  —  The term itself, perhaps, is a problem.  “Breakthrough” sounds bad — implying an immune-escape mutation, likely rare, and therefore alarming.

In new documentary, WHO scientist says Chinese officials pressured investigation to drop lab-leak hypothesis  —  The World Health Organization expert who led a controversial joint probe into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic says in a documentary airing Thursday night on Danish television …

Greg Abbott Surrenders to the Coronavirus  —  A year and a half into the pandemic, Texas is running out of hospital beds.  —  The Texas Tribune reported on Tuesday that nearly 10,000 COVID-19 patients have been hospitalized, and that the state's intensive-care units are being overwhelmed.

‘Karen’ podcast exposes media flaws  —  Over a year ago, in May 2020, New Yorker Amy Cooper briefly became the most hated woman in America — a living symbol of racism — after a viral video showed her making a 911 call in Central Park and frantically shouting that she was being threatened by “an African-American man.”

Pelosi says the House will raise the maximum annual pay rate for Capitol Hill aides.  —  Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Thursday that the House would raise the maximum annual pay rate for Capitol Hill aides, in a long-awaited move intended to help recruit and retain congressional staffers.

Harris County judges move to block arrest of more than 40 Texas Democrats as legal fights over quorum bust continues  —  It's unclear how long the orders will remain in place, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has already indicated the state plans to fight them.  —  Copy link

440 students in Palm Beach County in quarantine two days into school year, superintendent says  —  School started Tuesday in Palm Beach County and already 440 students have been instructed to quarantine after contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.  —  Most of the 440 have not tested positive for COVID.

Are Biden and the Democrats making a giant political goof by helping out the white working class?  —  It's become conventional wisdom that Donald Trump's name on 2020′s $1,200 coronavirus stimulus check almost put the embattled 45th president over the top in the Electoral College …

Are school mask mandates worth it if they lead to more kids attending class in person this fall?  —  It didn't occur to me that mask rules might influence a parent's decision whether to send their kid back to class or not.  So much has been said and written over the past year …

Kathy Hochul set to host fundraiser next week as she prepares to take over for Cuomo  — New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul is planning to host a fundraising event next week as she gears up to run for governor in 2022, said people familiar with the matter.  — Hochul will hold the event Wednesday …

Mississippi's Hospital System Is On The Verge Of Failure As Delta Rages In The South  —  Coronavirus news is coming fast and furious, as the delta variant fuels another surge in cases across the U.S.  —  Arkansas set a record for hospitalizations, while officials in one Florida county …

Ella Emhoff Is a Model Second Daughter  —  Ella Emhoff, daughter of second gentleman Doug Emhoff and stepdaughter of Vice President Kamala Harris, caught the nation's attention thanks to her now infamous Miu Miu inauguration coat and a moment of unplanned eyebrow wiggling toward Mike Pence.