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 …

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 …

Jamie Spears Agrees to Step Down as Britney's Conservator  —  EXCLUSIVE  — 37.6K … 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.

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 …

GOP Strategist Arrested for Underage Sex Trafficking  —  The feds just arrested wealthy Republican strategist and frequent Fox News guest Anton Lazzaro on five counts of underage sex trafficking.  —  Anton Lazzaro, a young Republican strategist and former congressional campaign manager in Minnesota …

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

The Supreme Court won't block Indiana University's vaccine mandate.  —  WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court allowed Indiana University on Thursday to require students to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.  —  Eight students had sued the university, saying the requirement violated …

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

The GOP strategy for retaking power is about to take an ugly new turn  —  It is a brutal reality about this political moment that Republicans can capture the House while dwelling almost exclusively in the safe confines of their alternate information environment.

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 …

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

‘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.”

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.

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

Israel seeks to coordinate “plan b” with U.S. on Iran if nuclear talks fail  —  Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told CIA Director Bill Burns in a meeting on Wednesday that the U.S. and Israel should start working on a joint strategy for a scenario in which Iran elects not to return …

Tallahassee hospital confirms first childhood COVID-19 death amid push for masks in schools … Renzo Downey  —  Renzo Downey covers state government for Florida Politics.  After graduating from Northwestern University in 2019, Renzo began his reporting career in the Lone Star State …

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.