Joe Biden's credibility has been shredded in Afghanistan  —  But the fall of the country to the Taliban would also create a dilemma for China  —  If Donald Trump were presiding over the debacle in Afghanistan, the US foreign policy establishment would be loudly condemning the irresponsibility and immorality of American strategy.

4 teachers died of COVID within 24 hours in Broward County, Florida.  Schools there are defying Gov. DeSantis' ban on mask mandates.  — Four teachers from Broward County, Florida died from COVID-19 on Tuesday and Wednesday.  — One was a high school teacher while another taught elementary school.

Moderates Threaten Stalemate Over Budget Vote and Infrastructure  —  The letter from nine Democrats, enough to block passage, threatens their party's two-track plan to pass both a $3.5 trillion social policy budget blueprint and an infrastructure bill.  —  WASHINGTON — Nine moderate House …

Inside Fox News, DeSantis is ‘the future of the party.’ And he's taking advantage.  —  Emails show the Florida governor is in high demand on the network — and gets his way.  —  Updated Just now  —  Early in Florida's vaccine rollout, during a period marked by confusion and images of seniors …

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 …

New intel reports indicate fresh efforts by Russia to interfere in 2022 election  —  Washington (CNN)The Biden administration is receiving regular intelligence reports indicating Russian efforts to interfere in US elections are evolving and ongoing, current and former officials say, and in fact …

Census data shows Maryland is now the East Coast's most diverse state, while D.C. is Whiter  —  Maryland, one of the two states in the country to flip from majority White to majority non-White over the last decade, is now the most diverse state on the East Coast, according to new data from the 2020 Census.

Durham Probe of What Sparked Russia Investigation Examines FBI Tipsters  —  The special counsel is expected to submit a final report in the coming months  —  WASHINGTON—Special Counsel John Durham, appointed during the Trump administration to examine the origins of the FBI's 2016 Russia probe …

Colorado Republican official accused after voting system passwords are leaked to right-wing site  —  A bizarre security breach of a rural Colorado county's voting system has in a matter of days escalated into a criminal probe of the clerk's office, a ban on the county's existing election equipment …

Biden eyes tougher vaccine rules without provoking backlash  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — When the pace of vaccinations in the U.S. first began to slow, President Joe Biden backed incentives like million-dollar cash lotteries if that's what it took to get shots in arms.

Don't Be a Schmuck.  Put on a Mask.  —  Generations of Americans made incredible sacrifices, and we're going to throw fits about putting a mask over our mouth and nose?  —  Earlier this week, I delivered a simple message: There is a virus here.  It kills people.

Can We Ever Look at Titian's Paintings the Same Way Again?  —  Great is what this art is, yet it raises doubts about whether any art, however “great,” can be considered exempt from moral scrutiny.  —  BOSTON — With its small supernova of a show, “Titian: Women, Myth & Power,” …

Democrats Might Create A Tax Break For Union Membership In Budget Bill  —  The tax deduction they're considering would be more useful to union members than the one Republicans repealed in 2017.  —  Union members could benefit from a tax break that Democrats are considering as part of their new $3.5 trillion budget plan.

Leon Litwack, 91, Dies; Changed How Scholars Portray Black History  —  One of Berkeley's most popular professors, he brought passion and nuance — and a love for blues music — to his award-winning study of the marginalized and the oppressed.  —  Leon Litwack, a leather-jacket-wearing …

Supreme Court Blocks Part of New York's Eviction Moratorium  —  The order applies only to a part of the law that bars the eviction of tenants who file a form saying they have suffered economic setbacks as result of the pandemic.  —  WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked part …

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

If You Skip the Vaccine, It Is My ‘Damn Business’  —  When asked if he had gotten a Covid-19 vaccine, Lamar Jackson, a quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens, declined to answer.  “I feel it's a personal decision,” he said.  “I'm just going to keep my feelings to my family and myself.”

Pearl River High School Quarantines 40% Of Students In First Week, District Going Virtual  —  An entire Mississippi school district is going virtual after Pearl River Central High School ordered 40% of its student body to quarantine after just one week of school.

Greene waves off concerns of hospital overcrowding: 'We can't live forever'  —  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Thursday waved off concerns over hospitals exceeding capacity due to COVID-19, saying “we can't live forever.”  —  During an interview with right-wing network “Real America's Voice …

This Tennessee Republican Nearly Died From COVID.  Now He's Fighting Masks.  —  State Rep. David Byrd needed a liver transplant after 55 days on a ventilator.  Now he's thanking the medical professionals who saved his life by battling mask and vaccine mandates.

Dean: Covid-19 will end mini-Trump's Florida career like it ended Trump's presidency  —  As Florida's Covid-19 caseload breaks the state's own all-time records, doctor and former governor Howard Dean appraises the troubled record of Florida Governor DeSantis, giving him an ‘F’ on substance.

Tucker Carlson Mocks AOC's Fears of Sexual Assault During 1/6 Riot: ‘Get a Therapist, Honey’  —  Earlier this week, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) told CNN's Dana Bash that she not only feared for her life during the January 6 Capitol insurrection, she thought some of the violence would be carried out in a “sexualizing” way.

John Rizzo, CIA lawyer who approved torture program, dies at 73  —  John Rizzo, a self-described “company man” who worked as a CIA lawyer for more than three decades, laying the legal groundwork for proxy wars, drone strikes and the “enhanced interrogation” program, in which suspected terrorists …

When Therapists Become Activists  —  Mental health professionals are replacing evidence-driven therapeutics with political ideology.  —  Until roughly five years ago, people seeking mental health care could expect their therapists to keep politics out of the office.

The F.D.A. authorized a third dose of Covid vaccines for immunocompromised people.  —  The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday authorized third doses of Pfizer-BioNTech's and Moderna's coronavirus vaccines for some people with weakened immune systems, giving physicians more leeway …

Rand Paul's wife bought shares in Covid treatment maker Gilead in early days of virus, the couple's only individual stock purchase in years  — Republican Sen. Rand Paul and his wife had not bought stock in an individual company in at least 10 years before Kelley Paul purchased shares of the drug company Gilead Sciences in early 2020.