Biden began to rebut negative story lines about Afghanistan  —  President Biden's Friday speech on Afghanistan, and even more so his answers to reporters' questions, ended the week on a decidedly more positive note than it began.  While on Monday the focus was on harrowing scenes …

‘What traitors do’: Trump slammed for praising Taliban at Alabama rally  —  During his 90-minute speech in Alabama on Saturday night, former president Donald Trump praised the Taliban and talked up his relationship with them at the same time that President Joe Biden is attempting to conduct …

Hospitals and Insurers Didn't Want You to See These Prices.  Here's Why.  —  The price for an M.R.I. at Mass General is ...  Do you have a medical bill we should investigate?  Share it with us.  —  This year, the federal government ordered hospitals to begin publishing a prized secret …

Biden's job ratings decline amid Covid surge, Afghanistan withdrawal in NBC News poll  —  WASHINGTON — After a spike in U.S. Covid-19 cases and bipartisan criticism over the chaos from America's withdrawal from Afghanistan, President Joe Biden's overall job-approval rating …

Fact check: Trump administration officials try to rewrite their own Afghanistan history  —  Washington (CNN)There's been no shortage of fact-based criticism aimed at the Biden administration's handling of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.  —  But some of the criticism …

Afghan staff at U.S. Embassy losing faith in evacuation efforts, diplomatic cable says  —  WASHINGTON — Local staff members at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul are “deeply disheartened” by U.S. evacuation efforts and have expressed a sense of betrayal and distrust in the American government …

How the political environment is moving toward Republicans  —  (CNN)Republicans gained a seat in the Connecticut state Senate this week.  They won a special election in a district that President Joe Biden won by more than 20 points in 2020.  —  Any individual special election such as this one comes …

Department of Defense Activates Civil Reserve Air Fleet to Assist With Afghanistan Efforts  —  Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III has ordered the Commander of U.S. Transportation Command to activate Stage I of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF).  CRAF activation provides the Department …

Rescue dogs shot dead by NSW council due to COVID-19 restrictions  —  Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text size  —  Several impounded dogs due to be rescued by a shelter have instead been shot dead by a rural council in NSW under its interpretation of COVID-19 restrictions …

The Noisy Minority  —  The connection between Republican political views and skepticism about COVID-19 precautions, such as mask mandates and vaccine passports, is clear but not intuitive.  —  While not all unvaccinated people are Republicans, nearly half of Republicans have yet to receive …

Kavanaugh Is the Last Hope for Abortion Rights  —  Liberals have reviled the conservative Supreme Court justice since his confirmation hearing, but now hope that he still cherishes the reputation for moderation that he cultivated.  —  For the first time in 30 years — a legal generation …

State officials open investigation into whether Larry Elder failed to disclose income sources  —  California regulators have launched an investigation into whether recall election gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder failed to properly disclose his income sources, a spokesman …

'I've never seen anything like this': ER doctor says hundreds of patients are waiting to be admitted into hospitals, but there are no beds  —  HOUSTON - Emergency room doctors in Southeast Texas say they are running out of hospital beds, and some patients are waiting hours, sometimes days to be admitted into a hospital.

How the U.S. vaccination drive came to rely on an army of consultants  —  Private contractors cost taxpayers millions while demonstrating few clear results and papering over weaknesses in the country's public health system  —  When Gavin Newsom outsourced key components of California's vaccine rollout …

Live Updates: Tropical Storm Henri Makes Landfall in Rhode Island  —  The storm has cut power to more than 115,000 customers from New Jersey to Maine.  Officials urged tourists to leave beach towns as storm surges threatened eastern Long Island and southern New England.  —  Here's what you need to know:

Jesse Jackson and wife, Jacqueline, hospitalized with Covid-19  —  The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson and his wife, Jacqueline, were being treated at a Chicago hospital Saturday after being diagnosed with Covid-19, their representatives said in a statement.  —  The Rainbow Push Coalition …

‘Lying Flat’: Tired Workers Are Opting Out of Careers and Capitalism  —  Ms. Rosenblum is a writer who recently quit her job as a producer at “Here & Now,” a National Public Radio news program, and is living with her parents in West Virginia.  —  In China this April, a 31-year-old former …

As Biden Faces a Political Crisis, His Party Looks On in Alarm  —  Democrats fear that if the pandemic or the situation in Afghanistan continues to worsen, their party may lose the confidence of the moderate swing voters who lifted it to victory in 2020.  —  With President Biden facing …

Tennessee flooding leaves 21 people dead and around 20 others missing  —  (CNN)The death toll from severe flooding in Humphreys County in Middle Tennessee, has risen to 21, according to local officials.  —  About 20 people are still missing, Grant Gillespie, the police and fire chief of Waverly …

Why We Must Not Abandon the People of Afghanistan - For Their Sakes and Ours … The abandonment of Afghanistan and its people is tragic, dangerous, unnecessary, not in their interests and not in ours.  In the aftermath of the decision to return Afghanistan to the same group from which the carnage …