Oklahoma congressman threatened embassy staff as he tried to enter Afghanistan, U.S. officials say  —  The call to the U.S. ambassador to Tajikistan came in Monday.  On the line, two U.S. officials said, was Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) with an unusual and urgent request …

Rural Oregon school superintendent fired after enforcing state mask mandate  —  ADRIAN - Kevin Purnell was fired Monday as superintendent of the Adrian School District just one week after students returned to school.  —  The Adrian School Board, convening in an emotionally charged special meeting …

With ban in effect, Texas abortion clinics will no longer terminate pregnancies after 6 weeks  —  AUSTIN — A Texas law that bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy went into effect Wednesday, as a midnight deadline for the Supreme Court to stop it came and went without action.

The Ashli Babbitt Standard  —  For those who have followed news coverage of police shootings of unarmed civilians in the last few years, Capitol Hill Police lieutenant Michael Byrd's interview with NBC News had a familiar ring.  The veteran officer voiced his fears about the situation he faced on Jan. 6 …

Julie Pace named new Associated Press executive editor  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Julie Pace, a longtime Washington journalist who managed coverage of the U.S. government during a period of historic tumult, was named Wednesday as the executive editor and senior vice president of The Associated Press.

Elder Versus Newsom: A Battle for the Soul of America  —  LOS ANGELES—Sunday evening I was standing in an excited crowd at a Long Beach fundraiser for Larry Elder's California gubernatorial campaign when I received a text with the headline “Gov. Newsom Pivots Recall Speeches To Attack Larry Elder's Political Opinions.”

NPR Trashes Free Speech.  A Brief Response  —  In an irony only public radio could miss, “On the Media” hosts an hour on the perils of “free speech absolutism” without interviewing a defender of free speech.  —  The guests for NPR's just-released On The Media episode about the dangers …

GOP douses Afghanistan withdrawal with misinformation  —  The Afghanistan withdrawal has gone poorly enough for the Biden administration, and it did itself no favors with its faulty predictions about how it would be carried out.  —  But even in the midst of the worst stretch …

‘We Feel His Presence in the Department Is Threatening’  —  State employees protest the continued employment of an “antisemitic” blogger in their ranks.  —  A group of more than 70 State Department officials sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken voicing alarm about …

Texas parents accused a Black principal of promoting critical race theory.  The district has now suspended him.  —  At a heated Texas school board meeting in late July, a man accused a Black principal of promoting critical race theory and “the conspiracy theory of systemic racism.”

Wealthy GOP donors flock to DeSantis as presidential speculation swirls  —  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has cemented himself as the face of GOP opposition to anti-Covid-19 mandates — a position that is winning over not only rank-and-file voters ahead of the 2024 presidential primaries …