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 …

Has Delta Peaked?  —  We investigate Covid's mysterious two-month cycle.  —  Has the Delta-fueled Covid-19 surge in the U.S. finally peaked?  —  The number of new daily U.S. cases has risen less over the past week than at any point since June, as you can see in this chart:

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.

Far-Right Propagandist Turns up in Moscow After Jan. 6  —  Russia Insider founder Charles Bausman traveled from his home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 and advanced as far as the Capitol's balustrades after Trump's speech, he said.  Soon after, he left the country for Moscow.

The Legal Minds Who Tried to Overturn the Election for Trump Are Being Welcomed Back Into Polite Society  —  Though it hasn't received the attention it deserves, courage from Republican election officials and leaders helped save this country from a total election meltdown in 2020 based on lies …

What Happened to the Babylon Bee?  —  Until a few years ago, the Babylon Bee was a niche humor site—the Onion for conservative Protestants.  The Bee was founded seven months before Donald Trump took office and became popular mostly because many of the jokes were very funny—but also …

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.”

Taliban show off captured weapons at Kandahar victory parade  —  (CNN)The Taliban on Wednesday showed off dozens of American-made armored vehicles along with newly seized weapons at victory celebrations in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.  —  In videos posted on social media …

Republican bill tightening Texas election laws is headed to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk  —  Senate Bill 1 rewrites Texas election laws to further restrict the voting-by-mail process and outlaw local voting initiatives meant to widen access, namely those pushed by Harris County that were disproportionately used by voters of color.

Arrest warrant issued for Ohio man accused of confronting NBC's Shaquille Brewster on live TV  —  Mississippi police issued an arrest warrant Tuesday for an Ohio man who they say confronted NBC News' Shaquille Brewster on live television.  —  The man, Benjamin Eugene Dagley, of Wooster …

Police Say Demoralized Officers Are Quitting In Droves.  Labor Data Says No.  —  While other industries were devastated by the pandemic last year, police departments felt a much smaller impact.  —  Since last summer's Black Lives Matter protests, there's a popular refrain echoing through …

America has wasted at least 15 million Covid vaccine doses since March, new data shows  —  The United States has thrown away at least 15.1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines since March 1, according to government data obtained by NBC News — a far larger number than previously known and still probably an undercount.

Ben Dugan Works for CVS.  His Job Is Battling a $45 Billion Crime Spree.  —  Retailers are spending millions to combat organized rings that steal from their stores in bulk and peddle goods online, often on Amazon  —  Ben Dugan sat in an unmarked sedan in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood …

Excerpts of call between Joe Biden and Ashraf Ghani July 23  —  U.S. President Joe Biden and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani spoke by phone July 23.  Here are excerpts from that call, based on a transcript and recording reviewed by Reuters:  —  BIDEN: Mr. President.  Joe Biden.

They're called mild cases.  But people with breakthrough covid can still feel pretty sick.  —  Coronavirus vaccines overwhelmingly keep people out of the hospital but don't necessarily stop all infections  —  Andrew Kinsey knew that even after being vaccinated against the coronavirus …

‘It still seems unbelievable’  —  At 36, Simon Maloy was a successful political writer with a wife and two young sons.  Then he found out he had colon cancer, a disease striking more and more young people.  —  Three days.  That's all Simon Maloy got.  Three days to hop on bikes …

‘I Helped Destroy People’  —  Terry Albury, an idealistic F.B.I. agent, grew so disillusioned by the war on terror that he was willing to leak classified documents — and go to prison for doing it.  —  To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

Georgia vaccination efforts once faced hesitance — now it's hostile resistance  —  ROME, Ga. — Dr. John Cowan cut a lonely figure at a recent Republican rally in northwest Georgia.Not only because a few months earlier he had lost a GOP primary to Marjorie Taylor Greene …

I Was Nervous About Getting the COVID-19 Vaccine While Pregnant.  Here's What Convinced Me to Do It  —  In March, when President Biden announced that COVID-19 vaccines would soon be available to all Americans, my husband and I decided to press pause on the whole maybe-getting-pregnant-soon thing.