Why I Won't Support Spending Another $3.5 Trillion  —  Amid inflation, debt and the inevitability of future crises, Congress needs to take a strategic pause.  —  The nation faces an unprecedented array of challenges and will inevitably encounter additional crises in the future.

TikToker Makes Script to Flood Texas Abortion ‘Whistleblower’ Site With Fake Info  —  An easy to use iOS shortcut lets non-technical users bombard the site, according to Motherboard's tests.  —  Joseph Cox  —  An activist has made a script to flood a Texas website used to solicit information …

Latest Updates: Flooding From Ida Kills More Than Two Dozen in Three States  —  In the wake of the ferocious storm, President Biden and other leaders acknowledged the threat posed by the climate crisis.  Our reporters and photographers are sending in live updates.

Heeding Steve Bannon's Call, Election Deniers Organize to Seize Control of the GOP — and Reshape America's Elections  —  ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.  Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published.

UK defence secretary suggests US is no longer a superpower  —  Ben Wallace also contrasts his department's handling of Afghanistan crisis with Foreign Office response  —  Ben Wallace, Britain's defence secretary, suggested the US could no longer be considered a superpower in an interview …

Trump's Plot to Steal Arizona Was Even Wilder Than We Thought  —  A massive data dump of emails, texts, and documents show Trump's allies were heavily involved in the bogus Arizona audit.  —  For months now, we all thought we knew that the bogus Arizona audit was a clown show.

Sex offending suspect claims transgender harassment in Wi Spa case  —  In June, a group of women complained that a person who identified as female exposed their penis at the Wi Spa in Los Angeles.  The incident led to months of sometimes violent protests, with media outlets declaring …

The Harms of Masking Young Students Are Real  —  Scientists have an obligation to strive for honesty.  And on the question of whether kids should wear masks in schools—particularly preschools and elementary schools—here is what I conclude: The potential educational harms of mandatory-masking policies …

Biden's Approval Rating Hits A New Low After The Afghanistan Withdrawal  —  Amid the chaos of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, President Biden's approval rating slid to just 43% in the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll.  —  That is down 6 percentage points from a survey conducted …

“2016 on Steroids”: The Race to Inherit Trump's MAGA Base Is Already On—And the Knives Are Out  —  With the 2024 election in sight, Republican presidential contenders such as Ron DeSantis, Ted Cruz, and Mike Pompeo have begun racing each other to the bottom to claim the party's base.

The Effects of Increased Funding for the IRS  —  Last month, the Congressional Budget Office published An Analysis of Certain Proposals in the President's 2022 Budget.  Since then, CBO has completed its analysis of another proposal in the President's budget, an increase in spending …

Trump's Ambassador Craft Steered U.S. Government Business To Her Boss' Hotel  —  While serving as U.S. ambassador to Canada, Kelly Craft directed government business to then-President Donald Trump's Washington, D.C. hotel, according to internal emails released by the State Department.

Ex-prosecutor indicted for misconduct in Ahmaud Arbery death  —  SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A former Georgia prosecutor was indicted Thursday on misconduct charges alleging she used her position to shield the men who chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery from being charged with crimes immediately after the shootings.

China bans men it sees as not masculine enough from TV  —  BEIJING (AP) — China's government banned effeminate men on TV and told broadcasters Thursday to promote “revolutionary culture,” broadening a campaign to tighten control over business and society and enforce official morality.

Australia Traded Away Too Much Liberty  —  In a bid to keep the coronavirus out of the country, Australia's federal and state governments imposed draconian restrictions on its citizens.  Prime Minister Scott Morrison knows that the burden is too heavy.  “This is not a sustainable way to live in this country,” he recently declared.

Gov. DeSantis' Net Approval Rating Drops 14 Points Amid Covid Spike, Poll Finds  —  Republican Govs. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas have seen their approval ratings dip amid an alarming rise of Covid-19 infections and hospitalizations in both states over the past two months …

Risk of breakthrough infections remains very rare, 3 studies find  —  The Covid-19 vaccines continue to offer strong protection against severe illness and hospitalization, according to research on more than 1 million people published Wednesday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

We Work at the A.C.L.U. Here's What We Think About Vaccine Mandates.  —  Mr. Cole is the national legal director of the A.C.L.U., and Mr. Mach is the director of its Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief.  —  Do vaccine mandates violate civil liberties?  Some who have refused vaccination claim as much.

Documents show US investigation of 2 Kuwaitis in FIFA case  —  GENEVA (AP) — Two senior Olympic officials from Kuwait, one reputed to be the “kingmaker” of IOC elections and another who is president of swimming's international governing body, have been targeted by the U.S. Department of Justice …

Jan. 6 Rioter Goes Back To Jail Over ‘Addiction’ To Online Conspiracy Theories  —  Doug Jensen chased Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman up the stairs as the mob stormed the Capitol.  He's going back to jail.  —  A QAnon conspiracy theorist who stormed the U.S. Capitol in support …

Pentagon: Let's focus on racial disparity in the military ... what Afghanistan disaster?  —  Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen Hicks has an op-ed published in The Hill titled “Addressing Racial Disparities in the Military Justice System” last night.  The level of tone-deafness coming …

The threat from the illiberal left  —  Don't underestimate the danger of left-leaning identity politics  —  Something has gone very wrong with Western liberalism.  At its heart classical liberalism believes human progress is brought about by debate and reform.

TV news takes heat for relying on former defense officials as Afghanistan pundits  —  Andrea Mitchell looked pleased to welcome her guest on MSNBC last Thursday: H.R. McMaster, there to discuss the attack on American forces and evacuees at the Kabul airport.

More than 80% of Americans 16 and older have some immunity to coronavirus, blood survey finds  —  Former school board president quits due to hostility over Covid-19  —  (CNN)More than 80% of Americans 16 and older have some level of immunity against the coronavirus, mostly through vaccination, a survey of blood donations indicates.