Gov. Abbott: Abortion bill won't force rape victims to have babies, Texas will ‘eliminate’ rapists  —  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott weighed in on a burning question related to the state's recently passed bill banning abortions after six weeks: what about victims of rape?

Scoop: Manchin backs as little as $1 trillion of Biden's $3.5 trillion plan  —  Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) has privately warned the White House and congressional leaders that he has specific policy concerns with President Biden's $3.5 trillion social spending dream — and he'll support as little …

Mexico's Supreme Court Votes to Decriminalize Abortion  —  The ruling sets a landmark legal precedent for potential legalization nationwide in the conservative Catholic country of some 120 million people.  —  MEXICO CITY — Mexico's Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that making abortion a crime …

Idaho hospitals begin rationing health care amid COVID surge  —  BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho public health leaders announced Tuesday that they activated “crisis standards of care” allowing health care rationing for the state's northern hospitals because there are more coronavirus patients than the institutions can handle.

How the rise of Politico shifted political journalism off course  —  Politico's sale last month to the German media company Axel Springer for a reported $1 billion was the culmination of a stunning rise of a publication founded in 2007 in what most people assumed was an overly-crowded market: coverage of Washington and U.S. politics.

Britney Spears' father petitions to end her conservatorship  —  (CNN)Britney Spears' fight to end her court-ordered conservatorship took an unexpected turn on Tuesday when her father and the conservator of her estate, Jamie Spears, filed a petition to end the arrangement.

Sex and Drug Videos to Minors  —  After signing up for an account on TikTok, a 13-year-old user started by searching the app for “onlyfans”—the name of a site known for hosting adult entertainment—then watched a handful of videos in the results, including two selling pornography.

More Americans say 9/11 changed U.S. for worse than better, Post-ABC poll finds  —  Americans increasingly say the events of Sept. 11, 2001, had a more negative than positive impact on the country, and predictions for the pandemic's long-term impact are even more downbeat, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.

From 4% to 45%: Biden Sets an Ambitious Goal for Solar Energy  —  The administration has offered only a broad outline of its plan, and many of the details will be decided by congressional lawmakers.  —  The Biden administration on Wednesday plans to announce an ambitious goal of producing almost half …

Abolishing the filibuster would pay dividends for Nevadans  —  Editor's note: Following a longstanding tradition, Brian Greenspun turned over his Where I Stand column to others in August.  Today, we continue to present columns submitted by those guests.  In presenting this year's series …

Quiz: If America Had Six Parties, Which Would You Belong To?  —  This essay is part of a series exploring bold ideas to revitalize and renew the American experiment.  Read more about this project in a note from Ezekiel Kweku, Opinion's politics editor.  —  America's two-party system is broken.

New Hampshire Democrat wins GOP-held state House seat  —  A former town councilor in Bedford narrowly won a seat in the New Hampshire state House on Tuesday, the first Democrat to win a previously Republican-held legislative district in any state since President Biden took office.

Trump set to back attorney in primary challenge to Cheney  —  Former President Trump is set to back a Wyoming attorney as she readies a primary challenge against Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), a source confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday, making good on his vow to help replace the outspoken Republican after she voted for his impeachment.

Ignore the grouchy Fauci: Vaccinated Americans are living their lives again  —  It started with 66,000 Hokies fans singing along to “Enter Sandman” in Blacksburg, Virginia, on Friday.  It continued with 80,000 Badgers fans dancing to “Jump Around” in Madison, Wisconsin, on Saturday.

The U.S. helped design Afghanistan's constitution.  It was built to fail.  —  The presidential system did not encourage compromise.  Nor did a flawed method of choosing members of parliament.  —  Creating a stable Afghanistan was never fundamentally a military problem.

Nobelist, senior Democratic economist Stiglitz says Fed's Powell should go  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For U.S. President Joe Biden to be true to his agenda he should not renominate Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chair, Nobel prize-winning economist and longtime Democratic adviser Joseph Stiglitz …

One Thing We Can Agree on Is That We're Becoming a Different Country  —  Mr. Edsall contributes a weekly column from Washington, D.C. on politics, demographics and inequality.  —  A highly charged ideological transition reflecting a “massive four-decade long shift in political values …

How the N.Y.P.D. Is Using Post-9/11 Tools on Everyday New Yorkers  —  Two decades after the attack on New York City, the Police Department is using counterterrorism tools and tactics to combat routine street crime.  —  It was an unusual forearm tattoo that the police said led them to Luis Reyes …

Moral Majority Media Strikes Again  —  When Rachel Maddow, Rolling Stone, and others jumped on a dubious report of ivermectin overdoses, it was just the latest in a string of moral mania mishaps  —  Citing a report of Oklahoma emergency rooms so overwhelmed by ivermectin overdoses …

US troops' rage at their leaders will grow unless there's deep reform  —  Our military's civilian leadership is corrupt and incompetent.  The brass commands respect neither among the citizenry nor the forces it commands.  Mid-level officers are in a rage — a dangerous phenomenon …

Sean Parnell's wife sought protective orders against him.  A rival says that's ‘disqualifying.’  —  Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Jeff Bartos launched a charged personal attack against a leading GOP opponent Tuesday, arguing that Sean Parnell is “unelectable” …

State Department voices concerns over all-male Taliban government  —  The State Department on Tuesday expressed concerns over the makeup of the new interim Afghan government announced by the Taliban, including the lack of female leaders and the past actions of some of those appointed to top posts.

An Incredible Exercise in Public Hypocrisy Is Unfolding Right on Schedule  —  The world's most predictable exercise in public hypocrisy is unfolding right on schedule.  After spending a couple of weeks belaboring the administration over how it allegedly left our Afghan allies behind …

Biden anxiety levels  —  Presented by The American Petroleum Institute (API)  —  Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration.  With Allie Bice  —  JOE BIDEN often thinks he's his own best messenger.

Election officials need our legal help against repressive laws and personal threats  —  Bob Bauer served as White House counsel during the Obama administration and is a professor at the New York University School of Law.  Benjamin L. Ginsberg practiced election law for 38 years representing …

The CIA's least covert mission  —  In the bowels of its Langley headquarters, a fluorescent-lit, mundane office space houses a team of about a dozen people engaged in what is perhaps the Central Intelligence Agency's least covert mission: to make American citizens “like” the agency on social media.

13 Miami-Dade school employees have died of Covid-19 since mid-August  —  (CNN)Thirteen school employees from Miami-Dade County Public Schools have died from Covid-19 since August 16, the school district and local teacher union told CNN on Tuesday.  —  Among the 13 were four teachers …

GOP Election Truthers Tap a Failed Politician and Conspiracy Theorist for Sham Audit  —  Shiva Ayyadurai is no stranger to baseless claims of election fraud—or to conspiracy theories.  —  A two-time failed congressional candidate who has defended using the n-word and spouted COVID-19 conspiracy theories …

Why Should the Anti-Abortion Movement Settle for Just Ending Roe?  —  Two eminent philosophers, disguised as bad historians, show SCOTUS a path to a 50-state abortion ban.  —  Anyone who rides horses recognizes the moment when, at the end of a ride, a tired horse spots the barn.

Encryption poised to hamper Jan. 6 investigators' phone records push  —  The congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection could soon face an obstacle familiar to law enforcement: the popularity of encrypted communications.  —  The committee dramatically escalated its inquiry last week …