Republicans Block Government Funding, Refusing to Lift Debt Limit  —  Senate Republicans opposed legislation to avert a government shutdown and prevent a debt default at a critical moment for Democrats' domestic agenda.  —  WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans on Monday blocked a spending bill needed …

Red Covid  —  Covid's partisan pattern is growing more extreme.  —  During the early months of Covid-19 vaccinations, several major demographic groups lagged in receiving shots, including Black Americans, Latino Americans and Republican voters.  —  More recently, the racial gaps — while still existing — have narrowed.

As daughter sought state license, Noem summoned agency head  —  SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Just days after a South Dakota agency moved to deny her daughter's application to become a certified real estate appraiser, Gov. Kristi Noem summoned to her office the state employee who ran the agency …

How an Anti-Trump Plotter in 2016 Became His Champion Against Liz Cheney  —  Harriet Hageman, a Wyoming Republican, is the former president's choice to take on his leading G.O.P. critic.  But five years ago, she tried to overturn his victory in the party's primary race.

R. Kelly Found Guilty in Decades-Long Sexual Abuse Scheme  —  The six-week trial in Brooklyn, N.Y., included graphic and disturbing testimony about sexual abuse by one of America's best-known musicians.  —  Key Updates:  —  Jonah Bromwichcovers the courts in New York

Stable Governor's Race  —  McAuliffe maintains issue advantage  —  West Long Branch, NJ - Democrat Terry McAuliffe maintains a small lead over Republican Glenn Youngkin according to the latest Monmouth ("Mon-muth") University Poll of the Virginia governor's race.

Texas GOP tries to protect US House seats under new maps  —  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Republicans proposed redrawn congressional maps Monday that would shore up their slipping dominance and bolster their nearly two dozen U.S. House members, while adding new districts in booming Austin and Houston.

The Largest Autocracy on Earth  —  In 1947, Albert Einstein, writing in this magazine, proposed the creation of a single world government to protect humanity from the threat of the atomic bomb.  His utopian idea did not take hold, quite obviously, but today, another visionary is building the simulacrum of a cosmocracy.

Trump's Mar-a-Lago Buddies Tried to Get the VA to Sell Access to Veterans' Medical Records  —  A congressional investigation prompted by ProPublica's reporting found Trump's “Mar-a-Lago crowd,” wealthy civilians with no U.S. government or military experience, pursued a plan to monetize veterans' medical data.

When Trump says the U.S. ‘will not survive,’ don't look away  —  Arizona ‘audit’ flop fails Trump; furthers Republican degradation of democracy  —  It was an opinion that was designed to raise eyebrows — and it worked.  The Washington Post published an op-ed late last week from Robert Kagan …

The Public Continues to Underestimate COVID's Age Discrimination  —  In mid-September, King County, Washington, in which Seattle is located, released an eye-popping slide about vaccine efficacy and breakthrough prevalence: Vaccines had reduced the risk of infection from COVID sevenfold …

U.S. Asked Russia About Offer of Bases to Monitor Afghan Terror Threat  —  Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Mark Milley asked his Russian counterpart about Putin's comments at the request of the White House  —  The Pentagon's top military officer discussed with his Russian counterpart an apparent offer …

Anti-Vaccine Cartoonist Ben Garrison Says He's Got Covid-19, Won't Go to Hospital  —  The pro-Trump cartoonist says he's lost about 15 pounds and is taking ivermectin.  —  Alerts  —  Ben Garrison, a right-wing cartoonist known for his opposition to vaccines and his extremely flattering drawings …

As Sinema resists the budget bill, she is set to raise money from business groups that oppose it.  —  Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, the inscrutable Democrat who may hold the key to passing her party's ambitious social policy and climate bill, is scheduled to have a fund-raiser …

New Taliban Chancellor Bars Women From Kabul University  —  The new policy for Afghanistan's premier university is another major blow to women's rights under Taliban rule, and to a two-decade effort to build up higher education.  —  Tightening the Taliban's restrictions on women …

NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar calls for unvaccinated players to be removed from teams  —  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will be on CNN's “Don Lemon Tonight” at 10 p.m. ET.  —  (CNN)If NBA players are not vaccinated, they shouldn't be on the team, basketball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar told Rolling Stone.

American Siblings Barred From Leaving China for 3 Years Return to U.S.  —  Their release coincided with an agreement on Friday that cleared the way for a senior executive of Huawei Technologies, the Chinese telecommunications giant, to return to China.  —  Victor and Cynthia Liu …

John Hinckley, Who Shot President Reagan, Wins Unconditional Release  —  A federal judge has approved the unconditional release next year of John Hinckley Jr., who wounded late President Ronald Reagan and three others outside a Washington, D.C., hotel in a failed assassination attempt in 1981.

Introducing the Real Will Smith  —  For decades, he worked tirelessly to make himself the biggest movie star on the planet.  Then he hit his “fuck-it 50s” and everything changed.  Now, as he prepares a raw new memoir and a pair of films tackling racial themes, Will Smith is ready to speak his truth.

Antifa member charged with shooting anti-vaxxer in Washington  —  An Antifa member with a long history of posting far-left extremist content online has been arrested and charged with the shooting of an anti-vaxxer in Olympia, Wash.  —  Benjamin Anthony Varela, 36, of Olympia …

How Republicans learned to stop worrying and embrace ‘replacement theory’ — by name  —  The story of the Republican Party in the Trump era is, by and large, one of a boiled frog.  —  Trump constantly pushed the envelope in ways that made his allies uncomfortable.

Education polarization is only growing  —  And it's making everyone mad all the time  —  A Harvard Crimson survey of the incoming Harvard Class of 2025 revealed that 87% of the class voted for Joe Biden, compared to 6.7% for Howie Hawkins and 6.3% for Donald Trump.

U.S. Adults' Estimates of COVID-19 Hospitalization Risk  —  The American public's understanding of the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines may have been put to the test in recent weeks as national public health leaders openly debated whether a booster shot is needed for the general population.

A White Supremacist Is Organizing Fight Clubs Across the US  —  Robert Rundo, believed to be in Europe after being kicked out of Serbia, has also started a media network with a well-known Russian neo-Nazi.  —  TO  —  American white supremacist Robert Rundo's last known whereabouts was Bosnia …

Misinformation Is About to Get So Much Worse  —  Editor's Note: This article is part of our coverage of The Atlantic Festival.  Learn more and watch festival sessions here.  —  For years now, artificial intelligence has been hailed as both a savior and a destroyer.

Dozens Of Massachusetts State Police Troopers Resigning Over COVID Vaccine Mandate, Union Says  —  BOSTON (CBS) - The State Police Association of Massachusetts (SPAM) said dozens of troopers have submitted their resignation papers as a result of the state's COVID vaccine mandate.