'The president's decline is alarming': Biden trapped in coronavirus malaise  —  ATLANTA — In a focus group last week, Pennsylvania Democrats one after another articulated the issue vexing top White House aides, party operatives in Virginia and voters in Georgia: Why isn't President Joe Biden's diminished job rating rebounding?

White Tiger and Cheetah Furs: A Mess of Trump Gift Exchanges  —  Gift exchanges between U.S. and foreign leaders, a highly regulated process, devolved into sometimes risible shambles during the Trump administration.  —  The Saudi royal family showered Donald J. Trump and his entourage …

Biggest U.S. Retailers Charter Private Cargo Ships to Sail Around Port Delays  —  Home Depot, Costco and Walmart resort to private charters in push to stock shelves for holiday shoppers  —  Global supply-chain delays are so severe that some of the biggest U.S. retailers have resorted to an extreme …

Afghan Interpreter Who Helped Rescue Joe Biden in 2008 Escapes Afghanistan  —  After a personal plea to the U.S. president, weeks in hiding and a clandestine evacuation, Aman Khalili gets out with his family  —  An Afghan interpreter who helped rescue then- Sen. Joe Biden in 2008 …

Two Journalists Started an Argument in Boston in 1979.  It's Not Over Yet.  —  A writer for an alt-weekly called out a Boston Globe editor for his “fealty” to the idea of objectivity in a column that reads as if it was written yesterday.  —  In 1979, two journalists got into an argument.

Corey Lewandowski in Exile: Banned at Trump Properties  —  Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski is no longer allowed on Trump properties or at Trump parties after a high-profile donor accused him of sexual misconduct.  —  After a GOP donor accused Corey Lewandowski of sexual misconduct late …

Celebrate Columbus's Achievements  —  We should acknowledge his flaws, but his treatment by the left is reminiscent of communist propaganda.  —  Friends, Americans, citizens of the world, lend me your ears.  I come to bury Christopher Columbus, not to praise him.

Eric Clapton Isn't Just Spouting Vaccine Nonsense—He's Bankrolling It  —  Eric Clapton went from setting the standard for rock guitar to making ‘full-tilt’ racist rants to becoming an outspoken vaccine skeptic.  Did he change?  Or was he always like this?  —  Cambel McLaughlin thought he was being punked.

There Is Shadow Inflation Taking Place All Around Us  —  Some companies haven't been raising prices.  Instead, they've been cutting back customer services and conveniences, but how should that be measured?  —  Inflation has surged in 2021, with various official measurements of consumer prices rising faster than they have in years.

VA Dems Want Last Minute Voting Rule Change  —  Virginia's gubernatorial contest between Republican Glenn Youngkin and Democrat Terry McAuliffe clearly has supporters of the latter worried.  Recent polls show a far tighter race than they expected.  Consequently, it was all but inevitable …

Lego commits to removing ‘gender bias and harmful stereotypes’ from its toys  —  Lego on Monday vowed to rid its toys of “gender bias and harmful stereotypes” in a push to make them more accessible to girls.  —  The world's largest toymaker has already stopped labeling its products as …

Steven Mnuchin Stepped In to Prevent Ivanka Trump World Bank Appointment … In January 2019, Jim Yong Kim threw the global financial development sector into a state of disarray: The former academic and health official announced he would be stepping down the following month from his role …

'It's Not Sustainable': What America's Port Crisis Looks Like Up Close  —  An enduring traffic jam at the Port of Savannah reveals why the chaos in global shipping is likely to persist.  —  SAVANNAH, Ga. — Like toy blocks hurled from the heavens, nearly 80,000 shipping containers are stacked …

AG Merrick Garland is at war with American families  —  Only a fool pokes a mama bear, but that's Merrick Garland for you.  —  The attorney general thought to be such a moderate that 20 Republicans confirmed his nomination turns out to be a radical ideologue hellbent on targeting President Biden's political foes.

Elect Democrats in 2022, Write Miles Taylor and Christine Todd Whitman  —  Mr. Taylor served at the Department of Homeland Security from 2017 to 2019, including as chief of staff, and was the anonymous author of a 2018 guest essay for The Times criticizing President Donald Trump's leadership.

Inside Rikers: Dysfunction, Lawlessness and Detainees in Control  —  With a staffing emergency disrupting the basic functions of the jail system, detainees have had free rein inside.  —  When a detainee decided to hijack a bus inside the Rikers Island jail complex, little was in place to stop him.

Why should Spain despise its greatest explorer?  —  Monuments to Christopher Columbus are regularly vandalized throughout the Americas, but Spain remains faithful to his memory.  Last week, I visited Seville Cathedral, where his supposed remains are carried shoulder-high by massive statues representing …

White House throws up its hands at new questions on Hunter Biden's ‘art’ scam  —  “I'd refer to the gallerist for questions,” huffed White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki last week in non-answer to reporters asking about Hunter Biden's star-studded Los Angeles art show.

Bleak midterm outlook shadows bitter Democratic battle  —  The 2022 midterm elections — and the very real possibility that Democrats could be swept from their House majority — are hanging over the bitter political fight within the party over President Biden's domestic agenda.

‘It depends’: Chris Christie says there are times teachers should be ‘threatened’  —  Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) asserted on Sunday that there are times that public school teachers deserve to be the target of verbal threats.  —  During a panel discussion on ABC's This Week …

Liberal Democrats have become the mainstream of the party and less willing to compromise with dwindling moderates  —  Moments after President Biden instructed House Democrats to make concessions or risk derailing passage of his economic agenda, members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus hastily gathered …

Rep. Schiff reveals impeachment regrets, tensions on Capitol Hill after insurrection  —  Nine months after the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., says the Capitol is a “different place.”  —  “I think the relationships that we had with our [GOP] …

The Biden-Harris train wreck may have its savior: 2024 GOP nominee Donald Trump  —  Former President Trump recently declared he would beat Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in a potential Republican primary match-up for the party's 2024 presidential nomination.  And based on current polling, he's almost certainly right.

The Far-Right John Birch Society Wants Anti-Mask Protests to Fuel Its Comeback  —  The John Birch Society used to boost segregation.  Now it's back to attack schools over mask mandates.  —  On a sunny Saturday in a Knoxville, Tennessee park, a man with a microphone told a crowd of parents to bar entry to their children's schools.

After the Taliban seized their school, Afghanistan's all-female orchestra tried to flee.  Only some escaped.  —  KABUL — The girls came from homes broken by war and poverty to chase an unimaginable future as musicians.  And with grit and determination they succeeded: Some played at Carnegie Hall.

Merck asks FDA to authorize promising anti-COVID pill  —  If cleared by the Food and Drug Administration — a decision that could come in a matter of weeks — it would be the first pill shown to treat COVID-19.  All other FDA-backed treatments against the disease require an IV or injection.

‘Go out there and enjoy Halloween,’ Dr. Fauci says.  —  Despite the wide availability of Covid-19 vaccines, not all Halloween parades have been safe from virus-related cancellations this year.  —  In Westchester County, N.Y., for example, the Tarrytown Halloween Parade was canceled out of concern …

Liz Cheney Accuses Scalise of ‘Attack’ on U.S. After He Refuses to Say Election Wasn't Stolen  —  Representative Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican, accused House Minority Whip Representative Steve Scalise of being part of an “attack” on the U.S. after he declined repeatedly in a Sunday interview to say the 2020 election wasn't “stolen.”