GOP Sen. Susan Collins supports codifying Roe v. Wade abortion protections into law  —  Future of Roe v. Wade at stake after Supreme Court arguments  —  WASHINGTON — Sen. Susan Collins, the moderate Republican from Maine, favors passing legislation to enshrine the protections of Roe v. Wade into law, her office said Wednesday.

Trump tested positive for Covid few days before Biden debate, chief of staff says in new book  —  Mark Meadows makes stunning admission in new memoir obtained by Guardian, saying a second test returned negative  —  Donald Trump tested positive for Covid-19 three days before his first debate …

BREAKING: Stacey Abrams is running for Georgia governor in 2022  —  Stacey Abrams launched a campaign for Georgia governor on Wednesday with a pledge to fight for economic equality and expand healthcare access, setting up a potential rematch against Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in one of the nation's …

Ghislaine Maxwell trial: Sex crimes accuser testifies Jeffrey Epstein took her to meet Trump when she was 14  — A woman who says she was sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell testified that Epstein took her to meet Donald Trump at his Florida club when she was 14 years old.

Exclusive: Trump's social media venture seeks $1 billion raise, sources say … Former President Donald Trump's new social media venture is seeking to raise up to $1 billion by selling shares to hedge funds and family offices at several times the valuation it commanded in a deal …

Chilling Videos, Journal Found as Parents Face Scrutiny in Michigan School Shooting  —  Ethan Crumbley, 15, had displayed “behavior in the classroom” that school officials “felt was concerning.”  —  OXFORD, Michigan—The shooter who allegedly killed four students and injured seven …

IOC member says Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai is ‘fine’ after video call  —  A long-standing member of the International Olympic Committee said people who spoke to missing Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai have reached the “unanimous conclusion” that she is “fine.”

Michael Fanone: ‘Moron’ Capitol Rioter Who Electroshocked Me Was ‘Manipulated’ By Trump  —  Danny Rodriguez drove a stun gun into Fanone's neck on Jan. 6.  The D.C. police officer says Rodriguez's FBI confession tape is revealing.  —  D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone …

Abortion Will Be Outlawed in Purple States Too  —  The only mild saving grace to today's SCOTUS arguments is that the pretenses are removed.  These are ideologues and politicians.  Their entire political movement has been propelled by the goal of overturning Roe v Wade and outlawing abortion.

We may have already missed our last, best chance to bolster American democracy  —  In last year's election, Americans did not punish Republicans for their radical, anti-democratic turn with a resounding electoral defeat.  Now, more than a year later, we can clearly see horrible and potentially irreversible implications of that.

“This Is Blackface”: Inside The Virtual Reality Company Trying To Scale Diversity Training  —  Mursion tells big corporate clients that its VR simulations will help teach racial sensitivity.  But the actors playing its Black characters are often white.  —  Copy

Katie Curran O'Malley, retired judge and former first lady, launches bid for Maryland attorney general  —  Katie Curran O'Malley is running for Maryland attorney general, setting the stage for an unprecedented battle between the former first lady and her husband's lieutenant governor.

Those Cute Cats Online?  They Help Spread Misinformation.  —  A mainstay of the internet is regularly used to build audiences for people and organizations pushing false and misleading information.  —  On Oct. 2, New Tang Dynasty Television, a station linked to the Chinese spiritual movement Falun Gong …

Marcus Lamb, head of Daystar, a large Christian network that discouraged vaccines, dies after getting covid-19  —  Marcus Lamb, founder of the large Christian network Daystar, died Tuesday after contracting the coronavirus.  Lamb's network during the pandemic has made the virus a huge focus …

Planned Parenthood Los Angeles says hack breached about 400,000 patients' information  —  A hacker gained access to the personal information of hundreds of thousands of Planned Parenthood patients last month, the reproductive health-care group's Los Angeles branch said Wednesday.

America is Running on Fumes  —  Sign up for Derek's newsletter here.  —  Let's start with a simple mystery: What happened to original blockbuster movies?  —  Throughout the 20th century, Hollywood produced a healthy number of entirely new stories.  The top movies of 1998—including Titanic …

Governor Charlie Baker telling allies he isn't running for reelection  —  Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, the Republican who maintained the enduring support of his blue state constituents through boom times, the Trump presidency, and in the face of mass death during the COVID-19 pandemic …

Marty Walsh is weighing a run for Massachusetts governor  —  BOSTON — Labor Secretary Marty Walsh is weighing whether to return home to Massachusetts and run for governor next year, according to two sources with knowledge of his deliberations.  —  A number of Democrats have called Walsh …

The New Right's Strange and Dangerous Cult of Toughness  —  Last month, at the National Conservatism conference, a gathering of hundreds of leaders and members of a movement that hopes to represent a new, less libertarian American right, one of the speakers, a lawyer named Josh Hammer, delivered a strange denunciation of “fusionism.”

GOP Wayne County election official in 2020 ballot dispute dies from COVID-19  —  DETROIT - A Republican election official who caused controversy by initially refusing to certify 2020 Detroit-area results in favor of President Joe Biden has died after being admitted to a hospital with COVID-19.

Exclusive: U.S. to extend transit mask mandate through mid-March - sources … President Joe Biden's administration will extend requirements for travelers to wear masks on airplanes, trains and buses and at airports and train stations through mid-March, sources briefed on the matter told Reuters …

Hedge fund CEO readies Senate bid despite Oz announcement  —  PHILADELPHIA — Hedge fund CEO David McCormick is preparing a run for Senate in Pennsylvania, a move that would upend the Republican primary for the third time in as many weeks.  —  McCormick, who runs Bridgewater Associates …