Live Updates: Mississippi Abortion Law Arguments Conclude at Supreme Court  —  The arguments are over.  Here's what happens next.  —  The justices will cast tentative votes at a private conference in the coming days.  The senior justice in the majority will then assign the majority opinion to a colleague or, just as likely, keep it.

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 …

First confirmed US case of Omicron coronavirus variant detected in California  —  Tonight, CNN's Anderson Cooper and Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta host a global town hall on the Omicron coronavirus variant and Dr. Anthony Fauci will answer viewer questions.  Watch live at 9 p.m. ET on CNN.

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.

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 …

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.”

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 …

POLITICO Playbook: Scoop: Conservatives plot government shutdown over vaccine mandate  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  FRIDAY'S SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN GETS REAL — Conservatives on both sides of the Capitol are privately plotting to force a government shutdown Friday in an effort to defund …

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.

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 …

Peter DeFazio will retire from Congress in latest blow to Democrats  —  Rep. Peter DeFazio, the Oregon firebrand who leads the House's transportation committee, will step down after 36 years in Congress, spelling more bad news for Democrats in 2022 and taking with him an encyclopedic amount …

Michigan Gunman's Parents Had Been Called Into School on Morning of Shooting  —  Ethan Crumbley, 15, had displayed “behavior in the classroom” that school officials “felt was concerning.”  —  The shooter who allegedly killed four students and injured seven, including a teacher …

Why the Discredited Dossier Does Not Undercut the Russia Investigation  —  Donald J. Trump and his backers say revelations about the Steele dossier show the Russia investigation was a “hoax.”  That is not what the facts indicate.  —  WASHINGTON — Former President Donald J. Trump and his allies …

The best response to Russia's threats is a closer relationship with Ukraine  —  Michael McFaul is the director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and a Hoover fellow at Stanford University and a contributing columnist for The Post.  Oleksiy Honcharuk …

1. A majority (52%) of young Americans believe that our democracy is either “in trouble,” or “failing”  — Only 7% of young Americans view the United States as a “healthy democracy”; 27% described the nation as a “somewhat functioning democracy,” 39% a “democracy in trouble,” …

CIA Files Say Staff Committed Sex Crimes Involving Children.  They Weren't Prosecuted.  —  Over the past 14 years, the Central Intelligence Agency has secretly amassed credible evidence that at least 10 of its employees and contractors committed sexual crimes involving children.