Putin leaves a door to diplomacy open, as European, U.S. leaders race to defuse Ukraine crisis  —  MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin Monday left the door open to further talks with Western leaders on his efforts to end NATO's open door policy, when his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov …

Trump's latest political obsession: The baseball team owner not toeing his line  —  Donald Trump has a new fixation: a Major League Baseball scion who hails from one of the country's richest families — and who, unlike most other Republican Senate candidates, isn't bowing to the former president.

The Right's Would-Be Kingmaker  —  Peter Thiel, one of Donald J. Trump's biggest donors in 2016, has re-emerged as a prime financier of the Make America Great Again movement.  —  Ryan Mac, who is based in Los Angeles, covers the intersection of technology and power.

A staunch conservative's urgent warning to the GOP about Trump and 2024  —  Donald Trump is telling us exactly how he intends to rerun his coup attempt, should the conditions align for it in 2024.  He regularly flaunts his view that attempting to overturn his 2020 loss was the correct thing to do …

Why Covid-19 vaccines are a freaking miracle  —  Two years into the Covid-19 pandemic, it's easy to lament all that has come to pass.  The devastating losses.  The upending of what we regarded as normal ways of life.  The sheer relentlessness of it all.  —  But let's stop for a moment …

John Eastman claims attorney-client privilege over thousands of pages sought by Jan. 6 investigators  —  Attorney John Eastman, a close ally of Donald Trump amid his effort to subvert the 2020 election, has attempted to shield more than 10,000 pages of emails and counting from congressional investigators …

Art Spiegelman Loses His Glasses  —  As the latest fight over Maus erupts, its artist-creator searches for his spectacles.  —  Okay, so here's the thing," Art Spiegelman says into the phone as he paces his cavernous Soho studio, humming with anxiety. “  I don't know what happened.

AOC bemoans ‘cancel culture’ that fired Marc Lamont Hill for ‘from the river to the sea’ comments  —  The commentator was let go from CNN following comments made at a United Nations event in 2018  —  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) defended former CNN commentator Marc Lamont Hill …

‘Larry and I will always be together’: Joe Manchin's closest political ally cashes in on senator's rise  —  A longtime friend of the West Virginia senator has a growing lobbying business in Washington as companies seek to understand and influence the key lawmaker

Former DNI Ratcliffe told Durham intelligence supports ‘multiple’ indictments in probe: sources  —  Hillary Clinton purportedly approved “a plan to distract the public from her email scandal,” sources told Fox News  —  Ratcliffe: FBI did not have proper predicate to spy on Trump campaign

The MAGA fixation with chaos overrides ‘America First’  —  Once upon a time, the Republican Party stressed social order, the rule of law and capitalism as a vehicle to deliver widespread prosperity.  More recently, the MAGA crowd insisted it wanted an “America First” policy.  Forget all that.

Ivan Reitman, producer, ‘Ghostbusters’ director, dies at 75  —  Ivan Reitman, the influential filmmaker and producer behind many of the most beloved comedies of the late 20th century, from “Animal House” to “Ghostbusters,” has died.  He was 75.  —  Reitman died peacefully in his sleep Saturday night …

Yesterday I Was Levi's Brand President.  I Quit So I Could Be Free.  —  I turned down $1 million severance in exchange for my voice.  —  When I traveled to Moscow in 1986, I brought 10 pairs of Levi's 501s in my bag.  I was a 17-year-old gymnast, the reigning national champion …

Woman Followed and Fatally Stabbed in Her Chinatown Apartment  —  Christina Yuna Lee was a creative producer at a digital music platform.  The 25-year-old man arrested in her killing had a record of misdemeanor arrests.  —  A 35-year-old woman was stabbed to death inside …

Hackers Just Leaked the Names of 92,000 ‘Freedom Convoy’ Donors  —  GiveSendGo, the Christian crowdfunding site that helped raise $8.7 million for the anti-vax “freedom convoy” in Canada, was hacked on Sunday night.  —  DG  —  The Christian crowdfunding site that helped raise $8.7 million for the anti-vax …

The high price of admission to Republican Party primaries  —  Wealthy self-funded candidates are dominating the GOP's Senate landscape, a trend that makes it tougher for ordinary contenders to compete.  —  Poring over the latest round of political fundraising reports, one simple but revealing trend emerges …