Jeff Zients to Leave as Biden's Covid Czar and Be Replaced by Ashish Jha  —  The choice of Dr. Jha, an outspoken public health expert, is a sign that the White House believes the country is entering a new phase of the pandemic.  — Give this article- - - Read in app

Fearing Poisoning, Vladimir Putin Replaces 1,000 of His Personal Staff  —  Kremlin Questioned Protesting Russian TV Producer for 14 Hours After Arrest  —  Russian Speakers Make Cold Calls to Thwart Putin's Ukraine Propaganda  —  Parents of Ex-Marine Jailed in Russia Say Putin Is Using Him as a Political Pawn

Russia's military is incompetent.  That makes it more dangerous. … Last month, Russia's position on Ukraine's borders looked promising: Moscow had amassed an invasion force with nearly as many troops as Ukraine has in its active-duty military, had spent two decades modernizing its weapons and organization …

Biden calls Putin a ‘murderous dictator’ and ‘pure thug’  —  (CNN)President Joe Biden on Thursday called Vladimir Putin a “pure thug” and “murderous dictator,” his latest pointed attack against the Russian President as the war in Ukraine rages on.  —  Speaking at the annual Friends …

Everyone Was Surprised By The Senate Passing Permanent Daylight Saving Time.  Especially The Senators.  —  WASHINGTON — The Senate's unanimous passage of a bill to make daylight saving time permanent stunned many Americans, not least of which the senators themselves.

POLITICO Playbook: Scoop: RNC down to two 2024 convention finalists  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  ZELENSKYY'S APPEAL FALLS SHORT (FOR NOW) — No one was surprised by the request: a no-fly zone — and if not that, then access to those Soviet-style fighter jets in Poland that could help them “close the sky.”

Russian Forces Take Losses on Battlefield, but Civilian Toll Worsens  —  Russia's ground advance slowed, but more missile and other attacks struck civilians.  As cease-fire talks continued with uncertain prospects, the U.N. Security Council was scheduled to hold an emergency meeting on Ukraine.

Gov. Mike DeWine's suggestion to break Ohio's redistricting impasse: have mapmakers collaborate on bipartisan plan  —  COLUMBUS, Ohio — The morning after the Ohio Supreme Court threw out a third Republican-backed legislative redistricting plan, Gov. Mike DeWine suggested having Democratic and GOP mapmakers …

WNBA star Brittney Griner's detention in Russia extended to May 19  —  A Moscow court has extended the arrest of WNBA star Brittney Griner until May 19, according to the Russian state news agency Tass.  —  Griner was detained at a Moscow airport on February 17 after Russian authorities …

Durbin, White House slam emerging GOP attack on KBJ sex offender rulings  —  Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin and the Biden White House on Thursday derided a new GOP attack on Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, centered on her handling of sex offenders.

The NYT Now Admits the Biden Laptop — Falsely Called “Russian Disinformation” — is Authentic  —  The media outlets which spread this lie from ex-CIA officials never retracted their pre-election falsehoods, ones used by Big Tech to censor reporting on the front-runner.

Trump White House aide was secret author of report used to push ‘big lie’  —  Report on Dominion voting machines produced after 2020 election was not the work of volunteer in Trump's post-election legal team  —  Weeks after the 2020 election, at least one Trump White House aide was named …

Hannity's clownish contortions on Ukraine reveal the rot at Trumpism's core  —  Donald Trump's most slavish propagandists have a problem.  Trump withheld military aid from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an extortion scheme of unfathomable corruption and depravity.

Koch Industries to stay in Russia, says exiting does ‘more harm than good’  —  Koch Industries, the American manufacturing giant that employs 122,000 people across the world, said Wednesday it would not exit its operations in Russia because doing so would put its “employees there at greater risk and do more harm than good.”

Prosecutors Try to Jail MAGA Fanatic After Daily Beast Report  —  Joshua Macias has been in the thick of Stop the Steal chaos since November 2020.  Now prosecutors say he is violating his bail conditions. … Philadelphia prosecutors have filed a motion seeking to revoke the bail of Joshua Macias …

Russia edges closer to averting default as JPMorgan processes bond payment  —  Bank sought approval from US Treasury before passing on coupons on two dollar bonds  —  JPMorgan has processed interest payments sent by the Russian government for two of the country's bonds …

Daniel Yergin on Russia losing its status as an “energy superpower”  —  The energy analyst and award-winning author of “The Prize” and “The New Map” says Vladimir Putin is destroying the foundation of his country's economic power  —  Vladimir putin once said that he did not like hearing Russia described as an “energy superpower”.

How Putin's Oligarchs Bought London  —  From banking to boarding schools, the British establishment has long been at their service, discretion guaranteed.  —  Roman Abramovich was thirty-four years old—baby-faced, vigorous, already one of Russia's richest oligarchs—when he did something seemingly inexplicable.

Republican Senators Block Confirmation of Key Biden Officials, Stymying Ukraine Response  —  A Democratic lawmaker accuses Sen. Rick Scott of “single-handedly undermining” the United States' full response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.  —  In recent weeks, the Biden administration …

Russian billionaire's yacht is docked in St. Augustine  —  St. Augustine is home to a Russian billionaire's $7 million yacht.  —  Igor Makarov's 128-foot yacht, called Areti I, has been in St. Augustine at Camachee Cove for years, a spokesman for his firm, Areti International Group, said.

Move over Iowa.  New Jersey Democrats vie to hold early presidential primary.  —  They wrote a letter to the DNC making the request.  —  As the Democratic National Committee considers changes to its primary calendar, New Jersey Democrats are pitching themselves for consideration as one of the early presidential primary states.

2021 VA/NJ Vote History Analysis  —  AUTHORS:  —  Applied Data Science Lead, Civis Analytics  —  Senior Applied Data Scientist — Research Insights, Civis Analytics  —  The 2021 statewide elections in Virginia and New Jersey each resulted in similar rightward swings in support of about 6 points overall, or a 12-point swing.