U.S. economy shrinks 1.4 percent in first three months of the year, raising fears of recession  —  The pullback is a stark reversal from massive growth in 2021.  —  The U.S. economy unexpectedly shrank at a 1.4 percent annualized rate in the first three months of 2022 after more than a year of rapid growth …

Breakingviews: Elon Musk probably won't buy Twitter  —  Four years ago, Elon Musk vowed to set up a peanut brittle company to take on Warren Buffett's iconic U.S. confectioner See's Candies.  Then he changed his mind.  It wouldn't be surprising if Musk's $44 billion deal to buy social network Twitter went the same way.

Trump allies breach U.S. voting systems in search of 2020 fraud ‘evidence’  —  Chasing proof of vote-rigging conspiracy theories, Republican officials and activists in eight U.S. locales have plotted to gain illegal access to balloting systems, undermining the security of elections they claim to protect.

Tucker Carlson Pushed Trump to Endorse J.D. Vance With ‘Disgusting’ Sexual Innuendo  —  Exclusive: In a critical GOP Senate primary in Ohio, Trump's support was swayed in part by a Fox News host spreading rumors about another man's sex habits  —  In the days before Donald Trump endorsed J.D. Vance …

Scoop: Former Manhattan prosecutor blasts Trump and Barr in new book  —  Geoffrey Berman, who was fired by President Trump as the top Manhattan federal prosecutor, will be out Sept. 13 with a memoir, “Holding the Line,” that charges Trump with trying to undermine the office's integrity.

Biden seeks new powers to use oligarchs' assets for Ukraine  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is asking Congress on Thursday for new powers to seize and repurpose the assets of Russian oligarchs as part of a new funding request to aid Ukraine in its defense against Russia's invasion.

Inside Kevin McCarthy's Tortured Battle to Be House Speaker  —  The muted internal reaction to the GOP leader's criticism of Donald Trump showcased his biggest strength—and his biggest weakness.  —  Kevin McCarthy has already survived the immediate fallout from the release of private comments …

‘Enormous impact’: US intelligence prevented the fall of Kyiv  —  Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text size  —  Washington: America helped foil Moscow's efforts to take Kyiv and repelled its advances elsewhere by sharing such detailed intelligence that Ukraine knew exactly …

Inside Zelensky's World  —  The nights are the hardest, when he lies there on his cot, the whine of the air-raid sirens in his ears and his phone still buzzing beside him.  Its screen makes his face look like a ghost in the dark, his eyes scanning messages he didn't have a chance to read during the day.

Dr. Birx is Back With the Worst Timed Memoir in History  —  “I had to make sure Africa was prepared.”  —  Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and Islamic terrorism.

Opinion Amend the Constitution to bar senators from the presidency  —  To conserve the reverence it needs and deserves, the Constitution should be amended rarely and reluctantly.  There is, however, an amendment that would instantly improve the legislative and executive branches.

Biden welcomes Ukrainian refugees, neglects Afghans, critics say  —  Many human rights advocates hail the administration's response to the exodus triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, while others feel deeply frustrated that those left behind in Afghanistan have not received equal attention

Two Democratic progressives plot new ways to fight back against Republican gains  —  Republicans are threatening to take over the House of Representatives in this year's midterm elections.  More than 30 House Democrats are heading for the exits.  And progressives have seen several major legislative proposals stall out.

McCarthy-aligned super PAC plans $125M ad buy to win the House  —  House Republicans' main super PAC is booking $125 million in TV ad reservations in roughly 50 media markets across the country — a massive down payment on the party's bid to wrest back the majority this fall.

How deep does the rot in the Russian army go?  —  The fiasco in Ukraine could be a reflection of either a bad strategy or a poor fighting force  —  THE JOB of organising NATO's biggest military exercise since the cold war kept Admiral James Foggo, then the commander of American naval forces …

Opinion CBS News commentator Mick Mulvaney has a new credibility problem  —  Now that CBS News is paying former acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney to provide on-air commentary, here's a question its anchors could pose to him: Do you believe the things you write?

With no evidence, Rebecca Kleefisch, Wisconsin candidate for governor, says 2020 election was ‘rigged’  —  MADISON - Republican candidate for governor Rebecca Kleefisch is escalating her criticism of how the last presidential election was carried out in Wisconsin, calling it a “rigged” …

Will the America we love survive the 2022 election?  Only if Democrats play hardball.  —  The GOP is not a normal party anymore.  A state senator, a best-selling author and Elizabeth Warren show Democrats how to win.  —  It's astonishing to watch Republicans throwing public education …

Some boring takes on the French election  —  Once again, taking popular positions on high-profile issues matters  —  Using the results of a foreign election to argue that all your domestic political hangups are correct is a huge hack move.  —  And yet, I really do think the most recent …

Judge Says Real Estate Giant Broke Rules for Trump  —  Judge Arthur Engoron has already determined that one of the largest real estate firms in the world broke its own rules to help the Trump Organization.  —  A New York judge has determined that Cushman & Wakefield, one of the world's …

Putin Must Be Stopped Once and for All  —  The U.S. and allies are now seeking a sweeping strategic defeat for Russia. … Defending Ukraine is not enough.  Defeating Russia on the battlefield is not enough.  We must ensure—using every means available at our disposal …

ESPN Anchor Sage Steele Sues Network, Alleging Violation of Free-Speech Rights  —  Lawsuit centers on Ms. Steele's comments about Covid-19, ex-President Obama in a podcast interview last year  —  ESPN anchor Sage Steele sued the network and its parent, Walt Disney Co. …

Why did Kamala take the Pfizer pill?  —  Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration.  With help from Allie Bice.  —  For the last several weeks, Americans across the country have struggled to access the new Covid-19 antiviral pill, Pfizer's Paxlovid.

Climate change increases cross-species viral transmission risk  —  orcid.org/0000-0001-6960-8434 1,2 na1, - Gregory F. Albery 1,3 na1, - Cory Merow 4, - Christopher H. Trisos  —  orcid.org/0000-0002-5854-1489 5, - Casey M. Zipfel  —  orcid.org/0000-0002-7903-6318 1, - Evan A. Eskew

I Blew the Whistle on Facebook.  Europe Just Showed Us the Next Step.  —  Elon Musk's deal to take Twitter private, which has spurred questions about power, censorship and safety for the future of the platform, happened just days after the European Union reached a landmark agreement to make social media less toxic for users.

First on CNN: US left behind $7 billion of military equipment in Afghanistan after 2021 withdrawal, Pentagon report says  —  Washington (CNN)Approximately $7 billion of military equipment the US transferred to the Afghan government over the course of 16 years was left behind in Afghanistan …