Shinzo Abe, former Japanese leader, is assassinated by gunman  —  Listen  —  Gift Article  —  TOKYO — Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, a towering political figure at home and abroad, died after being shot at a campaign event Friday, doctors said, shocking a nation where firearms laws …

POLITICO Playbook: Schumer ups pressure on McConnell in USICA-reconciliation dance  —  With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  BREAKING OVERNIGHT — Former Japanese Prime Minister SHINZO ABE was shot and killed during a campaign speech Friday in western Japan.  He was 67.

Michael Flynn cited for unauthorized foreign payments  —  Retired general and former Trump adviser was notified by the Army that it was seeking to recoup nearly $40,000 from him  —  Listen  —  Gift Article  —  Michael Flynn, the retired Army general and onetime adviser to President Donald Trump …

Boris Johnson's fall shows the limits of shamelessness as a superpower  —  Listen  —  Gift Article  —  BoJo has finally lost his mojo.  The United Kingdom's mendacious, buffoonish prime minister is gone, or at least going.  The question historians will ask is how he ascended so high in the first place.

Elon Musk's deal to buy Twitter is in peril  —  Talks with investors have cooled in recent weeks and Musk's camp believes it can't confirm Twitter's claims about spam accounts  —  Listen  —  Gift Article  —  Elon Musk's deal to buy Twitter is in serious jeopardy, three people familiar …

“More Republicans now call Jan. 6 a ‘legitimate protest’ than a ‘riot’”  —  Aaron Blake in The Fix, on this Monmouth University poll, which finds:  —  Nearly two-thirds (65%) of the public say it is appropriate to describe the incident at the U.S. Capitol as a riot, and half (50%) …

Ukraine Live Updates: Moscow Official Accuses West of ‘Blatant Russophobia’  —  Russia's foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, made the comment at a Group of 20 meeting in Bali that was also attended by Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken.  Mr. Lavrov also blamed Washington for a breakdown in diplomacy.

Film offers inside look at Roger Stone's ‘Stop the Steal’ efforts before January 6  —  Footage shows key moments of planning with fellow activist Ali Alexander to overturn election results in Trump's favor  —  Weeks before the Capitol attack, top Republican political activists Roger Stone …

This couldn't happen anywhere: How coverage of the shooting failed Highland Park  —  Mass shootings are seemingly disparate, but almost all mass shooters are motivated by bigoted extremism that festers online  —  The first moments after finding out about a shooting in my hometown felt like living in slow motion.

Eric Swalwell is unfit for Congress and owes Lauren Boebert an apology  —  Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) has done many classless things during his time in Congress.  But this past week, he might have outdone himself with a tweet insinuating a connection between Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) …

No Special Treatment for Brittney Griner  —  WNBA player Brittney Griner on Thursday pleaded guilty in a Russian courtroom to possessing less than a gram of cannabis oil in her luggage when she landed at a Moscow airport in February.  —  It's a sad story, but Griner is hardly the political prisoner …

Ukraine targets Russia's ammunition depots, undermining its artillery advantage  —  It is an almost everyday occurrence in the Russian-occupied parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.  —  Russia's ammunition depots blow up, with large fires erupting as tons of ordnance detonate for hours.

Governor Abbott Authorizes Texas National Guard, Texas Department Of Public Safety To Return Illegal Immigrants To Border  —  Governor Greg Abbott today issued an executive order authorizing and empowering the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety to apprehend illegal immigrants …

GOP populism is hurting the teaching profession  —  The real consequences of a manufactured crisis  —  We are living in a populist era that frames public officials as corrupt elites.  The effects of the ensuing hostility to the capacity of public institutions to function feels …

EXCLUSIVE: 1st Amendment Praetorian Goes After Jan. 6 Committee For ‘McCarthy-esque’ Defamation Tactics  —  In short, the committee's treatment of 1AP ‘is a gross affront to the First Amendment.’  —  A lawyer for 1st Amendment Praetorian, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting free speech rights …

GOP race for Arizona governor becomes 2024 proxy war as Ducey defies Trump  —  In a last major test of Donald Trump's Republican power this year, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Thursday endorsed a potential successor who's going up against a candidate backed by the former president.

U.S. Hiring Slowed in June From Robust Pace, Economists Estimate  —  Broader economy has been weakening under the weight of high inflation and rising interest rates  —  Economists estimate that hiring continued at a solid pace in June, but slowed from prior months as the broader economy weakened under …

Dallas Cowboys Face Criticism After Partnership With Black Rifle Coffee  —  The announcement drew criticism in part for its timing, a day after the deadly mass shooting in Highland Park, Ill.  — Give this article- - - Read in app  —  The Dallas Cowboys are facing criticism after announcing …

Live chat  —  Updates about tonight's races in Pennsylvania  —  🌖Our chat has ended, but you can still read it back.  —  Taking Biden at face value about Michigan and Wisconsin — where, for what it's worth (not that much), the exit poll data looks pretty good for him and he came …

The FBI didn't finish over 1 million gun background checks in time to stop a sale in 2020 and 2021  —  There were over 1 million opportunities for someone to buy a gun from a licensed dealer without a completed background check in 2020 and 2021, according to an FBI report released last month.

NeverTrump Republicans Just Can't Let Go of Trump  —  Basking in progressive praise - while demonizing Trump supporters as a “cult.”  —  Bruce Thornton is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center.  —  The Congressional show-trial disguised as a House committee investigation …

Herschel Walker partnered in 2012 with arm of energy company accused by multiple states of deceptive practices  —  (CNN)Georgia Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker was once a “partner” and “spokesman” for a subsidiary of an energy company, Just Energy, which was repeatedly targeted …

Illegal Aliens Plotted July 4th Mass Shooting, Thwarted by American ‘Hero Citizen’  —  The pair of suspects arrested for allegedly plotting to “shoot up” a Fourth of July celebration in Richmond, Virginia — thwarted by an American citizen — are illegal aliens, court records state.

How the Jan. 6 Panel Is Supercharging the Georgia Trump Investigation  —  The Jan. 6 Committee's public testimony could end up helping the Fulton County, Georgia, case against Donald Trump.  —  Thanks to Georgia's court system rules, the damning testimony of several former Trump administration officials …