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 …

Biden to sign abortion rights executive order amid pressure  —  President Joe Biden will sign an executive order Friday morning directing his health department to expand access to abortion pills, beef up enforcement of Obamacare's birth control coverage mandate and organize a cadre …

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 …

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.

Ballot drop boxes not allowed in Wisconsin, state Supreme Court rules  —  Listen  —  Gift Article  —  MADISON, Wis. — A divided Wisconsin Supreme Court barred the use of most ballot drop boxes on Friday and ruled voters could not give their completed absentee ballots to others to return on their behalf …

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 …

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 …

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.

More Republicans now call Jan. 6 a ‘legitimate protest’ than a ‘riot’  —  Listen  —  Gift Article  —  When the dust settled on Jan. 6, 2021, we were unable to agree on whether Donald Trump had incited the insurrection.  But at least one conclusion crossed partisan lines: This had been a very bad and violent thing.

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 …

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 …

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 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.

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 …

Steve Bannon's lawyer asks to leave Jan. 6-related case, says he may be witness  —  A lawyer for Steve Bannon is seeking to withdraw from representing the adviser to former President Donald Trump in his criminal contempt case, citing the possibility of being called as a witness at trial, a court document on Friday showed.

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

GOP push to defeat Whitmer threatened by candidates' baggage  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — A leading contender for the Republican nomination for governor in Michigan was sued in the 1990s, accused of using racial slurs about Black people in the workplace and sexually harassing his employees.

NYC bodega worker Jose Alba freed on murder rap after bail is lowered in self-defense case  —  The hard-working Manhattan bodega worker languishing on Rikers Island on a murder charge after fending off a violent ex-con was sprung from jail Thursday after a judge agreed to lower his sky-high bail.

‘This Is Disgusting’: An Insider's Account on the Fall of Cuomo  —  “Governor.  Stop.  It's over,” the voice broke through on the conference call line.  —  Six months earlier, it would have been inconceivable that anyone, let alone a mere political consultant, would cut off the most high-profile …