AP source: US operation killed al-Qaida leader al-Zawahri  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. airstrike has killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri in Afghanistan, according to a person familiar with the matter.  —  Current and former officials began hearing Sunday afternoon that al-Zawahri …

Why I Won't Vote to Add Sweden and Finland to NATO … The Senate will soon vote on adding Sweden and Finland to NATO.  According to the terms of NATO's founding treaty, that means the United States would be obliged to defend both countries in the event of a military attack.  I intend to vote no.

Manchin-Schumer side agreement would overhaul environmental review  —  The deal would also approve a West Virginia gas pipeline.  The West Virginia senator and Democratic leaders forged a separate deal to expand energy infrastructure that would have to be voted on outside the party's energy package

Jon Stewart shows Democrats how to respond to GOP cruelty  —  Senate Republicans last week provided Americans with a vivid example of their party's abject cruelty when they rejected the PACT Act, which would provide veterans with benefits to cover the health consequences they endured from exposure …

Trump endorses ‘ERIC’ in Missouri primary, a name shared by rivals  —  The former president's unusual endorsement added uncertainty to an already tumultuous race  —  POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — The Republicans competing for the U.S. Senate nomination in Tuesday's primary here spent their final …

Capitol rioter Guy Reffitt gets longest Jan. 6 sentence, but no terrorism enhancement  —  WASHINGTON — A Donald Trump fan from Texas who attempted to storm the U.S. Capitol while armed with a gun was sentenced to more than 7 years in prison on Monday after a judge denied the Justice Department's request …

EXCLUSIVE: Cassidy Hutchinson kept working for Donald Trump for nine weeks after he left the White House, government records show  — Insider sued the Biden administration for records identifying Trump's post-presidency staff members.  — Cassidy Hutchinson kept working for Trump …

Trump Supporters Think They're in a Fight to the Death  —  For all the defects Donald Trump has as a politician, he does possess certain skills, among them an almost preternatural ability to tap into the sensibilities—the id—of the American right.  More than any other Republican candidate in 2016 …

Nicholas Kristof Returns to The Times  —  The journalist who first started here in 1984 and began writing columns for us in 2001 returns to Times Opinion.  Read more in this note from Opinion Editor Kathleen Kingsbury.  —  In his “farewell” column before running for governor of Oregon …

Vast New Study Shows a Key to Reducing Poverty: More Friendships Between Rich and Poor  —  Over the last four decades, the financial circumstances into which children have been born have increasingly determined where they have ended up as adults.  But an expansive new study …

The cautious calculation behind whether Fox will dump Trump  —  The symbiotic, mutually advantageous bond between Rupert Murdoch's media empire and Donald Trump has often been described as a romance or a love fest.  —  Now that the relationship looks as if it may be headed to divorce court …

Secretary-General's remarks to the Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons [Bilingual, as delivered, follows; scroll down for all-English]  —  Your Excellency, Ambassador Zlauvinen,  —  Congratulations on your election as President of the Conference.

She Traveled 200 Miles for an Abortion She Never Wanted  —  Madison Underwood was thrilled to learn she was pregnant.  But when a rare defect in the developing fetus threatened her life, she was thrust into post-Roe chaos.  —  CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Madison Underwood was lying on the ultrasound table …

Abortion Moves Up on “Most Important Problem” List  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — When Americans are asked to name the most important problem facing the U.S., 8% of the resulting mentions focus on abortion.  While not high on an absolute basis, this is the highest such percentage since Gallup began tracking mentions of abortion in 1984.

Sen. Lindsey Graham Moves Fulton County DA Subpoena Fight to Georgia, Hires Trump's Former White House Counsel  —  Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has retained Donald Trump's former White House counsel Don McGahn to pursue his newly refiled federal lawsuit challenging a subpoena in connection …

The Bill Russell I Knew for 60 Years  —  Since I was 14, Bill Russell showed me how to be a better player—and a better man.  —  When I learned that my friend Bill Russell had died, I tweeted this response: “Bill Russell was the quintessential Big Man—not because of his height but because of the size of his heart.

Arizona AG says most alleged 2020 dead voters were alive  —  PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said Monday his investigators found just one dead voter after thoroughly reviewing findings from a partisan review of the 2020 election that alleged 282 ballots were cast in the name of someone who had died.

Coalition of news organizations sues Texas Department of Public Safety over withheld records on Uvalde shooting  —  The lawsuit alleges that the state police have unlawfully withheld records, including body camera footage and emergency communications, during the Robb Elementary shooting.  —  Copy link

Right-wing sheriffs are doing some really shady political organizing against the election system  —  The New York Times recently published a must-read investigation into right-wing activist efforts to organize county sheriffs for the purpose of challenging the electoral system based on 2020 election rigging disinformation.

Why the Democrats Are Funding My Far-Right Opponent  —  They said Trump was a threat to democracy.  Now they are they propping up my MAGA challenger.  —  Tomorrow I'm facing off against John Gibbs in the Republican primary for Michigan's Third Congressional District.  The race is close.