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

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 …

Democrats have joined Republicans in calling their opponents ‘enemies’  —  The idea behind democracy is, in part, that differences get resolved through consensus.  That instead of brawling over resources, we have a process for allocating power and assets that depends solely on the public will.

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.

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 …

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 …

Republicans Say Biden's Plan Taxes the Middle Class.  That's False. … Over the weekend, a congressional tax committee analyzed a portion of the tax Inflation Reduction Act Senator Joe Manchin struck with Senator Chuck Schumer and President Biden.  Republicans inaccurately claimed …

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 …

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.

American Motherhood  —  This article was featured in One Story to Read Today, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a single must-read from The Atlantic, Monday through Friday.  Sign up for it here.  —  I looked at the clock glowing on the nightstand in my bedroom and it read 1:23, one-two-three, a neat set of numbers.

Fact Check-Video does not show Biden being distracted by music from an ice cream truck  —  Social media users are sharing a video of U.S. President Joe Biden walking away momentarily during a speech given by U.S. First Lady Jill Biden and claiming that he was distracted by an ice cream truck.

It's time to retire the ‘third’ party conceit  —  There is a 62-year-old woman in Baltimore County, Md., who has an unusual distinction: She is the only registered member of the Grass Roots Party in the United States.  —  Maryland is also home to the only registered member of the Natural Party …

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

Trans cheerleader, 25, is given assault citation after ‘choking out’ teammate, 17, who called her a ‘man with a penis’ at cheer camp as video taken afterwards shows attacker saying ‘I barely touched her’  — Averie Chanel Medlock, 25, was booted from the Ranger College cheerleading camp …

The ticking time bomb still threatening the big climate deal  —  Though days have passed since Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) shocked the political world by coming out for a big climate and health-care package, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) has remained ominously silent.

GOP Consultants: Stop Blaming Others For the Problems You Created  —  The New York Times ran a big story last week on how GOP online donations are down 12% even as GOP enthusiasm seems to be surging.  —  The consultant class of the GOP is pushing the mythology that Google and Apple are flagging …

Why It's So Hard to Find an Affordable Apartment in New York  —  There simply aren't enough places to live, a crisis decades in the making and one that poses a threat to the city's continuing recovery.  —  A half a century ago, city planners warned that New York had the potential to swell into a “monster city” of 55 million people.