Russia's spies misread Ukraine and misled Kremlin as war loomed  —  KYIV, Ukraine — In the final days before the invasion of Ukraine, Russia's security service began sending cryptic instructions to informants in Kyiv.  Pack up and get out of the capital, the Kremlin collaborators were told, but leave behind the keys to your homes.

What Mitt Romney says about Liz Cheney possibly running for president  —  As Rep. Liz Cheney contemplates her next move after losing the Republican primary in Wyoming this week, Utah Sen. Mitt Romney says he wouldn't encourage her to run for president.  —  “I'm not going to encourage anyone to run for president.

Court orders release of DOJ memo on Trump obstruction in Mueller probe  —  A federal appeals court has ordered the release of a secret Justice Department memo discussing whether President Donald Trump obstructed the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Marcy Kaptur, a Veteran Democrat, Breaks with Biden in New TV Ad  —  Ms. Kaptur is the most prominent Democrat to break with President Biden as she seeks re-election in a Toledo-area seat that was redrawn to be sharply more Republican.  —  Representative Marcy Kaptur of Ohio …

Lawmakers demand data about online threats against law enforcement  —  House Oversight Committee leaders called on eight social networks, including Meta, Truth Social and Gab, to turn over details about how they're responding following the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago

Louisiana's Abortion Law Sows Confusion and Fear  —  Louisiana doctors fearful of running afoul of new abortion bans in post-Roe America gave a pregnant woman a devastating diagnosis, but not an abortion.  —  Nancy Davis says that when she learned this month that the fetus she was carrying …

Newly unsealed documents from the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago put Trump in even worse legal peril, experts say  — New legal documents were unsealed Thursday by a federal judge in the wake of the Mar-a-Lago raid.  — They show new details about the possible crimes the FBI was investigating with the search.

Sanna Marin: Finnish PM reveals she has taken drug test  —  Finland's prime minister has said she has taken a drug test, after new footage emerged showing the leader dancing with a Finnish popstar.  —  Sanna Marin, 36, came under fire this week after a leaked video showed her partying …

Kari Lake > Ron DeSantis  —  In the fight to become the heir of Trumpism.  —  1. The Trump Progression  —  We've done versions of this dance a dozen times before:  — He didn't do it; there is no story here.  — You don't have irrefutable evidence that he did it.  — That “evidence” is a fake-news plant.

Brian Stelter: A retrospective of CNN's ousted media reporter  —  Brian Stelter emerged as one of CNN's most partisan hosts under Jeff Zucker's leadership  —  Sean Hannity addresses CNN's Brian Stelter leaving the network  —  There was an earthquake in the media landscape when CNN announced …

The Constitution Is Broken and Should Not Be Reclaimed  —  When liberals lose in the Supreme Court — as they increasingly have over the past half-century — they usually say that the justices got the Constitution wrong.  But struggling over the Constitution has proved a dead end.

EXCLUSIVE: ‘It was party before country back then’: Ex-NSC counterterrorism staffer running for Congress on ‘country before party’ platform is accused of drinking on the job and sleeping with colleagues in the prayer room while at the White House  — Matt Castelli served as a director …

Biden to host ‘unity’ summit against hate-fueled violence  —  President Joe Biden will host a White House summit next month aimed at combating a spate of hate-fueled violence in the U.S., as he works to deliver on his campaign pledge to “heal the soul of the nation.”

Low water levels on Danube reveal sunken WW2 German warships  —  Europe's worst drought in years has pushed the mighty river Danube to one of its lowest levels in almost a century, exposing the hulks of dozens of explosives-laden German warships sunk during World War Two near Serbia's river port town of Prahovo.

Californians oppose Biden and Trump running for President in 2024  —  By a nearly two-to-one margin (61% to 31%) California voters oppose Joe Biden seeking a second term as President in 2024.  Republicans are overwhelmingly against the President running again (87% to 9%) …

Ron DeSantis Wants To Fake His Way To The Presidency, And It Could Work  —  Conservatives Love Being Mad About Things That Don't Exist  —  To live in the make believe world of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, one has to believe in a series of interlocking fairy tales, conspiracy theories, lies, and hoaxes.

America just got a $100-a-month raise  —  New York (CNN Business)Next time you stop at a gas station, think of it as a $100-a-month tax cut.  Or a maybe $100-a-month raise.  —  The steady drop in gas prices over the last few months has turned into an unexpected form of economic stimulus …

Liz Truss's plans are a holiday from reality, says Michael Gove … Michael Gove has endorsed Rishi Sunak for the Conservative leadership and announced that he is bringing his career in frontline politics to a close.  —  Writing in The Times, he says that Liz Truss's campaign has been a …

Judge grants preliminary injunction on Michigan abortion ban  —  The governor filed a suit to determine if the abortion ban is constitutional.  —  In this Oct. 16, 2020 file photo Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer speaks at Beech Woods Recreation Center in Southfield, Mich.

U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez and his wife defied property tax law for eight years by claiming two homestead exemptions  —  In Texas, married couples generally can claim only one such exemption, meant to provide some tax relief on properties considered “principal residences.”

WaPo quietly suspended one of its top reporters last spring  —  The Washington Post quietly suspended one of its longest serving reporters, Paul Farhi, this past spring, in a move challenged by the union representing the paper's reporters.  —  The suspension of Farhi, a media reporter …

Right-wing media is targeting Boston children's hospital for providing care to trans youth  —  Escalating threats show how anti-trans bigotry promoted by conservative pundits risks metastasizing into stochastic terrorism … RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM SOPHIE LAWTON & ARI DRENNEN