DeSantis and Abbott Intensify Fight Over Immigration  —  Decisions to bus migrants to the vice president's residence and to fly others to Martha's Vineyard were the latest attempts to provoke outrage over record arrivals at the border.  —  EDGARTOWN, Mass. — Immigration lawyers rushed onto ferries …

Judge appoints special master, rejects DOJ bid to delay Mar-a-Lago ruling  —  U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon on Thursday rejected a Justice Department demand to let federal prosecutors continue their review of records marked classified that were recovered from former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.

Ohio Senate race: Tim Ryan blasts Lindsey Graham abortion ban as J.D. Vance stays quiet  —  U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan railed against a federal abortion ban introduced in the U.S. Senate this week, accusing “extremists” of trying to take advantage of the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Democrats Buoyed by Abortion and Trump, Times/Siena Poll Finds  —  President Biden's approval rating has climbed to 42 percent, and the number of Americans who believe the country is on the right track has doubled but remains low.  —  Even as they struggle to persuade voters that they should be trusted …

Pennsylvania GOP gubernatorial nominee was registered to vote in N.J. until 2021  —  Mastriano, Oz both come from New Jersey  —  New Jersey is serving as an incubator for Republican candidates in Pennsylvania, with two statewide candidates being New Jersey natives and longtime residents.

Biden to meet with South African leader, relatives of Americans detained in Russia … Today, President Biden has separate meetings planned at the White House with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and family members of two Americans detained in Russia: Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan.

The letters left behind by demoralized Russian soldiers as they fled  —  IZYUM, Ukraine — About 10 days before Ukrainian forces retook the city of Izyum last weekend, Russian troops stationed here were so demoralized that they drafted letters begging their superiors to dismiss them from their roles.

Video appears to show Marjorie Taylor Greene kicking a Gen Z activist  —  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) appeared to kick an unarmed demonstrator during a confrontation outside the Capitol on Thursday afternoon.  —  Videos posted to Twitter by Greene and the Gen Z activist group Voters …

Uber Investigating Breach of Its Computer Systems  —  The company said on Thursday that it was looking into the scope of the apparent hack.  —  Uber's computer network was breached on Thursday, leading the company to take several of its internal communications and engineering systems offline as it investigated the extent of the hack.

FBI charges Massachusetts woman with Boston Children's Hospital bomb threat  —  The FBI said Thursday an arrest has been made in connection with a bomb threat against Boston Children's Hospital last month.  —  Catherine Leavy of Westfield, Massachusetts, was arrested without incident …

Will The Polls Overestimate Democrats Again?  —  As Democrats' prospects for the midterms have improved — they're now up to a 71 percent chance of keeping the Senate and a 29 percent chance of retaining the House, according to the 2022 FiveThirtyEight midterm election forecast 2 …

Biden's Income-Driven Repayment plan would turn student loans into untargeted grants  —  For media inquiries, contact:  —  Brieanna Nicker esmedia@brookings.edu 202.540.7721  —  Nonresident Senior Fellow - Economic Studies Executive Director, Marriner S. Eccles Institute, University of Utah

Oregon Governor Moves To Toss Up  —  With less than two months until Election Day, the 2022 gubernatorial map has seen some surprising shifts since the outset of the cycle.  Republicans had initially started targeting the Rust Belt, hoping to flip control in perpetual swing states like Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Patagonia Billionaire Who Gave Up Company Skirts $700 Million Tax Hit  —  Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard described his decision to give away the outdoor apparel-maker as his last-ditch effort to do all he could to protect the planet.  —  The deal is structured in ways that also bring …

POLITICO Playbook PM: GOP govs' migrant stunts return to center stage  —  Just a day after Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS flew dozens of migrants to Martha's Vineyard, Texas Gov. GREG ABBOTT this morning had two busloads show up outside VP KAMALA HARRIS' Naval Observatory residence, per Fox News' Timothy Nerozzi and Tyler Olson.

Biden takes a big swing on the world stage before turning to the midterms  —  The midterms may be closely approaching.  But Joe Biden's focus, for the next week at least, will be firmly on matters overseas.  —  The president returns to the international stage over the next few days …

Family of Briton held in UAE urges divestment from Dubai Islamic Bank  —  Ryan Cornelius's relatives blame lender for businessman's extended detention  —  The family of a British prisoner in Dubai has urged foreign investors such as the lender JPMorgan and fund manager BlackRock to divest …

Why Is There Still No Strategy to Defeat Donald Trump?  —  One of the stunning facts of the age is the continued prominence of Donald Trump.  His candidates did well in the G.O.P. primaries this year.  He won more votes in 2020 than he did in 2016.  His favorability ratings within his party …

Alabama GOP chair refused to show license to vote.  That became a problem for poll workers.  —  This is an opinion column.  —  Clyde Martin is a retired TVA supervisor at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant who now rides motorcycles and does a little yoga.  He has a wife and a kid, but that only comes up when I ask him later.

Trump openly embraces, amplifies QAnon conspiracy theories  —  After winking at QAnon for years, Donald Trump is overtly embracing the baseless conspiracy theory, even as the number of frightening real-world events linked to it grows.  —  On Tuesday, using his Truth Social platform …