Murdochs Start to Sour on DeSantis: ‘They Can Smell a Loser’  —  The conservative media kingmakers' preferred candidate to knock off Donald Trump is not meeting expectations, and the family's patriarch is getting tired of waiting … But in recent weeks, the Murdochs have grown increasingly displeased …

Lawyers with supreme court business paid Clarence Thomas aide via Venmo  —  Payments to Rajan Vasisht, an aide from 2019-21, underscore ties between the justice and lawyers who argue cases in front of him  —  Several lawyers who have had business before the supreme court …

Democratic jitters grow over Cornel West's third-party bid  —  Cornel West's third-party presidential campaign is stirring up unpleasant flashbacks to 2016 for members of the Democratic Party, some of whom are starting to grow anxious about the effect it could have on President Biden's reelection.

This Is One Republican Strategy That Isn't Paying Off  —  Mr. Edsall contributes a weekly column from Washington, D.C., on politics, demographics and inequality.  —  In 2011, determined to push back the ascendant Democratic coalition that elected America's first Black president …

Inflation eased further in June as economy slowly cools  —  But the Federal Reserve isn't ready to declare victory yet, especially since not every source of inflation is fading at the same time or with the same momentum  —  A year after inflation soared to the highest level in four decades …

Hollywood Studios' WGA Strike Endgame Is To Let Writers Go Broke Before Resuming Talks In Fall  —  EXCLUSIVE: Regardless of whether SAG-AFTRA goes on strike this week, the studios have no intention of sitting down with the Writers Guild for several more months.

Milan Kundera, Author of ‘The Unbearable Lightness of Being,’ Has Died  —  Milan Kundera, whose dissident writings in communist Czechoslovakia transformed him into an exiled satirist of totalitarianism, has died in Paris at the age of 94, Czech media said Wednesday.

FBI Director Wray to face harshest GOP critics in Wednesday hearing  —  FBI Director Christopher Wray will testify on Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee, a hearing that will put Wray in front of some of his harshest critics on Capitol Hill.  —  House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan …

Tax prep companies shared private taxpayer data with Google and Meta for years, congressional probe finds  —  Some of the nation's largest tax-prep companies have spent years sharing Americans' sensitive financial data with tech titans including Meta and Google in a potential violation of federal law …

Trump Lashes Out at Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa  —  The former president snubbed one influential Iowa leader and attacked another, testing his immunity to traditional political pitfalls in a crucial state.  —  Iowa may be the most important state on Donald J. Trump's early 2024 political calendar …

China-based hackers breached email accounts, Microsoft says  —  Microsoft said late Tuesday a known group that primarily focuses on hacking Western governments to spy on them had successfully breached some accounts.  —  Hackers in China recently broke into the email accounts of around 25 organizations …

Executed Russian sub commander may have been tracked on a fitness app  —  As with any news coming out of Russia, there's almost no telling what is true and what is not.  What we do know for certain is that a former Naval officer and sub commander who Ukraine had accused of war crimes was killed …

Iowa Republicans pass a new 6-week abortion ban  —  Passage capped a marathon one-day special legislative session.  It now goes to Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds for her signature.  —  Iowa Republicans passed a bill late Tuesday to ban most abortions after six weeks — a restrictive measure …

Rough Days for Biden, Rougher Days for Trump  —  WAS LAST WEEK “hellish” for President Joe Biden?  Is he in for a cruel summer, filled with setbacks, scandal and calls for him to step aside because he's too old?  On the contrary.  The cruel, hellish summer of setbacks and scandal is coming for Donald Trump.

Thiel, Brock & a Gutter Oppo Campaign for Our Times  —  When Peter Thiel emerged as the right's potential heir to Sheldon Adelson during the '22 midterms, a highly connected Democratic operative launched a guerilla opposition research campaign to chill his political influence.

‘He was free and clear’: How the leak of Jon Gruden's email led to the fall of Commanders owner Dan Snyder  —  AS HE HOPPED on a call with Roger Goodell, Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis had no plans to fire his head coach.  —  It was the afternoon of Friday, Oct. 8, 2021.

Republicans say they would like to call witness despite criminal indictment  —  Gal Luft has been charged with acting as an unregistered foreign agent for Chinese entities and brokering illegal arms deals with Iran and Libya  —  House Republicans on Tuesday said they still hope to call …

F.T.C.'s Lina Khan Faces Fresh Questions After Microsoft Ruling  —  Lina Khan has said a fear of defeat should not deter the agency from suing big tech companies.  But after Microsoft won a ruling this week, her critics say that strategy is flawed.  —  Reporting from Washington

Southern border ‘eerily quiet’ after policy shift on asylum seekers  —  EL PASO — On the border bridge from Mexico, about 200 asylum seekers lined up on a recent morning with their phones open to a Customs and Border Protection mobile app, ready for appointments at a reception hall on the U.S. side.

'We're not Amazon': UK defence secretary suggests Ukraine could say thank you more  —  Ben Wallace says west would like to see gratitude for help, as Zelenskiy complains over caution on Nato membership  —  The British defence secretary, Ben Wallace, has suggested Ukraine needs to put …

Georgia election workers say Giuliani failed to turn over key evidence in defamation suit  —  “He failed to take any steps to preserve relevant electronic evidence,” their attorneys said of Giuliani.  —  Amid Donald Trump's desperate bid to subvert the 2020 election, a top adviser …

Sleepy Joe!  Biden, 80, SKIPS dinner with NATO leaders and goes straight to his hotel - after bragging to Turkey's Erdogan that he will win White House again in 2024  — Biden went to his hotel in Vilnius, Lithuania, rather than attend the NATO dinner  — US official said he has four days …

Biden's approval rating lingers at 40%, economy remains top worry, Reuters/Ipsos poll shows  —  U.S. President Joe Biden's public approval rating held steady at 40% in early July, close to the lowest levels of his presidency, as economic worries continued to trouble Americans, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll this week.

Ukraine Needs NATO—and NATO Needs Ukraine, Too  —  Last week, an opinion article in Foreign Affairs argued for locking Ukraine out of NATO.  The authors, Justin Logan and Joshua Shifrinson of the Cato Institute, offered five claims to support their arguments.