POLITICO Playbook: MTG plays cat and mouse with McCarthy  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  Just a few days after Rep. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE called KEVIN MCCARTHY “weak” and said he needed to earn her vote to become speaker, the Republican lawmaker from Georgia took a different tone toward the GOP leader Friday night.

Stephen Sondheim, Titan of the American Musical, Is Dead at 91  —  He was the theater's most revered and influential composer-lyricist of the last half of the 20th century and the driving force behind some of Broadway's most beloved and celebrated shows.  —  Stephen Sondheim …

In Minneapolis Schools, White Families Are Asked to Help Do the Integrating  —  In a citywide overhaul, a beloved Black high school was rezoned to include white students from a richer neighborhood.  It has been hard for everyone.  —  MINNEAPOLIS — When Mauri Friestleben learned that Minneapolis …

Seeking Backers for New Fund, Jared Kushner Turns to Middle East  —  Former President Donald J. Trump's son-in-law is trying to raise capital for his investment firm and is turning to a region that he dealt with extensively while in the White House.  —  As a White House adviser …

BA to temporarily suspend passenger flights to and from Hong Kong  —  Two separate sources say British flag carrier took decision after at least one of its aircrew members tested positive for Covid-19 at Hong Kong airport Most of the BA staff on flight were then taken to Penny's Bay quarantine centre …

Laser-focused on 2020, Trump seeks a Michigan Legislature that could help him in 2024  —  Jon Rocha was settling in to watch the new “Ghostbusters” with his young daughter at the movies last week when he got the news: Former President Donald Trump had endorsed his bid for state representative in Michigan.

Court blocks Covid-19 vaccine mandate for California prisons  —  WHO calls Omicron strain a ‘variant of concern’ as U.S. adds travel restrictions  —  A federal appeals court on Friday temporarily blocked an order that all California prison workers must be vaccinated against the coronavirus or have a religious or medical exemption.

Russian & Chinese Ambassadors: Respecting People's Democratic Rights  —  Anatoly Antonov, Qin Gang  —  The upcoming American-led online Summit for Democracy will stoke ideological confrontation.  Faced with an array of global challenges, countries urgently need to strengthen coordination and cooperation for common progress.

Former Trump Adviser Steve Cortes Out at Newsmax  —  Tensions have long simmered between the cable channel and Cortes, a diehard Trump loyalist whose public criticism of Newsmax's vaccine policy may have been the last straw. … Former Trump campaign adviser Steve Cortes is out at Newsmax …

Trump says top US general should be ‘tried for treason’ for intervening to prevent a war with China  — Trump ripped Gen. Mark Milley and the journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa in a new statement.  — He accused Woodward and Costa of making up information in their blockbuster book “Peril.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul orders halt on elective surgery amid COVID spike, Omicron  —  Here we go again.  —  Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order Friday to postpone elective hospital surgeries — something that hasn't been done since the worst of the initial coronavirus outbreak last year.

Oil and gas companies should pay more to drill on public lands and waters, Interior Department says  —  In an effort to boost revenue and protect the environment, the Biden administration on Friday laid out plans to make fossil fuel companies pay more to drill on federal lands and waters.