Statement by the Department of Defense  —  (Attributable to Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby)  —  “At President Biden's direction, U.S. military forces earlier this evening conducted defensive precision airstrikes against facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups in the Iraq-Syria border region.

Toyota is the no. 1 donor to 2020 election objectors — by far  —  The Japanese automaker gave $55,000 to 37 GOP objectors this year.

An Accusation Blew Up a Campaign.  The Media Didn't Know What to Do.  —  Handling a delicate allegation of sexual misconduct is a lot more challenging than covering a horse race.  —  Two days after coming in fifth in the election night count of votes for New York mayor last week …

The Last-And Only-Foreign Scientist in the Wuhan Lab Speaks Out  —  Danielle Anderson was working in what has become the world's most notorious laboratory just weeks before the first known cases of Covid-19 emerged in central China.  Yet, the Australian virologist still wonders what she missed.

Where Jobless Benefits Were Cut, Jobs Are Still Hard to Fill  —  Missouri scrapped federal pay to the unemployed, saying it kept people out of the labor market.  But so far, workers still seem to be choosy.  —  MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. — By lunchtime, the representatives …

Possible Failure Point Emerges in Miami Building Collapse  —  Some engineers looking at the failure of a 13-story condo tower in Florida said the collapse appeared to have begun somewhere near the bottom of the building.  —  The investigation into what may be the deadliest accidental building collapse …

Trump Organization attorneys given Monday deadline to persuade prosecutors not to file charges against it  —  Prosecutors in New York have given former president Donald Trump's attorneys a deadline of Monday afternoon to make any final arguments as to why the Trump Organization …

QAnon Supporters Express Boredom With ‘Same Old’ Trump Speech: ‘This Is Getting Ridiculous’  —  Both QAnon and longtime supporters of former President Donald Trump criticized his Saturday night speech in Wellington, Ohio, accusing him of the “same-old, same-old” grievances against Democrats …

Madison Cawthorn, self-described ‘big history buff,’ keeps getting historical facts wrong  —  Washington (CNN)Rep. Madison Cawthorn, a freshman Republican from North Carolina, has called himself a “big history buff” and a “lover of history.”  —  But Cawthorn — who, at age 25 …

How Many Gaza Palestinians Were Killed by Hamas Rockets in May?  An Estimate  —  BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 2,081, June 27, 2021  —  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Much of the coverage and commentary surrounding the fighting in May between Hamas and Israel has focused on numbers …

Voters didn't elect us to do nothing and blame the Senate filibuster.  Get rid of it.  —  Voters elected us to fix problems and we should.  Yes, the other party might take power and pass bills I think are bad, but that's how democracy works.  —  The future of our republic is being decided …

The Catholic bishops' anti-Biden project is backfiring  —  In the 1960s, when Time magazine published its now-iconic “Is God Dead?” cover, the theologian Harvey Cox wrote that the “ ‘death of God’ syndrome can only occur when the controlling symbols of the culture have been more or less uncritically fused with the transcendent God.”

Le Pen's far-right party suffers blow in French regional elections  —  Rassemblement National fails to win region in south of France stronghold after rivals form ‘Republican front’  —  Marine Le Pen's far-right party has suffered a serious electoral blow when it failed to win a regional election …

Framework to Stop the Bias and Check Big Tech  —  A letter to House Republicans from Leader Kevin McCarthy:  —  Just days before the 2018 primary election, Google search results for “California Republicans” identified our ideology as “Nazism.”  At the same time, conservatives like Devin Nunes …

Sen. Bill Cassidy: 'Roads and bridges are a woman's problem' because they are ‘doing the shopping’  —  Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) on Sunday insisted that infrastructure like roads and bridges is a “women's problem” because they do the “shopping.”  —  Cassidy made the remarks on NBC's Meet the Press …