A make-or-break moment for our democracy  —  It's a habit of journalism to declare nearly every impending period as a turning point, a “defining moment” that will set a nation or even the world on a course for years or decades to come.  —  The routinization of the momentous is mostly harmless, but over time it has a cost.

False Election Claims in California Reveal a New Normal for G.O.P.  —  In an echo of 2020, Republicans are pushing baseless allegations of cheating in the state's recall race even before Election Day.  —  The results of the California recall election won't be known until Tuesday night.

State of the Union  —  DANA BASH, CNN HOST (voice-over): Fed up.  With U.S. deaths up to 1, 600 a day, President Biden pushes strict vaccination measures, prompting out outcry from Republican governors.  —  JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These governors won't help us beat the pandemic.

Biden Tells Top Democrats He's Preparing Lobbying Blitz on Filibuster Reform, Voting Rights  —  The president, sources say, has promised to lean on centrists to change the filibuster rules and save Democrats' imperiled effort to pass a new voting rights bill

Rose McGowan to join Larry Elder amid Harvey Weinstein-related allegation against Newsom's wife  —  McGowan claims Jennifer Siebel Newsom relayed a message from a Weinstein attorney  —  California Gov. Gavin Newsom fights for his political life  —  Actress Rose McGowan …

Rudy Giuliani rambles during 9/11 memorial dinner  —  Ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani at a 9/11 commemoration on Saturday called a top US general an “idiot” and “a-hole,” imitated Queen Elizabeth and distanced himself from Prince Andrew, in a series of rambling soliloquies, video shows.

Why Americans Die So Much  —  U.S. life spans, which have fallen behind those in Europe, are telling us something important about American society.  —  About the author: Derek Thompson is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where he writes about economics, technology, and the media.

The U.S. is falling to the lowest vaccination rates of the world's wealthiest democracies.  —  Japan initially struggled to get its Covid-19 vaccination program into full gear, but now that it has, the percentage of its population that has received at least one dose has edged past the level achieved …

A Second Major Seasonal Virus Won't Leave Us Any Choice  —  Businesses and schools must adapt, because the dual threat from COVID and the flu will be too severe. … He is the author of the forthcoming book Uncontrolled Spread: Why COVID-19 Crushed Us and How We Can Defeat the Next Pandemic.

Most Republicans want Trump as the GOP's leader but are divided about whether he'd help them retake the White House  —  Donald Trump is ‘99, 100 percent’ likely to run for president in 2024  —  (CNN)Most Republicans want former President Donald Trump to remain their party's leader, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS.

Trump's Judges Are Playing A Huge Role In Upholding Anti-Abortion Laws Across The Country  —  WASHINGTON — In 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump pitched to Republican voters that even if they didn't like him, they needed him for one big reason: the US Supreme Court.

Iran to allow IAEA access to cameras in its atomic facilities  —  Symbolic move aimed at buying time for UN's nuclear watchdog to find lasting compromise  —  Iran has agreed to allow the UN's nuclear watchdog access to surveillance cameras inside its atomic facilities in a largely symbolic move …

Texas wanted to be the tech haven of the U.S. Its new abortion bill and other measures are causing workers to rethink their move.  —  Tech workers are marking Texas off the list of places they'd consider working after the state passed the nation's most restrictive abortion law

Elon Musk drives through loophole by launching Tesla on tribal land  —  Tesla opened its first facility in New Mexico this week in partnership with the Nambé Pueblo.  —  Story at a glance  — New Mexico has laws on the books that prohibit car makers from selling directly …

Murthy calls Biden's new COVID-19 actions an ‘appropriate response’ to tackle pandemic  —  The surgeon general said it's not an “unusual phenomenon” to mandate vaccines.  —  U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy defended President Joe Biden's new mandates to vaccinate 100 million Americans against COVID-19 …

Where the Meaning of Flight 93 Can Never End The national memorial was built to allow multiple interpretations.  —  Paul Murdoch did not set out to heal the wound in the Earth, but to preserve it as a scar.  The architect of the Flight 93 National Memorial has spent most of the last two decades refining …

As West ponders aid for Afghanistan, China and Pakistan quick to provide relief  —  As international donors gather in Geneva on Monday to discuss humanitarian relief for Afghanistan under Taliban rule, neighbours China and Pakistan have already reached out with aid and discussions of future assistance.

Doctor says ‘death is imminent’ for a woman on a hospital bed in Michigan who refused the COVID-19 vaccine ‘adamantly’  — Dr. Nicole Linder from Michigan said she watched a patient's COVID-19 symptoms worsen for weeks.  — Her patient, Kathy, refused to get vaccinated, and now it's too late, Linder said.

FBI releases 9/11 investigation document that scrutinized Saudis  —  The FBI has released the first of what are expected to be several documents from its investigation into whether agents of the Saudi Arabian government provided support to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror plot …

I spent 5 years inside DC's foreign policy ‘blob.’ Here's why the experts keep getting us into unwinnable wars like Afghanistan. … One autumn afternoon a few years ago, I took the subway from my Brooklyn apartment to a mansion on the Upper East Side.  I was nervous.