Live Updates: At Least 39 Killed in Strike on Train Station, Ukraine Says, as Thousands Flee From East  —  The station in the eastern city of Kramatorsk had been a main point of evacuation as the region braced for a scaling up of Russia's offensive.  The European Union formally approved …

Putin's Trojan horse inside the west  —  If Russia cannot dominate on the battlefield, its next best hope is for dramatic new evidence of western decay  —  This article is an on-site version of our Swamp Notes newsletter.  Sign up here to get the newsletter sent straight to your inbox every Monday and Friday

‘If we do this right...’: The new Dem organizing strategy catching fire ahead of the midterms  —  A group of Democratic strategists is trying to spread a novel organizing tactic in this year's election.  Technically, it's called “paid relational organizing,” but it boils down to this …

F.B.I. Preparing to Investigate How Classified Material Went to Trump's Home  —  Federal authorities want to know more about how sensitive national security information came to be in 15 boxes of documents and mementos sent to Mar-a-Lago from the White House.  — Give this article- - - Read in app

GOP ‘built on fraud, fear and fascism’?  If the jackboot fits...  There were even more vermin than usual in Washington this week.  A rabid fox at the Capitol bit at least nine people, including Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.).  And Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison attacked Sen. Tom Cotton …

Marjorie Taylor Greene Calls the Police on Jimmy Kimmel  —  Kimmel said of Greene's angry tweets about a joke he made earlier this week: “She's a snowflake and a sociopath — a ‘snowciopath.’” … Marjorie Is the New Karen  —  Jimmy Kimmel struck a nerve with Marjorie Taylor Greene this week …

Compact Fake Gay History  —  From Mariupol to Missouri, in real wars and culture wars, soldiers like to film themselves in battle.  Twitter is awash with footage of Ukrainian and Russian troops showing off their tactical prowess and grisly exploits.  US culture warriors do likewise.

‘Gutted’: Inside the Manhattan DA's Unraveling Trump Probe  —  The Manhattan DA's case against Donald Trump increasingly seems to be going nowhere. … Over the last several weeks, the Manhattan District Attorney's investigation into former President Donald Trump has appeared to be unraveling …

Capitol attack investigators zero in on far-right Oath Keepers and Proud Boys  —  Panel appears to believe militias coordinated to physically stop certification of Joe Biden's election victory on 6 January last year  —  The House select committee investigating January 6 appears to believe …

Peter Thiel Pumps Bitcoin, Calls Warren Buffett A ‘Sociopathic Grandpa’  —  Peter Thiel, the lightning-rod venture capitalist, offered up what he called an “enemies list” on Thursday, his attempt to call out anti-crypto investors while speaking at a prominent cryptocurrency conference in Miami, a crypto hot spot.

Ex-RNC staffer gets more than 12 years in prison in child porn case  —  A former GOP staffer and Republican National Committee aide who admitted to being part of a ring that traded child pornography involving babies was sentenced Thursday to more than 12-and-a-half years in prison Thursday.

GOP's ‘Putin wing’ takes a bizarre stand on war crimes resolution  —  Six House Republicans opposed a resolution on collecting and preserving evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine.  —  Much of the world has been horrified by evidence of Russia committing gruesome war crimes in Ukraine …

Yakuza Boss Arrested at Manhattan Steakhouse for Alleged Rockets-for-Heroin Scheme  —  “The drugs were destined for New York streets, and the weapons shipments were meant for factions in unstable nations.”  —  A Japanese organized crime kingpin conspired to broker massive deals …

Journalism's Twitter Problem Is the Journalists  —  Today, New York Times honcho Dean Baquet ordered a company-wide “reset” in how his staff should think about Twitter.  Mostly, he'd like them to never look at it again.  —  You can see why.  Most of the people who work for him are very bad …

Don't count on aggressive redistricting to blunt Democratic losses in the House  —  There is a consensus view among political analysts that redistricting has so reduced the House playing field that Republicans will likely gain only a few seats despite President Biden's unpopularity.  That may end up being true.

Men accused of impersonating federal agents being investigated for possible ties to Iranian intelligence  —  The two men accused of impersonating federal agents over the course of several years will remain in jail pending a detention hearing Friday, a federal magistrate judge ruled Thursday.

Luxury Yachtmaker to the Oligarchs Checks Up On Who Its Customers Are  —  Germany's luxury yachtmaker to the oligarchs is making sure it knows who its customers are.  —  Luerssen, which built two of the three largest superyachts detained by authorities over their links to sanctioned Russian billionaires …

January 6th, Roe v. Wade as the Known Unknowns for 2022  —  When asked in early 2002 to provide evidence that Saddam Hussein tried to supply weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups, then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld replied, “There are known knowns — there are things we know we know.

Rape exceptions to abortion bans were once widely accepted.  No more  —  As conservative states enacted stringent abortion bans in recent decades, there was one threshold they were loath to cross: Abortion was nearly always allowed in cases of rape or incest.

GEICO apologizes, reverses course after inviting Linda Sarsour to speak at company event  —  The pro-Palestinian activist has been widely accused of anti-Semitism  —  Property and casualty insurer GEICO landed in hot water with several Jewish advocacy groups this week after inviting pro-Palestinian activist …

A Zelensky impersonator escapes Ukraine — helped by fake Putin, Kim Jong Un  —  The day after Russia invaded his country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the world that he was “the enemy's number one target.”  Around the same time, a man famous for looking startlingly like Zelensky …

Former Congressional Staffer Pleads Guilty to Theft of Public Funds  —  WASHINGTON - A former Congressional staffer pleaded guilty today to theft of public funds in connection with his scheme to fraudulently inflate his salary and bonus payments, thereby paying himself more than he was legitimately owed.