US intel shows Russians fear Mariupol abuse will backfire  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has gathered intelligence that shows some Russian officials have become concerned that Russian forces in the ravaged port city of Mariupol are carrying out grievous abuses, a U.S official familiar with the findings said Wednesday.

Is the Democratic Party Giving Up Already? … The Democratic Party has a lot of problems right now.  Many of these problems lie outside its control: A global wave of inflation and continuing waves of coronavirus infection have prevented the recovery Joe Biden imagined when he took office last year …

The coming food catastrophe  —  War is tipping a fragile world towards mass hunger.  Fixing that is everyone's business  —  By invading ukraine, Vladimir Putin will destroy the lives of people far from the battlefield—and on a scale even he may regret.  The war is battering …

GOP candidate for Colorado governor says eliminate one-person, one-vote system  —  Under Greg Lopez's proposal, the 2018 gubernatorial race would have been a runaway win for Republicans, who lost the actual race by double-digits.  —  DENVER — Coloradans have elected just one Republican governor in the last 50 years.

At Wells Fargo, a Quest to Increase Diversity Leads to Fake Job Interviews  —  Black and female candidates are sometimes interviewed after the recipient of a job is identified, current and former employees say.  —  Joe Bruno, a former executive in the wealth management division of Wells Fargo …

He Was a World-Renowned Cancer Researcher.  Now's He's Collecting Unemployment.  —  Behind the fall of David Sabatini, ‘one of the greatest scientists’ of his generation.  —  In 2018, David Sabatini was a world-renowned molecular biologist.  He was a tenured professor at MIT.

Pete Williams to retire from NBC News after epic Washington career  —  A former Pentagon spokesman, Williams made the unusual move 29 years ago to return to hard-news reporting.  Many historic scoops followed.  —  A jolt went through Washington when the news broke just before noon on Jan. 26 …

The Secret History Of Richard Nixon, Mets Sicko  —  When he came off the mound on Sept. 30, 1988 after finishing off his eighth complete game and 20th win of the season, David Cone high-fived his teammates and walked into the home dugout unaware of what awaited him.

Wall Street Appears Headed For Another Rocky Day  —  Rising interest rates, high inflation, the war in Ukraine and a slowdown in China's economy have caused investors to reconsider the prices they're willing to pay for a wide range of stocks.  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street headed …

Fiona Hill says Putin got ‘frustrated many times’ with Trump because the Russian leader ‘had to keep explaining things’ to him  — Putin often became frustrated with Trump over his lack of knowledge on big issues, Fiona Hill said.  — “He had to keep explaining things, and Putin doesn't like to do that,” Hill said.

5/19/22 ☀️ Punchbowl News AM. … THEIR OWN POLLS HAVE THEM IN THE DUMPS.  PARTY LEADERS HAVE STRUGGLED TO WRANGLE THE VOTES FOR A SIMPLE MESSAGING BILL.  MEANWHILE, THE CAUCUS CONTINUES TO BE DOMINATED BY FALLOUT OVER THE REVISED NEW YORK HOUSE MAPS, LED BY AN INTERNAL BACKLASH AGAINST THE DCCC CHAIR.

Poll: Two-thirds say don't overturn Roe; the court leak is firing up Democratic voters  —  About two-thirds of Americans say they do not support overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal in the United States, according to the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll.

Trump uses Pa. primary to continue effort to undermine electoral system  —  Good morning, Early Birds, and a special good morning to the U.S. women's national soccer team for landing a “game-changing” deal to close the pay gap with the men's soccer team.  😎 💪 Tips? earlytips@washpost.com.

How Ted Cruz Became a ‘Blatantly Cynical’ Election Law Troll  —  Pay Dirt is a weekly foray into the pigpen of political funding.  Subscribe here to get it in your inbox every Thursday.  —  In the pantheon of politicians fighting for unpopular causes, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has now secured a prominent place.

Fox News Poll: Georgia's GOP primary race for governor sees Kemp holding wide lead over Perdue  —  Former NFL star Herschel Walker dashes ahead by 58 points in Republican Senate primary contest  —  Fox News Flash top headlines for May 18  —  Incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp leads former …

Rare monkeypox outbreak in U.K., Europe and U.S.: What is it and should we worry?  —  There's a monkeypox outbreak in England, Portugal and Spain.  The outbreak is quite small - just 36 suspected cases spread across the three countries, including 8 in England and 20 in Portugal.

More Americans to Hit the Road This Summer Even as Gas Prices Hit New Records  —  Seventy percent say their travel plans were affected by high gas prices, affordability drives decision making  —  GasBuddy, a PDI company, today released the results of its annual summer travel survey revealing …

Jill Biden's six-day tour of Latin America is high-stakes diplomacy  —  The first lady is making her third solo foreign trip, weeks before a major hemispheric summit that's going off the rails  —  Jill Biden is embarking on a high-stakes, six-day diplomatic tour of three Latin American countries …

White House working towards first presidential meeting with Saudi Arabia, which Biden had vowed to make a ‘pariah’  —  Washington (CNN)President Joe Biden and Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, could meet for the first time as soon as next month, multiple sources told CNN.

George W. Bush compares Zelenskyy to Churchill, mistakenly calls Iraq invasion unjustified  —  At Bush center event, Condoleezza Rice compares Jan. 6 to non-democratic countries  —  In some of his most extensive public comments about the Russian invasion of Ukraine since the war began …

Words aren't magic  —  The most important part of “messaging” is picking defensible policies  —  Medicare is a very popular program.  —  If you cook up a policy to enroll every American in a single-payer health care plan that guarantees free treatments at point of service …