Top Items:
Nate Cohn / New York Times:
Republicans Are Building an Advantage in Redistricting. How Much Is It Worth? — Where things stands in the race for House control after recent court rulings. — The redistricting wars heading into the November midterm elections had been in a stalemate, with each party's tit-for-tat gerrymanders roughly canceling each other out.
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, DNYUZ, Bloomberg, New York Magazine, Associated Press and The Dispatch
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Washington Post:
With GOP wins on election maps, Democrats have a steeper climb to victory — Democrats said a House majority is still within reach after losing a court challenge in Virginia. — Summary — Republicans are eight seats closer to keeping control of the House since President Donald Trump …
Discussion:
twitchy.com, Associated Press, Townhall, NPR, NewsMax.com, The Message Box, The Daily Wire, Straight Arrow News, Cardinal News, Wall Street Journal, Semafor and Bloomberg
Erin Cox / Washington Post:
This powerful Democrat's job is on the line over redistricting — Like the Indiana Republicans who lost their primaries this week, Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson defied his party leaders on redistricting and drew the most competitive challenger of his career. — Summary
New York Times:
10 Days That Shook the House Map and Democratic Confidence … Just two weeks ago, Democrats felt increasingly emboldened about taking control of the House in November after seeming to fight the redistricting wars to a draw. — But two court rulings — one by the Supreme Court and another …
Discussion:
Washington Times, NPR, BizPac Review, Althouse, HotAir, CNN, Politico, Human Events, MS NOW, Mediaite, Washington Examiner and Axios
Carl Hulse / New York Times:
How Minority Districts Fueled the G.O.P.'s Southern Ascendancy in Congress — The “majority-minority” House districts struck down by the Supreme Court last week sent a surge of Black and Hispanic lawmakers to Congress. They also opened opportunities for the G.O.P.
Discussion:
The Atlantic and OutsideTheBeltway
Jamelle Bouie / New York Times:
Democrats Who Are Soft on Republicans Have Got to Go
Discussion:
HotAir, Meidas+, The Federalist, Wonkette, Slate, Ace of Spades HQ, Washington Examiner, Althouse and Mother Jones
Reuters:
Anger, confusion as Louisiana Republicans move to erase majority-Black US House district
Anger, confusion as Louisiana Republicans move to erase majority-Black US House district
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Democracy Docket, RNS, KSLA-TV and The Guardian
New York Times:
Two Court Decisions Have Unleashed an Era of Perpetual Redistricting
Two Court Decisions Have Unleashed an Era of Perpetual Redistricting
Discussion:
Politico
Hans Nichols / Axios:
2026 map swings back toward Trump
2026 map swings back toward Trump
Discussion:
Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, twitchy.com, Politico, The Hill, NewsMax.com, Al Jazeera, WJBK-TV, Boston.com, HotAir and NOTUS
Bill Mahoney / Politico:
Why Democrats' New York gerrymander won't be as aggressive as the GOP's efforts
Why Democrats' New York gerrymander won't be as aggressive as the GOP's efforts
Discussion:
The Contrarian, Townhall, Fox News, The Federalist, The Daily Caller, IJR, NewsMax.com, The Dispatch, New York Times and American Thinker
Marco Rubio / United States Department of State:
Disrupting Iran's Overseas Military Procurement Networks — Today, the Trump Administration is imposing sanctions on 11 entities and three individuals based in Iran, China, Belarus, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) involved in Iran's efforts to acquire or use arms and related materiel.
Discussion:
U.S. Department …, The Hill, Daily Caller News Foundation, RedState and The American Conservative
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Demetri Sevastopulo / Financial Times:
US imposes sanctions on Chinese companies for allegedly helping Iran — State department says groups provided satellite imagery that enabled Tehran to strike American forces in Middle East — The US has imposed sanctions on three Chinese commercial satellite companies for allegedly providing support …
Discussion:
Politico, United States Department …, The American Conservative, Bloomberg and Middle East Monitor
Perry Stein / Washington Post:
DOJ sees fallout after push to prosecute former FBI director James Comey — Several prosecutors have left the Justice Department, others are considering doing so, and at least one major case has been disrupted. — Summary — More than a half-dozen prosecutors have been demoted or pushed …
Melody Schreiber / The Guardian:
Hantavirus misinformation runs rampant as the US is unequipped to respond to infectious disease health scare — The US's withdrawal from the WHO - and cuts to the country's health system - stymie officials' response — The outbreak of hantavirus on the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius illuminates major gaps …
Discussion:
CNN, UNILAD, KEYT-TV, STAT, Vox, One America News Network, NewsMax.com, Digby's Hullabaloo, Forbes, The Intercept and MedPage Today, more at Mediagazer »
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Paul Sonne / New York Times:
Russia Has Lost More Than 350,000 Soldiers, New Estimate Finds — The number raises the prospect that about half a million soldiers in total have died on the Russian and Ukrainian sides. — About 352,000 Russian soldiers had died in the war against Ukraine through the end of 2025 …
Discussion:
DNYUZ, Mediazona and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Quinn Yeargain / The Downballot:
How Virginia Democrats can overturn the redistricting ruling: Retire the Supreme Court — Virginia Democrats are looking for a way to overturn the state Supreme Court's Friday decision invalidating the constitutional amendment temporarily adopting new congressional districts that a majority of voters ratified last month.
Leonie Cater / Politico:
US strikes Iranian oil tankers while awaiting Tehran response on peace plan — The attacks on the ships near the Strait of Hormuz cast more doubt on a tenuous ceasefire that the Trump administration insists is still holding. — The U.S. military on Friday said its forces struck and …
Discussion:
United States Department …, The Hill, The Guardian, RTÉ, Charleston Daily Mail, DNYUZ and Straight Arrow News
Christopher Hale / Letters from Leo:
MAGA Religious Leaders Dedicate and Bless 22-Foot Golden Trump Statue at Doral — A 22-foot, gold-leafed Trump effigy at Doral, blessed by Pastor Mark Burns and a circle of evangelical and Jewish clergy. The Catholic Church has a name for what just happened — and a duty to stop it.
Streamline Feed:
Russia and China Dominate African Airwaves Following the Shutdown of Voice of America — The abrupt closure of Voice of America by the Trump administration has allowed Russian and Chinese state media to dominate African news. The stakes are immense. — Get Context
Discussion:
Grabien
Christian Datoc / Washington Examiner:
Trump throws his base a UFO bone, but critics say it's Iran ‘smoke and mirrors’ — President Donald Trump's release of declassified UFO files on Friday drew excitement from longtime transparency advocates — and immediate skepticism from critics on both the Left and Right who argued the timing …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, New York Post, Al Jazeera, Blaze Media, Politico and ABC News
Alex Isenstadt / Axios:
Trump's ruthless midterm power play — President Trump is flexing his dominance over the Republican Party to stamp out primaries that would bleed party coffers and fracture the GOP ahead of a treacherous midterm election. … - He endorsed 95 percent of the 217-member House GOP Conference …
Discussion:
Our Revolution
Greg Sargent / New Republic:
Trump Ballroom Suddenly Faces GOP Opposition in Surprise Blow to MAGA — After a gunman allegedly attempted to assassinate President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents' Dinner last month, Senator John Fetterman seized on the moment to accuse his fellow Democrats of Trump Derangement Syndrome.
The Guardian:
Péter Magyar sworn in as Hungary's prime minister to end 16-year Orbán era — Jubilation in Budapest as Péter Magyar becomes leader and invites people to ‘step through gate of regime change’ — The pro-European centre-right leader Péter Magyar has been sworn …
Discussion:
The Hill, CBS News, UPI, Associated Press, New Yorker, Politico, Reuters, Washington Blade and Al Jazeera
New York Times:
Frontier Jet Hits Person on Runway During Takeoff at Denver Airport — The plane reported an engine fire and aborted its takeoff. The people on board were safely evacuated. — A Frontier Airlines plane struck and killed a person on the runway as it was taking off from Denver International Airport late Friday, authorities said.
Discussion:
Straight Arrow News, CNN, CBS News, Associated Press, New York Post, Townhall, Forbes, The Post Millennial, UPI, WJBK-TV, GV Wire, DNYUZ, The Colorado Sun, The Hill, The Daily Wire, Washington Times and WLTX-TV
Chris Buckley / New York Times:
How China's Leader Lost Faith in His Generals — Xi Jinping spent 13 years building a military to rival that of the United States. But the stronger the Chinese forces grew, the less he trusted the generals he had handpicked to run them. — The purge China's leader, Xi Jinping …
Astead Herndon / Vox:
The progressive plan to reclaim the working class — For years, one of the bedrock adages of electoral politics was “it's the economy, stupid.” The quip, coined by former Bill Clinton strategist James Carville, warned party leaders that economic concerns will always outrank other issues in the mind of voters
