Exclusive: Woman who dated Graham Platner says he sexually assaulted her  —  A woman who dated Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner says he forced her to have sex with him nearly five years ago despite her repeated objections, an allegation Platner denies.

The Joy of the World Cup Just Collided With Trump  —  This year's World Cup has been unusually thrilling on the field, even by the tournament's high standards for drama, and has largely gone off without a hitch, despite prior concerns about stadium travel logistics for fans and whether the obscenely expensive matches would sell out.

Mitch McConnell's Office Won't Confirm If He's Conscious  —  A spokesperson for Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) would not say Monday whether he is conscious in the hospital, where he's been since June 14 after someone at his house was reportedly found unconscious and received CPR for cardiac arrest.

IRGC Fires Missiles at Ships in Strait of Hormuz  —  Attacks could complicate negotiations to end U.S. war with Iran  —  Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired missiles at two commercial ships near the Strait of Hormuz early Tuesday, according to a senior U.S. official …

Man in viral D.C. Metro photo says he was ‘terrified’ as masked white nationalists surrounded him  —  Roswell Encina, a gay Filipino American civic leader, said the Fourth of July encounter with Patriot Front was frightening and impossible to separate from American history.

White House report accuses Smithsonian museum of ‘extreme political activism’  —  The 162-page report on the National Museum of American History marks an escalation of President Donald Trump's criticism of the Smithsonian museums.  —  Summary  —  A new report from the White House accuses …

ICE's Internal Watchdog Is Now Investigating Online Critics  —  The Office of Professional Responsibility has opened more than 100 cases over what ICE officials call “incidents of doxing and threats” against ICE employees.  —  Voting was already underway when the ICE agents arrived …

Scoop: Netanyahu asks Trump to rein in Erdoğan ahead of NATO summit  —  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu complained to President Trump on Friday about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's escalating anti-Israel rhetoric, according to Israeli and U.S. officials.

Key Health Care Panel Is Again Blocked From Meeting  —  The United States Preventive Services Task Force has been stymied under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.  —  For the fourth time, the Trump administration has prevented an important public health panel from meeting as planned.

The Results Are In on Trump's Boat-Strike Campaign  —  They haven't stopped the drugs, but that may not be the point.  —  The official line remains the same: The 10-month campaign of strikes on small boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific has nearly stopped the flow of drugs by sea into the United States.

Rahm Emanuel's Israel Speech Shows Where American Politics Is Headed … Rahm Emanuel is in Israel this week to deliver a speech designed to be a thunderclap.  The combination of message and messenger should produce a loud echo.  —  The message is that the war in Gaza and shifts in American …

He was Trump's boyhood friend.  Now he's pushing Trump to declare a ‘national emergency’ and seize control of the midterms  —  Donald Trump Congressional news January 6th US elections  —  In Peter Ticktin's world, there always seems to be a conspiracy or cover-up lurking.  —  The 2020 election?