Political Reckoning

America’s global standing is at a low point. The pandemic made it worse.

(Jabin Botsford/The Post)
(Jabin Botsford/The Post)
At home, President Trump’s handling of the pandemic has created division and confusion rather than a national strategy. The global community, meanwhile, is questioning the United States’ capacity for a leadership role at a time when the myriad crises call out for cooperation.

As public schools go all virtual, parents eye private schools that say they will open their campuses

It’s a situation that could exacerbate existing inequalities, with wealthier students attending classes in person at private schools, and everyone else using public schools’ distance learning.

Protests turn violent as weeks of civil unrest, clashes with police boil over

Thousands took to the streets this weekend from Los Angeles to Richmond to Omaha. In Portland, authorities declared a riot after protesters breached a fence surrounding the city’s federal courthouse building.
A man scatters rose petals on the Edmund Pettus Bridge before a caisson crossed with the casket of John Lewis. (Video: The Post; photo: AP)

John Lewis makes final crossing over Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma

Fifty-five years ago, Alabama state troopers beat Lewis and hundreds of protesters as they crossed the bridge. On Sunday, law enforcement paid tribute to the late civil rights leader.
  • 14 hours ago
(Jon Gerberg, Zoeann Murphy/The Washington Post)
From peaceful rallies to chaotic confrontations: the daily evolution of Portland’s protests
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Stories You’ll Want to Hear

A double down on federal force, a do-over on coronavirus

President Trump receives poor marks from Americans on two major issues: his handling of the coronavirus and anti-racism protests. Yet he's taking two starkly different approaches. Reporters Ashley Parker and Matt Zapotosky on Trump's evolving messages.
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Councilman William McKoy outside of City Hall in Paterson, N.J. (Christopher Gregory for The Post)
Councilman William McKoy outside of City Hall in Paterson, N.J. (Christopher Gregory for The Post)

Trump touts N.J. fraud case to attack mail voting. Local leaders say he’s not telling the whole story.

Paterson’s city council race this spring has been roiled by claims that ballots were stolen from apartment mail rooms. Officials say the alleged scheme was a complicated one made possible by a series of unique circumstances that would be difficult to reproduce in other cities, much less on a national scale.

A trial for vaccine researchers: Making sure black and Hispanic communities are included in studies

Younger people of color die of the coronavirus at twice the rate of white people, and black, Hispanic and Native Americans are hospitalized at four to five times the rate of white people in the same age groups.
Olivia de Havilland
1916–2020

Last surviving star of ‘Gone With the Wind’ dies at 104

Don’t Miss

Sen. Hawley lays down new antiabortion marker for Supreme Court nominees

“I will vote only for those Supreme Court nominees who have explicitly acknowledged that Roe v. Wade is wrongly decided,” said the member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Fact Checker
Analysis

Joe Biden’s worst-ever campaign moment, revisited

A pro-GOP group is running a campaign ad that accurately reprises a moment that helped end Biden’s first run for the presidency more than three decades ago.
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn) speaks as U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) listens during a news conference in July 2019. (AP)
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn) speaks as U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) listens during a news conference in July 2019. (AP)
The Trailer
Analysis

The ‘squad’ gears up for two tough primaries

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D) is defending her seat against Brenda Jones, the Detroit City Council president she defeated by just 900 votes in 2018. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D) of Minnesota will face challenger Antone Melton-Meaux.
Colombian soldiers patrol a street during a curfew. (AFP/Getty Images)
Colombian soldiers patrol a street during a curfew. (AFP/Getty Images)

Colombian guerrillas are using coronavirus curfews to expand their control

Human rights groups, community leaders and government officials say a toxic slate of leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and drug cartels are using the outbreak to consolidate control over parts of a country still reeling from the aftermath of five decades of armed conflict.
Residents survey a destroyed camper trailer in the aftermath of Hurricane Hanna in Port Mansfield, Tex., on Sunday. (Reuters)
Residents survey a destroyed camper trailer in the aftermath of Hurricane Hanna in Port Mansfield, Tex., on Sunday. (Reuters)

Hanna hammers virus hot spot in Texas with flooding rains

Hanna has dumped more than 15 inches of rain in parts of South Texas, resulting in serious flash flooding. Totals may exceed 18 inches in some areas before rain ends late Sunday or Monday.
Perspective

Wealthy retirees got a tax break from the coronavirus relief bill

The last stimulus bill contained a measure that turned out really well for older people with healthy retirement accounts, not so much for anyone else.
Perspective

Coronavirus pandemic work stress: How to hang on when your job is wearing you down.

Readers share their stories, and an expert shares tips on stress management.
(Ana Letese for The Post)
(Ana Letese for The Post)

How one black woman’s purchase of a home boosted her family’s finances for generations

It wasn't easy for Mary Pherribo to buy a home amid the racist housing policies of 1936. The effects of such policies still linger today in the nation's huge homeownership gap.
  • 3 days ago
Trump throws out the ceremonial first pitch before a game between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees in 2006. (AP)
Trump throws out the ceremonial first pitch before a game between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees in 2006. (AP)

Trump bows out of throwing first pitch at Yankees game and says he’ll do it later in season

The president said he cannot make it to New York on Aug. 15 because of his “strong focus” on the coronavirus.
A group of about 30 protesters marches to the Alexandria home of acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf. (Justin George/The Post)
A group of about 30 protesters marches to the Alexandria home of acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf. (Justin George/The Post)

On a quiet Northern Virginia street, protesting DHS tactics in Portland

The demonstrators stood in a circle, listening to a range of speakers decry the department’s involvement in separating immigrant families, deporting longtime U.S. residents for immigration violations and for what many termed the “kidnapping” of Portland protesters.
Bartenders and activist Allison Lane, 34, stands in Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C. (Astrid Riecken for The Post)
Bartenders and activist Allison Lane, 34, stands in Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C. (Astrid Riecken for The Post)

American exceptionalism was our preexisting condition

The most powerful nation in the world has proved uniquely vulnerable to covid-19.
A New York state ballot from 1895. (Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library)
A New York state ballot from 1895. (Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library)

A look back at the wacky, colorful history of election ballot design

Election ballots may look boring now, but that wasn’t always the case.
(Tom McCorkle for The Post; food styling by Lisa Cherkasky for The Post)
(Tom McCorkle for The Post; food styling by Lisa Cherkasky for The Post)

With a handful of ingredients and a smart technique, this sweet potato hash is ready in 20 minutes

With collard greens for more nutrition and texture, it makes an easy dinner, breakfast or brunch dish.
A fountain within a walled garden at the Stevens-Coolidge Place in North Andover, Mass. (Alexandra Pecci for The Post)
A fountain within a walled garden at the Stevens-Coolidge Place in North Andover, Mass. (Alexandra Pecci for The Post)

During the pandemic, a new appreciation for botanical gardens blooms

Americans can find refuge in quiet outdoor spaces near home.
  • 2 days ago
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