Today's Liberal News

After decades of service, Fauci says he’s stepping down from government role in December

On Monday, Aug. 22, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease expert who heralded the COVID-19 response for the United States amid the ongoing global pandemic, announced he will retire by the end of the year.

In a statement, Fauci clarified he is stepping down from his role as both chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden as well as his position as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

Independent autopsy reveals police shot Robert Adams seven times from behind

The family and friends of Robert Adams, a 23-year-old Black security guard shot and killed by San Bernardino, California, police, said their goodbyes at a funeral service for him on Saturday. “I am in pain,” his mother Tamika King said in remarks the Los Angeles Times captured the day before the service. “I won’t see my son walk through that door no more. I won’t see his beautiful smile.

A Murder in Russia

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.The daughter of a prominent Russian fascist was killed in a car bombing in Moscow. Most Americans have no idea who the Dugin family is, but this event could have serious repercussions in Russia and Ukraine.First, here are three new stories from The Atlantic.
Mike Pence owes the country an explanation.

13 Reader Views on Dysfunction

This is an edition of Up for Debate, a newsletter by Conor Friedersdorf. On Wednesdays, he rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Later, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here.

Why Freedom of Speech Is the Next Abortion Fight

In the middle of July, three big blue billboards went up in and around Jackson, Mississippi. Pregnant? You still have a choice, they informed passing motorists, inviting them to visit Mayday.Health to learn more. Anybody who did landed on a website that provides information about at-home abortion pills and ways to get them delivered anywhere in the United States—including parts of the country, such as Mississippi, where abortions are now illegal under most circumstances.

The Atlantic Presents: Shorter Stories

In a lecture written shortly before his death, the Italian writer Italo Calvino extolled the virtues of lightness in literature. After decades of writing stories, novels, and essays, he had reached a realization: “My method has more often than not involved the subtraction of weight.” Life is heavy, and the writerly task of conveying its truths can be equally weighty.

Google Workers Demand Privacy for Abortion Searches & Want to Stop Ads for Anti-Abortion “Clinics”

We speak with one of the more than 650 workers calling on Google’s parent company Alphabet to protect the location and browser history of people searching for information on abortion. A petition led by the Alphabet Workers Union also demands the company block advertisements that misleadingly direct users to so-called crisis pregnancy centers, a tactic employed by anti-abortion activists to lure patients to discourage them from seeking abortions.

Walmart, CVS and Walgreens Must Pay $650M for Filling Prescriptions to Pill Mills in Opioid Crisis

A landmark ruling orders pharmacy chains Walmart, CVS and Walgreens to pay a combined $650 million for their role in fueling the opioid crisis, as other cases have focused on opioid makers and wholesalers that distribute the addictive painkillers. A federal judge in Ohio found the pharmacy chains accountable for filling prescriptions even after suspecting doctors were operating pill mills.

The Classified-Files Scandal Is the Most Trumpy Scandal of All

The iron law of scandals involving Donald Trump is that they will always be stupid, and there will always be more of them. Trump scandals—the Russia investigation; Trump’s first impeachment, over his efforts to blackmail Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky; the insurrection on January 6—have something else in common: All these catastrophes result from Trump’s refusal to divorce the office of the presidency and the good of the country from his personal desires.

“No Tech for ICE”: Data Broker LexisNexis Sued for Helping ICE Target Immigrant Communities

A coalition of immigrant rights organizations have sued the data broker LexisNexis for collecting detailed personal information on millions of people and then selling it to governmental entities, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The lawsuit alleges LexisNexis has helped create “a massive surveillance state with files on almost every adult U.S. consumer,” and accuses ICE of using information collected by LexisNexis to circumvent local policies in sanctuary cities.

Palestinian NGOs Speak Out After Israeli Forces Raid Offices & Declare Them to Be “Terrorist” Groups

Israeli forces raided and closed the offices of seven Palestinian civil society rights groups in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, six of which Israeli authorities had designated as terrorist groups last year. The raid came as the United Nations condemned Israel for killing 19 Palestinian children in recent weeks, and 100 days after Israeli forces shot dead Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh while covering an Israeli military raid in the Jenin refugee camp.

What Will the Future of Kenya Look Like? Nanjala Nyabola on 2022 Disputed Election, Drought & More

Kenya is facing a political crisis following last week’s presidential election, with the apparent runner-up rejecting the results of the vote and the apparent president-elect announcing plans to form a new government. We speak with Nairobi-based writer and political analyst Nanjala Nyabola, who says the Kenyan elections yield “terrible candidates,” with the most recent election results following a decades-long tradition of election interference and miscommunication.

The Glaring Flaw at the Heart of House of the Dragon

This article contains spoilers through the first episode of House of the Dragon.While I was parsing how I felt about House of the Dragon, HBO’s lavish, sweeping new entry in the Game of Thrones universe, I came across an interview given to the Daily Mail by an alleged “Hollywood executive” connected to the series.