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Suddenly–for a moment–the backstabbing seems to have stopped. The Governing Council unexpectedly closed ranks last week behind a former exile, Dr. Ayad Allawi, as its unanimous choice to become interim prime minister on June 30. Surprisingly, the move was blessed by the U.N. special envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, who was tasked with choosing interim leaders for Iraq’s next step toward independence. Only days earlier, Brahimi thought he’d found the next prime minister in Hussain Shahristani, a nuclear scientist who spent most of the 1980s imprisoned at Abu Ghraib for opposing Saddam’s WMD efforts....

To mark her last birthday nearly a year ago, Reynolds shared the video made during the filming of the 2009 romantic comedy The Proposal, which also starred Sandra Bullock. Since White’s death, the three–minute clip has re-emerged on social media. It shows Bullock and Reynolds pretending to be out of character during some downtime. White appears like a whirlwind, playing a diva-like version of herself, pretending to confuse film star Reynolds for an assistant, ordering to fetch a coffee....

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov made a surprise visit to Syria in early September. It came in the wake of a joint condemnation of the U.S. by Iran, Turkey and Russia on August 26. The timing was not a coincidence. The next day Russian armored vehicles collided with a U.S. patrol in eastern Syria, injuring American personnel. Russia wants the U.S. out of Syria and it’s ready to take a gamble that President Trump will order a withdrawal before the elections....

But Americans do so at our peril. The City’s Office of Civil Rights gathered white employees for a mandatory session entitled “Interrupting Internalized Racial Superiority and Whiteness.” A researcher who reviewed the curriculum noted that the instructor taught that all “white people have internalized a sense of racial superiority, which has made them unable to access their [own] ‘humanity’ and [has] caused ‘harm and violence’ to people of color.”...

The striking cover art for Beyoncé’s seventh studio album—which is set to be released on Friday—features the iconic singer, 40, sitting atop a silver holographic horse, wearing a diamond-encrusted body harness. This is not the first time the erstwhile Destiny’s Child frontwoman has gone for an equestrian theme in her work, having included horses in videos for such tracks as “Run the World (Girls)” and “Daddy Lessons.” Still, a range of theories surrounding her choice for this particular project have been heavily discussed among the Beyhive....

Ace of Spade Champagne From this photo of Beyonce and Jay Z entering the awards ceremony, it looks as though their bodyguard, Julius de Boer, is holding two bottles of the Armand de Brignac Brut Gold. Jay Z bought the champagne from Sovereign Brands in 2014, so it’s no surprise he wanted to show it off at the Golden Globes. Plus, Jay Z probably couldn’t have been seen drinking Moet when he owns his own brand of champagne....

On Wednesday, The New York Times reported that Senator Bernie Sanders would make a stop in Pennsylvania as part of an eight-state tour to help boost “the energy level for young people, working-class people.” In the final weekend before the November 8 election, he will stop in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. The announcement comes amid the recent strides Fetterman’s Republican opponent Mehmet Oz has made in closing the gap between the two candidates in the hotly contested Senate race....

Federal prosecutors have charged an ex-FBI analyst and retired Air Force lieutenant colonel in two different cases after sensitive government materials were discovered at their respective homes. On Monday, the Daily Beast reported that Robert Birchum, who served in the Air Force for more than three decades and held top-secret clearance, is set to plead guilty to one count of unlawful retention of national defense information during next month’s scheduled plea hearing....

The Carrizo Springs Influx Care Facility in Texas, which was closed in 2019 after a surge of unaccompanied minors abated, is run by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), not the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has faced criticism for how it runs its centers. The government says the facilities are needed because COVID restrictions have cut the number of people facilities can hold in half and the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which runs the facility, says it is quarantining and testing newly arrived children, per CDC guidelines, and adhering to social distancing....

Master Sergeant Earl Plumlee was present at the White House Thursday to receive the nation’s highest military award for valor in combat, while the late Sergeant 1st Class Christopher Celiz and Sergeant 1st Class Alwyn Cashe were honored posthumously. Cashe, 35, who was stationed in Iraq, was the first Black service member to be presented with the Medal of Honor for military actions since Vietnam, the White House said. In October 2005, the Bradley Fighting Vehicle he was commanding was attacked with a roadside bomb and small arms fire....

With singing, dancing and a few familiar faces, a joyful parade streamed live on Biden’s inauguration website. Not only did it welcome the president to the White House, but it gave a platform to artists around the country. The inauguration was different from years past, with no crowd of American onlookers. Politicians, wearing masks, attended Biden’s swearing in, awkwardly fist bumping, hugging and perhaps lacking distancing guidelines, but crowds of onlookers were forbidden....

Confused but diligent to my mother’s ask, I went and found the only television available in my college dorm. It was June 15, 2012, one day before my graduation ceremony. But it was also the day President Obama announced a new policy that would eventually be known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. In the absence of action from Congress to fix our broken immigration system, the President was taking action to make sure that immigrants brought to this country as children not be deported....

“Let’s be absolutely clear about why prices are high right now: COVID and Vladimir Putin,” President Biden tweeted Wednesday morning. “Last month, about 70% of the increase in inflation was a consequence of Putin’s price hike because of the impact on gas and other energy prices.” This isn’t just untrue; it’s a disingenuous deflection. Yes, Putin’s horrific invasion of Ukraine has disrupted global energy markets and led to higher gas prices over the last few months....

The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that Biden beat President Donald Trump by 20,612 votes. The Trump campaign will have until 5 p.m. Wednesday to file a petition for a statewide recount—a move the campaign has previously hinted at but has yet to officially file. In Wisconsin, a recount must wait until all 72 counties have finished their canvassing of the vote and the runner-up candidate must be within one percent of the winner for a recount to be granted....

Russia and China have already proved a formidable adversary to the West by interfering in domestic processes and elections and launching offensive cyberattacks. Now, they are working together to create global cybersecurity norms at the United Nations. The Biden administration must focus on promoting global digital democracy at the Democracy Summit and defend it from authoritarians seeking to undermine the West. Unsurprisingly, neither Russia nor China was invited to the summit, and both have derided the gathering....

While Biden has repeatedly said that he plans to seek reelection, Trump has not officially confirmed whether he will run in the next presidential election. However, the former president has repeatedly teased the possibility, and most recent polls have suggested he would be well positioned to potentially defeat Biden in a rematch. However, the latest polling data from London-based Redfield & Wilton Strategies shows Trump slightly behind the current president....

By contrast, Congress is clear-eyed and focused on the threats emanating from Turkey. A bipartisan majority of the Senate signed a letter to President Biden earlier this year urging him to confront President Erdogan over his domestic crackdown against political opponents and civil society at large. This was followed by a bipartisan effort led by Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.) last month to warn President Biden of the dire consequences associated with allowing President Erdogan to kneecap his political opposition ahead of Turkey’s 2023 general election....

If they don’t know it already, Biden’s top policymakers will quickly learn that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will not change its strategy simply because the U.S. has a new president. Beijing will continue its attempts to push America out of Asia by weakening U.S. alliances and neutralizing the American military’s power projection capabilities. The regime’s efforts to reshape the international order to better serve the CCP’s authoritarian system of governance will continue unabated....

For Black women and women of color across the country, Joe Biden’s selection of Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate marks a watershed moment—one that rightly honors the integral role Black women have played in American politics for generations. For our nation, this moment broadens the lens through which we view leadership in this country. Now, the view finally captures the multiracial democracy that women of color have long fought to achieve....

The reality is that President Biden’s wide-ranging decisions on immigration—which include, among other things, ending construction of new border fencing, phasing out the policy of requiring asylum applicants at the border to remain in Mexico while their case is being adjudicated and pausing deportations for 100 days—will incentivize hundreds of thousands of poor people, mostly from Central America, who are frustrated with the lack of economic opportunities and the violence in their home countries, to make the dangerous trek north to the United States....