Putin says he won't deport U.S. diplomats as he looks to cultivate relations with Trump  —  MOSCOW — In a rare break from the diplomatic tradition of reciprocal punishment, Russian President Vladi­mir Putin said Friday he would not deport U.S. diplomats in a tit-for-tat response …

Dear Family and Friends,  —  This is the message I have sent to Choir:  —  Dear President Jarrett and Choir,  —  Today is my birthday.  (Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you...........)  —  It is with a sad and heavy heart that I submit my resignation to you and to Choir.

Judge halts North Carolina law stripping incoming Dem governor's power  —  A North Carolina judge has temporarily blocked a law passed by the state's Republican-controlled legislature that limits the incoming governor's powers over election boards.  —  A superior court judge ruled Friday …

Team Trump: We're the true target of Obama's sanctions  —  President Barack Obama said Thursday that the sanctions announced against Russia were a response to the Kremlin's “aggressive harassment of U.S. officials and cyber operations aimed at the U.S. election.”

Self-Driving Cars Will Make Organ Shortages Even Worse  —  We need to prepare for that now.  —  Much has been said about the ways we expect our oncoming fleet of driverless cars to change the way we live—remaking us all into passengers, rewiring our economy, retooling our views of ownership, and reshaping our cities and roads.

Obama to huddle with Hill Democrats on saving Obamacare  —  President Barack Obama will head to Capitol Hill Wednesday to meet with congressional Democrats about how to shield Obamacare from Republican efforts to dismantle it, a Capitol Hill source told POLITICO.

Trump deportation plan could be ‘impossible’  —  Donald Trump is pledging to deport two to three million gang members, drug dealers and other criminals who are in the U.S. illegally.  But people who've actually run the nation's immigration enforcement agencies say it can't be done …

Apple to slice iPhone production 10%  —  Sluggish sales spur January-March cuts for second year  —  TOKYO — Apple will trim production of its iPhone family around 10% on the year in the first quarter of 2017, according to calculations by The Nikkei based on data from suppliers.

Sanders blasts Trump talk of ‘public-private option’ for VA  —  (I-Vt.) slammed a plan floated by President-elect Donald Trump  —  to create a “public-private option” for veterans to seek healthcare.  —  “Privatizing the VA would be an insult to the more than 22 million veterans who risked …

Skeptical Climate Scientists Coming In From the Cold  —  In the world of climate science, the skeptics are coming in from the cold.  —  Researchers who see global warming as something less than a planet-ending calamity believe the incoming Trump administration may allow their views to be developed and heard.

Rep. Meadows targets campus rape rule as unfair to ‘often-innocent accused’  —  Incoming Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows recommended that the Trump administration roll back 2011 campus sexual assault guidelines that “deny the often-innocent accused basic due process rights.”

This Is What It Was Like At Two Russian Sites The US Wants Closed  —  The US announced earlier on Thursday that two sites — one in Maryland, one in New York — would be shuttered as a penalty for Russian hacking during the election.  —  Reporting From  —  Oyster Bay, New York

Mar-a-Lago sold tickets to New Year's Eve party with Trump  —  Mar-a-Lago, the pricey private resort in Palm Beach, Florida, sold hundreds of tickets to an annual New Year's Eve extravaganza planned for Saturday night that will feature a very special guest: the president-elect of the United States of America and his family.

California Democrats legalize child prostitution  —  Beginning on Jan. 1, prostitution by minors will be legal in California.  Yes, you read that right.  —  SB 1322 bars law enforcement from arresting sex workers who are under the age of 18 for soliciting or engaging in prostitution, or loitering with the intent to do so.

What Chuck Todd gets about Trump  —  Chuck Todd has interviewed Donald Trump many times, and he's noticed something somewhat disquieting about the unquiet president-elect.  —  The man doesn't laugh — not in a normal, spontaneous, regular-human kind of way.  —  “[It] drives me crazy.  Do you know what?