‘Ashamed’ Franken says he'll return to work on Monday  —  Breaking an eight-day silence, the Minnesota senator tells the Star Tribune that he needs to regain trust of those he's let down.  —  Sen. Al Franken broke his eight-day silence Sunday, reaching out to Minnesota media outlets to talk …

Readers Accuse Us of Normalizing a Nazi Sympathizer; We Respond  —  The Reader Center is a newsroom initiative that is helping The Times build deeper ties with our audience.  —  We have asked our national editor, Marc Lacey, to respond to feedback on our recent profile of a white nationalist.

Pelosi Chokes, Won't Say That “Icon” Conyers Should Resign Over Settlement Of Harassment Allegations; Update: Conyers Quits Top Spot On Judiciary Committee  —  An astounding performance, in which the first woman Speaker in American history goes to bat for a credibly accused harasser in the midst …

FBI didn't tell US targets as Russian hackers hunted emails  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI failed to notify scores of U.S. officials that Russian hackers were trying to break into their personal Gmail accounts despite having evidence for at least a year that the targets were in the Kremlin's crosshairs, The Associated Press has found.

Susan Sarandon: 'I thought Hillary was very dangerous.  If she'd won, we'd be at war'  —  She talks about Hollywood sexism, female empowerment and playing Bette Davis  —  usan Sarandon at 71 is bright-eyed and airy, and perhaps shyer than she can publicly seem.

Republicans offer a sham defense of Roy Moore.  —  The battle within the Republican Party has come down to this: Is it OK for a 32-year-old man to seduce a 14-year-old girl?  —  Will Saletan writes about politics, science, technology, and other stuff for Slate.  He's the author of Bearing Right.

Time Inc. Is Said to Near Sale in Deal Backed by Koch Brothers  —  Time Inc. is nearing an agreement to sell itself to the Meredith Corporation in a deal backed by Charles G. and David H. Koch, the billionaire brothers known for using their wealth and political connections to advance conservative causes.

Pentagon tried to block independent report on child sex among Afghan forces, Senate office says  —  The Pentagon tried to block an independent assessment of child sex abuse crimes committed by Afghan soldiers and police, instead insisting on the creation of its own report offering …

Ivana Trump: Donald Trump ‘missing a little bit of his old life’ … President Trump's first wife Ivana Trump said she believed the president is missing his life prior to entering the White House, when asked whether she thinks he will run for reelection.  —  “I think he's missing a little bit …

I went to jail for leaving my baby outside a restaurant  —  Twenty years after going to jail for leaving her baby in a stroller outside a New York City restaurant, Anette Sørensen is ready to set the record straight.  —  In 2012, she published a novel based on the “traumatizing” …

Why a historically conservative county in Virginia is making national Republicans nervous  —  (Julia Rendleman/For The Washington Post)  —  CHESTERFIELD, Va. — In this bastion of Virginia-brand conservatism, dozens of Democratic women roared on a recent night as their organization's leader crowed …

Congress stares down shutdown amid December deluge  —  December is shaping up to be the cruelest month for Republicans who control Capitol Hill.  —  Under enormous pressure for a legislative achievement, GOP senators will attempt to follow their House counterparts this week by passing …

Trump Tweets Link to Conspiracy Theory Website  —  Meet MAGAPILL.  —  President Trump tweeted Saturday night a link to a sycophantic website that traffics in conspiracy theories and has aligned itself to the alt-right and white nationalist movements.  Here's the Trump tweet …

IU Health investigates after controversial tweet traced to nurse  —  Indiana University Health is investigating a controversial tweet allegedly sent by a nurse who works for the organization.  —  The tweet, from an account named Night Nurse that has been linked to an employee named Taiyesha Baker …

Republicans fret over White House sales job on taxes  —  When photos of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and his wife, Louise Linton, posing with freshly printed sheets of money ricocheted across the internet earlier this month, Democrats fighting the GOP tax bill saw an opportunity to whack it.

What's Dangerous About Donald Trump's Foreign Policy?  —  When critics argue that Donald Trump is an exceptionally reckless commander in chief, they tend to highlight how the American president deviates from the norm.  —  By issuing “diplomatic pronouncements” on Twitter …