The Follower Factory  —  Everyone wants to be popular online.  —  Some even pay for it.  —  Inside social media's black market.  —  Celebrities, athletes, pundits and politicians are buying millions of fake followers.  —  While the world's social media platforms look the other way.

Counsel Quietly Trying to Corral Trump While Pushing G.O.P.'s Agenda  —  WASHINGTON — When Donald F. McGahn II, the White House counsel, moved into his corner office on the West Wing's second floor last January, he chose not to decorate its walls or fill its glass-paneled shelving with personal items.

Tronc Is Building A Shadow Newsroom Full Of Scabs, L.A. Times Staffers Fear  —  A mysterious new management team appears to be quietly building a non-union network.  —  As lunch was winding down Wednesday in the Los Angeles Times cafeteria, Bruce Upbin, one of several newly hired …

‘Scumbag and liar’: Ex-White House ethics chief hammers Trump apologist Jack Kingston for attacking Mueller investigation  —  During a CNN panel discussion on a report that President Donald Trump asked White House lawyer Doug McGahn to fire special counsel Robert Mueller …

Reporter rushes to Kentucky school shooting - and learns the alleged gunman is her son … BENTON, Ky. — It was a journalist's worst nightmare.  —  The editor of the Marshall County Daily Online raced to the county's high school Tuesday morning after reports that shots had been fired.

Millions of Americans Believe God Made Trump President  —  If Donald Trump gets a little bored on his flight home from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he can always page through a book handed to him by a delegate not long after he arrived: “God and Donald Trump.”

'It's a Massacre': Taliban Bomb in Ambulance Kills 95 in Kabul  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — A bomb placed in an ambulance set off a huge explosion on a busy Kabul street on Saturday, killing at least 95 people and injuring at least 158 others, Afghan officials said.

Exclusive: Data shows Trump's DC hotel was pricier and emptier than peers in 2017  —  Washington (CNN)Just a few months before President Donald Trump moved into the White House, his presence was already firmly established in downtown Washington, just a few blocks from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue …

Wojo: Michigan State mired in full-blown crisis of trust  —  The crisis at Michigan State keeps expanding and twisting, no longer only a horrific sexual-abuse scandal, or only a hunt for justice.  For the school and whoever is left to lead, it's a crisis of trust.

Michael Wolff's ugly, sexist smear of UN Ambassador Nikki Haley  —  UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, one of the Trump administration's brightest stars, has been forced to deny an ugly, sexist rumor fueled by sleazeball Michael Wolff.  —  On Bill Maher's HBO program, Wolff — author of a best-selling …

The G.O.P.'s Bonfire of the Sanities  —  Like Alexis de Tocqueville's “Democracy in America,” Richard Hofstadter's “The Paranoid Style in American Politics” is often cited but less often read, which is a shame because the landmark 1964 essay helps explain our times.  Consider Ron Johnson, the Republican senator from Wisconsin.

Hillary Clinton: #MeToo, meet #SoWhat  —  How do you write a primal scream?  Because my head is about to explode over the story about alleged sexual harassment on Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign and her appallingly mild response, then and now.  —  To recap, while we were still reeling …

She Boarded a Plane to See Her Dying Mother.  Then Her Ticket Was Canceled.  —  In a hospital in Minnesota, Carrol Amrich's mother was dying.  —  In Pueblo, Colo., a thousand miles away, Ms. Amrich was frantically trying to get there in time to say goodbye.

Legislative staffers say pro-Trump supporters called them ‘illegal’ for being dark-skinned  —  Navajo legislator also says protesters asked him if he is in the U.S. illegally  —  Editor's Note: This story has been updated to include strong denials from pro-Trump protesters of allegations …

Billionaire Saudi Prince, Alwaleed bin Talal, Is Freed From Detention  —  BEIRUT, Lebanon — Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, Saudi Arabia's most prominent and flamboyant investor, has been released from detention in the Ritz-Carlton in the capital after he was arrested amid a sweeping crackdown on corruption …

McCaskill hammers Greitens over sex scandal  —  U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill gave Boone County Democrats what they wanted Friday night when she hammered Gov. Eric Greitens for the sex scandal that has engulfed his administration and Attorney General Josh Hawley for being in a hurry to climb the ladder his ads said he would avoid.

RNC Silent So Far About Contributions From Steve Wynn After Allegations He Forced Women Into Sex … Just months after the Republican Party worked to tie Democrats to alleged serial sexual abuser Harvey Weinstein, the GOP's chief fundraiser has been accused of pressuring multiple women …