Dems' New Year's resolution: Stiff Trump on the wall and reopen the government  —  House Democrats — increasingly convinced they're winning the shutdown fight with President Donald Trump — are plotting ways to reopen the government while denying the president even a penny more for his border wall when they take power Jan. 3.

Trump Iraq Visit Is Called a Political Rally  —  WASHINGTON — During his surprise visit to American troops in Iraq and Germany this week, President Trump singled out red “Make America Great Again” caps in a sea of military fatigues, signed a “Trump 2020” patch and accused Representative Nancy Pelosi …

Nation's oldest living veteran Richard Overton dies in Austin at age 112  —  AUSTIN, Texas (FOX 7 Austin) - The nation's oldest living veteran, Richard Overton, has died in a rehab facility in Austin, Texas.  —  He was 112 years old.  —  Family says Overton was admitted to the hospital last week with pneumonia.

Blue Light Floods NYC Sky as Transformer Explodes in Queens  —  A transformer explosion in Queens sent an eerie blue light flooding into the nighttime sky over New York City Thursday night, startling residents.  —  Con Edison says a couple of transformers tripped offline at the substation …

Special Counsel Robert Mueller Seized Russian Trolls' ‘Nude Selfies’  —  The special counsel turned over reams of material from the email and social media accounts of accused Russian trolls.  —  Special Counsel Robert Mueller has collected at least three million pages of material from the email …

The Inevitability of Impeachment  —  Even Republicans may be deciding that the president has become too great a burden to their party or too great a danger to the country.  —  Ms. Drew is a journalist based in Washington who covered Watergate.  —  An impeachment process against President Trump now seems inescapable.

Trump used her slain daughter to rail against illegal immigration.  She chose a different path.  —  BROOKLYN, Iowa — The letters began immediately.  Dozens at first, then hundreds, each day bringing more: from a Texas man telling her this was why we needed to build the wall.

Report Puts Michael Cohen in Prague and Trump-Russia Collusion on the Table  —  In 2016, British investigator Christopher Steele collected a dossier of unverified intelligence tips related to Donald Trump's secret connections with Russia.  Nobody outside (and, for all we know, inside) …

Former McKinsey Executive Imprisoned by Saudis  —  Saudi citizen arrested in last year's sweep has been beaten, people familiar with the matter say  —  Saudi Arabian officials arrested a partner at consulting giant McKinsey & Co. in the fall of 2017 and have been holding him in detention since then …

Father whose son died in custody knew bringing him would ease entry into U.S.  —  Word spread through the impoverished village in the western highlands of Guatemala: Migrants traveling with a child are likely to make it past the Border Patrol and into the United States.

Inside Facebook's Secret Rulebook for Global Political Speech  —  Under fire for stirring up distrust and violence, the social network has vowed to police its users.  But leaked documents raise serious questions about its approach.  —  MENLO PARK, Calif. — In a glass conference room …

If You Only Get Your News From CNN, You Have No Idea This Story Happened  —  A left-wing billionaire gave $100,000 towards an online misinformation campaign that mimicked Russian interference operations — but if you only get your news from CNN, then you have no idea that happened.

New York City Traffic Deaths Set to Hit 100-Year Low  —  City officials credit traffic initiatives for reducing road deaths, on pace to fall for fifth consecutive year  —  The number of annual traffic fatalities in New York City is on course to fall beneath 200 for the first time in a century, transportation officials say.

Trump bragged to service members in Iraq about a 10 percent raise they haven't been given  —  Speaking to members of the military during his surprise trip overseas this week, President Trump spoke about the raises they received.  —  “You haven't gotten one in more than 10 years — more than 10 years,” he said Wednesday.

Agency: Government workers could do painting or carpentry work to help pay rent during shutdown  —  The U.S. Office of Personnel Management has offered federal workers affected by the partial government shutdown a guide for negotiating with creditors, landlords and mortgage companies while their income is cut off.

Fox News Hits Trump for Turning Troop Visit Into ‘Campaign Rally’  —  ‘Military men and women, I believe, deserve way more respect than that,’ Fox News' Julie Banderas said Thursday.  —  Matt Wilstein  —  The hits keep coming from Fox News to President Trump.

Has the GOP retreated into a world of make-believe?  The shutdown debate will tell us.  —  I know it's a tiresome discussion.  I know that most people would rather not be having it.  I also know that the government shutdown is an appalling hardship for hundreds of thousands of government workers …

With identical tweets, Schumer and Pelosi reveal themselves as mouthpieces for the same propaganda puppet master  —  I have long wondered about who writes the talking points that keep Democrats reading from the same script.  That person - or more likely, persons - evidently issues instructions …

Trump's New Judges Are Everything Conservatives Hoped For And Liberals Feared  —  WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has gotten more judges confirmed to federal appeals courts in his first two years in office than any president in modern history.  With 30 new circuit judges on the bench …

Welcome to the world of President Rand Paul  —  President's Trump's foreign policy follows no firm ideology but is often a combination of his long-held personal views and the influence of whoever currently has his ear.  These days, Trump is listening more than ever to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) …

Lauderhill man brings loaded assault rifle into store over dispute on cigarette price  —  LAUDERHILL, FLA. (WSVN) - Cameras were rolling when a Lauderhill man brought a loaded assault rifle into a convenience store over a dispute about the price of cigarettes.

The Justice Department deserves better than these guys  —  Justice Department employees and ordinary Americans concerned about the preservation of our constitutional system have a quandary: Stay with the devil they know at the Justice Department or go with the devil they don't.

What the stock market crash means for the climate … Let's talk about the stock market.  Pretty terrifying, huh?  The big Christmas Eve dip plunged the U.S. markets into “bear” territory — with declines of over 20 percent in the past three months alone.  The day after Christmas followed …

Air Force One spotted in Sheffield: how UK enthusiast revealed Trump's Iraq trip  —  Alan Meloy photographed distinctive plane in skies over Yorkshire on Boxing Day  —  When Donald Trump flew to Iraq on Christmas Day for a top secret visit, the US government took every precaution to avoid the news leaking out.

Mizzou Official Claims Tall Men Asking Out Short Women Could Constitute Sexual Misconduct  —  Getting up the courage to ask someone out on a date can already be nerve-racking, but now that college campuses have completely gone off the deep end, that fear will be intensified.

Silicon Valley will be a target from left, right and center in 2019  —  The best and worst tech moments of 2018  —  Joshua A. Geltzer, formerly senior director for counterterrorism and deputy legal adviser at the National Security Council, is executive director and visiting professor of law …