Elizabeth Warren Announces She Is Running for President  —  Senator Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat and a sharp critic of big banks and unregulated capitalism, entered the 2020 race for president on Monday, becoming the first major candidate in what is likely to be a long …

Trump claims there's a 10-foot wall around the Obamas' D.C. home.  Neighbors say there's not.  —  In one of his most recent arguments for a southern border wall, President Trump on Sunday falsely claimed that the Washington home of former president Barack Obama and Michelle Obama is surrounded by a 10-foot wall.

GOP Rep. Walter Jones Suggests Trump Pay for Part of His Wall  —  Rep. Walter Jones is worried that President Donald Trump's proposed border wall will add to the federal debt — so worried, in fact, that he's proposing the president pony up some of his own money for the wall.

EXCLUSIVE: NYS Senate Dems say thanks, but no thanks to Simcha Felder's return to Democratic conference … ALBANY — Thanks, but no thanks.  —  As they prepare to take over the majority, state Senate Democrats say Brooklyn Sen. Simcha Felder will not be welcomed back into their conference.

Louis CK's Politically Incorrect Comedy Didn't Change.  You Did.  —  Comedian Louis C.K., who fell from grace after admitting in November 2017 that he had serially masturbated in front of various women, is back in the news after audio footage of his new material leaked online.

A Trump family aide tried to get a HUD colleague fired by name-dropping Eric Trump  —  Just three weeks into the Trump presidency, Lynne Patton, a longtime Trump family aide and freshly minted HUD senior adviser, had a personnel problem she deemed serious enough to invoke her powerful connections.

Federal employee union sues Trump administration over government shutdown  —  The nation's largest union representing federal employees filed a lawsuit Monday afternoon against the government, seeking damages for the roughly 400,000 federal employees forced to work without pay during the partial government shutdown.

Chief Pentagon spokeswoman announces departure  —  Chief Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White speaks during a news briefing April 14, 2018.  —  Washington (CNN)Chief Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White is leaving her post, a move that coincides with Secretary of Defense James Mattis stepping …

Wielding Rocks and Knives, Arizonans Attack Self-Driving Cars  —  CHANDLER, Ariz. — The assailant slipped out of a park around noon one day in October, zeroing in on his target, which was idling at a nearby intersection — a self-driving van operated by Waymo, the driverless-car company spun out of Google.

Justice Thomas's wife under scrutiny for partisan posts  —  Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has generated controversy with her use of of social media to spread far-right rhetoric.  —  CNN and The Washington Post published separate reports in recent days highlighting Thomas's use of social media.

U.S. Strategic Command deletes New Year's Eve joke about dropping something ‘bigger’  —  “If ever needed, we are #ready to drop something much, much bigger,” the unified command, part of the Defense Department, tweeted.  —  U.S. Strategic Command made an unexpected joke in a now-deleted Twitter post …

Brazil's Bolsonaro follows through on gun, ‘anti-Marxist’ vows  —  Bolsonaro, 63, won election in October on an anti-crime, anti-corruption platform  —  Brasília (AFP) - On the eve of taking office as Brazil's new president on Tuesday, Jair Bolsonaro is making clear he intends …

Is Veganism a “Cultural Appropriation”?  —  We throw a lot of shade here at vegans, chiefly because it has taken on the affectations of ideology, such that cow-hating environmentalists would mandate a vegan diet for all of us if they could.  There's also much truth in the joke: “How do you do you know someone is vegan?

Hackers Threaten to Dump Insurance Files Related to 9/11 Attacks  —  The Dark Overlord appears to be trying to capitalize on conspiracy theories about the September 11 attacks.  —  On Monday, New Year's Eve, a hacker group announced it had breached a law firm handling cases related …

Mysterious swamp cancer is killing Chincoteague ponies on Virginia island famous for them  —  SALISBURY, Md. — Four Chincoteague, Virginia, ponies afflicted with swamp cancer, the mysterious disease that also killed ponies earlier this year, were euthanized, officials announced Friday.

Cane toads snake ride on python's back to escape storm in northern Australia  —  Amphibian expert says toads were trying to mate with python, as thousands of the invasive pest are flushed out by rising waters in Kununurra  —  Play Video  —  A huge storm in Australia's north on Sunday flushed …

American Paul Whelan arrested in Russia on spy charges as potential retribution for Maria Butina  —  Russia has arrested an American citizen in Moscow for alleged espionage, according to the country's security services, the FSB.  —  “On December 28, 2018, staff members of the Russian Federal …

National parks dealing with vandals, human waste in shutdown  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Human feces, overflowing garbage, illegal off-roading and other damaging behavior in fragile areas were beginning to overwhelm some of the West's iconic national parks on Monday, as a partial government shutdown left …

The Year in Pictures: Highlights Edition  —  It is hard to select the best of the Week in Pictures, but going back through them I realized how fast the year went (because Trump years are like dog years).  It seems like decades ago that we were obsessing over Tide Pods, plastic straw bans, and a government shut down.

US stocks post worst year in a decade as the S&P 500 falls more than 6% in 2018  —  Wall Street concluded a tumultuous 2018 on Monday as the major stock indexes posted their worst yearly performances since the financial crisis.  —  After solid gains on Monday, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average …