Takeaways so far from House public impeachment hearings  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The start of public impeachment hearings unfolding in Congress marks the first time the American public can watch and listen to the witnesses at the heart of the matter.  —  In several hours of testimony …

Deval Patrick Tells Democrats He Will Run in 2020 Presidential Race  —  Mr. Patrick, the former two-term governor of Massachusetts, called several leading Democrats and allies to say that he would announce a 2020 presidential bid later this week.  —  NEW ORLEANS — Former Gov. Deval Patrick …

What Impeachment Will Cost the GOP  —  On December 19, 1998, the day House Republicans impeached President Bill Clinton, he recorded his highest-ever score in Gallup's presidential approval poll: 73 percent favorable.  —  That was 24 percentage points higher than Clinton's …

The Case for the Impeachment Defense  —  My client's call with the Ukrainian president was innocent, and the House inquiry is a travesty.  —  If your only sources of news the past two months have been CNN and MSNBC, you probably think President Trump has committed some heinous act …

University of Florida's student president faces impeachment after bringing Donald Trump Jr. to campus for $50,000  —  After the University of Florida's student body president helped bring Donald Trump Jr. and Trump campaign adviser Kimberly Guilfoyle to campus last month to the tune of $50,000 …

Plague Is Diagnosed in China, Prompting Fears of an Outbreak  —  Two cases of pneumonic plague, a fatal and highly infectious illness related to bubonic plague, were diagnosed in Beijing.  —  阅读.体中 文.閱讀.體 中文.

Democrats' impeachment lawyer cut his teeth prosecuting mobsters, Wall Street cheats  —  The Democrats' lead impeachment hearing lawyer made his bones as a prosecutor by sending mobsters, stock swindlers and a multimillion-dollar inside trader to prison, cases in which colleagues said he mixed brains and “swagger” to win convictions.

This Tom Hanks Story Will Help You Feel Less Bad  —  Hanks is playing Mister Rogers in a new movie and is just as nice as you think he is.  Please read this article anyway.  —  Here is a list of stories about Tom Hanks I've heard over the last few miserable months, as it appeared that politeness …

Chad Wolf sworn in as acting Department of Homeland Security chief, fifth under Trump  —  Chad Wolf was sworn in Wednesday as the new acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, becoming the fifth person to hold the top job under President Trump, a period of unusually high leadership turnover …

Trump says U.S. left troops in Syria ‘only for the oil,’ appearing to contradict Pentagon  —  President Donald Trump declared Wednesday that the U.S. mission in Syria is focused solely on protecting oil fields, which appears to contradict the Pentagon's contention that fighting ISIS is the priority.

AJC POLL: Trump faces tough re-election fight in Georgia  —  A majority of Georgians disapprove of President Donald Trump's performance in the White House and he appears to be facing a hard fight against each of the five top Democratic candidates seeking to replace him, according to an exclusive Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll.

The impeachment calculus Democrats don't want to talk about  —  Sen. Brian Schatz, the Democrat from Hawaii, is well-known for a jokey Twitter feed popular with the #Resistance.  When I talked to him last night as he was walking into the Senate on the eve of the first impeachment hearings in 21 years, he was in a more serious mood.

U.S. October Budget Gap Widens to $134.5 Billion From Year Ago  —  Explore what's moving the global economy in the new season of the Stephanomics podcast.  Subscribe via Apple Podcast, Spotify or Pocket Cast.  —  The U.S. budget deficit widened in October, the first month of the fiscal year …

Profiles in Thinking About Courage: inside ‘A Warning’ by Anonymous  —  By Anonymous.  Twelve.  259 pp.  $30  —  There is a good reason the anonymous Trump administration official who published an opinion essay in the New York Times last year describing an internal resistance to the president has managed to remain anonymous.

After Heart Attack, Bernie Sanders Takes Long Walks and Eats Salads  —  Six weeks after his heart attack, Mr. Sanders is adopting a more wholesome regimen, conscious that he must persuade voters he is fit enough to be president.  —  DES MOINES — Before a campaign event last month …

ABC scrambles to figure out identity of Amy Robach leaker, who goes by ‘Ignotus’  —  ABC bigwigs are going potty to find the identity of the leaker behind the Amy Robach tape — after the alleged source posted a letter online slamming the network under the name “Ignotus,” a wizard from the “Harry Potter” franchise.

Frustrated Trump allies urge him to stop talking about himself  —  President Donald Trump has described his infamous July call with Ukraine's president as “perfect.”  He has insisted the whistleblower is a “Never Trumper” who opposed his presidency.  And he blasts House Democrats for waging a flawed …