Iraqi supporters of Iran-backed militia attack US Embassy  —  BAGHDAD (AP) — Dozens of angry Iraqi Shiite militia supporters broke into the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on Tuesday after smashing a main door and setting fire to a reception area, prompting tear gas and sounds of gunfire.

Ghislaine Maxwell Scoffing at Law Thanks to ‘Serious Dirt’ on Powerful People, Former Friend Says  —  A former friend says the Epstein confidante was relieved at her former boyfriend's death—because it meant he could not turn on her.  —  Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend …

Warren confronts ghost of Howard Dean  —  Liberals swooned.  The Democratic establishment was on its heels.  Powered by small donors and grassroots energy, in late 2003 Iowa seemed Howard Dean's for the taking.  —  But then came the attacks — from both the center and the left.  The surge became a stall.

Corey Lewandowski Forgoes NH Senate Run, Claims ‘I Would Have Won’  —  WOMP WOMP  —  Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski took to Twitter on Tuesday to announced that he will not run for Senate in New Hampshire.  At the same time, he made the Trumpian boast that he “would have won” if he had tossed his hat into the race.

Team Trump's Furious Hunt to Find Out Who ‘Liked’ a Chelsea Clinton Tweet  —  At least 10 Trump administration staffers were interviewed about whether they had dared to to hit the “like” button.  —  On the evening of July 10, 2017 staffers at the U.S. embassy in Brussels …

Trump is openly calling for his trial to be as corrupt as possible  —  One of the thorniest challenges of this moment is the difficulty of finding language adequate to capturing President Trump's actual, openly stated positions.  They are often so profoundly ridiculous or nakedly corrupt …

GOP Sen. Susan Collins criticizes McConnell, Democrats for pre-Trump trial comments  —  The Maine Republican is the second member of the Senate GOP to attack the Senate majority leader for saying he is coordinating with the White House.  —  Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine …

Texas shooting isn't as simple as it seems  —  James C. Moore is a communications consultant, political analyst, and author.  He has been writing and reporting on Texas politics for the past 40 years.  The views expressed here are the author's.  Read more opinion on CNN.

Chief: Local officer resigns after making up coffee cup incident  —  JUNCTION CITY, Kan. (KSNT) - In a joint press conference with McDonald's Monday night, the Herington Police Chief said the coffee cup incident was a hoax.  —  Chief Brian Hornaday said McDonald's didn't have anything …

Anti-Semitic attacks show a society at risk of falling apart  —  Frida Ghitis, a former CNN producer and correspondent, is a world affairs columnist.  She is a frequent opinion contributor to CNN, a contributing columnist to the Washington Post and a columnist for World Politics Review.

Alex Jones and Infowars Ordered to Pay $100K in Court Costs for Sandy Hook Case  —  A Texas judge ordered Alex Jones and the InfoWars website to pay more than $100,000 in a single day.  —  A Texas judge has ordered Alex Jones and his InfoWars hoax website to pay more than $100,000 in court costs …

Kevin Spacey Settles Sexual Assault Lawsuit After Accuser's Death  —  The actor and the accuser's son file court papers to end the case.  —  The mysterious sexual assault lawsuit brought by an anonymous massage therapist against Kevin Spacey is ending, according to papers filed in federal court Monday.

New book smashes taboo over French author's sex with teens  —  Paris (AFP) - A prominent French author who has never made any secret of his preference for sex with adolescent girls and boys is at the centre of a firestorm as a former partner publishes a book describing the lasting trauma of underage intercourse over three decades ago.

Lawsuit: Famed Jesuit abused boy 1,000 times around world  —  CHICAGO (AP) — One day in May of 1970, an 11-year-old boy and his disabled sister were sitting on the curb outside a Chicago tavern, waiting for their mother to come out.  When a priest with crinkly eyes and a ready smile happened …

UK academics set to launch ‘virus’ software for online ‘hate speech’ in time for 2020 election  — Researchers at the University of Cambridge have proposed a software program that treats online “hate speech” like a computer virus.  — Users would be presented with a warning and a …

Picasso painting attacked at Tate Modern  —  A man has been charged with criminal damage after a £20m Picasso painting was attacked at the Tate Modern art gallery in London on Saturday.  —  The venue has taken the artist's 1944 painting Bust of a Woman off display while the damage is assessed.

Bret Stephens and the Perils of the Tapped-Out Column  —  New York Times columnist Bret Stephens ambushed and gravely wounded his own career on the evening of Dec. 27 when his piece about—bear with me here—the alleged superior intelligence of Ashkenazi Jews went live on the Times website.

50 Numbers From 2019 That Are Almost Too Crazy To Believe  —  One of the best ways to determine where things are heading is to look back at how much has changed over the past 12 months.  2019 has been one of the most memorable years in our history, and it has certainly set the stage for the critical events of the decade to come.

Mysterious drones in Colorado continue to baffle investigators  —  Multiple sightings of drones flying at night in Colorado have left investigators and residents with far more questions than answers since it started happening earlier this month.  —  Sheriff Tom Nestor of Lincoln County told ABC News …

The Historian of Moral Revolution  —  Economists measure economic change and journalists describe political change, but who captures moral change?  Who captures the shifts in manners, values, and mores, how each era defines what is admirable and what is disgraceful?

Stocks slip in year's final session but post hefty annual gains  —  The world's stock markets ended 2019 with a quietly softer tone on Tuesday, but traders were still able to look back on a highly profitable year for equity investors.  —  European key markets showed increases of 25 percent …

Illinois loses population for 6th straight year — and it lost more residents than any state this decade  —  Illinois' population decreased in 2019 by an estimated 51,250 people, or 0.4%, marking the sixth consecutive year the state has lost residents, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

2019's political winners and losers — on both sides of the aisle  —  New Year's Eve is all about reflection.  What do we want for ourselves in the next year?  For our family and friends?  For our country?  —  It's also a time for political junkies to reflect on the events of the past year and declare some “winners and losers.”

Trump's threat to democracy  —  Polite society warns against the drawing of certain historical parallels.  But as another tumultuous year of Donald Trump's presidency draws to a close, it seems like a good time to ask: Where does one look for a political equivalent in a year …