Exclusive: Unredacted Ukraine Documents Reveal Extent of Pentagon's Legal Concerns  —  “Clear direction from POTUS to continue to hold.”  —  This is what Michael Duffey, associate director of national security programs at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), told Elaine McCusker …

Julián Castro Ends Presidential Campaign  —  Mr. Castro, the former housing secretary and mayor of San Antonio, was the only Latino candidate in the race.  He championed progressive policies but did not find his footing in polls.  —  Julián Castro, the former housing secretary …

Trump re-election campaign raises $46 million in fourth quarter  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's re-election campaign raised $46 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, a major haul that was boosted by a surge of donations in the wake of the Democrats' impeachment bid, a senior campaign official said on Thursday.

Trump Bet He Could Isolate Iran and Charm North Korea.  It's Not That Easy.  —  The president assumed economic levers would guide the countries' national interests.  Now, he confronts twin challenges in an election year.  —  President Trump entered the new year facing flare-ups …

House Democrats Would Have Impeached Lincoln  —  I, like most people from my home state of Illinois, am a great admirer of Abraham Lincoln.  —  Recently I've wondered what would have happened had Nancy Pelosi been the Speaker of the House when Abraham Lincoln was president.

Anti-Semitism Grows in Jewish Communities in NYC Suburbs  —  The expansion of Hasidic communities in New York's Hudson Valley, the Catskills and northern New Jersey has led to some anti-semitic rhetoric  —  What to Know  — With the expansion of Orthodox communities outside NYC has come civic sparring …

It's 2020 and you're in the future  —  It's finally the 2020s.  After 20 years of not being able to refer to the decade we're in, we're all finally free—in the clear for the next 80 years until 2100, at which point I assume AGI will have figured out what to call the two decades between 2100 and 2120.

'It's Creepy': Unexplained Drones Are Swarming by Night Over Colorado  —  Sheriffs in western Nebraska and eastern Colorado say they don't know who's flying the drones — or why.  The F.A.A. is investigating.  —  They come in the night: Drones — lots of them — flying in precise formations over the Colorado and Nebraska prairie.

The 2016 Electoral College Map: A Template for 2020  —  KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE  — In 2016, Hillary Clinton would have needed to flip 38 additional Electoral College votes to reach 270[1], thereby winning a majority in the Electoral College.  — Using 2016 presidential election results …

By ROSS IBBETSON FOR MAILONLINE  —  The leader of an Iran-backed US embassy siege in Baghdad was welcomed to the White House by Barack Obama eight years ago before becoming Tehran's ‘point man’ in Iraq.  —  Hadi al Amiri joined Iraq's then-Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as his Minister …

Armed, even in church: Texas shooting is about a lot more than Jack Wilson's heroism  —  Jack Wilson is a hero.  But why were so many other parishioners armed?  And how did the shooter get his gun, given his criminal history?  —  Jack Wilson is a hero alright.

‘Unqualified, dangerous’: the oddball officials running Bolsonaro's Brazil  —  While the far-right president has trashed norms the lower ranks of his administration have shown jaw-dropping offensiveness  —  Brazil's far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, and his gun-loving sons have hogged …

Civility and Its Critics  —  Some self-righteous writers believe that their goodness—and their opponents' badness—justifies incivility.  —  As long as there are political debates, there will be those who participate in nasty ways—lying, distorting, insulting.

Esper says Iran may be planning more attacks on US interests  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Iran or its proxy forces may be planning further strikes on American interests in the Middle East, and the U.S. is prepared to take preemptive military action if it gets sufficient warning, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Thursday.

Australia's prime minister visited families devastated by the wildfires.  It did not go well.  —  The fire mercilessly tore through Cobargo, a small town near the coast in southern New South Wales, on Monday night, burning down the main street and killing two people, a father and son, caught in its destructive path.

Presidential hopeful Bennet pledges $6 trillion ‘Real Deal’  —  DENVER (AP) — Presidential hopeful Michael Bennet is releasing a $6 trillion plan that he calls “the Real Deal” in an attempt to offer what he says is a more realistic contrast with more liberal contenders for the Democratic nomination …