Iran scientist's assassination appears intended to undermine nuclear deal  —  Analysis: shooting of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh will do more harm to diplomacy than it does to Iran's nuclear programme  —  The assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh may not much have impact on the Iranian nuclear programme …

Trump's Campaign Lost In Court — Again — Trying To Undo Biden's Win In Pennsylvania  —  WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Friday handed another loss to the Trump campaign's effort to undo President-elect Joe Biden's win in Pennsylvania, with a judge — one of Trump's nominees …

Milwaukee County presidential recount wraps up with Biden adding to his margin over Trump  —  Milwaukee County's recount of the presidential election vote tally came to an end Friday, with Democratic President-elect Joe Biden adding 132 votes to his margin of victory over President Donald Trump in Milwaukee County.

McKinsey Proposed Paying Pharmacy Companies Rebates for OxyContin Overdoses  —  Court filings reveal consultants' talk of a records purge during the opioid crisis, and shed new light on sales advice given to the billionaire Sackler family and their drug company, Purdue Pharma.

In nine states, at least 1 in 1,000 people have died of coronavirus-linked causes  —  As daily covid-19 deaths climb to levels not seen since early in the pandemic, nine states have hit one more grim marker: more than 1 in every 1,000 people dead of coronavirus-related causes.

🚨ALERT: NEW LAWSUIT IN GEORGIA  —  Latest Republican lawsuit challenging the 2020 election results has been filed in Georgia.

Pennsylvania Republican Lawmakers Introduce Resolution Disputing 2020 Election Results  —  HARRISBURG (KDKA) — Pennsylvania Republican lawmakers have introduced a resolution intending to dispute the 2020 election results on Friday.  —  The resolution intends to declare the 2020 election results as being …

Trump moves to strip job protections from White House budget analysts as he races to transform civil service  —  The outgoing Trump administration is racing to enact the biggest change to the federal civil service in generations, reclassifying career employees at key agencies to strip …

E.P.A.'s Final Deregulatory Rush Runs Into Open Staff Resistance  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump's Environmental Protection Agency was rushing to complete one of its last regulatory priorities, aiming to obstruct the creation of air- and water-pollution controls far into the future, when a senior career scientist moved to hobble it.

Covid Overload: U.S. Hospitals Are Running Out of Beds for Patients  —  As the coronavirus pandemic surges across the country, hospitals are facing a crisis-level shortage of beds and staff to provide adequate care for patients.  —  In excruciating pain with lesions on her face and scalp …

Secret Meeting in Desert Between Israeli, Saudi Leaders Failed to Reach Normalization Agreement  —  Saudi crown prince backed away from U.S.-brokered deal to solidify bulwark against Iran  —  RIYADH, Saudi Arabia—When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew into Saudi Arabia …

Scoop: Biden weighs retired General Lloyd Austin for Pentagon chief  —  Joe Biden is considering retired four-star General Lloyd Austin as his nominee for defense secretary, adding him to a shortlist that includes Jeh Johnson, Tammy Duckworth and Michele Flournoy, two sources with direct knowledge of the decision-making tell Axios.

Why did Democrats bleed House seats?  A top analyst offers surprising answers.  —  President-elect Joe Biden garnered an unprecedented 80 million votes, will win the popular vote by as much as seven million, and won fairly comfortably in the electoral college.

Republicans lob accusations of elitism at ‘Middle Class Joe’ — a sign of the upended politics of populism  —  President-elect Joe Biden, a state-college graduate who was once the poorest man in the U.S. Senate, is facing accusations of elitism from Republicans after defeating a billionaire incumbent …

The Rich Kids Who Want to Tear Down Capitalism  —  Socialist-minded millennial heirs are trying to live their values by getting rid of their money.  —  Lately, Sam Jacobs has been having a lot of conversations with his family's lawyers.  He's trying to gain access to more of his $30 million trust fund.

What we should know about Biden's appointment of Kerry as climate czar  —  Of all the messes President-elect Joe Biden is tasked with cleaning up, the climate crisis is the most high stakes.  If aggressive decarbonization doesn't begin soon, climate scientists see little chance of preventing permanent ecological catastrophe.

The inexorable rise of Jake Sullivan  —  “You have to be kidding me.”  —  Philippe Reines was sitting in a yurt in Mongolia during a trip with then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, sure that he'd finally done it: traveled to more countries than anyone else with Clinton as one of her top aides.

The Virus Won't Stop Evolving When the Vaccine Arrives  —  The coronavirus is not a shape shifter like the flu virus, but it could become vaccine resistant over time.  That prompts researchers to urge vigilance.  —  In a 1988 essay on pandemics Joshua Lederberg, Nobel laureate and president …

James Goddard given restraining order after calling Independent journalist ‘vile scum of the earth’ in court confrontation  —  Far-right activist handed fine and told not to contact correspondent following March 2019 incident  —  Far-right activist James Goddard has been handed a fine …

The United States has closed at least 10 bases around Afghanistan.  But drawdown details remain murky.  —  KABUL — The United States has closed at least 10 bases across Afghanistan since the signing of a deal with the Taliban in February, according to Afghan and U.S. officials …