Senate tide begins to shift toward $2,000 checks after Trump's push  —  A couple of days ago, it looked impossible that $2,000 COVID relief checks — up from the $600 checks for individuals in the package President Trump signed Sunday — could pass the Senate.

Donald Trump, Michelle Obama Most Admired in 2020  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans are most likely to name President Donald Trump and Michelle Obama as most admired man and woman in 2020.  Trump tied former President Barack Obama for the honor last year but edged out his predecessor this year.

The Worst Predictions of 2020  —  On the last day of 2019, President Donald Trump joined in on New Year's Eve celebrations at Mar-a-Lago, ringing in 2020 with what was, in retrospect, a terrible prediction about the year ahead.  —  “We're going to have a great year, I predict,” the president told assembled guests.

The Resistance's Breakup With the Media Is at Hand  —  The day after the 2016 election, I got a phone call from an old friend.  Neither of us had slept much, and we spent most of the conversation exchanging shell-shocked comments of the Can you believe this? variety.  Before we hung up, his voice took on a trace of irony.

Massachusetts GOP leader says he likely got covid-19 at a White House Hanukkah party: 'I'm paying the price'  —  Earlier this month, Tom Mountain, a Massachusetts Republican Party leader, posed for a maskless photo in front of a silver menorah as dozens of other guests without face coverings mingled nearby …

Kelly Loeffler's Conflict of Interest Is Even Worse Than Reported  —  Let our journalists help you make sense of the noise: Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter and get a recap of news that matters.  —  As she campaigns for reelection in the January 5 run-off, Kelly Loeffler …

Ex-Pence aide turned Trump critic ‘very concerned’ about Jan. 6 violence  —  A former aide to Vice President Pence who has since become a vocal critic of the Trump administration warned Monday that she feared violence could erupt in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, when Congress …

The Life in The Simpsons Is No Longer Attainable  —  The most famous dysfunctional family of 1990s television enjoyed, by today's standards, an almost dreamily secure existence that now seems out of reach for all too many Americans.  I refer, of course, to the Simpsons.

Judge blocks voter purge in 2 Georgia counties  —  A federal judge in Georgia on Monday ordered two counties to reverse a decision removing more than 4,000 voters from the rolls ahead of the Jan. 5 runoff elections that will decide control of the U.S. Senate.

Where Year Two of the Pandemic Will Take Us  —  Editor's Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers.  Find the collection here.  —  The influenza pandemic that began in 1918 killed as many as 100 million people over two years.

Rubio vs. Fauci Is Amazing  —  Marco Rubio inadvertently told us what he thinks of Republican voters.  —  In the course of his young political career, Marco Rubio has been a Tea Partier, a Reformicon, and a neoconservative.  Now he's auditioning for the role of MAGA FAN #7 by trying …

Apple's longtime supplier accused of using forced labor in China  —  New documents show Lens Technology, which makes iPhone glass and is owned by China's richest woman, received Uighur Muslim laborers transferred from Xinjiang.  —  One of the oldest and most well-known iPhone suppliers …

Record shows US sold ambassador's home in Israel for $67M  —  An official record shows that the United States sold the ambassador's residence in Israel for more than $67 million in July  —  Catch up on the developing stories making headlines.  —  JERUSALEM — The United States sold …

Child labor in palm oil industry tied to Girl Scout cookies  —  They are two young girls from two very different worlds, linked by a global industry that exploits an army of children.  —  Olivia Chaffin, a Girl Scout in rural Tennessee, was a top cookie seller in her troop …

A Far-Right Terrorism Suspect With a Refugee Disguise: The Tale of Franco A.  —  A German officer is facing trial on terrorism charges.  At a volatile time for Western democracy, his story mirrors the story of Germany itself.  —  OFFENBACH, Germany — At the height of Europe's migrant crisis …

Alec Baldwin's wife hit with allegations that she has lied for years about her Spanish heritage  —  Let's be very clear that Europe has a lot of white people in there and my family is white.'  —  Hilaria Baldwin, the wife of actor Alec Baldwin, has been hit with a barrage of accusations claiming …

$2,000 vs. $600 stimulus payments isn't the real issue  —  There are plenty of reasons to be unhappy with the covid-19 stimulus compromise President Trump signed on Sunday.  —  Its shortcomings, however, are not the specific provisions that populists on both the left and right are complaining about.

Statue of slave kneeling before Lincoln is removed in Boston  —  A statue of Abraham Lincoln with a freed slave appearing to kneel at his feet — optics that drew objections amid a national reckoning with racial injustice — has been removed from its perch in downtown Boston.

Report: Phoenix police officer said, 'If the mayor defunds the police, I'm going to shoot her'  —  Uriel J. Garcia Jen FifieldArizona Republic  —  On the afternoon of October 21, seven Phoenix police officers gathered for a briefing in a Cave Creek station when the meeting diverged …

Ron DeSantis Is TNR's 2020 Scoundrel of the Year  —  For so many of us, the person of the year is Nothing.  The thing that killed mom or laid out the elementary school teacher was Nothing.  Nobody saw it.  Either dad tracked nothing home from the grocery store or there was a fatal amount of Nothing smeared all over the produce.

Labor: Unemployment won't lapse despite Trump signing delay  —  Unemployment benefits included in a new COVID-19 relief package will not lapse this week, as anticipated, despite President Trump's delay in signing the bill, the Labor Department confirmed Tuesday.

How China won 2020  —  China will end this year as the only major country in the world to see its economy grow rather than shrink.  —  Why it matters: China is operating from a position of great strength, with an economy expected to grow by 8.4% in 2021.  If President-elect Joe Biden views China as a …