Statement by the Department of Defense  —  (Attributable to Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby)  —  “At President Biden's direction, U.S. military forces earlier this evening conducted defensive precision airstrikes against facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups in the Iraq-Syria border region.

Toyota is the no. 1 donor to 2020 election objectors — by far  —  The Japanese automaker gave $55,000 to 37 GOP objectors this year.

Trump Organization attorneys given Monday deadline to persuade prosecutors not to file charges against it  —  Prosecutors in New York have given former president Donald Trump's attorneys a deadline of Monday afternoon to make any final arguments as to why the Trump Organization …

Inside William Barr's Breakup With Trump  —  Donald Trump is a man consumed with grievance against people he believes have betrayed him, but few betrayals have enraged him more than what his attorney general did to him.  To Trump, the unkindest cut of all was when William Barr stepped forward …

Where Jobless Benefits Were Cut, Jobs Are Still Hard to Fill  —  Missouri scrapped federal pay to the unemployed, saying it kept people out of the labor market.  But so far, workers still seem to be choosy.  —  MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. — By lunchtime, the representatives …

An Accusation Blew Up a Campaign.  The Media Didn't Know What to Do.  —  Handling a delicate allegation of sexual misconduct is a lot more challenging than covering a horse race.  —  Two days after coming in fifth in the election night count of votes for New York mayor last week …

Possible Failure Point Emerges in Miami Building Collapse  —  Some engineers looking at the failure of a 13-story condo tower in Florida said the collapse appeared to have begun somewhere near the bottom of the building.  —  The investigation into what may be the deadliest accidental building collapse …

Madison Cawthorn, self-described ‘big history buff,’ keeps getting historical facts wrong  —  Washington (CNN)Rep. Madison Cawthorn, a freshman Republican from North Carolina, has called himself a “big history buff” and a “lover of history.”  —  But Cawthorn — who, at age 25 …

How Trump Ally Michael Flynn Nurtured — And Profited From — the QAnon Conspiracy Theory  —  Of the many mysteries surrounding the final days of Donald Trump's presidency, few have been more confounding than the connections between former national security adviser Michael Flynn …

At WI convention, Ron Johnson calls for GOP to ‘take back our culture’  —  U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson preached unity and positivity to the party faithful at the state Republican convention on Saturday, painting Democrats as an angry party bent on fundamentally changing the United States.

Sen. Bill Cassidy: 'Roads and bridges are a woman's problem' because they are ‘doing the shopping’  —  Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) on Sunday insisted that infrastructure like roads and bridges is a “women's problem” because they do the “shopping.”  —  Cassidy made the remarks on NBC's Meet the Press …

Gwen Berry turns away from flag at U.S. track and field trials: ‘I feel like it was a setup’  —  Gwen Berry turned away from the American flag and raised a T-shirt over her face as the national anthem played Saturday, minutes after she qualified for the Olympic team at the U.S. track …

The Catholic bishops' anti-Biden project is backfiring  —  In the 1960s, when Time magazine published its now-iconic “Is God Dead?” cover, the theologian Harvey Cox wrote that the “ ‘death of God’ syndrome can only occur when the controlling symbols of the culture have been more or less uncritically fused with the transcendent God.”

QAnon Supporters Express Boredom With ‘Same Old’ Trump Speech: ‘This Is Getting Ridiculous’  —  Both QAnon and longtime supporters of former President Donald Trump criticized his Saturday night speech in Wellington, Ohio, accusing him of the “same-old, same-old” grievances against Democrats …

The Last-And Only-Foreign Scientist in the Wuhan Lab Speaks Out  —  Danielle Anderson was working in what has become the world's most notorious laboratory just weeks before the first known cases of Covid-19 emerged in central China.  Yet, the Australian virologist still wonders what she missed.

Le Pen's far-right party suffers blow in French regional elections  —  Rassemblement National fails to win region in south of France stronghold after rivals form ‘Republican front’  —  Marine Le Pen's far-right party has suffered a serious electoral blow when it failed to win a regional election …

Fox News roiling over column in New York Times  —  Tune in to Fox News long enough, and you're bound to hear dismissive commentary about the New York Times — about how it's agenda-driven, about how it peddles nonsense, about how it's “fake news.”  It's a funny thing, though: The “failing” …

Framework to Stop the Bias and Check Big Tech  —  A letter to House Republicans from Leader Kevin McCarthy:  —  Just days before the 2018 primary election, Google search results for “California Republicans” identified our ideology as “Nazism.”  At the same time, conservatives like Devin Nunes …

Voters didn't elect us to do nothing and blame the Senate filibuster.  Get rid of it.  —  Voters elected us to fix problems and we should.  Yes, the other party might take power and pass bills I think are bad, but that's how democracy works.  —  The future of our republic is being decided …

Mike Gravel, former US senator for Alaska, dies at 91  —  SEASIDE, Calif. (AP) — Mike Gravel, a former U.S. senator from Alaska who read the Pentagon Papers into the Congressional Record and confronted Barack Obama about nuclear weapons during a later presidential run, has died.  He was 91.

Lapid to Blinken: Mistakes were made in US-Israel relationship, we'll fix them  —  In Rome, new foreign minister tells US counterpart that Jerusalem has ‘serious reservations’ about Iran nuclear deal, but promises to express them quietly  —  Bipartisan support for Israel in the United States …

Wallace has contentious interview with GOP lawmaker: Aren't you the ones defunding the police?  —  “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace sparred with Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) over Banks' vote against an emergency relief bill that would have allocated funds to police and first responders.