DeSantis proposes a new civilian military force in Florida that he would control  —  St, Petersburg, Florida (CNN)Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to reestablish a World War II-era civilian military force that he, not the Pentagon, would control.  —  DeSantis pitched the idea Thursday …

Amy Coney Barrett's Adoption Myths  —  “They're co-opting our lives and our stories.”  —  Twice in oral arguments this week for the abortion case that could overturn Roe v. Wade, Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett asked pro-choice advocates: Would banning abortion be so bad if women …

McConnell: No legislative agenda for 2022 midterms  —  Mitch McConnell has told colleagues and donors Senate Republicans won't release a legislative agenda before next year's midterms, according to people who've attended private meetings with the minority leader.

EXCLUSIVE U.S. State Department phones hacked with Israeli company spyware … Apple Inc iPhones of at least nine U.S. State Department employees were hacked by an unknown assailant using sophisticated spyware developed by the Israel-based NSO Group, according to four people familiar with the matter.

Eastman takes the Fifth with Jan. 6 committee  —  John Eastman, the attorney who helped former President Donald Trump pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the 2020 election, has asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, according to a letter he delivered …

Parents of Michigan high school shooting suspect charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter  —  Prosecutors said Friday they would file charges against the parents of the student accused of fatally shooting classmates at a Michigan high school.  —  James and Jennifer Crumbley …

Kremlin: Putin to seek guarantees over Ukraine from Biden  —  MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin said Friday that President Vladimir Putin will seek binding guarantees precluding NATO's expansion to Ukraine during a planned call with U.S. President Joe Biden, while the Ukrainian defense minister warned …

Sidney Powell filed false incorporation papers for non-profit, grand jury finds  —  Trump's lawyer falsely claimed two men as fellow directors of Defending the Republic in an apparent effort to attract donors  —  A federal grand jury investigating Donald Trump's former attorney Sidney Powell …

Job growth disappoints in November, with a gain of just 210,000, despite high hopes  —  November job growth falls far short of expectations, unemployment rate hits 4.2%  —  The U.S. economy created far fewer jobs than expected in November, before a new Covid threat created a scare that growth …

Video15:08 Inside Australia's Covid internment camp  —  Freddie Sayers spoke to Hayley Hodgson, who has returned from a 14-day detention  —  Hayley Hodgson, 26, moved to Darwin from Melbourne to escape the never-ending lockdowns — only to find herself locked up in a Covid Internment Camp without even having the virus.

‘Bags and bags’ of money found stashed in bathroom wall at Joel Osteen's megachurch: report  —  A plumbing repair at televangelist Joel Osteen's megachurch in Houston reportedly led to the discovery of “bags and bags” of cash and checks in a bathroom wall.  —  The discovery came several years …

Increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection associated with emergence of the Omicron variant in South Africa  —  Juliet R.C. Pulliam, Cari van Schalkwyk, Nevashan Govender, Anne von Gottberg, Cheryl Cohen, Michelle J. Groome, Jonathan Dushoff, Koleka Mlisana, Harry Moultrie

Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene aren't fringe.  They're leading indicators.  —  In the past week or so, some of the most notorious hard-right Republican members in the House have been under fire for anti-Muslim bigotry.  So they and their media allies have now hatched a creative new defense for it:

The Supreme Court's End Game on Abortion  —  There are many reasons for dismay over the Supreme Court argument in the Mississippi abortion case, but it was the nonstop gaslighting that really got to me.  —  First there was Justice Clarence Thomas, pretending by his questions actually …

A drama professor told students they got their feelings hurt too easily.  They decided to fight back  —  It all started with a misunderstanding.  —  A Black theater student at Coastal Carolina University told a visiting drama teacher she wanted to connect with nonwhite students …

Why I Can't Support Trump, the GOP, or Conservatism, Inc. Anymore  —  How many disappointments, betrayals, and failed promises do people need to endure before they say, “Never again?”  —  That the “woke” are anything but awake is a fact that needs no underscoring for readers of this website.

Burnout, money, concern drive Harris turnover  —  Burnout, better opportunities and concern about being permanently branded a “Harris person” is driving some of the turnover in Vice President Kamala Harris's office, people familiar with the situation tell Axios.

Alec Baldwin on ‘Rust’ shooting: 'Someone is responsible ... but I know it's not me'  —  Actor spoke with George Stephanopoulos for an exclusive interview on ABC, Hulu.  —  On the morning of Oct. 21, Alec Baldwin had an epiphany.  —  Sitting in a church pew on the set of “Rust,” …

As Buttigieg Eyes a Presidential Run, His DOT Is Floundering  —  The transportation secretary has a major role to play in easing the supply chain crisis.  Pete Buttigieg isn't doing the job.  —  The transportation secretary has had very little to say about actual transportation policy during this crisis.

Epstein visited the White House on 14 separate days and stopped by twice in one day on three occasions during Bill Clinton's first term  —  The disclosure puts renewed scrutiny on Clinton's friendship with Epstein, who was known to have flown the former president on his private jet …

Feds could release ‘alternative’ Mueller report soon  —  An unpublished investigative compilation sometimes referred to as the “Alternative Mueller Report” has been located in Justice Department files and could be released soon, according to a letter filed in federal court Thursday.

Biden administration to ship 11 million vaccine doses abroad  —  The Biden administration is shipping 9 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Africa and 2 million to other regions, the White House is announcing Friday.  —  White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients will announce plans …

The U.S. has added nearly 1 million more jobs in 2021 than initially reported  —  The economic news that came first thing Friday morning was not what President Biden had hoped: the country added only 210,000 jobs in November, well below expectations and below the pace needed to replace the jobs lost since the start of the pandemic.

‘Dramatic improvement’: Biden pumps up disappointing November jobs report  —  President Joe Biden claimed that Friday's disappointing November jobs report still showed the country has created 6 million new jobs since he entered office, “a record for a new president.”

Raspy-voiced Biden says cough is due to grandson's cold, not the coronavirus  —  President Biden explained Friday that his cough and raspy voice is due to a grandson who had a cold and not the coronavirus.  He is tested for the virus every day and recent results were negative, he said.

Democrats, Not Republicans, Need to Defuse the Culture Wars  —  It's not exactly a secret the Republicans are running hard against the Democrats on sociocultural issues like crime, immigration, ideology in the schools and cancel culture.  Their strategy is to combine attacks …

The Trump Conspiracy Is Hiding in Plain Sight  —  Antebellum pro-slavery radicals spoke freely of secession and violence; Democratic Party paramilitaries planned their attacks on Reconstruction governments in public view; and the men who codified segregation into Jim Crow did so in the open.

Thefts, Always an Issue for Retailers, Become More Brazen  —  In recent months, robberies have been more visible, with several involving large groups rushing into stores and coming out with armloads of goods.  —  “Flash mobs” swarm through a Nordstrom in Northern California and two Best Buy stores …

December launches with exceptional warmth over large parts of Lower 48 states  —  Temperatures will be more than 30 degrees above average in some locations  —  Winter, by the meteorological definition (Dec. 1 to Feb. 28), began Wednesday morning, but the weather is feeling more like mid-fall …