Young Dems more likely to despise the other party  —  Nearly a quarter of college students wouldn't be friends with someone who voted for the other presidential candidate — with Democrats far more likely to dismiss people than Republicans — according to new Generation Lab/Axios polling.

Covid Live Updates: Pfizer Says its Booster Offers Significant Protection Against Omicron  —  Here's what you need to know:  —  Pfizer says blood samples showed a third dose of its vaccine provides significant protection against Omicron.  —  Pfizer and BioNTech said Wednesday …

Man in Custody After Allegedly Lighting Christmas Tree Outside Fox News Building on Fire  —  New York City first responders extinguished a huge Christmas tree fire outside the Fox News building in midtown Manhattan early Wednesday morning.  —  Videos posted by witnesses to the Citizen App show thick clouds …

Schools Are Closing Classrooms on Fridays.  Parents Are Furious.  —  Desperate to keep teachers, some districts have turned to remote teaching for one day a week — and sometimes more.  Families have been left scrambling to find child care.  —  DETROIT — Caitlin Reynolds, a single mother …

The Fight for Ukraine From Putin's View  —  He sees Russia's loss of the country as a historic injustice.  So how far will he go?  —  An independent Ukraine is for Vladimir Putin what the Treaty of Versailles was for Hitler —a historical injustice imposed on a defeated nation at its moment …

Against “Latinx”  —  A politically dubious neologism, sure, but one that makes up for it by also being monstrously ugly.  —  Of all the weird and grating modern linguistic imperatives, few are weirder or more grating than the attempted imposition of “Latinx.”

The pandemic worsened young people's mental health crisis.  —  The United States surgeon general on Tuesday warned that young people are facing “devastating” mental health effects as a result of the challenges experienced by their generation, including the coronavirus pandemic.

COVID-19: Medical board deletes anti-misinformation policy amid GOP pressure  —  Health Department attorney: Rep. John Ragan threatened to dissolve the Board of Medical Examiners  —  Tennessee's medical licensing board voted Tuesday to delete a policy opposing coronavirus misinformation …

Wisconsin Conservative Group Finds ‘No Evidence Of Widespread Fraud’ In 2020 Election  —  A 10-month-long review of Wisconsin's 2020 election conducted by a conservative group in the state found no signs of widespread or significant election fraud, according to a new report of its findings …

Major antitrust adversary in Congress has daughter on Google's legal team  —  US Rep. Zoe Lofgren — a Democrat who's one of the most vocal opponents of antitrust bills now winding their way through Congress that would target Big Tech — has a daughter who works on Google's legal team.

Dems begin souring on vaccine mandates  —  Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration.  With Allie Bice.  —  Three months ago, as California Gov. GAVIN NEWSOM was turning around his fate in the state's recall election …

‘I think we need to rethink entirely how we do things,’ says Dana Milbank of the Washington Post  —  Longtime Washington Post political journalist Dana Milbank on Friday accused his colleagues of being “accessories to the murder of democracy.”  —  Milbank wrote in his biweekly opinion column:

Michael Nutter: Larry Krasner owes an apology to the 521 families of Philly's homicide victims  —  District Attorney Larry Krasner's recent remarks about whether we are experiencing a crime crisis are some of the worst, most ignorant, and most insulting comments I have ever heard spoken …

When Terrorists Govern … As the Taliban swept across Afghanistan this summer, all eyes were on their fighters as they triumphed over the Afghan security forces, which surrendered in large numbers as the Taliban rapidly advanced.  But the Taliban's victory did not happen overnight …

Exclusive: January 6 committee casts a wide net with over 100 subpoenas for phone records  —  (CNN)The House select committee investigating the January 6 riot has formally subpoenaed the phone records of more than 100 people, a substantial number that includes former Trump officials and associates …

Inside Tim Cook's Secret $275 Billion Deal with Chinese Authorities  —  Interviews and internal Apple documents provide a behind-the-scenes look at how the company made concessions to Beijing and won key legal exemptions.  CEO Tim Cook personally lobbied officials over threats that would have hobbled its devices and services.

Chinese weddings fall to 13-year low as demographic crisis brews  —  Gender imbalance and high cost of tying the knot blamed for fewer couples getting married  —  China's efforts to lower the cost of marriage and boost birth rates have failed to lead to more weddings, dealing a blow …

Unvaccinated Illinoisans Would Pay COVID Hospital Bills Under New Proposals  —  Illinois residents who are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine and refuse to take it would have to pay for their treatment if they contract the virus under a proposed new bill.  —  “I think it's time that we say …

Lin Wood Claims Marjorie Taylor Greene Is Under Influence of ‘the Devil’  —  ‘DRAW YOUR OWN CONCLUSIONS’  —  Pro-Trump lawyer Lin Wood, who's embroiled in an escalating war of words with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), told The Daily Beast that he believes the far-right firebrand is under the “influence of the devil.”

A Very Weird Interview With Robert F. Kennedy Jr.  —  There are many criticisms to lob at Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and, as a result of the COVID pandemic, one of the most powerful and adored physicians in America.

Trump Won't Let America Go.  Can Democrats Pry It Away?  —  Mr. Edsall contributes a weekly column from Washington, D.C. on politics, demographics and inequality.  —  Do you believe, as many political activists and theorists do, that the contemporary Republican Party poses a threat to democracy?

Judiciary Republicans To Garland: Are Concerned Parents Domestic Terrorists Or Not?  —  WASHINGTON - In light of the disturbing revelation that the FBI's Counterterrorism Division created a “threat tag” based on Attorney General Merrick Garland's October 4 memorandum, Ranking Member Chuck Grassley …

The Pro-Life Movement Plans for a Future Without Roe  —  Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the Susan B. Anthony List, is preparing for new abortion laws to pass in at least thirty states.  —  Last week, the Supreme Court heard arguments concerning a Mississippi law that bars abortions …