Trump blasts Netanyahu for disloyalty: “F**k him”  —  Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu were the closest of political allies during the four years they overlapped in office, at least in public.  Not anymore.  “I haven't spoken to him since,” Trump said of the former Israeli prime minister.

Kanye West publicist pressed Georgia election worker to confess to bogus fraud charges  —  Weeks after the 2020 election, a Chicago publicist for hip-hop artist Kanye West traveled to the suburban home of Ruby Freeman, a frightened Georgia election worker who was facing death threats …

William Hartmann, 63, Michigan Official Who Disputed Election, Dies  —  He refused to certify Joseph Biden's victory over Donald Trump in Detroit but later relented.  A foe of Covid vaccines, he was hospitalized with the virus.  —  William Hartmann, one of two Republican election officials …

Prices climbed 6.8% in November compared with last year, largest rise in nearly four decades, as inflation spreads through economy  —  Over the past few weeks and months, policymakers at the Federal Reserve and White House have backed away from the message that inflation is just temporary

Jussie Smollett being found guilty of hoax will hurt LGBTQ folks reporting hate crimes  —  The Jussie Smollett saga may now be technically over after a Chicago jury found the actor guilty Thursday of five of the six counts he faced, but its impact will be — and has already been — felt for years to come.

British High Court rules in favor of U.S. extradition of Julian Assange  —  LONDON — A British High Court ruled Friday that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can be extradited to the United States to face charges of violating the Espionage Act.  —  The 50-year-old Australian will remain …

Trump's White House Passed Around a PowerPoint on How to End American Democracy  —  The House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack on the Capitol on Thursday released slides from a PowerPoint calling for former President Trump to declare a national security emergency in order …

Covid Malaise  —  Why do Americans say the economy is in rough shape?  Because it is.  —  Offices remain eerily empty.  Airlines have canceled thousands of flights.  Subways and buses are running less often.  Schools sometimes call off entire days of class.  Consumers waste time waiting in store lines.

Appeals court rules against Trump in fight over Jan. 6 committee documents request  —  Federal appeals court rejects Trump request to block release of White House documents  —  WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that former President Donald Trump cannot prevent …

Public view on Biden's handling of Covid and the economy takes another hit, CNBC survey shows  — President Joe Biden's overall approval rating stabilized at a low level of 41%, according to the CNBC All-America Survey.  — Biden's approval rating on handling the economy and dealing with the coronavirus both declined.

Public Life Can't Survive Without a Center  —  The loudest, most prominent voices in public life are not always the most influential.  Some of the people who leave the most profound impact—the ones who actually shape the thinking of a generation—do so quietly.  Fred Hiatt, who died earlier this week, was one of those people.

The Supreme Court isn't well.  The only hope for a cure is more justices.  —  Nancy Gertner is a retired U.S. District Court judge.  Laurence H. Tribe is Carl M. Loeb University Professor emeritus and professor of constitutional law emeritus at Harvard Law School.

GOP senators and Manchin in talks to work around Cruz's ambassador blockade  —  (CNN)A growing number of Senate Republicans are expressing deep concerns about the impact that Sen. Ted Cruz's blockade on President Joe Biden's ambassador nominees is having around the world …

Reality TV's Josh Duggar convicted of child porn possession  —  FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Former reality TV star Josh Duggar was immediately taken into custody Thursday after a federal jury convicted him of downloading and possessing child pornography.  —  The jury in Fayetteville …

Putin barrels toward invading Ukraine, encouraged by Trump  —  Russian President Vladimir Putin's path toward threatening an invasion of Ukraine is marked by reckless actions.  In this move toward defiance of international norms, Putin has been subtly encouraged by former president Donald Trump, a fellow traveler in recklessness.

Trump-Backed Mo Brooks Shakes Up His Struggling Alabama Senate Campaign  —  Alabama Rep. Brooks fired his consultants a few weeks ago and is replacing them with a new team—including one who's been very critical of Trump.  —  Trump-endorsed Republican Rep. Mo Brooks is shaking …

Inflation Rising at Fastest Pace in Nearly 40 Years, New Data Shows  —  The U.S. stock market has been on a run, with the S&P 500 up nearly 4 percent so far this week, and more than 25 percent for the year.  Fears about the Omicron variant of the coronavirus quickly faded, with stocks regaining lost ground.

‘We will not be defeated’: 36 hours of Fox News covering its own Christmas tree fire  —  A man was arrested for allegedly setting fire to the giant tree in Manhattan.  It became a major story.  —  For more than 36 hours after a 50-foot-tall Christmas tree outside Fox News's Manhattan headquarters …

Kamala Harris Needs to Get Serious  —  Her shaky standing is a danger to the country given the position she could be called on to fill.  —  President Biden's poll numbers are bad and Vice President Kamala Harris's are worse.  A survey this week from conservative-leaning Rasmussen had her at 39% favorable …

McCarthy faces make or break moment with proxy voting case  —  Plenty of House Republicans have softened their stance on remote voting during the pandemic.  Not their leader, who's digging in all the way to the Supreme Court.  —  The high court will decide as soon as Friday whether …

The Pandemic of the Vaccinated Is Here  —  Even before the arrival of Omicron, the winter months were going to be tough for parts of the United States.  While COVID transmission rates in the South caught fire over the summer, the Northeast and Great Plains states were largely spared thanks …

With Too Few Nurses, It Won't Take Much to Overwhelm Hospitals This Winter  —  Nurse Hannah Drummond routinely must watch patients for hours as they lie in the emergency department, waiting for a hospital bed upstairs.  That includes patients so ill they use breathing machines or need hospice or intensive care, she said.

Voters who think Trump won are the most enthusiastic to vote in 2022  —  (CNN)The Democrats only have a US Senate majority because they were able to win two Senate runoffs in Georgia in January.  Those Democratic wins were made possible by lower turnout among Republican-leaning voters …

AOC's latest rant about law enforcement actually makes a good point  —  Far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is right about something.  Yes, you read that correctly.  —  During a Wednesday House hearing, the New York congresswoman gave impassioned remarks railing against “civil asset forfeiture.”

I'm Black But Look White.  Here Are The Horrible Things White People Feel Safe Telling Me.  —  “Many of these people are educated, and hold jobs or positions that give them some form of power or influence over Black people.”  —  I was outside my house gardening a few weekends ago when a neighbor …

Texas Judge Rules State Abortion Law Unconstitutional Over Its Enforcement  —  ‘EAGER IDEOLOGICAL CLAIMANTS’  —  A judge in Texas ruled the state's controversial new abortion law unconstitutional Thursday.  The statute bans abortions after six weeks, before many women even know they are pregnant …

Some Texas religious leaders live in lavish, tax-free estates thanks to obscure law  —  Sorry, your browser doesn't support embedded videos.  —  This fall, county officials mailed out property tax bills to the owners of a 10-bedroom, 10.5-bath Houston-area mansion, an 8,000-square-foot residence …