Kamala Harris's Allies Express Concern: Is She an Afterthought?  —  The vice president's allies are increasingly concerned that President Biden relied on her to win but does not need her to govern.  —  WASHINGTON — The president needed the senator from West Virginia on his side …

Case data, vaccine news mark small victories in Omicron battle  —  Two vaccine makers said their shots protected against Omicron as UK data suggested it may cause proportionally fewer hospital cases than the Delta coronavirus variant, though public health experts warned the battle against COVID-19 was far from over.

Hong Kong University Pulls Down Monument to Tiananmen Massacre Victims  —  Sculptor says he is shocked by actions to remove ‘Pillar of Shame’  —  HONG KONG—The governing body of the city's oldest university ordered the removal of a statue commemorating the victims of the Tiananmen Square massacre …

U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon carjacked and robbed in South Philly after touring FDR Park  —  U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon was carjacked and robbed at gunpoint in broad daylight on Wednesday afternoon shortly after finishing a meeting at FDR Park, her office and police officials confirmed.

People Got Sick at a Conspiracy Conference.  They're Sure It's Anthrax.  —  The fact that the conference was likely a COVID outbreak and superspreader event has been almost entirely ignored.  —  DG  —  A group of unvaccinated people who attended a huge conspiracy conference in Dallas earlier …

Michael Flynn loses his legal challenge to the House January 6 probe, one day after filing it  —  (CNN)Michael Flynn has swiftly lost his bid in court to block a possible House select committee subpoena for his phone records and to hold off demands he speak to the panel investigating January 6.

The Rise of Eric Adams and Black New York  —  Ms. Gay is a member of the editorial board.  —  It was winter in Black New York, and the last thing Eric Leroy Adams wanted to do was join the New York City Police Department.  —  It was the early 1980s and waves of joblessness and crime …

CNN Exclusive: US intel and satellite images show Saudi Arabia is now building its own ballistic missiles with help of China  —  Washington (CNN)US intelligence agencies have assessed that Saudi Arabia is now actively manufacturing its own ballistic missiles with the help of China …

Supreme Court sets special hearing for Biden's vaccine rules for health-care workers, private businesses  —  The Supreme Court Wednesday night announced it will hold a special hearing next month to consider challenges to the Biden administration's pandemic efforts to impose a nationwide vaccine …

Republicans are trying to pin the ‘Big Lie’ on Stacey Abrams  —  Georgia Republicans have wasted no time making Stacey Abrams' 2022 gubernatorial bid all about 2018.  —  In ads, speeches and op-eds, the GOP is hearkening back to Abrams' first campaign for governor, emphasizing her final speech …

Thousands who ‘followed the rules’ are about to get covid.  They shouldn't be ashamed.  —  For two years now, Aline, a 30-something graduate student in Ohio, has diligently — desperately, even — protected herself against the coronavirus.  Vaccinated and boosted, she took a test last week ahead of holiday travel to Atlanta.

‘Fox News is putting a target on the back of top scientists’: Fellow medics back Fauci in Watters row  —  Fallout continues from Jesse Watters' Turning Point USA speech  —  More health experts are calling for Fox News to take some kind of action after one of its most prominent hosts …

Senate GOP feels another Trump effect: The rise of celeb candidates  —  The most reliable springboard to the Senate used to be House experience — before Donald Trump vaulted from reality TV to the White House.  —  Five years after Trump went from celebrity to the presidency …

Proud Boy pleads guilty to felony charge in Capitol riot  —  A New York man who was a member of the Proud Boys pleaded guilty Wednesday to obstructing Congress and conspiring to obstruct law enforcement during the pro-Trump riot on Jan. 6, a felony.  —  The plea is significant because Matthew Greene …

Will Donald Trump Get Away With Inciting an Insurrection?  —  Mr. Tribe taught constitutional law at Harvard for 50 years.  Merrick Garland was one of his students.  Mr. Ayer oversaw criminal prosecutions and investigations as Ronald Reagan's U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of California.

On More Generous Terms, Obamacare Proves Newly Popular  —  Record sign-ups, even in states that had resisted expanding health coverage under the Affordable Care Act.  —  A record number of Americans — 13.6 million — have signed up for health plans through the Affordable Care Act's marketplaces for 2022 …

‘Have I Hit Bottom?’:  Michael Avenatti and the Fall of a Trump-Era Antihero  —  VENICE, Calif. — Inside a two-bedroom apartment, 11 blocks from the ocean, there is a man in free fall, though he has nowhere to go.  He wears a monitor on his right ankle, government-issued, blinking green beneath his tapered track pants.

Rep. Madison Cawthorn Announces Divorce From Wife 8 Months After Wedding  —  CONSCIOUS UNCOUPLING  —  Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) and his wife, Cristina Cawthorn, are divorcing after less than a year of marriage.  The North Carolina lawmaker cited his time in Congress …

Biden Promised 500 Million Tests, but Americans Will Have to Wait  —  Contracts to purchase tests could be signed as soon as next week, but relief could be weeks away for people trying to buy the hard-to-find tests.  —  WASHINGTON — President Biden promised Americans he is making 500 million …