White House reporters ask for virtual press briefings during the latest covid surge  —  With a fierce new variant of the coronavirus on the loose, White House reporters are urging press secretary Jen Psaki to move her daily briefings online — but it's an idea Psaki has been cool to so far.

Thompson says Jan. 6 committee focused on Trump's hours of silence during attack, weighing criminal referrals  —  The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is focusing intently on Donald Trump's actions that day as it begins to discuss whether to recommend …

Exclusive: U.S. to lift travel curbs on eight African countries  —  The Biden administration will lift travel restrictions on eight southern African countries imposed last month over concerns about the fast-spreading COVID-19 Omicron variant, the White House said Friday.

MAGA Cartoonist Ben Garrison Turns on Trump After Pro-Vaccine Comments  —  Controversial cartoonist Ben Garrison's latest offering takes aim at former President Donald Trump - who once invited him to the White House for a social media summit.  —  Garrison's cartoon shows a distraught Trump riding …

A 19-year-old has been charged in the carjacking of U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, police say.  Four other teens were also arrested  —  A 19-year-old from Wilmington, Del., was charged in federal court Thursday with participating in Wednesday's gunpoint carjacking of U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon …

Former police officer Kim Potter found guilty of manslaughter in Daunte Wright's death  —  Former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter has been found guilty of first- and second-degree manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright during a traffic stop-turned-arrest in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center.

How the Soviet Union's collapse explains the current Russia-Ukraine tension  —  On Christmas Day 1991, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev sat down at a table deep inside the Kremlin and prepared to deliver a monumental speech.  Associated Press reporter Alan Cooperman was among the few journalists allowed in.

New York will require masks and social distancing at scaled-back Times Square New Year's celebration  — Attendees at the Times Square New Year's Eve celebration will have to wear masks, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday.  — Social-distancing rules will limit the crowd …

The Biden Administration Rejected an October Proposal for “Free Rapid Tests for the Holidays”  —  With omicron cases spreading like wildfire, the White House is finally taking steps to make free antigen tests available to all.  But this fall, Vanity Fair has learned, it dismissed a bold plan …

14-year-old girl in dressing room of Burlington fatally shot by LAPD  —  In an incident the police chief called “devastating and tragic,” an LAPD officer fatally shot a teenage girl at a Burlington clothing store during a chaotic confrontation that also left a suspect dead and another person injured.

State legislators, voters sue Maryland over allegedly gerrymandered congressional map helping Democrats  —  Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan previously called on DOJ to sue state over redistricting plan  —  Fox News Flash top headlines for December 23  —  A group of Republican Maryland legislators …

A year ago, Fox News considered a breakup with Trump.  2021 changed those plans.  —  Going into 2022, the network's alignment with Trump has it grappling with a pair of potentially catastrophic lawsuits.  But its ratings are on top again.  —  In the weeks before the 2020 election …

‘Christmas’ Lights or ‘Holiday’ Lights?  —  The woke's vocabulary is a weapon in their culture war.  —  I never had kids and when I look at Facebook friends' photos of their own I realize that that's probably a good thing.  I am a graduate of the school of hard knocks.  I know how tough life can be.

‘Burn it all down’  —  How Myanmar's military razed villages to crush a growing resistance  —  For decades, Thantlang had known peace.  The town's mostly Christian residents cherished their home among mountains in northwest Myanmar, where they hosted an annual soccer tournament.

Wave of suicides hits Texas National Guard's border mission  —  Four soldiers have taken their own lives in two months  —  Pfc. Joshua R. Cortez was preparing to accept a “lifetime job” with one of the nation's biggest health insurance companies in late October.  But the Texas National Guard had other ideas.

Joan Didion, ‘New Journalist’ Who Explored Culture and Chaos, Dies at 87  —  She established a distinctive voice in American fiction before turning to political reporting and screenplay writing.  But it was California, her native state, that provided her with her richest material.

Uncounted: Inaccurate death certificates across the country hide the true toll of COVID-19  —  Some counties, like Cape Girardeau, have seen a spike in deaths that aren't attributed to COVID-19.  Many of them, blamed on natural causes, are likely from the coronavirus

Two Georgia poll workers sue One America News, Giuliani over debunked fraud claims  —  Two Georgia election workers who were the target of vote-rigging conspiracy theories have sued the far-right One America News Network, its top executives, and former President Donald Trump's ex-lawyer Rudy Giuliani …

George Floyd pardon recommendation withdrawn, as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott grants 8 others clemency  —  The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles withdrew Floyd's unanimous pardon recommendation because it “contained procedural errors and lack of compliance with Board rules.”