Chief Justice John Roberts Pledges to Bolster Judicial Ethics  —  Year-end report addresses Wall Street Journal findings that federal judges with financial conflicts improperly ruled in hundreds of cases  —  WASHINGTON—Chief Justice John Roberts pledged Friday to improve ethics training …

Betty White, a Television Golden Girl From the Start, Is Dead at 99  —  Among the many highlights of a career that began in 1949 were star turns on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” in the 1970s and “Saturday Night Live” in 2010.  —  Betty White, who created two of the most memorable characters in sitcom history …

Eric Adams takes office as New York City's 110th mayor at a perilous moment.  —  Eric Adams, the city's second Black mayor, faces difficult decisions over how to lead New York City through the next wave of the pandemic.  —  Eric Leroy Adams was sworn in as the 110th mayor of New York City early Saturday …

China harvests masses of data on Western targets, documents show  —  China is turning a major part of its internal Internet data surveillance network outward, mining Western social media, including Facebook and Twitter, to equip its government agencies, military and police with information on foreign targets …

Ron DeSantis accompanied wife to cancer treatment while critics claimed he was ‘missing’  —  DeSantis announced his wife's breast cancer diagnosis in October  —  Florida Democrats blame DeSantis for COVID surge  —  Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis accompanied his wife to her cancer treatment …

Who Won in Afghanistan?  Private Contractors  —  The U.S. military spent $14 trillion during two decades of war; those who benefited range from major manufacturers to entrepreneurs  —  The U.S. lost its 20-year campaign to transform Afghanistan.  Many contractors won big.

Efforts to Trump-proof presidential certification crash into congressional realities  —  The violent attack on the Capitol cost lives, threatened the transition of presidential power and forever changed the way Congress does its work.  One year later, we at POLITICO are looking back at those changes …

First part of Texas' 2020 election audit reveals few issues, echoes findings from review processes already in place  —  An initial review of four counties' election results — launched after pressure from former President Donald Trump and touted by GOP leaders — showed few discrepancies between electronic …

The left is already looking to 2024.  Some want to see a Biden primary challenge.  —  When Joe Biden first came into office, progressives said he could be the next FDR.  —  Now, as Biden's relationship with the left has come under strain, liberals are talking about treating …

Bernard Kerik provides batch of documents to Jan. 6 select committee  —  A key adviser to Donald Trump's legal team in their post-election quest to unearth evidence of fraud has delivered a trove of documents to Jan. 6 investigators describing those efforts.

One Year Since the Jan. 6 Attack on the Capitol  —  Thursday, Jan. 6 2022, marks one year since the attack on the U.S. Capitol that disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress in the process of affirming the presidential election results.  The government continues to investigate losses …

Why 2022 Rhymes With the Previous Four Midterms  —  It feels safer to bet on unpredictability than stability in this era of tremendous political and social churn and upheaval.  While we know that the midterm elections favor the ‘out’ party (i.e. the party that doesn't control the White House) …

Omicron Doesn't Infect the Lungs Very Well, Animal Studies Find  —  Compared with earlier variants, Omicron may cause less damage to the lungs, new animal research suggests.  —  A spate of new studies on lab animals and human tissues are providing a possible explanation …

Documents Reveal Basic Flaws in Pentagon Dismissals of Civilian Casualty Claims  —  A Times investigation found inconsistent approaches to assessing claims of civilians killed by coalition forces — including failures to conduct simple internet searches.  —  The report that came to the attention …

FDIC's GOP chair to resign after partisan brawl  —  Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Jelena McWilliams on Friday unexpectedly submitted her resignation after the Trump appointee faced partisan strife at the bank regulator, in a move that will give Democrats control of the agency in the coming weeks.

Federal judge stops mask and vaccine mandates in Texas Head Start  —  LUBBOCK, Texas — A federal judge in Lubbock halted mask and vaccine mandates in the Head Start program within the State of Texas.  The ruling by Judge James “Wesley” Hendrix came Friday (New Year's Eve).