Former President Barack Obama: We need to follow John Lewis' example and fight for our democracy  —  “The world, and future generations, will be watching,” Obama writes as he calls on Senate to “do the right thing” and pass legislation to protect voting rights.  —  Barack ObamaSpecial to USA TODAY

McCarthy's plot to build the House of Trump  —  Kevin McCarthy is signaling he'll institutionalize key Trumpian priorities if he takes over as House speaker next year — aggressive tactics targeting undocumented immigrants, liberals and corporate America.  —  Why it matters …

I-Team: Nevada Republicans sent National Archives fake electoral certificates saying Trump won election  —  LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The Nevada Republican Party sent the federal government documentation certifying the election for former President Donald Trump, even though the state's real electors …

Is Omicron Peaking?  —  In parts of the Northeast, it seems to be.  —  The number of new Covid-19 cases in New York City rose more than twentyfold in December.  In the past few days, it has flattened.  —  In both New Jersey and Maryland, the number of new cases has fallen slightly this week.

Trump is eyeing the White House and wants a more compliant Senate for when he gets there  —  As Donald Trump charts out his midterm elections strategy, his focus has turned to the contest for the Senate, not just in hopes of getting it back under GOP control but of having more compliant lawmakers there should he become president again.

Did Democrats make a strategic error?  —  Key inflation measure hits 39-year high  —  Reno, Nevada (CNN)Outside a Costco, Laura Godinez lifts meat, toothpaste, coffee, bottled water and bulk supplies of DayQuil from her cart — just the staples in a pandemic-era weekly shopping trip …

Omicron waves appear to slow in New York City, other major metropolitan areas … The explosion of omicron cases along the Interstate 95 corridor from the Mid-Atlantic to New England is showing signs of slowing down, according to health officials and epidemiologists, offering reason …

Energy Department to announce Clean Energy Corps, hire 1,000 staffers to work on climate change  —  Good morning and welcome to The Climate 202!  Yesterday was a busy day for climate policy, but we've got you covered.  —  Biden's Energy Department to announce Clean Energy Corps, will hire 1,000 staffers to work on climate change

Fox News Airs 11-Year-Old Photo of Empty Shelves in Japan to Slam ‘Bare Shelves Biden’  —  During the opening segment of Wednesday's Fox News Primetime, the network displayed a graphic of bare shelves at a grocery store to underscore rising inflation.  Earlier in the day …

A Look Inside Rikers: ‘Fight Night’ and Gang Rule, Captured on Video  —  Videos obtained by The New York Times reveal scenes of violence as the Department of Correction struggles to restore order in the jail system.  —  The men had gotten along on Rikers Island, had even been friendly …

Biden claims yet another arrest for which there's little evidence  —  “I did not walk in the shoes of generations of students who walked these grounds.  But I walked other grounds.  Because I'm so damn old, I was there as well.  You think I'm kidding, man.  It seems like yesterday the first time I got arrested.”

U.S. Diplomats in Geneva, Paris Struck With Suspected ‘Havana Syndrome’  —  Mysterious neurological ailment has afflicted as many as 200 U.S. officials in diplomatic posts world-wide  —  WASHINGTON—Officials serving at U.S. diplomatic missions in Geneva and Paris are suspected …

Army offers up to $50k in enlistment incentives  —  The U.S. Army is offering its largest bonus ever for new recruits with up to $50,000 available to qualified individuals who sign on for a six-year active-duty enlistment.  —  The total incentive package for a new recruit is based …

Loudoun Rapist Sentenced, Put On Sex Offender Registry For Life  —  LOUDOUN COUNTY, Virginia — The 14-year-old boy who raped a ninth-grader in a girls' bathroom while he wore a skirt and blouse was sentenced on Wednesday to residential treatment, as it emerged that he also allegedly attacked a third girl …

Cannabis Compounds Prevented Covid Infection in Laboratory Study  —  Cannabis compounds prevented the virus that causes Covid-19 from penetrating healthy human cells, according to a laboratory study published in the Journal of Nature Products.  —  The two compounds commonly found in hemp …

First look: NRCC raised $140 million in 2021  —  The House Republicans' campaign arm raised $140 million in 2021, and $17.9 million in December alone, setting a new record for the committee's off-year fundraising, Axios has learned.  —  Why it matters: The hefty cash infusion …

Trump loyalists form alliance in bid to take over election process in key states  —  ‘Coalition of America First secretary of state candidates’ disclosed by Jim Marchant, who is running for secretary of state in Nevada  —  Extreme Republicans loyal to Donald Trump and his “big lie” …

We suspected that rightwing politics caused mass injury and death.  A new book proves it  —  When partisanship subsumes everything, people die.  Period. … The Republicans are sabotaging the country's full recovery from the covid pandemic.  They don't think so, though.

Incoming North Korean Missile Warning Prompted FAA's Mysterious Air Traffic Halt  —  Two days after the Federal Aviation Administration issued a highly peculiar ground-stop order to aircraft operating across the western United States and Hawaii, and after the release of a remarkably murky official statement …

Olivia Nuzzi Developing Pitch-Black Satirical DC Drama At AMC  —  EXCLUSIVE: Olivia Nuzzi, the Washington correspondent for New York magazine who wrote some of the wildest stories about President Donald Trump during his four years in office, is turning her attention to television.

Florida State Board of Administration official killed in apparent road-rage shootout  —  A spokesman for Florida's State Board of Administration was shot and killed in an apparent road-rage incident last week near Tallahassee, according to law enforcement and news reports.

German court: Syrian man guilty of crimes against humanity  —  KOBLENZ, Germany (AP) — A former Syrian secret police officer was convicted by a German court Thursday of crimes against humanity for overseeing the abuse of detainees at a jail near Damascus a decade ago.