Collins to Back Jackson for Supreme Court, Giving Her a G.O.P. Vote  —  Senator Susan Collins, a centrist from Maine, said a second meeting with Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson alleviated her concerns.  It is unclear if other Republicans will join her.  — Give this article- - - Read in app

Inside Hunter Biden's multimillion-dollar deals with a Chinese energy company … The deal was years in the making, the culmination of forging contacts, hosting dinners, of flights to and from China.  But on Aug. 2, 2017, signatures were quickly affixed, one from Hunter Biden, the other from a Chinese executive named Gongwen Dong.

Facebook paid GOP firm to malign TikTok … Facebook parent company Meta is paying one of the biggest Republican consulting firms in the country to orchestrate a nationwide campaign seeking to turn the public against TikTok.  —  The campaign includes placing op-eds and letters to the editor …

The Attacks On Clarence And Ginni Thomas Are Merely Latest In A Decades-Long Smear Campaign  —  Not only are the attacks on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife Ginni purely political, they're deeply hypocritical.  —  While claiming its aggressive collection of confidential information …

Why Russian troops are using tree branches for camouflage in Ukraine  —  Russian troops in Ukraine have scrambled to avoid detection and attack by using tree branches and straw, even swaths of carpeting, to conceal tanks and other armored vehicles, in what analysts call a surprising lack …

Biden Poised to Invoke Cold-War Powers to Boost Battery Metals  —  President Joe Biden is poised to invoke as soon as this week Cold War powers to encourage domestic production of critical minerals for electric-vehicle and other types of batteries, according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reports.

Scoop: FEC fines DNC and Clinton for Trump dossier hoax  —  The Federal Election Commission has fined the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign for lying about the funding of the infamous, and discredited, Russian “dossier” used in a smear attempt against Donald Trump weeks …

Democrats Creating Their Own October Surprise  —  Imminent congressional inaction on Affordable Care Act subsidies will doom 14 million people, the party's midterm chances, and health care reform for a decade.  —  Demonstrating outside the Supreme Court in support of the Affordable Care Act, November 2020

Half of Russia's 20 Richest Billionaires Are Not Sanctioned  —  Data and graphics by Raeedah Wahid, Mira Rojanasakul, Marion Halftermeyer and Alex McIntyre  —  Half of Russia's 20 richest people have not been sanctioned over its war in Ukraine, leaving a group of super-rich …

Why People Are Acting So Weird  —  Everyone is acting so weird!  The most obvious recent weirdness was when Will Smith smacked Chris Rock at the Oscars.  But if you look closely, people have been behaving badly on smaller stages for months now.  Last week, a man was arrested after he punched a gate agent at the Atlanta airport.

Trump's Truth Social App Plummets in Traffic, Sees 93% Drop in Signups Since Launch Week (Exclusive)  —  Former president Donald Trump's Truth Social app is seeing a 93% drop in signups and similarly steep decline in traffic after a rocky rollout last month fraught with technical issues …

POLITICO Playbook: Could Trump blow the midterms for the GOP?  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  He's back.  —  All signs point to a typical midterm election this year in which the president's party suffers double-digit losses in the House.  The GOP has the big structural advantages on its side …

Former Yale Med School Employee Pleads Guilty, Admits Stealing and Selling $40 Million in Electronics  —  Leonard C Boyle, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, David Sundberg, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation …

How War in Ukraine Roiled Facebook and Instagram  —  The rules over what war content is permitted on Facebook and Instagram keep changing, causing internal confusion.  —  Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, took an unusual step last week: It suspended some of the quality controls …

Biden to receive second coronavirus booster shot … President Biden will receive his second coronavirus booster shot Wednesday, the White House announced, one day after the Food and Drug Administration authorized a second booster shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for older and immunocompromised adults.

Americans' Energy Worries Surge  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans are significantly more worried about the energy situation in the U.S. than they have been in a decade.  Nearly half of Americans, 47%, say they worry a great deal about the availability and affordability of energy.

Biden approval rating falls despite booming economy  —  The U.S. economy keeps growing at the fastest rate since 1987, the unemployment rate is down, and job growth is up.  But it doesn't seem to be resonating with American voters.  Biden's approval rating has fallen to lowest level of his presidency …

GOP's Senate campaign chief won't back down from party fight  —  TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Rick Scott likes to think of himself as Gen. Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War.  —  Barely halfway through his first Senate term, the Florida Republican is already leaning into a fight …

The Government Made This Fake News Broadcast About a Nuclear Attack on Indianapolis  —  Watch a never-before-seen video from Mighty Derringer, a Department of Energy training exercise simulating a nuclear terrorist attack on a major U.S. city.  —  Alerts  —  In December of 1986, the Pentagon …

U.S. Households Face $5,200 Inflation Tax This Year  —  Paying More  —  Inflation means the average U.S. household has to spend an extra $5,200 this year  —  Notes: This chart shows our estimate of the inflation cost for each income quintile assuming differential inflation rates facing each income group …

Disney Goes Woke, Will No Longer Say ‘Boys And Girls’ Within Park  —  The most magical place on earth is now also the most bizarre.  Disneyland and Disney World are removing “gender greetings” from its parks, meaning, those inside the budget-bursting theme parks will no longer be addressed …

Koch Industries' valentine to Vladimir Putin  —  Give Koch Industries credit for consistency: It's aiding the foes of democracy at home and abroad.  —  In the two weeks since I wrote about U.S. companies that remained in Russia despite Vladimir Putin's savage invasion of Ukraine …

Progressive candidates seek distance from label  —  © Associated Press-Keith Srakocic/Associated Press-Gerry Broome  —  They're pushing for environmental reforms, embracing single-payer health care and calling for more government assistance.  But increasingly, many are reluctant to call themselves “progressives.”