In leaked audio, L.A. council members make racist remarks, mock colleagues  —  Three Latino members of the Los Angeles City Council and a top county labor official held a conversation last fall that included racist remarks, derisive statements about their colleagues and council President Nury Martinez saying …

How California's Bullet Train Went Off the Rails  —  America's first experiment with high-speed rail has become a multi-billion-dollar nightmare.  Political compromises created a project so expensive that almost no one knows how it can be built as originally envisioned.

Ron Johnson and Mandela Barnes in tight Senate race in Wisconsin — CBS News Battleground Tracker poll  —  It seems like Wisconsin elections are always pretty close these days, and here are two more following that trend.  The Senate race has incumbent Republican Sen. Ron Johnson running …

Trumpism Has Found Its Leading Lady  —  As election returns rolled in on the evening of November 3, 2020, a local news host in Phoenix was starring in an intensely awkward broadcast.  The Fox 10 anchor Kari Lake was refusing to call Arizona for Joe Biden—even though her network had already done so.

Kanye West warns Jews about ‘toying’ with him and those opposing ‘agenda’  —  Kanye West said that he couldn't be antisemitic, because black people are actually Jews.  —  American rapper Kanye West threatened Jewish people about a supposed conflict with him over a Jewish agenda …

In Russian-occupied Izyum, she was raped and tortured  —  IZYUM, Ukraine — Soon after Russian forces took her prisoner, the 52-year-old woman picked up a nail and carved her name into a brick wall.  —  A-L-L-A, she wrote.  —  Below, she scratched how many days she had been held in the shed outside a medical clinic in her hometown.

Crimean bridge: Excitement and fear in Ukraine after bridge blast  —  Ukraine is exploding with excitement this morning.  —  Videos of the damaged Crimean bridge have spread like wildfire on social media; this is already being compared to the sinking of the Russian warship Moskva in April.

House Republican defends Tuberville over reparation remark  —  Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) on Sunday defended Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) after the senator said Democrats want reparations for minorities because their party is “pro-crime.”  —  Bacon told NBC's “Meet the Press” …

Trump Blames U.S. for ‘Almost Forcing’ Putin to Invade Ukraine  —  Former President Donald Trump blamed the United States for “almost forcing” Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine.  —  Trump's remarks came as Russia continued to stall in their struggling “special military operation …

Trump speaks via video at rally of global far-right in Spain  —  Former U.S. President Donald Trump threw his weight behind Spain's far-right Sunday in a video shown at a rally in Madrid that also featured messages by the leading stars of Europe's populist right like Italy's Giorgia Meloni and Hungary's Viktor Orban.

Another Challenge to New York's Gun Law: Sheriffs Who Won't Enforce It  —  Some say the measure, which was passed after a Supreme Court opinion, ignores common sense, the Second Amendment and the way people live outside big cities.  —  LYONS, N.Y. — Robert Milby, Wayne County's new sheriff …

Former Gov. Bill Richardson suggests Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan may be released by end of year  —  Former Gov. Bill Richardson said Sunday he is “cautiously optimistic” that two Americans wrongfully detained by Russia will be released and suggested they could be freed by the end of the year.

Judge Narrows Trial of Analyst Who Reported Salacious Claims About Trump  —  Matters deemed tangential to the charges of making false statements, including a notorious and uncorroborated rumor of a sex tape, will be excluded from the case.  —  WASHINGTON — John H. Durham …