Why fewer states than ever could pick the next president  —  The results of this month's election point toward a 2024 presidential contest that will likely be decided by a tiny sliver of voters in a rapidly shrinking list of swing states realistically within reach for either party.

Ukraine Launches Assault to Oust Russia From Key Black Sea Peninsula  —  Kinburn Spit, occupied by Russia for months, lies at maritime choke point and is coveted prize for Kyiv  —  Ukraine's military said it launched an operation to push Russian forces from a strategic peninsula …

From Europe, Trump special counsel takes over Mar-a-Lago, Jan. 6 probes  —  Prosecutor Jack Smith must assemble a team, find office space and catch up on the long-running cases involving Donald Trump  —  Newly appointed special counsel Jack Smith continues to work remotely from Europe …

Army Veteran Went Into ‘Combat Mode’ to Disarm the Club Q Gunman  —  Richard M. Fierro, who served for 15 years in the military, was at the nightclub in Colorado Springs with his family when the gunman opened fire.  “I just knew I had to take him down,” he said.

Mike Pence's Day-By-Day Account of Trump's Pressure Campaign Against Him  —  When Pence finally spoke out, it was too late.  —  Former Vice President Mike Pence has a lot to say in his new book, So Help Me God, about what he witnessed in the White House during the run-up to January 6th.

Exclusive: Naomi Biden On Her White House Wedding  —  On the Tuesday evening before her wedding, under the watchful eye of a Secret Service agent, Naomi Biden, 28, and her soon-to-be husband, Peter Neal, 25, came downstairs from their living quarters on the third floor of the White House residence to practice their first dance.

Musk's ‘free speech’ agenda dismantles safety work at Twitter, insiders say  —  Amid the wider turmoil since his takeover last month, Musk has moved rapidly to undermine Twitter's deliberative content-moderation system.  —  Hours after Elon Musk took control of Twitter in late October …

Iran Arrests 2 Actresses for Participating in Protests  —  World Cup soccer players, movie personalities and other prominent Iranians have shown support for the protests that have engulfed the country.  —  At the World Cup in Qatar, Iran's soccer players on Monday declined to sing their country's national anthem.

11/22/22 ☀️ Punchbowl News AM … AND NOW MCHENRY WILL BE IN A CRITICAL SPOT AS THE U.S. ECONOMY GRAPPLES WITH RAPID TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE AND GLOBAL INSTABILITY.  —  MCHENRY HAS SERVED ON THE PANEL SINCE COMING TO CONGRESS IN 2005.  SINCE 2018, HE'S BEEN THE TOP REPUBLICAN …

A Georgia Senate runoff poll points to challenges for Walker, Warnock  —  A new poll focusing on the Dec. 6 runoff between U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker shows a close race with challenges for both rivals as they rush to rebuild their coalitions.

First on CNN: White House kicking off six-week Covid-19 booster push  —  The Biden administration is launching a critical, six-week push aimed at stepping up Americans' Covid-19 booster vaccinations heading into the holiday season.  —  “With winter and holiday gatherings right around the corner …

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer makes historic pick for Michigan Supreme Court vacancy  —  Lansing — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has chosen state Rep. Kyra Harris Bolden to fill a seat on the Michigan Supreme Court, making her the first Black woman to serve on the state's high court.

How one man quietly stitched the American safety net over four decades  —  Robert Greenstein isn't a household name.  But his career lobbying for the poor has changed the lives of millions of Americans.  —  When it comes to poverty in America, we have to hold two contradictory thoughts in our heads at the same time.

Why S.F. elections' boss might lose his job after two decades and four elections this year  —  With San Francisco's fourth election of the year still to be certified, the man who oversaw it all and scores of other vote-counts over the past 20 years could lose his job next year.

Donald Trump will testify in New York court to defend his business empire  — Donald Trump will testify in person in 2023 to defend his company against New York's $250 million lawsuit.  — He's the lead defendant in the state attorney general's suit, which seeks to bar him from doing business in the state.

Elon Musk's 2022 Wealth Loss Exceeds $100 Billion for First Time  —  Elon Musk's losses for 2022 topped $100 billion as shares of Tesla Inc. dropped to the lowest level in two years.  —  The Tesla co-founder is still the world's richest person with a fortune of $169.8 billion …

Ian was one of the most lethal hurricanes in decades.  Many of the deaths were preventable.  —  Hurricane Ian killed at least 148 people in Florida, most of them in coastal communities where the danger of storm surge is well documented but not widely understood.

The debt-ceiling time bomb is ticking faster than Congress realizes  —  The best time to raise (or, better yet, eliminate) the federal debt ceiling was yesterday.  The second-best time: today.  —  Our alarmingly complacent Congress instead behaves as though the task can be left to some faraway tomorrow.

A broken soul: Adam Kinzinger  —  Neither Adam Kinzinger nor Liz Cheney interests me that much.  —  They seem to be driven by a monomania: hatred of Donald Trump.  It takes about 2 minutes to get their point, and there is nothing left to consider.  So I don't.