Turnout by Republicans Was Great.  It's Just That Many of Them Didn't Vote for Republicans.  —  No, the main G.O.P. problem wasn't prioritizing Election Day voting over early voting.  —  After yet another disappointing showing for Republicans in Georgia's Senate runoff on Tuesday …

Griner for Bout: WNBA star freed in US-Russia prisoner swap  —  Russia freed WNBA star Brittney Griner on Thursday in a dramatic high-level prisoner exchange, with the U.S. releasing notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, American and Russian officials said.

Donald Trump and His Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad 3 Weeks  —  For the former president, who raced to announce his third run for the White House in hopes of clearing the Republican field, the losses, legal setbacks and embarrassments are rapidly piling up.

Poll: DeSantis surges to 5-point lead over weakened Trump in 2024 primary matchup … A new Yahoo News/YouGov poll finds that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis now leads former President Donald Trump by 5 percentage points in the race for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.

China Scraps Most Covid Testing, Quarantine Requirements in Policy Pivot  —  Latest measures target intrusive aspects of unpopular pandemic regime  —  China Announces Nationwide Loosening of Covid-19 Rules  —  Created with sketchtool.  —  1x  —  HONG KONG—China dropped many of its quarantine …

Florida Republican who sponsored 'Don't Say Gay' indicted on Covid relief fraud charges  —  TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A federal grand jury indicted Republican Florida state Rep. Joe Harding on six counts after authorities said he illegally obtained $150,000 in pandemic-related small business loans …

Putin: Nuclear risk is rising, but we are not mad  —  Vladimir Putin has said the threat of a nuclear war was rising, but insisted Russia had not “gone mad” and would not use its nuclear weapons first.  —  The Russian president insisted that his country would only use weapons of mass destruction in response to an attack.

Biden approval, views of economy steady, sour: AP-NORC poll  —  Fresh off his party's better-than-anticipated performance in the midterm elections, President Joe Biden is facing consistent but critical assessments of his leadership and the national economy.  A new poll from The Associated …

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Is Under Investigation By House Ethics Committee  —  The House Committee on Ethics is investigating Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), according to a statement the panel issued on Wednesday.   —  The statement, which did not provide many details about the inquiry …

New York Times journalists, other workers on 24-hour strike  —  Hundreds of journalists and other employees at The New York Times began a 24-hour walkout Thursday, the first strike of its kind at the newspaper in more than 40 years.  Newsroom employees and other members of The NewsGuild …

How Trump and MAGA Allies Are Defending Violent Jan. 6th Rioters  —  He says he's sticking with them—and he hopes they'll stick with him.  —  (THE BULWARK / MIDJOURNEY)  —  Two days after a pair of Oath Keepers were found guilty of seditious conspiracy and three others were convicted …

The Dangerous Illusion of a Presidential Third Party in 2024  —  It isn't the first time and it certainly won't be the last, but American voters are frustrated with the state of our politics, and approval ratings for both the Democratic and Republican parties are low.

The secret lives of MI6's top female spies … My journey to the school for spies starts in the half-light of a waking city.  I do not know where I am going and have only been instructed to meet my contact at a central London landmark.  We travel by car, boat and train to a place where officers …

Peru's President impeached and arrested after he attempts to dissolve Congress  —  Dina Boluarte became Peru's first female president on Wednesday, capping off a dramatic day which saw her predecessor detained by police and impeached by lawmakers.  —  Boluarte, the country's former Vice President …

Apple Plans New Encryption System to Ward Off Hackers and Protect iCloud Data  —  ‘Advanced Data Protection’ will offer end-to-end encryption on iCloud backups, Notes, Photos and other services—a step that may draw ire from law enforcement  —  How Apple's New iCloud Encryption Protects You From Attacks (Exclusive)

‘These F*cking People’: Barstool Star and Fox News Regular Caught on Hot Mic Destroying Network, Its Audience, and Tucker  —  Barstool Sports star Francis Ellis has appeared multiple times on Fox News, particularly on the 7 p.m. show hosted by Jesse Watters.

Hello!  You've Been Referred Here Because You're Wrong About Twitter And Hunter Biden's Laptop  —  Hello!  Someone has referred you to this post because you've said something quite wrong about Twitter and how it handled something to do with Hunter Biden's laptop.

Off-duty FBI agent fatally shoots person at Metro Center, police say  —  The shooting on a Red Line platform during the typically busy commute prompted delays and brief panic  —  An off-duty FBI agent fatally shot a man Wednesday evening during an altercation on a Red Line train platform at the Metro Center station, D.C. police said.

12/8/22 ☀️ Punchbowl News AM … HE HAS FOUR REPUBLICANS WHO ARE PUBLICLY VOWING TO VOTE AGAINST HIM.  UNDER MOST SCENARIOS, HE COULD ONLY AFFORD TO LOSE FOUR REPUBLICANS AND STILL BECOME SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE ON JAN. 3. … MCCARTHY HAS FAVORS TO DOLE OUT …