Fusion energy breakthrough by US scientists boosts clean power hopes  —  Net energy gain indicates technology could provide an abundant zero-carbon alternative to fossil fuels  —  US government scientists have made a breakthrough in the pursuit of limitless, zero-carbon power by achieving …

Media Newsletter 12/11  —  Of course the “Twitter files” are a story.  Elon Musk's selective release of internal correspondence has shed some light on how Twitter clamped down on voices it deemed extreme and misleading, mostly on the right and far right.  Less interesting leaks from Facebook made front pages for years.

Special Counsel Smith speeds ahead on criminal probes surrounding Trump  —  Newly-appointed special counsel Jack Smith is moving fast on a pair of criminal probes around Donald Trump that in recent months have focused on the former president's state of mind after the 2020 election …

White House: Marjorie Taylor Greene's latest Jan. 6 comments a “slap in the face” to law enforcement, victims' families  —  Washington — The White House is reacting sharply to comments made over the weekend by Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and how the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021 …

How Kari Lake's campaign to be the Trump of 2022 unraveled  —  Interviews, internal documents and audio show how the former TV news anchor squandered a chance to become Arizona's governor — a defeat that carries warnings for the GOP in 2024  —  PHOENIX — After Kari Lake rode former president …

Iran execution: Man publicly hanged from crane amid protests  —  Iran executed a second prisoner on Monday convicted over crimes committed during the nationwide protests challenging the country's theocracy, publicly hanging him from a construction crane as a gruesome warning to others.

Young voters' enthusiasm for Democrats waned during midterms  —  Young voters who have been critical to Democratic successes in recent elections showed signs in November's midterms that their enthusiasm may be waning, a potential warning sign for a party that will need their strong backing heading into the 2024 presidential race.

How a Trump-allied group fighting ‘anti-white bigotry’ beats Biden in court  —  America First Legal was founded last year by Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump's immigrant family separation policy  —  The deal in early 2021 was hailed by advocates for Black farmers as the most significant piece …

Biden faces growing pressure to drop charges against Julian Assange  —  Biden faces a renewed push, domestically and internationally, to drop charges against Assange, who is languishing in a UK jail  —  The Biden administration has been saying all the right things lately about respecting …

Cause of death: Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America  —  During the past seven years, as soaring quantities of fentanyl flooded into the United States, strategic blunders and cascading mistakes by successive U.S. administrations allowed the most lethal drug crisis in American history …

Elon Musk Is a Far-Right Activist  —  If there's one tweet that will tell you everything you need to know about Elon Musk, it's this one from early this morning: … In five words, Musk manages to mock transgender and nonbinary people, signal his disdain for public-health officials …

Japan to Join US Effort to Tighten Chip Exports to China  —  Japan and the Netherlands have agreed in principle to join the US in tightening controls over the export of advanced chipmaking machinery to China, according to people familiar with the matter, a potentially debilitating blow to Beijing's technology ambitions.

Exclusive: U.S. Justice Dept is split over charging Binance as crypto world falters, sources say  —  Splits between U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors are delaying the conclusion of a long-running criminal investigation into the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance, four people familiar with the matter have told Reuters.

Trump who?  GOP senators rave over a potential Tim Scott presidential run.  —  Joni Ernst is “very excited” about a potential Tim Scott presidential run.  John Cornyn would “advise him to go for it.”  And John Barrasso said it “doesn't get any better than Tim Scott.”

POLITICO Playbook: Bursting the ‘unity speaker’ bubble  —  By RACHAEL BADE, EUGENE DANIELS and RYAN LIZZA 12/12/2022 06:08 AM EST With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross DRIVING THE DAY ABOUT LAST NIGHT — Senate Appropriations Chair PATRICK LEAHY (D-Vt.) announced Sunday night that Democrats …

Thousands of Teens Are Being Pushed Into Military's Junior R.O.T.C.  —  In high schools across the country, students are being placed in military classes without electing them on their own.  “The only word I can think of is ‘indoctrination,’” one parent said.

Massachusetts recount flips state house election to Democrat by one vote  —  Kristin Kassner won against Republican opponent Lenny Mirra after a recount shrunk candidates' narrow vote deficit to one  —  A recount in a political race in Massachusetts has flipped a state house of representatives election …

Should an Election Denier Be Speaker of the House?  —  The Constitution matters more than Kevin McCarthy.  —  From the apparent chaos of the Republican party's effort to select a speaker of the House there has emerged an opportunity to achieve a victory for a politics of moderation and constitutionalism.

Karen Bass sworn in as Los Angeles mayor, the first woman to hold the office  —  After 241 years, the nation's second-largest city has its first female mayor.  —  Karen Bass was sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris as Los Angeles' 43rd mayor Sunday afternoon, with thousands …