POLITICO Playbook: The clock starts ticking on McCarthy's speakership  —  Presented by With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  KEVIN McCARTHY finally got the gavel — but in the process, he gave away the House.  —  The concessions the California Republican awarded …

A Lecturer Showed a Painting of the Prophet Muhammad.  She Lost Her Job.  —  After an outcry over the art history class by Muslim students, Hamline University officials said the incident was Islamophobic.  But many scholars say the work is a masterpiece.  —  Erika López Prater …

Grant Wahl's Death Isn't a Tool for Covid Vaccine Disinformation Spreaders  —  Dr. Gounder is an infectious disease physician and epidemiologist.  She is the widow of the sports journalist Grant Wahl.  —  It was the end of the workday on Friday, Dec. 9, 2022.

Area principals admit to withholding National Merit Awards from students  —  While Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Michelle Reid claims the principal at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology withheld National Merit awards from students in a “one-time human error …

Boebert's backers urge her to ‘tone down the nasty rhetoric’  —  Debbie Hartman voted for Lauren Boebert for Congress in 2020 and again in 2022, delighted by Boebert's unequivocal defense of cultural issues that animate the Republican Party's far right flank.

What we know about the XBB.1.5 COVID variant sweeping the Northeast  —  The XBB.1.5 omicron subvariant is raising concerns of a potential surge in COVID-19 cases as it sweeps across the Northeast.  —  Officials have warned in recent weeks that the strain is highly transmissible …

Now Fighting for Ukraine: Volunteers Seeking Revenge Against Russia  —  Chechens, Crimean Tatars and people from the former Soviet republics, all with deep historical grievances against Moscow, are eagerly taking up arms for Kyiv.  —  KYIV REGION, Ukraine — The sharp crack of sniper fire rang out across the snowbound valley.

Germany: Iranian held in suspected poison plot after US tip  —  A 32-year-old Iranian man has been detained in Germany following a tip from U.S. security officials that he could be planning an attack with deadly chemicals, officials said Sunday.  Police and prosecutors said the man …

CBS News poll — Americans' views on 2023: Things get better, but still not good  —  The year 2023 opens with slightly better — though not good — assessments of the nation than we saw last year, tempered by pessimism about plenty of issues.  —  More say things in the country are going well than said so at the start of 2022.

McCarthy opponent: ‘A little temporary conflict is necessary in this town’  —  Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) on Sunday dismissed the tensions that simmered as the House voted for its Speaker, saying Capitol Hill needs conflict to bring lawmakers to the debate table.

It's Tempting to Laugh at McCarthy's Struggles, but History Shows That This Type of Chaos Is Not a Joke  —  In recent days, we've watched congressional Republicans reap the whirlwind.  In campaigning for the 2021 midterm elections, the G.O.P. rode a wave of extremism, saying little …