Neo-Nazi leader and girlfriend accused of targeting Md. power stations  —  A neo-Nazi leader recently released from prison has been arrested again and accused of plotting an attack on the Maryland power grid with a woman he met while incarcerated.  —  Brandon Russell, 27, and Sarah Clendaniel …

Record numbers of people are worse off, a recipe for political discontent: POLL  —  4 in 10 Americans say they are worse off financially since Biden took office.  —  Four in 10 Americans say they've gotten worse off financially since Joe Biden became president, the most in ABC News/Washington Post polls dating back 37 years.

China's military keeps rivals on edge with balloon strategy  —  Data gathered by swelling ‘lighter than air’ programme could have defence applications  —  The Chinese balloon that transfixed America in recent days was no surprise to Cheng Ming-dean.  “This balloon has been appearing for a long time! …

Kamala Harris Is Trying to Define Her Vice Presidency.  Even Her Allies Are Tired of Waiting.  —  Ms. Harris is struggling to carve out a lane for herself in what may be one of the most consequential periods in the vice presidency.  —  WASHINGTON — Kamala Harris was frustrated.

Ticket to ride: NYC mayor gives free bus tickets to Canada for asylum-seekers  —  The hustle and bustle of New York City are just too much for some illegal aliens, so they are taking advantage of free tickets to Canada.  Free to them, of course, but no one is saying exactly where the money is coming from for the tickets.

Trump's '24 game plan: Be the dove among the hawks  —  Donald Trump is settling on a simple foreign policy pitch in his second bid for the White House: Want World War 3?  Vote for the other guy.  —  Over the past week, Trump has assailed President Joe Biden's handling of Afghanistan.

Convicted Jan. 6 Capitol rioter caught secretly filming woman undressing at tanning salon owned by his father: Police  —  An Iowa father who recently pleaded guilty to interfering with police during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has found himself once again embroiled in scandal …

The Defiance of Salman Rushdie  —  After a near-fatal stabbing—and decades of threats—the novelist speaks about writing as a death-defying act.  —  When Salman Rushdie turned seventy-five, last summer, he had every reason to believe that he had outlasted the threat of assassination.

Ranks of Republicans Refusing a ‘Clean’ Debt Ceiling Hike Grows … Republican pragmatists in the House of Representatives have a message for President Joe Biden: We don't support a clean debt ceiling increase, either.  —  Rep. Dusty Johnson says that the group of pragmatic conservatives …

Unfortunately, the Biggest Election Case of the Supreme Court Term Could Be Moot  —  Will a power grab by the new Republican majority on North Carolina's Supreme Court—ostensibly to reverse a power grab by the earlier Democratic majority on North Carolina's Supreme Court …

Ted Cruz, Marjorie Taylor Greene Raise Hell Over Sam Smith's Grammys Performance  —  Right-wingers are using Pfizer's sponsorship to fuel conspiracies that Satan is controlling the federal government and coming for your kids  —  THE GRAMMYS WAS its usual lavish spectacle featuring scores of styled-out celebrities on Sunday night.

Melania Trump watched 2019 ISIS raid from Situation Room, suggested ‘hero dog’ story in media  —  Melania Trump in October 2019 sat in and watched the U.S. raid that led to the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a compound in Syria, according to a new memoir set for release this week.

The Road to a Supreme Court Clerkship Starts at Three Ivy League Colleges  —  The chances of obtaining a coveted clerkship, a new study found, increase sharply with undergraduate degrees from Harvard, Yale or Princeton.  —  WASHINGTON — When Ted Cruz attended Harvard Law School …

Cops Seemingly Put a Fake MLK Quote on a Cruiser to Celebrate Black History Month  —  The director of The Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University said “we have no record of the maxim.”  —  PB  —  The police department in Columbus …

AI-Generated ‘Seinfeld’ Show Banned on Twitch After Transphobic Standup Bit  —  “Nothing, Forever,” has been banned for at least 14 days.  —  Jason Koebler  —  “Nothing, Forever,” the infinitely-generating AI version of Seinfeld that tens of thousands of people were watching has been banned …

One smart way to win over working-class voters and help the economy  —  Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has held his job for less than a month, so it's probably too early for him to think about running for president.  But it's not too soon for other governors considering a White House run …

Disney won't show ‘Simpsons’ episode in Hong Kong that mentions ‘forced labor’  —  Hong Kong CNN —  An episode of “The Simpsons” that includes a line about “forced labor camps” in mainland China has been pulled from Disney's streaming platform in Hong Kong.

The grid is under attack  —  A record number of attacks on electrical grids plunged thousands of Americans into darkness last year, as authorities worry neo-Nazis are targeting critical infrastructure … On the evening of December 3, the lights went out in Moore County.

Governor Abbott Announces Statewide Plan Banning Use Of TikTok  —  Governor Greg Abbott today announced a statewide model security plan for Texas state agencies to address vulnerabilities presented by the use of TikTok and other software on personal and state-issued devices.

Live updates: Earthquake kills more than 2,000 in Turkey, Syria; second massive quake follows  —  The first earthquake occurred in Kahramanmaras province, north of Gaziantep, near the Syrian border.  A second was recorded in southeastern Turkey, near Ekinozu.

How to Stop a Senator From Blocking a Federal Judge  —  The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values.  It is separate from the newsroom.  —  Last February, Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin …

DeSantis Is Right to Reform Higher Education  —  Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida has taken the first steps in what seems set to be a decades-long political fight over the nature of America's public universities.  Among the host of major reforms that DeSantis proposed last week are a ban on …

About Those 2,500 Dogs That George Santos Claims He Saved  —  Several people questioned the way Mr. Santos's charity, Friends of Pets United, handled funds that were raised to benefit the animals.  —  Money had come in from raffles and sales of gift baskets; a few pets had found new homes.

Kevin McCarthy's newly appointed sergeant at arms opposed installing security fencing around the Capitol for Joe Biden's State of the Union address.  —  News and analysis from Capitol Hill for when you only have a few minutes, from POLITICO.