Special counsel is locked in at least 8 secret court battles in Trump investigations  —  Special counsel Jack Smith is locked in at least eight secret court battles that aim to unearth some of the most closely held details about Donald Trump's actions after the 2020 election and handling …

Joe Biden hates when people talk about his age.  A looming reelection run is making it ‘omnipresent.’  —  When President Joe Biden sets out for his annual physical at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Thursday morning, he'll be setting a new record - as he does every morning - as the oldest US president ever.

Mitt Romney warns that Trump is ‘by far the most likely’ GOP nominee in 2024  —  WASHINGTON — Sen. Mitt Romney says former President Donald Trump is best-positioned to be the Republican presidential nominee in 2024, and that the only way to stop him is to ultimately shrink the field to a one-on-one contest against a viable alternative.

FEC presses Santos to identify campaign treasurer  —  The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is demanding Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) to name a new treasurer for his campaign and several affiliated political committees, warning that a failure to do so will bar the groups from raising or spending any money.

As Russians inch forward near Bakhmut, Ukrainians dig fallback defenses  —  ORIKHOVO-VASYLIVKA, Ukraine — The closest Ukrainian artillery position to the raging battle for Bakhmut is tucked into a leafless tree line about 13,000 feet from the enemy.  The fighters here have been hanging on for weeks …

The Pointless Nikki Haley Campaign  —  This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture.  Sign up for it here.  —  Nikki Haley, one of the many Republicans who swore …

The haunting brain science of long Covid  —  Matt Fitzgerald used to bike up and down 3,500 feet through the Santa Ana Mountains on three-hour rides just for fun.  Now, nine months after being infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, he can't muster walking on flat surfaces for 20 minutes without days of exhaustion.

Jan. 6 documents: Georgia legislators answered Trump's call to overturn election  —  Some legislators say the documents are not accurate  —  With his chances of winning Georgia slipping away in December 2020, then-President Donald Trump hit upon a novel scheme to stay in power: State legislators would name him the winner.

U.S. on Track to Add $19 Trillion in New Debt Over 10 Years  —  Congressional Budget Office projections released on Wednesday suggested rising interest rates and bipartisan spending bills are adding to deficits, amid a partisan fight on fiscal policy.  —  WASHINGTON — The United States …

Buttigieg faces questions about whether he has become a liability to Biden  —  Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is again attracting controversy in the wake of the Ohio train derailment, with elected officials from both parties questioning his ability to lead the department and respond to crises.

A Conversation With Bing's Chatbot Left Me Deeply Unsettled  —  A very strange conversation with the chatbot built into Microsoft's search engine led to it declaring its love for me.  —  Last week, after testing the new, A.I.-powered Bing search engine from Microsoft, I wrote that …

Virginia governor blocks bill banning police from seeking menstrual histories  —  Glenn Youngkin essentially kills bill passed in Democratic-led state senate to ban search warrants for menstrual data on tracking apps  —  The Republican governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin …

How a Fog of Questions Over a Spy Balloon and U.F.O.s Fed a Diplomatic Crisis  —  U.S. officials now suspect that the balloon was sent to spy on bases in Guam and Hawaii and that other downed objects were not surveillance machines.  Washington's evolving view reflects U.S. and Chinese difficulties in discerning each other's intentions.

Exclusive: British intel caught FBI spy chief secretly meeting a Russian in London  — An FBI spy chief's secret meeting with a Russian contact was detected by UK officials.  — Charles McGonigal, the ex-FBI official, is charged with taking money from Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska.

Tesla Just Terminated Dozens in Response to New Union Campaign, Complaint Alleges  —  Tesla Inc. terminated dozens of employees Wednesday at its plant in Buffalo, New York, one day after Autopilot workers at the facility announced a union campaign, organizers said in a complaint.

Kari Lake's lawyers hit with bar complaints  —  A legal group plans to file bar complaints Thursday against four lawyers representing Kari Lake in voter fraud litigation, NBC News has learned.  —  Lake, a Donald Trump acolyte who has refused to accept that she lost the governor's race in Arizona last year …

America's Teenage Girls Are Not Okay  —  This is Work in Progress, a newsletter by Derek Thompson about work, technology, and how to solve some of America's biggest problems.  Sign up here to get it every week.  —  American teenagers—especially girls and kids who identify as lesbian …

In Defense of J.K. Rowling  —  “Trans people need and deserve protection.”  —  “I believe the majority of trans-identified people not only pose zero threat to others but are vulnerable.”  —  “I respect every trans person's right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them.”

California's population dropped by 500,000 in two years as exodus continues  —  The California exodus has shown no sign of slowing down as the state's population dropped by more than 500,000 people between April 2020 and July 2022, with the number of residents leaving surpassing those moving in by nearly 700,000.

College Board scrubs website to cover up deceptions about AP African American Studies course  —  courses for high school students, recently deleted a statement defending its revisions to the new AP African American Studies course from its website.  The statement, which was posted …