The former Trump aide crafting the House GOP's debt ceiling playbook  —  The national debt exploded on Russell Vought's watch.  Now he wants Republican lawmakers to play hardball.  —  Last month, amid the raucous battle to elect House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, former president Donald Trump spoke …

Art Fair Visitor Breaks a Jeff Koons Balloon Dog Sculpture  —  A woman accidentally knocked over a bright blue dog sculpture at Art Wynwood in Miami, causing the $42,000 artwork to shatter, witnesses said.  —  The balloon dog sculptures made famous by Jeff Koons so closely imitate …

Kristina Karamo elected chair of Michigan Republican Party  —  LANSING —Kristina Karamo, a Republican who has made unsubstantiated allegations of fraud in the 2020 presidential election and has still not conceded her 14-point loss in the 2022 Michigan election for secretary of state …

28 Children Rescued, 59 Adults Arrested in Massive DFW Child Porn Investigation: Police  —  Local police, FBI work together to rescue 28 children investigators say were sexually abused, exploited online  —  More than two dozen children have been rescued and nearly 60 people …

February 18, 2023  —  Republican leaders are recognizing that the sight of Republican lawmakers heckling the president of the United States didn't do their party any favors.  —  It not only called attention to their behavior, it prompted many news outlets to fact-check President Biden's claim …

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, February 18, 2023  —  Click here to see ISW's interactive map of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  This map is updated daily alongside the static maps present in this report.  —  Russian forces conducted another missile strike targeting Ukrainian infrastructure throughout the country.

Bernie Sanders: ‘Oligarchs run Russia.  But guess what?  They run the US as well’  —  The veteran senator is now part of Joe Biden's inner circle, and is still fighting his country's vast inequalities  —  fter the State of the Union address at the beginning of this month …

Biden's ‘Buy America’ bid runs into manufacturing woes it aims to fix  —  Infrastructure officials complain they can't find U.S. suppliers for items they need to buy American by law  —  The “Buy America” initiative that President Biden says will promote domestic manufacturing and fuel …

Kari Lake, still pushing midterm fraud fiction, edges closer to Senate run  —  She would be tough to beat in a GOP primary, setting up a challenge for national Republicans who worry about her general election prospects  —  By Liz Goodwin and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez

US Plans New Russia Export Controls, Sanctions on Key Industries  —  President Joe Biden's administration is planning to impose new export controls and a fresh round of sanctions on Russia, targeting key industries a year after Vladimir Putin started his invasion of Ukraine.

Lawmaker Bares Blow-By-Blow Of Marjorie Taylor Greene Spy Balloon ‘S**tshow’  —  “She's unbelievable... she made a total, absolute fool of herself,” said Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.).  —  A Democratic lawmaker has spilled the tea on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's cringey performance …

‘Brainwashing a Generation’: British Schools Combat Andrew Tate's Views  —  Alarmed by an online personality's popularity among their students, educators are mobilizing to combat the sexism he promotes.  —  As the seventh graders settled into a lecture hall at a school near London …

Haley Walks Treacherous Road for G.O.P. Women  —  Nikki Haley's presidential campaign is a major test of her party's views on sexism and female leaders.  Just don't call it identity politics.  —  EXETER, N.H. — According to Nikki Haley, bullies are best subdued by a counter kick — in heels.

‘One of the decisive moments of his presidency’: Biden heads to a troubled Europe  —  MUNICH — President Joe Biden heads to Europe this week in a trip meant to be a show of defiance.  —  He will mark a second year of war by denouncing Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine and publicly declare …

Blinken Has Tense Meeting With Chinese Official Amid Spy Balloon Furor  —  The meeting resumed diplomatic contact between Washington and Beijing that had been frozen since the U.S. shot down a Chinese spy balloon.  —  Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken held what American officials described …

Former president Jimmy Carter opts for home hospice care for final days  —  Jimmy Carter, at 98 the oldest living former president, has chosen to spend his final days at home in Plains, Ga., in hospice care after a series of brief hospital stays, the Carter Center announced Saturday.