DeSantis cannonballs into America's deep blue states for war on ‘woke’ ahead of 2024  —  The Florida governor has used his trips to highlight his state's accomplishments — citing statistics that sometimes mask far more complicated debates  —  LOS ANGELES — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has found …

Why Are We Still Arguing About Masks?  —  All this time later, their utility is in doubt.  —  In the past few weeks, the conventional wisdom about COVID seems to have been upended.  —  Early in the pandemic, several mainstream news outlets dismissed theories that COVID came from a Chinese lab.

Leaked audio reveals US rail workers were told to skip inspections as Ohio crash prompts scrutiny to industry  —  Exclusive: employee says manager told her to stop marking cars for repair, as Ohio derailment brings hard look at industry's record of blocking safety rules

Democrats hit some snags on Biden judicial nominees after topping 100 new judges  —  Senate absences are causing issues.  Some worry that the “blue slip” custom will prevent the party from hitting its targets.  And a couple of Biden's judicial nominees are under fire.

Jim Jordan's first FBI whistleblowers face scrutiny from skeptical Democrats  —  In his quest to prove the federal government has been “weaponized” against conservatives, Republican House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan has touted the allegations of what he claims are “dozens” …

It's time to revoke Fox News' press credentials  —  The political media world has been rocked by the bombshell court filing by Dominion Voting Systems as part of their $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News.  —  Top executives from Rupert Murdoch on down, and on-air personalities …

Amazon Pauses Construction on Second Headquarters in Virginia as It Cuts Jobs  —  Amazon.com Inc. is pausing construction on its sprawling second headquarters near Washington, a decision that coincides with the company's deepest ever job cuts and a reassessment of office needs to account for remote work.

Walgreens won't distribute abortion pills in states where GOP AGs object  —  The nation's second-largest pharmacy chain confirmed Thursday that it will not dispense abortion pills in several states where they remain legal — acting out of an abundance of caution amid a shifting policy landscape …

LGBTQ-Activist Dem Mayor, Who Was ‘Mentored’ by Buttigieg, Arrested for Vile Charge  —  The gay-activist Democrat mayor of College Park, Maryland, who has branded himself as something of a role model for LGBTQ youth, was arrested Thursday morning on dozens of counts of possessing …

Effort to change Utah's state flag narrowly passes Legislature after hours of debate  —  Gov. Spencer Cox now has three weeks to decide if he'll approve or veto the new state flag bill.  —  The bill to change Utah's state flag squeaked by on the House floor Thursday morning on a razor-thin 40-35 vote …

Republicans Swore Biden Was Lying About Social Security Cuts.  Now They're Questioning the Retirement Age.  —  Republicans were outraged when Joe Biden accused them of proposing Social Security cuts.  Now a bipartisan group is talking about raising the retirement age.

Jury quickly finds Murdaugh guilty of murder of wife, son  —  South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh was convicted of murder Thursday in the shooting deaths of his wife and son in a case that chronicled the unraveling of a powerful Southern family with tales of privilege, greed and addiction.

Exposed: Dallas Humber, Narrator Of Neo-Nazi ‘Terrorgram,’ Promoter Of Mass Shootings  —  Her propaganda canonized white supremacist murderers as “saints.  She may have helped inspire a shooting at a gay bar.  Now she's been unmasked.  —  On Oct. 12, 2022, Juraj Krajč …

Missing Jan. 6th texts due to Signal, personal phone use … The reason the government is missing text messages for Trump's acting homeland security secretary Chad Wolf and acting deputy secretary Ken Cuccinelli from the period around the January 6th attack on the Capitol could be due …

Scoop: Biden tried to hire Jon Meacham, his volunteer muse  —  President Biden has grown so close to his volunteer muse, Jon Meacham, that he tried to bring the presidential historian into the White House. … So a government gig doesn't appear to be in the cards — but the overture reflects their warm relationship.

Top Republican lawmakers reach deal on NC Medicaid expansion  —  The top leaders in North Carolina's legislature reached an agreement that is expected to expand Medicaid coverage.  The momentous deal, announced Thursday, is the culmination of more than a decade of political wrangling and a Republican change of heart.

Exclusive: Russia set to mothball damaged Nord Stream gas pipelines - sources  —  Russia's ruptured undersea Nord Stream gas pipelines are set to be sealed up and mothballed as there are no immediate plans to repair or reactivate them, sources familiar with the plans have told Reuters.

Florida bill would require bloggers who write about governor to register with the state  —  TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Florida Sen. Jason Brodeur (R-Lake Mary) wants bloggers who write about Gov. Ron DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, and other members of the Florida executive cabinet …

Why the border ‘will never go back to what it was before Trump’  —  Immigration and the Border  —  U.S. immigration politics have shifted on their axis over the  —  last 10 days.  —  Former President Trump and his administration spent years arguing that people who cross the border without permission …

Russians pound access routes to Ukraine's besieged Bakhmut  —  Russian troops and mercenaries rained artillery on the last access routes to the besieged Ukrainian city of Bakhmut on Friday, bringing Moscow closer to its first major victory in half a year after the bloodiest fighting of the war.

Pandemic Murder Wave Has Crested.  Here's the Postmortem.  —  The shocking rise in murders that began in the summer of 2020 looks as if it may have played out.  In the nearly complete tally of 2022 homicide statistics from 93 US cities compiled by AH Datalytics, murder and non-negligent manslaughter was down 5% from the year before.

Washington's Favorite Republican Is Making All the Right Moves  —  The Republican primary season hasn't even started, and already one contest appears to have a runaway winner: The Permanent-Washington Primary, where New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu is absolutely crushing it.

Daily Briefing: War in Ukraine  —  Belarus Sentences Nobel Peace Laureate to 10 Years in Prison … A Belarusian Nobel Peace laureate is sentenced to 10 years in prison.  —  A Belarusian court sentenced Ales Bialiatski, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October for his decades …