
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected a lawsuit brought by the state of Texas that sought to overturn the results of the presidential election by invalidating millions of votes in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin. The lawsuit, which was joined by 17 states President Trump won in 2020, asked the court to allow the legislatures in the battleground states where the Trump campaign is contesting results to appoint new electors. In a decision issued Friday evening, the court denied the complaint for “lack of standing,” meaning Texas did not succeed in showing that it has a vested interest in the manner in which other states conduct elections.

Sen. Mike Lee blocked two proposals that would establish new Smithsonian museums for American Latino and women's history. Both bipartisan bills passed the House of Representatives earlier this year, but the Republican senator said Americans didn't need "separate but equal" museums. Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez and GOP Sen. Susan Collins both pushed back against Lee during a dramatic Senate session on Thursday.

A tip from a concerned citizen provided a pivotal break Friday in the Dec. 3 slaying of 26-year-old nurse Caitlyn Kaufman, who worked in the intensive care unit at Saint Thomas West Hospital. At dawn, members of Metro Nashville Police Department's SWAT team descended on an East Nashville apartment complex and made an arrest in the fatal shooting of a Nashville nurse who was driving to work when police say someone opened fire on her SUV. Devaunte Lewis Hill, 21, was taken into custody at 6:15 a.m. in Kaufman's death.

Tasked with a California family's historic getaway on Patmos, John Stefanidis gives the once-neutral house a vibrant polychrome presence Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) played a big advocacy role in President-elect Joe Biden's 2020 bid, no doubt helping him lock up the typically red state of Georgia. Bottoms was expected to be offered a White House role in return, perhaps as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development or the head of the Small Business Administration, or even Biden's vice president. After the naming of Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) as Biden's running mate over the summer, and after Biden slotted Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) into the HUD spot, Bottoms' choices seemed to be slimming.

More than 3,000 troops took part in a military parade in Azerbaijan on Thursday to celebrate reclaiming control over broad swathes of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding lands in a conflict with Armenia. The parade attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who strongly backed Azerbaijan, also involved dozens of military vehicles, and a flyby of combat aircraft. The display, which also featured a Turkish commando brigade and Turkish drones, was held a month after a Russia-brokered deal ended six weeks of fierce fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh.

TALLAHASSEE – Gov. Ron DeSantis lashed out Friday at a former Florida data scientist turned whistleblower whose home was raided by a state law enforcement team wielding a sledgehammer earlier this week. Just because you're a darling of some corners of the fever swamps, that does not exempt you from following the law,” DeSantis said during an appearance in Tampa. The video of law enforcement's arrival at the Tallahassee home of Rebekah Jones has gone viral and the former health department data scientist has denied allegations that she accessed a state emergency alert system to urge former co-workers to speak out about the DeSantis administration's handling of the coronavirus.

Some Republican senators are using their unfounded election fraud claims as an excuse to muddy President-elect Joe Biden's transition. Biden has spent the past few weeks since the election filling out his Cabinet, hoping quick confirmations will help him get a quick start on reversing President Trump's policies. But "as long as there's litigation ongoing, and the election result is disputed, I do not think you will see the Senate act to confirm any nominee," Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told Axios.

It took 51 years and a team of experts from three countries to crack the code to a cipher left by the still unidentified Zodiac Killer, who haunted northern California communities in the 1960s and 70s. “I hope you are having lots of fun in trying to catch me,” the message, sent to the San Francisco Chronicle in November 1969 in a series of symbols, reads. The FBI confirmed that the news of the cracked code is the real deal, but said it does little to help investigators in the decades-long search for the serial killer.

Former members of the celebrity megachurch Hillsong recently came forward to Insider with multiple accusations of racism, anti-LGBTQ behavior, and exploitation after pastor Carl Lentz was fired for infidelity last month. After celebrity pastor of Hillsong NYC Carl Lentz was fired for cheating on his wife in November, sources told Insider that the issues at Hillsong run much deeper than one affair. Several former volunteers said top pastors regularly took advantage of free and underpaid labor, and in some cases paid little or no money for volunteers to babysit their children.

A promising Australian candidate for a coronavirus vaccine has been abandoned after trial participants returned false HIV positive results. Australia had previously agreed to buy 51 million doses of the vaccine being developed by Australian firm CSL and the University of Queensland (UQ). The government said orders of other vaccines would now fill the shortfall.

An investigation into President Trump being conducted by Manhattan prosecutors is reportedly "significantly escalating." The office of Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. has "stepped up its efforts" to investigate Trump's business conduct, in recent weeks "significantly escalating" the probe by interviewing employees of lender Deutsche Bank and insurance broker Aon, The New York Times reported on Friday. The prosecutors have reportedly issued new subpoenas and questioned witnesses before a grand jury for investigative purposes.

The Republican Party of Texas decried the US Supreme Court decision to reject a bid by some states to overturn the results of the presidential election. The case, which was brought by Texas and joined by other Republican-led states, sought to overturn the results in four states won by President-elect Joe Biden. "Perhaps law-abiding states should bond together and form a Union of states that will abide by the constitution," Allen West, the Texas GOP chairman, said.

QUINTER, Kansas — Sitting in the front seat of a red pickup as wind-whipped sorghum husks fly down Main Street like snowflakes, Ivy Charles fingers the white surgical mask slipped down beneath her chin. Just over a month ago, the now-rampaging coronavirus pandemic tore through this rural town of 1,000 and surrounding Gove County, killing 20 residents. Among them was Charles' father, Edward "Mac" McElhaney, 78.

As holiday gifts and packages pile up, some might be looking for ways to show appreciation for the people who delivered them. You might want to think twice before you pull out a cash tip, however. The U.S. Postal Service prohibits all employees — including mail carriers — from accepting cash or cash equivalents of any kind.
An Associated Press investigation has identified at least six sexual misconduct allegations involving senior FBI officials over the past five years, including two new claims brought this week by women who say they were sexually assaulted by ranking agents.

President-elect Joe Biden's pledge to restore independence to the Justice Department is facing its biggest test as federal prosecutors scrutinize his son Hunter's financial dealings. "It's not just an associate of Joe Biden that we're talking about here," said one former federal prosecutor. Trumpworld seized on news of the Hunter Biden tax investigations to heap credibility on a widely discredited New York Post story about a mysterious laptop and the Bidens' Ukraine ties.

"But most of us don't even know who the electors of our state are unless we've done our research." Experts: Facing Electoral College vote, Trump continues election attack, but without risks to him The state parties appoint electors to cast the electoral ballots on the Monday after the second Wednesday in December of the presidential election – about a month after the Americans cast their ballots in the popular vote. How are the votes divided?

Los Angeles county last week passed the disturbing milestone of 10,000 new Covid-19 cases a day, and officials there fear a spike in infections resulting from the Thanksgiving holiday could send hospitalizations surging further. LA officials said that one person is now dying of Covid every 20 minutes, and the county's public health director, Barbara Ferrer, broke down crying at a briefing while talking about the “incalculable loss” of more than 8,000 deaths. San Francisco has seen its average case rate soar from 15 to 30 per 100,000 residents since the holiday.

Gordon Ramsay and Gigi Hadid share a mutual love of cooking. In a live cooking event on Saturday, December 12, at 12 p.m. EST, Ramsay will pay homage to a spicy pasta and shrimp dish he said Hadid sent him recently. The "MasterChef" judge will also make a "glamorous" banana bread pancake cereal with warm, vanilla-infused milk.

The "former military intelligence official" who is cited under the anonymous name "Spider" in Sidney Powell's election lawsuits reportedly has no intelligence expertise and is an IT consultant, according to a Washington Post report. Joshua Merritt, a 43-year-old information technology consultant, confirmed his identity as "Spider" to the Post. The anonymous source named "Spider" or "Spyder" who was cited as a former military intelligence official in several of Sidney Powell's election lawsuit is actually an IT consultant without expertise in military intelligence, according to a Washington Post report.

Dr. Cleavon Gilman, a well-known emergency-medicine physician, has been asked not to return to work at a hospital in Yuma, Arizona for his social media posts about the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic in the state, according to him and his staffing agency. "What I don't understand about this is I have been advocating for Arizona; I have been calling for a mask mandate, the closure of schools and indoor dining," Gilman told The Arizona Republic, part of the USA TODAY Network. The hospital, Yuma Regional Medical Center, said in a statement late Thursday night that "there has been a misunderstanding" and Gilman is scheduled to work this weekend.

A viral TikTok video with over 1 million likes has resurfaced the story of Elisa Lam's mysterious 2013 death. Lam, 21 at the time of her death, was found dead in a water tank on top of the Cecil Hotel, which is now known as the Stay at Home hotel. A TikTok with nearly 6 million views has resurfaced the questions around Canadian student Elisa Lam's still-mysterious 2013 death at Los Angeles' Cecil Hotel (now known as the Stay on Main hotel), and Google trends data appears to show that interest in the case has risen amid other references of the case in pop culture.

The Senate on Friday passed a $741 billion defense bill with a veto-proof majority, 84-13. President Donald Trump has threatened to veto the bill because it doesn't include a provision regarding his unrelated qualms with social-media companies. The House also passed the bill with a veto-proof majority.

On Thursday, a committee of 22 experts recommended that the FDA should authorize Pfizer's COVID-19 shots for emergency use. Four committee members voted 'no,' and one abstained. On Thursday, a committee of leading experts voted 17-4 (with one abstention), urging the US Food and Drug Administration to authorize Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in the US.


“The prospect of a 2024 run is politically significant. It’s also a complete fiction.”
“His flirtation with a 2024 bid ensures he’ll remain the dominant force in the Republican Party.”
“He shouldn’t run for president again. There’s a better job and life for him on the horizon.”
“Trump is in for years of scandals and humiliations…He’ll have to devote much of his energy to trying to stay out of prison.”
“If Trump himself passes on the opportunity, his two very political children could also potentially pick up the mantle.”