Berkeley officer fatally shoots teenager at gas station  —  Updated at 3:15 a.m. with new details.  —  BERKELEY  • A Berkeley police officer fatally shot a suspect who pointed a gun at him late Tuesday, St. Louis County police said early today.  —  Police did not identify the person killed …

George H.W. Bush rushed to the hospital … Former President George H.W. Bush was hospitalized on Tuesday after experiencing what a spokesman called a “shortness of breath.”  —  Bush, 90, was taken by ambulance to Houston Methodist Hospital Tuesday evening as a precaution.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren blasts FDA proposal on gay sex  —  Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) took to Twitter on Tuesday to criticize the FDA's proposed new policy on blood donations from gay men, saying that while the recommendation is a “step forward” it is still “discriminatory.”

CNN/ORC Poll: Obama ends year on an upswing  —  ‘Pals’: The Obama-Biden partnership  —  Honolulu (CNN) — Improving views of the economy have helped hike President Barack Obama's approval rating to a 20-month high, a new CNN/ORC poll showed Tuesday, as markets climbed to record levels at news of an economy in overdrive.

Inquiry Into I.R.S. Lapses Shows No Links to White House  —  WASHINGTON — An 18-month congressional investigation into the Internal Revenue Service's mistreatment of conservative political groups seeking tax exemptions failed to show coordination between agency officials and political operatives …

Seeking U.S. funds, Somali clan retains D.C. lawyer  —  A Somali clan has found its man in Washington — in hopes of securing U.S. funds.  —  The Habr Gidr clan suffered significant civilian losses during a U.S. military operation in the Somali capital of Mogadishu in July 1993 …

Obama continues vacation golf tradition  —  President Obama is back on the golf course on Tuesday, continuing a tradition that's part of his annual Christmas vacation to Hawaii.  —  He arrived on Tuesday morning at the golf course at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, according to a pool report.

Marco Rubio's Old-School Cuba Policy  —  Marco Rubio titled his autobiography American Son.  The book, whose cover shows the 43-year-old senator without a tie, is meant to convey youth.  But it actually explains why, when it comes to Cuba policy, Rubio's views are so old.

Immigration lawsuit thrown out  —  President Barack Obama's executive actions on immigration survived their first major court test Tuesday, when a federal judge tossed out a lawsuit claiming the president exceeded his constitutional power.  —  U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell dismissed …

Palace 9 Will Show The Interview  —  Merrill Jarvis III, co-owner of several Burlington-area theaters, has just announced that he will screen The Interview at the Palace 9 in South Burlington starting on December 31.  —  Last week, Sony Pictures cancelled the planned Christmas release …

The Monsters Who Screamed for Dead Cops  —  Evidence from photos, video, social-media posts and interviews suggests it was a single group, desperate to ‘turn up the anger’ at otherwise-peaceful protests.  —  A little over a week ago, a group of people marched down the streets of Manhattan and called for police to be killed.

Judge bails thug who posted this threat against cops  —  Judge Laura Johnson (left) released Devon Coley (right) without bail after he made death threats against the NYPD on Facebook.  —  A Brooklyn judge cut loose a gang member who had posted online threats to gun down cops in the hours …

US government offering $5M reward for Al Qaeda leader freed from Gitmo  —  Shown at left is Ibrahim al-Rubaysh, an AQAP operative and former Guantanamo inmate.  (Rewards for Justice/AP)  —  The Obama administration is scrambling to track down an Al Qaeda terrorist released from Guantanamo Bay years ago …

IS captures Jordanian pilot after plane downed over Syria  —  Serene Assir  —  Beirut (AFP) - The Islamic State group captured a Jordanian pilot on Wednesday after his warplane from the US-led coalition was reportedly shot down while on a mission against the jihadists over northern Syria.

GOP leaders refuse to weigh in on Grimm  —  House Republican leadership is refusing to weigh in so far on whether New York GOP Rep. Michael Grimm should remain in Congress after pleading guilty to felony federal tax fraud on Tuesday.  —  Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has declined to comment on the case …

Florida Passes New York to Become the Nation's Third Most Populous State, Census Bureau Reports  —  By adding an average of 803 new residents each day between July 1, 2013 and July 1, 2014, Florida passed New York to become the nation's third most populous state, according to U.S. Census Bureau state population estimates released today.