Trump allies try to freeze recount efforts  —  Allies of Donald Trump are trying to freeze recount efforts in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin — three states in which the president-elect narrowly beat Hillary Clinton — as they seek to preserve the legitimacy of Trump's win.

Shouting match erupts between Clinton and Trump aides  —  CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The raw, lingering emotion of the 2016 presidential campaign erupted into a shouting match here Thursday as top strategists of Hillary Clinton's campaign accused their Republican counterparts of fueling and legitimizing racism to elect Donald Trump.

Philippines' Duterte gets Trump White House invite during ‘animated’ call  —  U.S. President-elect Donald Trump invited Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte to the White House next year during a “very engaging, animated” phone conversation, a Duterte aide said on Friday, amid rocky relations between their two countries.

Seduced and Betrayed by Donald Trump  —  Donald Trump won the Electoral College (though not the popular vote) on the strength of overwhelming support from working-class whites, who feel left behind by a changing economy and society.  And they're about to get their reward — the same reward that …

Employment Situation Summary  —  Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until USDL-16-2233 8:30 a.m. (EST) Friday, December 2, 2016  —  Technical information:  —  Household data: (202) 691-6378 * cpsinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/cps

Trump's Carrier Shakedown  —  Workers don't prosper when politicians force companies to make noneconomic decisions.  —  A giant flaw in President Obama's economic policy has been the politicized allocation of capital, from green energy to housing.  Donald Trump suffers from a similar …

Paul Ryan: I've discussed Constitution ‘extensively’ with Trump  —  House Speaker Paul Ryan and President-elect Donald Trump have discussed the Constitution “extensively” in their almost daily conversations.  —  In an excerpt of a “60 Minutes” interview to air Sunday, Ryan was asked whether …

Democrats could block Mattis nomination  —  Gen. James Mattis will need a supermajority to win confirmation from the Senate.  —  Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) will require a vote at a 60-vote threshold to allow Mattis to become the defense secretary, an aide said.

Trump's Breezy Calls to World Leaders Leave Diplomats Aghast  —  WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald J. Trump inherited a complicated world when he won the election last month.  And that was before a series of freewheeling phone calls with foreign leaders that has unnerved diplomats at home and abroad.

I Served With James Mattis.  Here's What I Learned From Him  —  America knows Gen. James Mattis as a character, Mad Dog Mattis, the font of funny quotes and Chuck Norris-caliber memes.  Those of us who served with him know that he is a caring, erudite, warfighting general.

Virginia schools ban ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ ‘Huckleberry Finn’ for racial slurs  —  A Virginia school has temporarily banned two American classics after a parent said her high school-age son was negatively impacted by the racial slurs they contain.  —  The decision to remove …

Reports of a Facebook fake news detector are apparently a plugin  —  Update: The feature appears to be an implementation of the Chrome plugin B.S. Detector, which some users took as a test by Facebook itself.  We'll continue to investigate but for now it looks like this is not a Facebook feature.

Young cancer victim's wish to ‘blow stuff up’ comes true  —  Boy with cancer granted ‘blow stuff up’ wish  —  (CNN)The Make-A-Wish Foundation is in the business of making dreams come true — even when the dream is to blow stuff up.  —  And that was great news for Declan McLean-Pauley, a 12-year-old who is in remission from lukemia.

Wahlberg: Celebs should stop talking about politics  —  Mark Wahlberg has a message for Hollywood stars who get political: Zip it.  —  “A lot of celebrities did, do, and shouldn't,” Wahlberg said in an interview published this week on the military veterans news site Task & Purpose.

The Economic Stupidity of the Carrier Bailout  —  It's not conservative, but rather a rejection of economic reality.  —  One particularly tough and indigestible nugget of talk-radio stupidity afflicting the guts of conservatism is the idea that there is some sort of fundamental difference between bribing …

CNN Crew Jokes about Donald Trump's Plane Crashing  —  CNN Correspondent Suzanne Malveauxjoke was covering the Carrier press conference, that featured both Donald Trump and Mike Pence.  —  Carrier was able to negotiate huge tax breaks for their company, if they promised not to move all their jobs to Mexico.

Mall of America welcomes its first black Santa  —  Visiting for just four days, Larry Jefferson is the first black Santa to listen to kids' wish lists at the Mall of America.  —  Video (01:57) : After 24 years, the Mall of America celebrated a new first Thursday: Its first black Santa.  —  TEXT SIZE

Decline of America's white population accelerating, study finds  —  A rapidly aging white population and fast-growing younger minority groups are speeding demographic changes across the nation, hastening a political divide likely to have long-term ramifications.

A Question Of Prerogative  —  Next week the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom will hear arguments in the most important constitutional case in modern European history.  At issue is whether Prime Minister Theresa May has authority to exercise Britain's right to exit the European Union (EU) without a vote of Parliament.