Why fewer states than ever could pick the next president  —  The results of this month's election point toward a 2024 presidential contest that will likely be decided by a tiny sliver of voters in a rapidly shrinking list of swing states realistically within reach for either party.

Ukraine Launches Assault to Oust Russia From Key Black Sea Peninsula  —  Kinburn Spit, occupied by Russia for months, lies at maritime choke point and is coveted prize for Kyiv  —  Ukraine's military said it launched an operation to push Russian forces from a strategic peninsula …

Army Veteran Went Into ‘Combat Mode’ to Disarm the Club Q Gunman  —  Richard M. Fierro, who served for 15 years in the military, was at the nightclub in Colorado Springs with his family when the gunman opened fire.  “I just knew I had to take him down,” he said.

Special counsel in Mar-a-Lago and January 6 investigations begins work with no sign probes will slow down  —  Newly appointed special counsel Jack Smith is getting to work with no signs yet that the two investigations he now oversees around Donald Trump will slow down - despite being stuck in the Netherlands due to a cycling injury.

Iran Arrests 2 Actresses for Participating in Protests  —  World Cup soccer players, movie personalities and other prominent Iranians have shown support for the protests that have engulfed the country.  —  At the World Cup in Qatar, Iran's soccer players on Monday declined to sing their country's national anthem.

Copy of what's believed to be Hunter Biden's laptop data turned over by repair shop to FBI showed no tampering, analysis says  —  Data from a laptop that the lawyer for a Delaware computer repair shop owner says was left by Hunter Biden in 2019 - and which the shop owner later provided …

A Georgia Senate runoff poll points to challenges for Walker, Warnock  —  A new poll focusing on the Dec. 6 runoff between U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker shows a close race with challenges for both rivals as they rush to rebuild their coalitions.

How one man quietly stitched the American safety net over four decades  —  Robert Greenstein isn't a household name.  But his career lobbying for the poor has changed the lives of millions of Americans.  —  When it comes to poverty in America, we have to hold two contradictory thoughts in our heads at the same time.

Ian was one of the most lethal hurricanes in decades.  Many of the deaths were preventable.  —  Hurricane Ian killed at least 148 people in Florida, most of them in coastal communities where the danger of storm surge is well documented but not widely understood.

Exclusive: Naomi Biden On Her White House Wedding  —  On the Tuesday evening before her wedding, under the watchful eye of a Secret Service agent, Naomi Biden, 28, and her soon-to-be husband, Peter Neal, 25, came downstairs from their living quarters on the third floor of the White House residence to practice their first dance.

Court Docs Rip Into DOJ for ‘Fiddling Away’ on Matt Gaetz Case  —  More than two years after the DOJ opened an investigation into the congressman, there are no charges against him.  The lawyer for an alleged co-conspirator can't believe that.  —  The Florida lawyer who gave the feds …

Todd and Julie Chrisley Get a Combined 19-Year Sentence for Fraud Scheme  —  GUESS CHRISLEY DOESN'T KNOW BEST  —  Todd Chrisley once said that while he could fix ignorance, stupid is forever.  Guess it takes one to know one.  The reality star of USA Network's Chrisley Knows Best was sentenced …

Ethics Watchdog Group Seeks Probes Into Oversight of Officials' Stock-Trading Conflicts  —  Campaign Legal Center files complaints with federal agencies following WSJ series  —  A nonpartisan group that monitors government ethics filed a series of legal complaints alleging the federal government …

Alabama pausing executions after 3rd failed lethal injection  —  Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey sought a pause in executions and ordered a “top-to-bottom” review of the state's capital punishment system Monday after an unprecedented third failed lethal injection.  Ivey's office issued a statement saying …

Exclusive: Bankman-Fried's FTX, parents bought Bahamas property worth $121 million  —  Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX, his parents and senior executives of the failed cryptocurrency exchange bought at least 19 properties worth nearly $121 million in the Bahamas over the past two years, official property records show.

From Twitter to Mastodon: What Happens When Journalists Flock Platforms  —  Journa.host promises to be a new “reliable home for journalists.”  What happens when they move in?  —  It's one thing to hope for a better community online, and another, very different one, to build it.