‘Havana syndrome’ not caused by energy weapon or foreign adversary, intelligence review finds  —  After a years-long assessment, five U.S. intelligence agencies conclude it is ‘very unlikely’ an enemy wielding a secret weapon was behind the mysterious ailment

Showdown before the raid: FBI agents and prosecutors argued over Trump  —  An exclusive look at behind-the-scenes deliberations as both sides wrestled with a national security case that has potentially far-reaching political consequences  —  Months of disputes between Justice Department prosecutors …

Schumer, Jeffries pressure Murdoch, Fox News over Trump's false election fraud claims  — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries are calling foul on Rupert Murdoch.  — The top Democrats in Congress sent a letter to Murdoch, urging Fox News leadership …

Drugmaker Eli Lilly caps the cost of insulin at $35 a month, bringing relief for millions  —  Eli Lilly will cap the out-of-pocket cost of its insulin at $35 a month, the drugmaker said Wednesday.  The move, experts say, could prompt other insulin makers in the U.S. to follow suit.

DeSantis is championing medical freedom.  GOP state lawmakers like what they see.  —  The “medical freedom” movement, mostly known for its opposition to vaccine requirements, was long consigned to the fringes of libertarian and left-wing politics.  Then came Ron DeSantis.

In an Epic Battle of Tanks, Russia Was Routed, Repeating Earlier Mistakes  —  A three-week fight in the town of Vuhledar in southern Ukraine produced what Ukrainian officials say was the biggest tank battle of the war so far, and a stinging setback for the Russians.

Senior McCarthy aide, House Oversight chairman each met with mother of Jan. 6 rioter Ashli Babbitt  —  A senior staffer to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy met this week with Micki Witthoeft, mother of Ashli Babbitt, the woman shot and killed by police as she breached a set of doors to the Speaker's Lobby on Jan. 6, 2021.

GOP urges no ‘burdensome regulations’ on freight rail, after derailment  —  Republicans on Capitol Hill have spent two weeks torching the Biden administration for what they call a slow response to the Ohio rail disaster — but on Tuesday, some GOP lawmakers urged their colleagues not to rush …

Whiskey Fungus Fed by Jack Daniel's Encrusts a Tennessee Town  —  The dark growth, fed by alcohol vapors from barrels of aging Jack Daniel's whiskey, has coated homes, cars, patio furniture and road signs in a sooty crust, residents said.  One woman is suing Lincoln County.

Dark money and special deals: How Leonard Leo and his friends benefited from his judicial activism  —  A network of political non-profits formed by judicial activist Leonard Leo moved at least $43 million to a new firm he is leading, raising questions about how his conservative legal movement is funded.

China's CCP warns Elon Musk against sharing Wuhan lab leak report  — Chinese state-run media warned Tesla CEO Elon Musk that he was risking his relationship with China after he retweeted about the U.S. government's “low-confidence” assessment that the Covid pandemic originated in a Wuhan laboratory.

Ron DeSantis is using a new breed of local right-wing media to make national news  —  These websites didn't exist five years ago.  —  The Florida Standard is a fledgling website, launching last July.  It lists only five writers and editors on its site.  But in January, it landed a blistering scoop …

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot blames election loss on racism, gender  —  Democratic Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot blamed racism and her gender for her landslide defeat in her re-election bid, as Chicagoans wary of the rising crime of her watch celebrated her fall from “political rock star to rock bottom.”

Florida GOP lawmaker pitches bill to eliminate the Florida Democratic Party  —  A Republican in Florida's state Legislature has filed a bill that, if enacted, would eliminate the Florida Democratic Party.  —  “The Ultimate Cancel Act,” filed on Tuesday by state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia …

This Is Trump's ‘Magic Trick’  —  In his effort to outflank Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida — his most potent challenger-in-waiting for the Republican presidential nomination — Donald Trump goes only in one direction: hard right.  —  At the start of this year, Trump announced his education agenda …

Why I Stood Up to Disney  —  On Monday, I signed the law ending the Walt Disney Co.'s self-governing status over 43 square miles in central Florida, an area almost as big as Miami.  Disney no longer has its own government.  It has to live under the same laws as Universal Studios …

Scoop: Trump's former ambassador to Israel slams Bibi's judicial overhaul plan  —  Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman used a recent conservative conference in Tel Aviv to express concern and push back against the Netanyahu government's judicial overhaul plan, according to two people with direct knowledge of the issue.

New York Will Pay Millions to Protesters Violently Corralled by Police  —  The police boxed in racial justice demonstrators in 2020, an anti-protest practice known as “kettling,” then hit them with batons and pepper spray.  Hundreds will receive $21,500 each.

Homelessness And Affordable Housing, Top Of Mind As Most Urgent Issues In California, Quinnipiac University California Poll Finds; 7 In 10 Voters Don't Want Gov. Newsom To Run For President In 2024  — mail_outline  —  Asked to choose the most urgent issue facing California today …

Trump ties GOP in knots over Medicare and Social Security  —  Donald Trump is driving a wedge through the GOP over one of American politics' thorniest issues: the future of Medicare and Social Security.  —  The former president's attacks on potential GOP primary opponents …

The Satellite Hack Everyone Is Finally Talking About … Andreas Wickberg loves snowmobiling to the house he built in the icy reaches of Lapland, north of the Arctic Circle.  Each month come spring, he and his wife relocate for a week or so to a “very, very isolated” spot about 335 miles northwest …

Why are young liberals so depressed?  —  There's a neglected dimension beyond gender in America's troubled youth  —  Fresh episode of Bad Takes is out today, all about the war on fake license plates.  —  Earlier this month the CDC released the results of its Youth Risk Behavior Survey of American teenagers.

Trump's enablers must face consequences, too  —  There's no doubt that Donald Trump was the instigator of the 2020 insurrection.  But the former president's schemes never would have gotten far (or even off the ground) without the participation of right-wing media executives, lawyers and pliant state officials.

Garland promises free rein for prosecutors probing Hunter Biden  —  Attorney General Merrick Garland pledged Wednesday that the U.S. Attorney pursuing a criminal probe of President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden has broad independence to pursue appropriate charges, including bringing a case outside …

Biden's Translator  —  Kate Bedingfield explains the press to the president (and keeps the White House from leaking).  —  Kate Bedingfield, the White House communications director, first tried to leave in July.  She had started working for Joe Biden in 2015 and was looking forward to spending …