‘positive Progress’ Made In Hezbollah-israel Ceasefire Talks, Us Envoy Says - The Guardian

Elon Musk on Wednesday suggested retired Army Lt. Col Alexander Vindman “committed treason” and “will pay” after the former Trump impeachment witness accused the tech billionaire and close Trump ally of being unwittingly used by Russia, The Hill reports.

“With votes still being counted in the 2024 election, at least two dozen ambitious House members are already sizing up runs for higher office in 2026,” Axios reports. “This extraordinarily large cohort could cause all kinds of headaches for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) as they navigate a razor-thin House majority.” “Both sides are trying to maximize attendance and minimize early retirements in one of the most closely divided Houses in history.”

“President-elect Donald Trump’s team submitted an ethics plan guiding the conduct of its members throughout the transition period that does not appear to include provisions for one key member of the team: the president himself,” CNN reports.

“Former New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez asked on Wednesday that his recent corruption conviction be thrown out and a new trial ordered, after prosecutors admitted that his jury was allowed to review improper evidence during deliberations,” Reuters reports.

To Republican lawmakers, the 2024 election results were the mandate they’d been hoping for to justify their attacks on transgender rights. After a historically anti-LGBTQ campaign cycle in which more than $200 million was pumped into anti-trans advertisements, GOP elected officials from Congress to state legislatures are feeling emboldened by Donald Trump’s victory—and moving fast to put the next wave of transphobic policies in place. Ohio is a case in point.

By AAMER MADHANI WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s administration is urging Ukraine to quickly increase the size of its military by drafting more troops and revamping its mobilization laws to allow for the conscription of troops as young as 18. A senior Biden administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private consultations, said Wednesday that the outgoing Democratic administration wants Ukraine to lower the mobilization age to 18 from the current age of 25 to help expand the pool of fighting-age men available to help a badly outnumbered Ukraine in its nearly three-year-old war with Russia. The official said “the pure math” of Ukraine’s situation now is that it needs more troops in the fight. The White House has pushed more than $56 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s February 2022 invasion and expects to send billions more to Kyiv before Biden leaves office in less than months. But with time running out, the Biden White House is also sharpening its viewpoint that Ukraine has the weaponry it needs and now must dramatically increase its troop levels if it’s going to stay in the fight with Russia. The official said the Ukrainians believe they need about 160,000 additional troops, but the U.