WASHINGTON

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says the U.S. is at a pivotal point with China and will need military strength to ensure that American values, not Beijing’s, set global norms in the 21st century.

NATO member and Russia’s neighbor Estonia is boosting its defense capabilities by acquiring an advanced U.S. rocket artillery system.

The DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee gathered to approve recommendations by President Biden that included making South Carolina Democrats' first to hold its presidential primary contest.

Democrats have voted to remove Iowa as the leadoff state on the presidential nominating calendar and replace it with South Carolina starting in 2024.

Dreams of a comfortable retirement may elude Americans due to a lack of adequate savings. The problem may start with not having retirement plans at work.

The Biden administration has put a well-known Russian paramilitary organization on a list of religious freedom violators alongside a number of notorious terrorist organizations.

Germany has welcomed President Joe Biden’s apparent willingness to discuss tweaking U.S. legislation that European leaders say unfairly discriminates against their industries.

Arthur Hill posted its second consecutive win to start the girls basketball season, blowing past Flint Beecher, 53-36, Thursday. Arthur Hill led 19-8 after one quarter and 31-20 at halftime to earn the win. Dasani Washington scored 25 points, with Raegan Byrd adding 16 points.

The United States' newest nuclear stealth bomber has made its public debut after years of secret development.

Elton John is scheduled to perform at the Glastonbury Festival in June, in what organizers say will be his farewell show in Britain.

President Joe Biden says Democrats should give up “restrictive” caucuses and move to champion diversity in the order of their presidential primary calendar.

The ruling removes a hurdle the Justice Department said delayed its criminal investigation into the retention of top-secret government information at former President Donald Trump's Florida estate.

A federal appeals court has halted an independent review of documents seized from former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate, removing a hurdle the Justice Department said had delayed its criminal investigation into the retention of top-secret government information.

Austan Goolsbee, who was a top economic adviser to President Barack Obama, has been chosen as the next president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the regional Fed bank announced.

The Senate is voting on measures to impose a contract, to provide workers with paid sick leave and to extend a cooling-off period.

The Supreme Court says the Biden administration program to cancel student loans will remain blocked for now, but the justices have agreed to take up the case in late winter.

The Biden administration wants to forgive billions of dollars in student loan debt. The Supreme Court could have the final word on the plan's legality.

With the tent ready and the tables set for Thursday’s big state dinner at the White House, hostess Jill Biden took her French counterpart and fellow teacher on an outing to a language museum to highlight their mutual interest in learning and their growing friendship. “We are friends,” Brigitte Macron, the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, said as she and Biden clasped hands at Planet Word, a museum dedicated to words and language. “We are friends,” Biden repeated before they again said they are friends.

The gunman was still at large when police shared their most recent update about the Wednesday shooting.

A watchdog investigation initiated after the tax returns of two former FBI directors had been subjected to intensive audits during the Trump administration has concluded that the reviews from those years were conducted at random.

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate ticked down for the third week in a row and have fallen more than a half-point since hitting a 20-year high less than a month ago.

A House investigations panel says financial technology firms “abdicated” their responsibility to screen out fraud in applications for a federal program designed to help small businesses stay open and keep workers employed during the pandemic.

Macron made the comments during the welcoming ceremony of Biden's first state dinner. The president chose to host France in honor of its status as the U.S.'s oldest ally.

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits came back down last week and continue to hover around levels suggesting the U.S. labor market has been largely unaffected by the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hikes.

"I'm grateful to be vaccinated and boosted, which has kept my case mild, and I urge everyone to do the same," said the 76-year-old former president.

US President Joe Biden and First Jill Biden dined with visiting French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife in Washington on Wednesday evening. (Nov. 30)

Multiple vigils were held across Idaho and Washington Tuesday night to honor four students found dead, as police and "internet sleuths" investigate.

The U.S. Justice Department has received a federal judge’s approval to carry out its proposal to improve the precarious water system in Mississippi’s capital city.

The National Christmas Tree is now blazing with bright color.

The Supreme Court declined last week to block the release of the returns.

The Jan. 6 select committee issued a subpoena to Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos in late September, though he sued to block it.

The seditious conspiracy convictions of Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and another leader in the far-right extremist group show that jurors are willing to hold accountable not just the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but those who schemed to subvert the 2020 election.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell says the Federal Reserve will push rates higher than previously expected and keep them there longer to fight a stubborn bout of inflation.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell confirmed Wednesday that smaller interest rate increases are likely ahead.

What many Americans hoped would be the first normal holiday season in three years has instead been thrown into crisis by inflation, with Christmas on the horizon.

U.S. job openings dropped in October but remained high, a sign that businesses became slightly less desperate for workers as the Federal Reserve ramps up interest rates in an effort to cool the economy.

Beijing and Moscow appeared to have "engaged in a combined air exercise," Seoul's Yonhap news agency reported.

Leaders of the two companies faced questions about how the deal could shake up the competitive landscape — and the prices consumers pay at the store.

South Carolina's Supreme Court ordered Meadows to testify in an probe of former President Donald Trump's alleged interference in Georgia's election results.

Civil rights groups and three Michigan asked the judge to allow them to file an amended complaint against Trump.

The Senate is set to vote Tuesday on legislation to protect same-sex and interracial marriages, putting Congress one step closer to ensuring that such unions are enshrined in federal law.

Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns had to be helped off the court in the third quarter at Washington because of what the team is calling a right calf strain.

Early voting is underway in the Georgia runoff election between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker. Associated Press deputy Washington bureau chief Steven Sloan joined CBS News' John Dickerson to discuss the larger effect of the race on Capitol Hill and the issues driving a record number of early voters to the polls.

The Supreme Court says in a letter to Congress that there is “nothing to suggest” that Justice Samuel Alito violated ethics standards following a report that a 2014 decision he wrote was leaked in advance of its announcement.

A documentary on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s life and groundbreaking political career, shot and edited by her daughter, will debut on HBO next month.

The dynamics aren't the same as the pivotal 2020 Georgia runoffs or other big Senate races held beyond Election Day. But the stakes are still significant.

The U.S. Census Bureau’s chief is defending a new tool meant to protect the privacy of people participating in the agency’s questionnaires against calls to abandon it by prominent researchers and demographers.

The Biden administration says Russia has abruptly postponed the scheduled resumption of arms control talks this week.

Jurors who will decide whether to convict Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and four associates of seditious conspiracy have resumed deliberations in the high-stakes trial stemming from the U.S. Capitol attack.

The U.S. Treasury Department is allowing Chevron to resume "limited" energy production in Venezuela after years of sanctions have curbed oil and gas profits flowing to President Maduro's government.

File photoThe recent decision by the United States Department of Justice to open an investigation into the killing, last May, of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh is not a game-changer, but important and worthy of reflection, nonetheless. An investigation by the FBI would also mean accountability, if it concludes that Abu Akleh, a U.S. citizen, was deliberately killed by an Israeli soldier, as several human rights groups have already concluded. A real investigation into the killing of Abu Akleh could open up a Pandora’s box of other findings pertaining to Israel’s many other illegal practices and violations of international — and even U.S. — law. According to Axios, this was the gist of the official Israeli response to the U.S. decision to open an investigation into the murder of the Palestinian journalist. Though the U.S. investigation of Abu Akleh’s murder is unlikely to result in any kind of justice, it is a very important moment in U.S.-Israeli and U.S.-Palestinian relationships.

File photoThe recent decision by the United States Department of Justice to open an investigation into the killing, last May, of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh is not a game-changer, but important and worthy of reflection, nonetheless. An investigation by the FBI would also mean accountability, if it concludes that Abu Akleh, a U.S. citizen, was deliberately killed by an Israeli soldier, as several human rights groups have already concluded. A real investigation into the killing of Abu Akleh could open up a Pandora’s box of other findings pertaining to Israel’s many other illegal practices and violations of international — and even U.S. — law. According to Axios, this was the gist of the official Israeli response to the U.S. decision to open an investigation into the murder of the Palestinian journalist. Though the U.S. investigation of Abu Akleh’s murder is unlikely to result in any kind of justice, it is a very important moment in U.S.-Israeli and U.S.-Palestinian relationships.

The Biden administration is easing some oil sanctions on Venezuela in an effort to support newly restarted negotiations between the Venezuelan government and its opposition.

The European Union and the United States are treading precariously close to a major trans-Atlantic trade dispute at a time when the two Western giants want to show unity in the face of challenges from Russia and China.

The high-tech Digital Ocean deployment in Middle Eastern waters needs to be coupled with an update of the 50-year-old Carter Doctrine.

Paul Snider, the suspected shooter of a double homicide in Tacoma, Washington, could be responsible for a third deadly shooting in a nearby town.

Alex Ovechkin scored in overtime to give the Washington Capitals a 3-2 comeback victory against the Philadelphia Flyers and snap their four-game losing streak.

Most Federal Reserve officials at their last meeting favored reducing the size of their interest rate hikes “soon’’— just before raising their benchmark rate by a substantial three-quarters of a point for a fourth straight time.

SAGINAW, MI — A Saginaw woman accused of repeatedly shooting another woman nearly two years ago has accepted a plea offer rather than take her chances at trial. Police at about 12:30 a.m. on Jan. 20, 2021, responded to a reported shooting in the 1000 block of Hancock Street on Saginaw’s West Side. Just before the shooting, Washington’s girlfriend had been arguing with the 27-year-old woman, prosecutors said. Judge Borrello is to sentence Washington at 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 1. Read more:Saginaw man charged in shooting of woman on West SideJuvenile shot, killed Saginaw man in self-defense, prosecution findsSaginaw man accused of sexually abusing mentally disabled man in his care bound over for trial

In some cases, the investigators found that Ukrainian forces tortured Russian troops, though those incidents were less frequent.

The United States has imposed sanctions against three more Iranian security officials in response to the Tehran government’s continued crackdown on protests after the death of Mahsa Amini.

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose the highest level since August but still remained low by historic standards.

Three UVA football players were fatally shot by a former member of the team on Nov. 13, after a field trip to see a play in Washington.

If you’ve lost track of time and thought you missed the opportunity to nominate your employer for the 2023 Washington Post Top Workplaces award, you have another chance: The deadline has been extended to Jan. 13.

A Pennsylvania woman linked to the far-right “Groyper” extremist movement has been convicted of several federal charges.

Elon Musk's Twitter has reinstated the personal account of far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was banned in January for violating the platform's COVID misinformation policies.

A Georgia grand jury is investigating possible crimes related to efforts by Donald Trump and others to overturn the 2020 election of President Joe Biden.

The Biden administration isn’t accepting applications for federal student loan forgiveness, but they have been sending emails out to people who have been approved for forgiveness.

Just because the two powers have every reason to cooperate on the issue doesn’t mean they will.

The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman is among those urging action in response to a report that a former anti-abortion leader knew in advance the outcome of a 2014 Supreme Court case involving health care coverage of contraception.

Latin American governments have selected Brazilian economist Ilan Goldfajn to lead the region’s largest development bank.

Pence revealed in his new book "So Help Me God" that his wife underwent IVF as they struggled with infertility.

The FAA and NTSB are investigating after a single-engine Textron 208B crashed into a field and caught fire on Friday morning, killing four people, officials said.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Jimmy Gomez has defeated rival Democrat David Kim in a Los Angeles district after a battle on the party’s progressive flank.

The single-engine plane went down Friday in a field in Snohomish County.

A Delaware business owner has been sentenced to 30 days of incarceration for storming the U.S. Capitol after seeing the riot erupt on a Tinder date’s television and taking an Uber ride to join the mob’s attack.

Democrats celebrated winning North Carolina's lone toss-up race for the U.S. House this month as Wiley Nickel won the 13th District seat.

A former anti-abortion leader claims he was told the outcome of a 2014 case weeks before it was announced publicly, according to a report from The New York Times.

Intel’s announcement of a $20 billion manufacturing operation bringing thousands of jobs to central Ohio has been greeted as an economic boon.

Overall, the electorate delivered a warning against going too far, against extremes, but we're likely headed for a messy, partisan two years. Here, five lessons learned from last week's midterms.

Jean-Pierre declined to comment on "any potential investigation" by the DOJ, but said the president has been clear on how he feels about monopolies.

A recent boost in titles for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has proven crucial to shielding him from a U.S. lawsuit in the killing of a U.S.-based journalist.

Though the appointment installs a new supervisor atop the probes — both of which are expected to accelerate now that the midterm elections are complete — the special counsel will still report to Garland, who has ultimate say of whether to bring charges. More recently, he has been the chief prosecutor for the special court in the Hague that is tasked with investigating international war crimes. The Justice Department described Smith as a registered independent, an effort to blunt any attack of perceived political bias. And there does not seem to be an obvious conflict like the one that promoted the last appointment of a special counsel to handle Trump-related investigations. The Trump Justice Department named former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to lead the investigation into potential coordination between Russia and the Trump 2016 presidential campaign.

Attorney General Merrick Garland named a special counsel on Friday to oversee the Justice Department's investigation into the presence of classified documents at former President Donald Trump's Florida estate as well as key aspects of a separate probe involving the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and efforts to undo the 2020 election. The move, being announced just three days after Trump formally launched his 2024 candidacy, is a recognition of the unmistakable political implications of two investigations that involve not only a former president but also a current White House hopeful. Garland said Friday that Trump’s announcement of his presidential candidacy and President Joe Biden’s likely 2024 run were factors in his decision to appoint a special counsel.

A key member of President Joe Biden’s economic team is leaving his administration.

Next Congress must confront China, strengthen US global leadership by modernizing, reinforcing US military, fixing supply chain without harming businesses.

A federal prosecutor says Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and four associates discussed using violence to overturn the results of the 2020 election for weeks and saw an opportunity to do it when rioters started attacking the Capitol.

Democratic Rep. Katie Porter has survived a bitter reelection fight in Southern California.

The Republican Party’s capture of the House majority is upending the agenda in Washington, empowering GOP lawmakers to pursue conservative goals and vigorously challenge the policies of President Joe Biden and his administration.

House investigators say a federal contractor that provided identity verification services for the Internal Revenue Service overstated its capacity to perform its services.

U.S. officials said three agents exchanged gunfire with individuals in a suspected smuggling vessel.

U.S. authorities say a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent and a suspected smuggler died during a shootout Thursday morning off the Puerto Rico coast.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to address her plans with colleagues on Thursday in the wake of Democrats narrowly losing control of the House to Republicans in the midterm elections. Pelosi’s decision to either seek another term as the Democratic leader or to step aside has been widely anticipated. It would come after the party was able to halt an expected Republican wave in the House and Senate but also in the aftermath of a brutal attack on her husband, Paul, late last month in their San Francisco home.

Fox News host Jesse Watters cracks down on the Democratic Party's economic failures and how those who donate money to the party are bailed out by Democrats on "Jesse Watters Primetime."

Republicans won control of the U.S. House on Wednesday, returning the party to power in Washington and giving conservatives leverage to blunt President Joe Biden’s agenda and spur a flurry of investigations.

The top U.S. military officer said Wednesday that he tried to reach out to his Russian counterpart in the aftermath of the missile explosions in Poland, but wasn't able to get through. Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said his staff tried to get Russia's top-ranking military official Gen. Valery Gerasimov on the phone to discuss the incident with “no success.” A strike against Poland, a NATO member, could have risked a larger conflict if it turned out that Russia had launched the strike.

A police union in Tacoma, Washington, ripped the city's police chief for what it called a "misleading" presentation to the city council on crime data improving.

Amazon is laying off members of its devices and services team, according to a memo from hardware chief Dave Limp.

Support from at least 10 Republicans is needed for the Respect for Marriage Act to advance in the Senate.

Republicans must protect taxpayers, fight Biden’s trillion-dollar spending by being strong on debt limit. GOP can negotiate spending reforms in new Congress.