US House passes motion repudiating UN resolution on Israel

The US House of Representatives passed a scathing rebuke Thursday night to a United Nations Security Council resolution the Obama administration allowed through last month that condemned Israeli settlements as illegal. House Resolution 11 declared the UN motion a "one-sided" effort that is an obstacle to peace, placing disproportionate blame on Israel for the continuation of the conflict and encouraging Palestinians from engaging in direct, bilateral negotiations.

The Latest: Obama being briefed on Russia hacking report

The Latest on accusations that Russia meddled in America's presidential election to help Donald Trump win : The White House says President Barack Obama is being briefed on a classified report about Russian and other foreign meddling in U.S. elections. Earnest says Obama has asked intelligence officials to also brief members of Congress and the incoming president.

Trump is using campaign-style name-calling on Congress

President-elect Donald Trump is shifting the name-calling that helped drive his campaign victories over "lyin,'" "low energy" and "crooked" opponents to the legislative arena, where he's now mocking Democrats as "clowns" trying to escape blame for the nation's troubled health care law. "The Democrats, led by head clown Chuck Schumer, know how bad Obamacare is and what a mess they are in," Trump tweeted Thursday.

Trump Tells Confidant He Still Opposes AT&T-Time Warner 2 hours ago

Time Warner Inc. because he believes it would concentrate too much power in the media industry, according to people close to the president-elect, who has been publicly silent about the transaction for months. Trump told a friend in the last few weeks that he still considers the merger to be a bad deal, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the conversation was private.

Official says Russia undoubtedly meddled in U.S. election

The nation's top intelligence official said Thursday that Russia undoubtedly interfered in America's 2016 presidential election but stopped short of using the explosive description "an act of war," telling lawmakers such a call isn't within the purview of the U.S. intelligence community.

Liberal Dem seeks to upend VA establishment with governor run

Democrat Tom Perriello Thursday joined the 2017 race for governor in Virginia, promising to make sure the commonwealth acts as a firewall to Republican President-elect Trump. Perriello, a former congressman with ties to President Obama , is challenging Lt.

Corzine to pay $5M penalty to resolve MF Global case

Jon Corzine, the former New Jersey governor who led the collapsed brokerage MF Global, has been ordered to pay a $5 million penalty for his role in the firm's alleged illegal use of almost $1 billion in customer funds. A federal court in Manhattan on Thursday granted the order against Corzine to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which brought civil charges against him in 2013.

MN: Dayton Proposes $1.5B in Construction. This is What that Would Fund

Democratic-Farmer-Labor Gov. Mark Dayton is barreling ahead with ambitious plans as if Republicans had not taken control of both houses of the Minnesota Legislature this year. He said it would put nearly 23,000 people to work upgrading sewer and water systems, rehabbing college and university buildings, making state hospitals and prisons safer, boosting economic development and more.

Questions at the Senate Hearing on Russian Hacking

Senior intelligence officials will testify this morning before the Senate Armed Services Committee about foreign cyberthreats to the U.S. Much of the testimony is likely to focus on what role Russia had in the U.S. election. U.S. intelligence officials say Russia hacked the Democratic National Committee and others in an attempt, they say, to influence the U.S. presidential election.

Senator: Russia’s election meddling should alarm Americans

The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said Thursday that "every American should be alarmed" by Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election, and lawmakers pressed intelligence officials about foreign cyberthreats. There is "no escaping the fact that this committee meets today for the first time in this new Congress in the aftermath of an unprecedented attack on our democracy," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

URGENT – Top intelligence officials reject Trump view on Russia hacks

Lawmakers and senior US intelligence officials are drawing a line in the sand for President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday, presenting a united front before Congress on their conclusion that Russia is a major threat to the United States and was behind election hacking -- a conclusion Trump has refused to accept. "We assess that only Russia's senior-most officials could have authorized the recent election-focused data thefts and disclosures, based on the scope and sensitivity of the targets," Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Marcel Lettre and the Commander of US Cyber Command, Michael Rogers, said in a joint statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday.

Rand Paul rallies House Republicans on deficit, could imperil Obamacare repeal

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is set to meet Thursday morning with members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus in an effort to heighten concerns about deficit spending -- even as doing so could imperil the Republican effort to immediately repeal President Barack Obama's health care law. Paul was the only Senate Republican to vote against a budget resolution Wednesday that would pave the way for Obamacare's repeal, complaining that it would also raise the deficit.

Top US intelligence officials to testify on Russian hacking

Senior US intelligence officials face questions at a Senate hearing that will be dominated by the intelligence community's The Armed Services Committee's cyber threats hearing on Thursday comes a day before the president-elect is to be briefed by the CIA and FBI directors -- along with the director of national intelligence -- on the investigation into Russia's alleged hacking efforts. Trump has been deeply critical of their findings, even appearing to back controversial WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's contention that Russia did not provide him with hacked Democratic emails.

Cruz pushes to move US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem

Republican Senator Ted Cruz submitted a bill proposal to the new US Congress on its very first day calling for the United States to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's eternal and undivided capital and to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The Texan senator's bill, which was also sponsored by Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Nevada Senator Dean Heller, includes an article that suggests Congress would delay the transfer of budgets to the State Department until the move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is done.

Altman: St. Petersburg hero welcomes new medal honoring OSS, CIA’s precursor

Caesar Civitella, right, lauded the creation by Congress of a special medal honoring members of the former Office of Strategic Services. Civitella is shown here at his induction into the Commando Hall of Honor at MacDill Air Force Base, attended by Army Gen.