The New York Times reports: Louis R. Gigante was always larger-than-life. A Roman Catholic priest, the son of Italian immigrants and brother of New York mobsters, Father Gigante swaggered through the crime-ridden and crumbling South Bronx with a baseball bat and a development company that built thousands of apartments for the poor. But it turns out even the legend could …

The Washington Post reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis just restarted his Google and Facebook ads, targeting a national audience ahead of a state legislative session he believes will highlight causes that will help him in a presidential primary, according to a Republican consultant familiar with his operation. Former secretary of state Mike Pompeo’s team has reached out to potential staff …

Washington DC’s CBS affiliate reports: D.C.’s Attorney General is taking the lead in a fight against Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law. Karl Racine is leading a pack of 18 attorneys general who has filed a federal brief saying the law is unconstitutional. They also contend that the Florida Act is causing, by example, significant harm to students, parents and …

Law & Crime reports: Former President Donald Trump asked a federal judge to reject writer E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit before it heads to trial early next year. In a court filing, Trump claims that Carroll “consented to the publication” of his response to her rape allegations when she brought them to national attention. “In short, Plaintiff sought to drum …

ABC News reports: City officials in Jackson, Mississippi, on Christmas Day announced that residents must now boil their drinking water due to water lines bursting in the frigid temperatures. “Please check your businesses and churches for leaks and broken pipes, as these add up tremendously and only worsen the problem,” the city said in a statement, adding: “We understand the …

USA Today reports: More than 3,000 flights were cancelled across the U.S. on Christmas Day as a brutal winter storm and frigid cold weather swept much of the country over the weekend. Flight-tracking website FlightAware reported 3,487 cancellations on Sunday and 7,163 delays in the U.S. As of Monday morning, another 1,452 flights were canceled and 980 were delayed across …

The Washington Post reports: Britain’s King Charles III delivered a message of empathy and unity, and paid homage to the past, in his first Christmas address as monarch — taking up a tradition associated with defining moments in the reign of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II. The Christmas message, watched by millions in Britain and the Commonwealth nations, has …

Bloomberg News reports: Billionaire Elon Musk is warning against something he himself has done — borrowing against the value of securities one owns — because of the risk of “mass panic” in the stock market. “I would really advise people not to have margin debt in a volatile stock market and you know, from a cash standpoint, keep powder dry,” …

Yahoo News reports: Brazil will reevaluate the procedures for President elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s inauguration after an explosive near capital Brasilia’s international airport was disarmed Saturday. A man who confessed he intended to commit a crime in Brasilia’s airport was arrested on Saturday night, according to the civil police force. The man was allegedly a supporter of current …

Politico reports: Ill-fated hopes that a Democratic-controlled Washington might loosen decades-old restrictions on the drug have given way to a market glut and plummeting prices that have put scores of businesses at risk of collapse. In Colorado, prices have dropped by 51 percent over the last two years. The price of a pound of weed has plunged by 36 percent …

The Associated Press reports: A federal judge in Florida has refused to throw out criminal charges against Andrew Gillum, disagreeing with the former Democratic gubernatorial nominee’s assertions that he was the victim of selective prosecution because he was a Black candidate for governor. Gillum and a colleague were indicted earlier this year on federal charges including conspiracy, wire fraud and …

Reuters reports: In more than three decades of emergency medicine, Beijing-based doctor Howard Bernstein said, he has never seen anything like this. Patients are arriving at his hospital in ever-increasing numbers; almost all are elderly and many are very unwell with COVID and pneumonia symptoms, he said. “The hospital is just overwhelmed from top to bottom,” Bernstein told Reuters at …

The Hill reports: Democrats are blasting the busing of migrants to Vice President Harris’s Washington, D.C., residence on Christmas Eve, taking aim at Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), whom they blame for dropping the groups off in below-freezing temperatures on a holiday. “Governor Abbott abandoned children on the side of the road in below freezing temperatures on Christmas Eve without coordinating …

Buffalo’s NBC affiliate reports: A glimmer of sunshine on Christmas Day provided Western New Yorkers with hope that the region is ready to dig itself out from the longest sustained blizzard in history. Not so fast, was the message from government officials. “It is not over,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Sunday. “I cannot overstate how dangerous conditions …

ABC News reports: Three power substation facilities were vandalized in Pierce County, Washington, on Christmas morning, knocking out power to more than 14,000 customers, authorities said. Two of the break-ins were at Tacoma Public Utilities substations and the third was at a Puget Sound Energy station, according to the sheriff’s office in Pierce County, which encompasses Tacoma. No suspects are …

Deadline Hollywood reports: When it’s this cold, nobody wants to leave the house to go to the movies. CNN reports that 100 million people in the U.S. are under wind-chill alerts with those out of power reaching 1.7 million Saturday morning. Total weekend box office over three days for all titles is estimated to come in at an estimated $85.5M, …

Politico reports: Designated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a rare rebuke of his new coalition allies on Sunday for saying they would advance laws allowing discrimination against LGBTQ people, pledging there would be no harm to their rights by his upcoming government. Netanyahu is set to form the most ultranationalist and religious government in Israel’s history between his Likud …

The Daily Beast reports: China’s National Health Commission announced that it will cease publishing national daily COVID-19 case figures amid a surge of infections. Earlier this month, China loosened its stringent “zero-COVID” policy after mass protests. Although the country has narrowed its definition of a COVID death and reported fewer than 10 deaths in the past two weeks, a health …

Mediaite reports: The most prominent of the five holdouts blocking House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from becoming House Speaker is going on record with who he would like to see get the job. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) — the highest-profile House Republican of the five who say they will not vote for Kevin McCarthy as Speaker under any circumstances, …

The Guardian reports: Twitter has restored a feature that promoted suicide prevention hotlines and support groups after its CEO Elon Musk was criticised over their removal. Musk, who did not initially respond to requests for comment about the removal, had tweeted: “False, it is still there.” The feature, known as #ThereIsHelp, placed a banner at the top of search results …