Variety reports: Madonna has revealed that she is working on a screenplay with Oscar-winning writer Diablo Cody. The pop star announced the news in a short video posted to her Instagram on Friday with the caption, “When you’re stuck in a house with multiple injuries what do you do? Write a screenplay with Diablo Cody about…?” Madonna followed this statement …

CNBC reports: A deal that would have seen Eastman Kodak get funding to produce drug ingredients that could have helped fight the coronavirus has been put on hold. In a tweet Friday evening, the U.S International Development Finance Corporation said it was holding up the deal as regulators reportedly look into trading activity that sent Kodak’s shares surging on news …

NBC News reports: Bypassing Congress, President Donald Trump on Saturday signed executive orders deferring payroll taxes for some Americans and extending unemployment benefits after negotiations on a new coronavirus rescue package collapsed. Trump accused Democrats of loading up their rescue bill with priorities unrelated to the coronavirus. “We’ve had it,” he said at a news conference at his country club …

Reuters reports: Authorities in Belarus on Saturday detained Maria Kolesnikova, a prominent member of the opposition campaign challenging President Alexander Lukashenko in a presidential election, the campaign team said. Human rights groups say more than 1,300 people have been detained in a crackdown ahead of Sunday’s election in an attempt to clamp down on street protests that pose the biggest …

The New York Times reports: Since the first days after she was elected governor of South Dakota in 2018, Kristi Noem had been working to ensure that President Trump would come to Mount Rushmore for a fireworks-filled July 4 extravaganza. After all, the president had told her in the Oval Office that he aspired to have his image etched on …

Politico reports: This past spring, President Donald Trump began a full-fledged assault on voting by mail, tweeting, retweeting and railing about massive fraud and rigged elections with scant evidence. Then the Republican apparatus got to work backing up the president. In the weeks since, Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee have taken to the courts dozens of times as …

The New York Post reports: Yeezy come, Yeezy go. Kanye West won’t be appearing on the presidential ballot for his home state after election officials in Illinois found that 1,900 of the 3,128 signatures West submitted are invalid. That leaves the rapper short of the 2,500 needed to be included on the state’s Presidential ballot. While no reason was given, …

NPR reports: TikTok is planning to sue the Trump administration, challenging the president’s executive order banning the service from the United States. The video-sharing app hugely popular with the smartphone generation TikTok will file the federal lawsuit as soon as Tuesday, according to a person who was directly involved in the forthcoming suit but was not authorized to speak for …

Fox News reports: Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden claimed to Fox News on Saturday that he has picked a running mate — before following it up with a joke about who the choice was. When asked by Fox News in Delaware whether or not he had picked a VP, Biden said: “Yeh I have.” When Fox News asked who, Biden …

“While President Trump and others have suggested that the NRA should simply pick up and leave New York in an effort to evade responsibility, I’d remind them that we shut down the president’s own foundation, recouped millions in diverted funds after unearthing the illegal use of charitable funds, and directed those funds to lawful organizations for legitimate charitable purposes. We …

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports: The state Democratic Party filed a complaint Friday asking state officials to block rapper Kanye West from appearing on the presidential ballot in Wisconsin this November, saying his campaign was tardy submitting its signatures. The challenge also suggests there are numerous problems with West’s nomination papers, including incorrect addresses for circulators and bogus signatures, such as …

The Washington Post reports: Security forces in Beirut fired tear gas at protest crowds as mourning turned to anger over the huge blast that leveled parts of Beirut earlier this week and left a shattered city casting blame on the country’s leaders. Activists have called for protests in the central Martyrs’ Square later Saturday in further evidence of the rage …

The Independent reports: An election campaign, so the common refrain goes, is not for the faint hearted: it needs hard work, good luck and a thick skin. In Jo Jorgensen’s case, it also requires a vaccine shot for rabies. The Libertarian Party’s US presidential candidate has had to cancel her appearance at a rally in Louisiana so she can get …

The New York Times reports: If he were still running casinos in rough-and-tumble Atlantic City, N.J., President Trump’s demand about Microsoft’s possible purchase of TikTok might be translated this way: I want a piece of the action. “It’s protection money. It’s not what the government of the United States should do,” said Avery Gardiner, the general counsel for the Center …

NPR reports: The head of the U.S. Postal Service promised Friday to make the organization more efficient and more financially stable, but his remarks may do little to quell fears that the post office’s cost-cutting measures will hurt service during the coronavirus pandemic. “We are at the beginning of a transformative process,” Louis DeJoy said in his first public remarks …

Politico reports: When President Donald Trump connected by phone last week with Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson — perhaps the only person in the party who can cut a nine-figure check to aid his reelection — the phone call unexpectedly turned contentious. The 87-year-old casino mogul had reached out to Trump to talk about the coronavirus relief bill and the economy. …

Phoenix’s Fox News affiliate reports: The Associated Press is reporting that former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has lost his bid to return to the office. Arpaio was one of three candidates in the GOP primary for the position. The other prominent candidate in the race was Jerry Sheridan, who was his former right-hand man. Had Arpaio win the GOP …

Law & Crime reports: A government watchdog group on Friday filed a complaint against Lane Ruhland with the Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR) alleging the attorney has been violating ethics and conflict of interest obligations by working for both the presidential campaigns of both Kanye West and Donald Trump. Ruhland – the former general counsel for the state Republican …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Friday teased an executive order to require health insurers to cover all preexisting conditions, something already established under the Affordable Care Act, which his administration is suing to dismantle. “Over the next two weeks I’ll be pursuing a major executive order requiring health insurance companies to cover all preexisting conditions for all companies,” Trump …

Billboard Magazine reports: Fans are eagerly waiting to hear Troye Sivan’s new EP — and today, they got another surprise taste of the singer’s new music. Sivan dropped his latest single “Rager Teenager,” a moody song that sees Troye wistfully remembering his younger days of angst, hormones and bad behavior. In the one-shot video for his song, audiences see Sivan …