Variety reports: The Associated Press is still referring to the Gulf of Mexico by that name — despite President Trump’s decree that it now be called the Gulf of America — and now the White House said it will indefinitely bar the news organization from access to the Oval Office and Air Force One. “It is alarming that the Trump …

Law & Crime reports: The Denver Public Schools district has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, challenging a new policy that it says gives Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents “virtually unchecked authority” to enforce immigration laws in “formerly protected areas,” including schools. The suit marks the first time a district has sued over ICE’s feared enforcement of students, …

Houston’s ABC affiliate reports: Forty-two year-old Lance Hoffpauir was arrested right near his home, and he was accused of sending x-rated messages to an undercover officer, who he thought was an underage girl. “He was asking for pictures, sending a bunch of different things, and asking a bunch of different stuff we met the elements to charge him with online …

Politico reports: NASA astronauts, speaking from space, debunked President Donald Trump’s claims that they had been left behind. Sunita Williams said she and fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore were not stranded on the International Space Station despite comments Trump made last month that they were “virtually abandoned” by former President Joe Biden and needed saving. “We don’t feel abandoned, we don’t …

404 Media reports: The doge.gov website that was spun up to track Elon Musk’s cuts to the federal government is insecure and pulls from a database that can be edited by anyone, according to two separate people who found the vulnerability and shared it with 404 Media. One coder added at least two database entries that are visible on the …

The New York Times reports: Mayor Eric Adams of New York faced increasingly loud calls to resign Friday, one day after a fuller picture of the arrangement that led to the U.S. Justice Department seeking to drop corruption charges against him began to emerge.  And Mr. Adams himself appeared on “Fox and Friends” on Friday with President Trump’s border czar, …

The Guardian reports: In May 2024, a flashy ad went viral on social media warning that “across the country, there are real cases of fraud and abuses of the [election] system that have eroded our trust”. The ad pledged that “whistleblowers” who shared evidence of election fraud “will be rewarded with payment from our $5m fund”. This reward was courtesy …

CBS News reports: Protesters are expected at the Stonewall National Monument Friday after references to trans and queer people were removed from the National Park Service website. The protest will take place outside the monument where the LGBTQ+ rights movement was born decades ago. Trans flags are still  flying at Christopher Park near the Stonewall Inn, and after hearing from …

“Mr. Musk’s dual roles pose conflicts of interest so obvious that they hardly require explanation. The intent to purchase armored Cybertrucks suggests the conflicts of interest inherent in Mr. Musk’s installation of his cronies throughout the government are not being adequately managed and, in fact, are increasing by the minute. In the 15 months since it was released, the Cybertruck …

FOIA Files reports: The lack of transparency surrounding DOGE’s efforts is off the charts. The DOGE strike team itself operates in secrecy. In the case of the CFPB, after the team members appeared at the agency’s Washington headquarters, they often refused to talk to employees or disclose their names, and carried out work in a basement conference room where they …

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports: Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham sent an internal directive to state health workers Thursday ending long-standing mass vaccination efforts and banning staff from promoting seasonal vaccines, while publicly issuing a letter criticizing the state’s COVID response and public health institutions. The letter was posted on the Louisiana Health Department’s website as the U.S. Senate voted …

Axios reports: U.S. agents arrested more than 21,000 unauthorized immigrants in November as President Biden’s term wound down — a pace the Trump administration doesn’t appear to be matching in its first month despite its crackdown, an Axios review of new data finds. Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, says about 14,000 immigrants have been arrested in the three-plus weeks since …

The Tupelo Daily Journal reports: A former east Tupelo youth pastor will spend the next decade in prison after admitting in court that he had sex multiple times with a 16-year-old church member. Alexander Ryan Blackwelder, 28, was the youth pastor at East Main Street Church of Christ in early 2023 when authorities received a tip that he was having …

REPORTER: “President Trump, first of all, congratulations for a fantastic 24 days of your presidency and the historic and unprecedented decisions that you’ve made.” TRUMP: “I like her!” [The reporter.] REPORTER: “I’m particularly impressed by the exposé on USAID. And I would like you to share with us, if you think USAID had a role in election interference in the …

Reuters reports: Elon Musk’s The Boring Company and Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA) have signed an initial agreement to build the Dubai Loop, an underground high-speed transport network spanning 17km (10.6 miles), they said on Friday. The United Arab Emirates’ Artificial Intelligence Minister, Omar Al Olama, announced the project on a video interview with Elon Musk during the World …

“If you make x-amount of money and you’re worth $60 million, we’re gonna look at why that is. That’s where the panic is coming from. Let’s think about this. In our administration, we have a tremendous amount of billionaires who are successful businessmen. “And I could name them all, but we know who they are who have taken a leave, …

CNN reports: Vice President JD Vance warned on Thursday that the United States could hit Russia with economic and military “tools of leverage” if Russian leader Vladimir Putin doesn’t negotiate a peace deal with Ukraine in good faith. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Vance said the option of sending US troops to Ukraine was “on the table,” as …

The New York Times reports: One of Elon Musk’s closest friends, a billionaire co-founder of Airbnb, is taking a role in President Trump’s administration to help Mr. Musk carry out his drive to slash the federal bureaucracy, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Joe Gebbia, the Airbnb co-founder, is a board member at Tesla who lives in …

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: An ongoing fight in Utah to ban pride flags in schools entered new territory Thursday after Rep. Trevor Lee proposed new legislation to ban the flags not just in public schools, but in any government building or on any government property. The bill, HB0077, originally applied only to schools. But an update to the bill …

“How much does the Trump administration need to take? There’s over 50 lawsuits filed so far. Lots of these judges are Obama appointees, Clinton appointees, who are — or Biden appointees — who are far-left activists, who are just having some fun trying to thwart the Trump agenda. And I do think, at some point, the Trump administration may be — …