Politics

The Texas Tribune reports: SpaceX’s goal is to colonize Mars. But first, it wants to create an official city in Texas. Employees living on the site of SpaceX’s operations in South Texas are requesting a special election to determine whether the site can be incorporated into a city. Current residents of Starbase, the company’s South Texas headquarters and launch site, …

NPR reports: South Korea’s parliament impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol for his attempt to impose martial law eleven days ago, the first time such a measure has been imposed on the nation in more than four decades. The vote passed 204 to 85 in the 300-member National Assembly. Around a dozen ruling party lawmakers joined the opposition in voting to …

The Associated Press reports: Donald Trump hosted Apple CEO Tim Cook for a Friday evening dinner at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago resort, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly. Cook is the latest in a string of big tech leaders — including OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos — …

The New York Times reports: Ms. Pelosi, 84, “sustained an injury during an official engagement,” the spokesman, Ian Krager, said in a brief statement that provided no details on the nature of the injury or how it occurred. He said she was admitted to a hospital for evaluation. Ms. Pelosi tripped going down marble stairs at the Grand Ducal Palace …

The Guardian reports: Italy’s government has granted citizenship to Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, on account of his Italian family roots, prompting outrage among opposition politicians who contrasted his treatment with that of the children born in Italy of migrant parents. Milei is in Rome to meet the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, and to take part in her Brothers of …

The Associated Press reports: North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Gov.-elect Josh Stein [photo] on Thursday challenged the constitutionality of a portion of a law enacted just a day earlier by the Republican-dominated General Assembly that erodes Stein’s powers and those of other top Democrats elected to statewide office last month. The full law was given final approval Wednesday with …

CBS News reports: Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is in the hospital after sustaining an injury on an overseas trip in Luxembourg, her office said Friday. “While traveling with a bipartisan Congressional delegation in Luxembourg to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi sustained an injury during an official engagement and was admitted …

Tampa’s NBC affiliate reports: A Lakeland woman was charged Tuesday after police said she ended a call to an insurance company with the words, “Delay, Deny, Depose.” In an arrest affidavit, the Lakeland Police Department said officers were contacted by the FBI on Tuesday, Dec. 10 regarding an alleged threat made over the phone. Briana Boston, 42, had reportedly placed …

St. Louis’s Fox affiliate reports: A Missouri representative is proposing a repeal of a state law that currently prevents citizens with a felony history from running for a local and state office. Republican Rep. Michael Davis of Belton, a suburb of Kansas City, pre-filed House Bill 318 on Dec. 3. The bill, named the “Donald J. Trump Election Qualification Act,” …

CBS News reports: Chinese President Xi Jinping is not expected to travel to Washington next month as an inauguration guest of President-elect Donald Trump, according to two sources familiar with the planning. CBS News was first to report that Trump had personally invited Xi to the swearing-in ceremony shortly after Election Day. China’s ambassador to the U.S. and his spouse …

The Associated Press reports: A newly elected state lawmaker in West Virginia is facing at least one felony and is accused of making terroristic threats. Joseph de Soto, 61, was arrested by state police Thursday in Martinsburg following an investigation that found he made “several threatening/intimidating threats against government officials,” according to a statement from Lt. Leslie T. Goldie Jr. …

NewsNation reports: Lawmakers say they are edging closer to a deal to keep the government’s lights on in eight days but are still trying to work out differences over disaster aid and potential add-ons to the bill. There’s some optimism in the Capitol that bill text could arrive as soon as this weekend as the Dec. 20 shutdown deadline quickly …

The Associated Press reports: The premier of Canada’s most populous province said Wednesday he will cut off energy to the United States if President-elect Donald Trump imposes sweeping tariffs on all Canadian products. Trump has threatened to impose a 25% tax on all products entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico unless they stem the flow of migrants and drugs. …

Florida Politics reports: The Florida Chamber of Commerce published its latest migration report this week, which analyzes the number of people moving into and out of the state. The analysis of 2023 shows there was a net total pickup of 126,000 people. Chamber officials acknowledged an increase in new residents is always a positive trend because the uptick will lead …

Politico reports: Sen. Bernie Sanders, former presidential candidate and leader of the progressive movement in the United States for decades, said his term starting in January would likely be his last in an interview with POLITICO. Sanders (I-Vt.) won reelection in November and has six more years in the Senate ahead of him. When asked whether his fourth Senate term …

From the Russian state media outlet Tass: US President-elect Donald Trump did not send an invitation to his inauguration in January to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “No, he didn’t send an invitation,” the spokesman said, answering a question. Previously, the CBS News TV channel reported citing its sources that Trump invited Chinese leader Xi …

NBC News reports: Federal officials Wednesday rejected claims the mysterious drones spotted in New Jersey are coming from an Iranian “mothership.” Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., said Wednesday on Fox News that the unidentified flying objects in his state’s skies are coming from an Iranian vessel off the East Coast — a claim the Defense Department flatly denied. Drew, who …

The Raleigh New & Observer reports: With North Carolina Republicans set to lose their veto-proof supermajority come 2025, state lawmakers took their final vote Wednesday on a bill that takes away power from incoming Democrats in the executive branch, overturning a veto with a party-line 72-46 vote. Protesters shouted from the gallery overlooking the state House chamber after the vote. …

The CBC reports: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that Kamala Harris’s loss in the U.S. presidential election was a setback for women’s progress — and cited several recent incidents that he said suggest women’s rights are under attack by “regressive” and “reactionary” political forces. In an address to an Ottawa gala for Equal Voice, Trudeau said politicians who are …

Washington DC’s Fox affiliate reports: United States Capitol police officers arrested a man Tuesday evening following an alleged assault on U.S. Representative Nancy Mace inside the Rayburn House Office Building. The incident occurred shortly before 6 p.m. when Rep. Mace’s office reported the assault to Capitol Police. Officers from the House Division and agents with the Threat Assessment Section were …