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Snowflake Trump Orders Agenda Changes to Attend Elite Summit The president received assurances that the conference wouldn’t focus on topics he doesn’t like. Organizers for the World Economic Forum’s annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland, convinced President Donald Trump to attend for the first time in six years by assuring him that the program would not focus too heavily on “woke” topics. As a condition for Trump’s participation, administration officials asked the event’s organizers to eliminate or scale back discussions about female empowerment, diversity, the green energy transition, climate change, and financing for international development, the Financial Times reported. Despite those topics being central themes of the last few editions of Davos, the WEF offered the administration the needed “reassurances” that they wouldn’t feature prominently at the January 2026 gathering of high-level government and business leaders. A source told the FT, “The U.S. side wanted to make sure Trump’s appearance at the elite, progressive event would still play well with his MAGA base,” many of whom view Davos as part of an elite, globalist plot to rule the world. The administration has made similar demands as a condition of Trump participating in other global forums, another source said. “The world would benefit from adopting America’s focus on economic security, secure borders, and peace through strength over woke ideology,” a White House spokesperson told the FT. The Daily Beast has also reached out for comment. A spokesperson for the WEF told the paper that “no government influences our editorial interdependence or the agenda of our meetings.” “We select meeting themes and topics based on global relevance,” the organization said. Officials representing heads of state often have “routine” talks about the program for the invitation-only event, another source said. The theme for this year’s program is “A Spirit of Dialogue,” with discussions centered around five themes: cooperating in a more contested world, unlocking new sources of growth, investing in people, deploying innovation responsibly, and building prosperity “within planetary boundaries”—which sounds suspiciously like a euphemism for the energy transition. The president has adopted a broad use of the term “woke” to encompass anything he doesn’t personally support. His administration abandoned the U.S. government’s longstanding, bipartisan commitment to international development and defunded efforts to promote U.S. values, including the free flow of information. Those efforts have traditionally been seen as vital forms of soft power for maintaining American influence and promoting stability around the world. Trump has also attempted to roll back Biden-era investments in the energy transition that non-partisan analysts said would offer major economic benefits. The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act was projected to create 1.5 million new jobs, the Department of Energy found, and reduce the federal deficit by almost $2 trillion in the long run, according to an analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Instead, Trump’s economic policies—including his sweeping tariffs on products from dozens of U.S. trading partners—have led to the worst jobs crisis in two decades. His “big beautiful” spending bill is also expected to raise the deficit by $3.4 trillion over the next 10 years, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found. Last year, Trump appeared at the Davos conference virtually to warn business leaders attending the summit that if they didn’t make their products in the U.S., they would face punishing tariffs. But the duties—a type of import tax paid by American businesses, which must eat the higher costs or pass them along to consumers—have also raised the price of domestic manufacturing for companies that rely on components created abroad. https://www.thedailybeast.com/snowflake-donald-trump-needed-agenda-changes-to-attend-elite-davos-summit/? ps:Of course he did!!!!!

Trump Stiffs Thousands of Air Traffic Controllers With Shutdown Bonus Snub Most workers miss out on a bonus for working through the shutdown. Donald Trump has snubbed thousands of air traffic controllers and technicians who kept the skies safe during the longest government shutdown in history, union officials told Axios. Only 776, or seven percent, of the roughly 11,000 air traffic controllers and technicians who worked through the 43-day government shutdown will get a $10,000 bonus. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described the “perfect attendance” bonus on X as a Santa moment, apparently ignoring that most workers were gift-less. According to an FAA statement emailed to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, 776 “will receive a $10,000 award for their patriotic work to ensure the safety of the skies,” Axios reported. It serves as stinging blow to the professionals who were working without pay during the record-long shutdown. Some workers were forced to take on second jobs to make ends meet. Despite their work, there were still flight delays, widespread cancellations, and a temporary reduction in flights at 40 of the busiest U.S. airports. Trump previously blasted air traffic controllers who took time off, ranting on Truth Social that they “must get back to work, NOW!!!” He threatened that anyone who doesn’t will be “substantially docked” and warned that those who wanted to leave service wouldn’t receive payment or severance. Duffy announced the bonus in a post on X, saying, “Santa’s coming to town a little early.” NATCA told Axios that while it was grateful for the seven percent being rewarded, it was “concerned that thousands” of workers “who consistently reported for duty... were excluded from this recognition.” The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment. Trump on Nov. 10 warned that controllers who failed to show up every single day during the shutdown would be “quickly replaced by true Patriots, who will do a better job on the Brand New State of the Art Equipment, the best in the World.” He accused the previous administration of wasting “Billions of Dollars trying to fix antiquated ‘junk.’” The president added, “Again, to our great American Patriots, GOD BLESS YOU - I won’t be able to send your money fast enough! To all others, REPORT TO WORK IMMEDIATELY.” Duffy said the award “is an acknowledgement of their dedication and a heartfelt appreciation for going above and beyond in service to the nation.” “These patriotic men and women never missed a beat and kept the flying public safe throughout the shutdown,” he said. The lucky few will get the sum no later than Dec. 9, according to the FAA. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-stiffs-thousands-of-air-traffic-controllers-with-shutdown-bonus-snub/?

Judge Shreds Lies and Provocations of ICE Barbie’s Goons Federal judge says Border Patrol boss Gregory Bovino lied as body-cam videos show tear gas, brake-checks, and even ChatGPT-written reports. A federal judge has sharply criticized Kristi Noem’s Border Patrol agents for their reckless and violent tactics in a court ruling that exposes the goons’ efforts to cover up their behaviour with false accounts that the court described as “impossible to believe.” In a blistering 233-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis lays out stark new findings based on bodycam footage and false court statements made during the course of Chicago’s “Operation Midway Blitz” immigration sweep. Criticizing controversial Border Patrol lead commander Gregory Bovino, Ellis painted a picture of an operation that has spun out of control. She said they had behaved with reckless abandon before lying about it. The judge said one video “suggests that the agent drove erratically and brake-checked other motorists in an attempt to force accidents that agents could then use as justifications for deploying force.” She concluded: “Every minor inconsistency adds up, and at some point, it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to believe.” In Evanston, Ellis described agents “driving erratically and through stop signs and red lights,” then making “a fast right turn” at a red light that set off a rear-end crash—before detaining bystanders on the pavement. One agent twice pointed a handgun at a resident who was filming and warned: “step back or I’m going to shoot you.” All three detainees were later released without charges. Ellis wrote that video and witness accounts showed agents twisting a young man’s arm and “bashing the man’s head on the street at least two times,” while another woman was tackled to the ground without any warning to step back. Agents then pepper-sprayed the crowd. The court also revealed, for the first time, that an agent used ChatGPT to “compile a narrative for a report” from a one-line prompt and a few images. Ellis said the AI-assisted write-up further undermined credibility when stacked against bodycam footage. Again and again, the judge found official write-ups didn’t match the videos. Agents’ reports labeled “neighborhood moms and dads, Chicago Bears fans, people dressed in Halloween costumes, and the lawyer who lives on the block” as “professional agitators.” During an Oct. 24 Lakeview encounter, bodycam shows agents in a white SUV hurl a tear-gas canister toward the sidewalks while the driver says to a colleague, “Hey, throw it for fun,” and another agent taunts protesters to “have fun” as the gas deploys. About fifteen seconds later, two more canisters are tossed—even though video indicates their exit path wasn’t blocked and wind blew the agents’ own gas back into their vehicle. The ruling also describes crowd-control weapons aimed at largely compliant neighbors and credentialed media. A CBS reporter was hit with pepper balls inside a marked press van, with other journalists saying tear gas and spray hit them as they stood well off to the side. In another sequence, an agent rolled down a window, pointed a handgun, and said “bang bang” before sneering, “You’re dead, liberal.” Ellis also took aim once more at Bovino—the controversial Border Patrol lead commander and face of the Chicago push—finding him “evasive” over three days of testimony and, at points, “outright lying.” Ellis’s order—since paused upon appeal from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which Secretary Noem heads up—barred agents from deploying tear gas or other munitions without two clear warnings, required activated bodycams and visible ID, and protected newsgathering from unlawful interference. Government lawyers have depicted a volatile environment of aggressive drivers, fast-emerging threats, “spotter” networks, and the difficulty of distinguishing press from protesters in real time. But Ellis found multiple depictions had been inflated or were unsupported by video, including crash narratives and claims that force was needed to exit scenes where egress appeared open. Operation Midway Blitz, which moved hundreds of agents into Chicago and Illinois in early September, was given an explicit mandate to hunt “the worst of the worst.” But the court says the footage it reviewed belies that narrative—showing everyday neighbors, families in Halloween costumes, and journalists suffering tear gas, flash-bangs, and pepper rounds. After the Chicago phase, Bovino’s motley crew last weekend moved to Charlotte, North Carolina—though only for a week. His team is next slated to redeploy to Louisiana and New Orleans on Dec. 1. The appellate fight over Ellis’s order continues. The Daily Beast has contacted DHS for comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/judge-shreds-lies-and-provocations-of-ice-barbies-goons/?

Johnson Busted Lying About Helping Blatant Trump Power Grab The House speaker has said he’s not directly involved in the president’s nationwide redistricting war. Now read on... House Speaker Mike Johnson has been busted making bogus claims that has stayed out of President Donald Trump’s effort to lock in control of the House by redrawing red states’ political maps. The speaker—who has developed a reputation for regularly appearing to feign ignorance about what the president is up to—has claimed for months that he’s not directly involved in Trump’s push to draw new, gerrymandered congressional districts mid-cycle. But now a Republican, Indiana state Senate president pro tempore Rodric Bray, has revealed how Johnson intervened to push him to redraw his state’s political maps to favor Republicans. The plan which had been pushed by Trump was for Indiana Republicans to redraw every one of its nine congressional districts to help the party pick up two seats next year, Politico reported. Bray has refused to go along with the plan, making it now almost certain that Indiana will not give Trump extra seats, while the redistricting which started it all, in Texas, is also in doubt. A panel of federal judges—including two Trump appointees—struck down the Texas state legislature’s new, Republican-friendly maps earlier this week. Hours later, Bray told Politico, Johnson called him. Asked what they spoke about it, Bray said they “just talked about the importance of the House majority.” He called the conversation “fantastic” and “productive,” according to Politico, though he declined to say if Johnson empathized with Bray’s position. Johnson did not respond to the outlet’s request for comment. Bray has weathered online attacks from the president this week over Indiana’s refusal to draw new political maps. Trump shared multiple posts to Truth Social blaming Bray personally for the impasse and calling him a “RINO,” or Republican in Name Only. “A RINO State Senator, Rodric Bray, who doesn’t care about keeping the Majority in the House in D.C., is the primary problem,” Trump wrote. “Soon, he will have a Primary Problem, as will any other politician who supports him in this stupidity.” So far, Indiana is the only Republican-led state that has refused to join a national redistricting war that Trump started in July, when he called for “just a simple redrawing” of Texas’ already heavily gerrymandered political maps to help the GOP gain five more House seats in 2026. Indiana Gov. Mike Braun called a special session in October to redraw the state maps like Trump asked, and Vice President JD Vance has flown repeatedly to Indiana, which Trump won by 36 points in 2024, to lobby Republican lawmakers. Bray, however, announced on Nov. 14 that the plan lacked the necessary votes after eight Republicans state senators broke ranks with the president on the issue. In a statement, Bray said he and his caucus wanted to see a Republican-led House in 2026, but that he and other members did not think a mid-cycle redistrict was the best way to achieve that goal. “We would rather support efforts to elect a Republican in the existing 1st Congressional District, which has been trending Republican for the last several years and would give President Trump another Republican in Congress,” the statement said.Bray said he had spoken to Trump to express his support and explain why he thought pursuing Congressional District 1 was the best strategy. https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trumps-mike-johnson-busted-lying-about-blatant-power-grab/?

TACO Trump, 79, Shamelessly Sucks Up To Winner Mamdani, 34 The president’s Oval Office meeting with the New York mayor-elect was a love-in despite the insults both men have hurled at one another. President Donald Trump lavished praise on New York Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office on Friday after weeks of insulting him as a “communist.” Trump, 79, said “he is going to change” after meeting with Mamdani, the Democratic socialist 45 years his junior. “We’ve just had a great meeting, a really good, very productive meeting,” said Trump, sitting at his desk with Mamdani standing next to him. Joking about Mamdani calling him a “despot,” Trump said: ”I’ve been called much worse than a despot." “I think this mayor could be really great,” he added. “We agree on a lot more than I would have thought.” Their first face-to-face comes after Trump lobbed a series of nasty attacks on the political upstart who mounted an underdog campaign and went on to win the race to lead the largest city in the U.S. Trump has blasted Mamdani as a “communist lunatic” and “not very smart.” He falsely accused him of being in the country illegally, threatened to arrest him, and warned that he would cut off money to New York if he won. On Wednesday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that “Communist Mayor of New York City, Zohran ‘Kwame’ Mamdani, has asked for a meeting.” In a radio interview with Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade on Friday morning, Trump said he did not know what to expect from their sit-down, but he shied away from his previous attacks and even praised Mamdani’s campaign. “He’s got a different philosophy. He’s a little bit different. I give a lot of credit for the run. They did a successful run, and we all know that runs are not easy, but I think we’ll get along fine,” Trump said. Trump said he thought their meeting would be “quite civil” and said, “I think so” in response to a question about whether he would open it up to the press after their talks. “I mean, it’s fine with me, I would think so, he’s a politician, so I don’t think he has a problem,” Trump said. Typically, the press is called in at the top of Trump’s Oval Office meetings. Mamdani, who referred to himself as “Trump’s worst nightmare” during his campaign, said his team had reached out to the White House for the meeting. Speaking to reporters in New York on Thursday, the 34-year-old said he was doing it to fulfill his campaign promise to meet with “anyone and everyone so long as it was to the benefit of the eight and a half million people who call this city their home.” Mamdani said he was looking to address the affordability crisis facing his city. During his election night victory speech earlier this month, Mamdani put Trump on blast with a direct message. “So Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: turn the volume up!” he declared to rancorous cheers. He went on to deliver a series of scathing rebukes against the president and his policies before stating, “So hear me President Trump when I say this, to get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.” “Well, I was hitting him a little hard too, in all fairness. Hard to be totally friendly toward the opponent,” Trump said when a short clip of the speech was played back for him during the radio interview Friday. “I don’t know exactly what he means by ‘turn the volume up.’” “I said ‘what does that mean?’ Turn the volume up. Does that mean let’s go at it?” Trump asked. “I don’t think so, I mean, he was very nice in calling.” Both men have been masters of wielding social media to communicate with their dramatically different bases and have not shied away from addressing their White House sitdown. Mamdani posted a selfie of himself smiling on a plane Friday morning as he made his way to Washington, D.C. He was also spotted taking selfies and shaking hands with people after he arrived at Washington’s Reagan airport. The White House did not address the Daily Beast’s question early on Friday about the meeting being scheduled behind closed doors and instead referred it to press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s comments at her Thursday briefing. “I won’t get into the president’s thinking on it. I think you’ll all hear from him directly,” she said. The press secretary said the meeting speaks to the fact that Trump is willing to meet with anyone to do what’s right on behalf of the American people, but she didn’t let it go without attempting a dig at the mayor-elect and Democratic Party. “I will just add, it speaks volumes that tomorrow we have a communist coming to the White House because that’s who the Democrat Party elected mayor of the largest city in the country,” she said. Her comment was a far cry from the president’s words as he gushed about Mamdani in the Oval Office just 24-hours later. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-79-chickens-out-of-public-showdown-with-mamdani-34/?

Officer acquitted in death of Ta’Kiya Young, a pregnant Black mother accused of shoplifting COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio police officer who shot and killed Ta’Kiya Young, a pregnant Black mother who had been accused of shoplifting, was acquitted on all counts Friday, including murder. https://apnews.com/article/takiya-young-connor-grubb-officer-shooting-shoplifting-ab9b30a450f7cc2ed051f15c73305a34?

Commentary: Mix of open carry and stand your ground puts Florida in danger Twenty years ago, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush signed the first “stand your ground” law, calling it a “good, commonsense, anti-crime issue.” https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/21/mix-of-open-carry-and-stand-your-ground-puts-florida-in-danger-opinion/? Florida House moves tax-cut bills forward despite barbs from the left and right A series of proposals aimed at eliminating or reducing non-school homestead property taxes advanced out of a House committee on Thursday, as local-government officials warned about having to decrease services because of potentially billions of dollars in lost revenue. https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/21/florida-house-moves-tax-cut-bills-forward-despite-barbs-from-the-left-and-right/? UCF lays off 65 employees, most tied to ‘shifting federal priorities,’ school says The University of Central Florida laid off 57 employees at a renewable energy research center in Brevard County last week after the Trump administration cut federal grants that helped support it. https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/21/ucf-lays-off-65-employees-most-tied-to-shifting-federal-priorities-school-says/?

1,700 years ago, bishops and an emperor wrote a creed. Millions still recite it in church Centuries of church schisms prove that if there’s doctrine to be fought over, there’s a good chance Christians will fight about it. That repeated splintering is what makes an event that happened 1,700 years ago so significant today. The event was the Council of Nicaea in 325, when the Emperor Constantine summoned bishops from around the Roman Empire. Pope Leo XIV and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew — today’s Catholic and Eastern Orthodox leaders — will meet in Turkey soon to commemorate the event. Read more. Why this matters: Catholic, Orthodox and most historic Protestant groups accept the Nicene Creed. Despite later schisms over doctrine and other factors, Nicaea remains a point of agreement — the most widely accepted creed in Christendom. Protestant churches later split over other issues, though most held to the creed, including Lutherans, Anglicans and Presbyterians. Many modern evangelical churches have statements of faith that largely agree with it. A few notable exceptions, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, don’t accept the Nicene formula. Various events have been commemorating the council, from the global to the local. The World Council of Churches, which includes Orthodox and Protestant groups, marked the anniversary in Egypt in October. At a Pittsburgh-area ecumenical celebration in November, the tongue-in-cheek catchphrase was, “Party like it’s 325.” RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Pope Leo celebrates cinema with Hollywood stars and urges inclusion of marginal voices Pope strongly backs US bishops in blasting Trump immigration crackdown, urges humane treatment Pope Leo calls for urgent climate action and says God’s creation is 'crying out'

🎉 Yahoo! It's Friday! You made it. In today's edition: MLB free agency tiers, Weekend Watchlist, Texans upset Bills, Women's Pro Baseball League draft, two stars are born in Donora, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports...   🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES 🏀 Maxey drops 54: Tyrese Maxey erupted for a career-high 54 points in the 76ers' 123-114 (OT) win over the Bucks, adding 9 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks in one of the best games of the young season. 🎓 Rhoades resigns: Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades has resigned from the role he'd held since 2016. This comes just over a week after he took a leave of absence in the midst of an investigation into a possible violation of university policies. 🏀 WNBA union rebuffs offer: The WNBA players union was unmoved by the league's latest CBA proposal, which would include a $1.1 million max salary and $220,000 minimum. The CBA is set to expire in just nine days. 🌽 Field of Dreams game returns: The Phillies and Twins will play next season in MLB's first Field of Dreams game since 2022. The Aug. 13 game, held in Dyersville, Iowa, on the site made famous by the classic 1989 film, will air on Netflix. 🍿 Coming soon: "Boo-Yah: A Portrait of Stuart Scott," a new documentary chronicling the life and legacy of the late, great, ESPN anchor, premieres Wednesday, Dec. 10 on ESPN.   ⚾️ HOT STOVE MLB FREE AGENCY TIERS (Henry Russell/Yahoo Sports) With the MLB offseason underway, Yahoo Sports' Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman split all 30 teams into free-agency tiers, from the biggest of spenders to the most frugal of franchises. Tier 1: Funny Money Dodgers, Mets There is simply no limit to what these teams will spend, competitive balance tax be damned. That strategy has paid off in spades for the two-time defending champs, and slightly less so for the Amazin's, who missed the postseason this year with the 13th-best record in baseball. Tier 2: Rich Men North of Richmond Yankees, Phillies, Blue Jays Pushed to the second tier only due to the outlandish spending of the teams above, none of these clubs are afraid to open up their wallets. "Let's not pretend like the Yankees are not still capable of spending more than everybody [up to and including] the Dodgers and Mets," says Jordan. Tier 3: Have Employed or Do Employ Rafael Devers Giants, Red Sox "The Red Sox, from a roster and a free agency standpoint, I think is more compelling because the guys they need to try and keep," Jordan said of the team that traded away its three-time All-Star midseason. "And the Giants, it's just like, what are you going to do to move this forward?" Tier 4: You Have Spent but Where Are You? Padres, Rangers, Astros, Braves, Cubs, Angels These teams have all handed out mega-contracts with varying levels of success, but one feels like it should be a notch higher. "[The Cubs] should be a real behemoth with the amount of money they bring in," says Jake. "And until they start acting that way, they will be here grouped together with [the other five teams]." Tier 5: Why Don't You Just Meet Me in the Middle Mariners, Diamondbacks, Tigers, Royals, Orioles, Rockies These clubs are all firmly in MLB's middle class, at least as far as spending is concerned. But while five of them are trying to contend, the Rockies remain an enigma whose last winning season came all the way back in 2018. Tier 6: Too Smart to Spend Brewers, Rays, Guardians Three teams with a reputation for drafting well, developing well, and getting the most out of inexpensive rosters. And three teams that could probably benefit from spending just a little bit more money to get over the hump and start succeeding in the playoffs. Tier 7: The Reds Reds There's some real talent here, and in case you forgot they did in fact sneak into the playoffs this past season, courtesy of the Mets' collapse. But something needs to change as they seek their first 90-win season since 2013 and first postseason victory since 2012. Tier 8: Wrong Place, Wrong Time Twins, Cardinals, Nationals They've spent in the past and they'll spend in the future, but all three will embrace some degree of rebuilding this offseason. "Anything beyond a one-year deal would surprise me," says Jake. Tier 9: Broke Boys Marlins, White Sox, Pirates, Athletics History says they aren't going to spend much money. Unless the A's surprising $67 million deal for Luis Severino last year was a sign of things to come rather than an anomaly. Only time will tell.   📺 VIEWING GUIDE WEEKEND WATCHLIST Gotham celebrates their stoppage-time game-winner in the semifinals. (Megan Briggs/NWSL via Getty Images) ⚽️ NWSL Championship Gotham FC was the last team in the playoff field, but after upsetting this year's top seed (Kansas City) and last year's champion (Orlando), they find themselves one win from the title. All that stands in their way is a date with the No. 2-seed Washington Spirit in Saturday's final (8pm ET, CBS). What's at stake: The winner will become the third active NWSL franchise with multiple titles, joining the Portland Thorns (3x) and North Carolina Courage (2x). 🏈 NFL, Week 12 Sunday's slate is headlined by two games between first-place teams and a high-stakes clash in Kansas City. Colts at Chiefs (1pm, CBS): Kansas City (5-5) needs a win over Indy (8-2) to stay in playoff contention and avoid losing three straight regular-season games for the first time in Patrick Mahomes' career. Steelers at Bears (1pm, CBS): Pittsburgh (6-4) leads the AFC North by a game over the Ravens and Chicago (7-3) leads the NFC North by a half-game over the Packers. Buccaneers at Rams (8:20pm, NBC): Tampa Bay (6-4) leads the NFC South by a half-game over the Panthers and LA (8-2) leads the NFC West by a game over the Seahawks. Best of the rest: Vikings at Packers (1pm, Fox); Jaguars at Cardinals (4pm, CBS); Eagles at Cowboys (4:25pm, Fox) 🏈 NCAAF, Week 13 There are just two games between ranked teams on Saturday, with No. 8 Oklahoma hosting No. 22 Missouri (12pm, ABC) and No. 7 Oregon hosting No. 15 USC (3:30pm, CBS) in a matchup of former Pac-12 foes. Best of the rest: Rutgers at No. 1 Ohio State (12pm, Fox); No. 13 Miami at Virginia Tech (12pm, ESPN); Pitt at No. 16 Georgia Tech (7pm, ESPN); No. 11 BYU at Cincinnati (8pm, Fox) 🏎️ Las Vegas Grand Prix 20 drivers will speed around the Strip's 3.8-mile circuit on Saturday night (11pm, ESPN) in the antepenultimate (third-to-last) race of the season. Where it stands: McLaren has already clinched its second consecutive Constructors' Championship, while their duo of Lando Norris (390 points) and Oscar Piastri (366) battle for the individual title. Red Bull's Max Verstappen (341) is also still in the hunt for his fifth straight title, at least mathematically. ⚽️ MLS Cup Playoffs The Conference Semifinals kick off on Saturday with No. 2 Vancouver hosting No. 3 LAFC (9:30pm, Apple). Then on Sunday it's an Eastern Conference doubleheader, with No. 2 Cincinnati vs. No. 3 Miami (5pm, Apple) and No. 1 Philadelphia vs. No. 5 NYC FC (7:45pm, Apple). The fourth quarterfinal (No. 1 San Diego vs. No. 4 Minnesota) is on Monday night. ⛳️ LPGA Tour Championship The season finale continues at Tiburón Golf Club in Naples, Florida (Fri-Sun, ESPN+/Golf/NBC), where Korea's Somi Lee (-8) takes a two-stroke lead into the weekend. More to watch: 🎾 Davis Cup Finals: Italy vs. Belgium (Fri. 10am, Tennis); Spain vs. Germany (Sat. 6am, Tennis) … The winners meet in Sunday's final (9am). 🏀 NBA: Pacers at Cavaliers (Fri. 7pm, Prime); Nuggets at Rockets (Fri. 9:30pm, Prime) … Day 4 of the in-season tournament features a heavyweight matchup in Houston. 🏒 NHL: Oilers at Panthers (Sat. 7pm, NHL) … Rematch of the last two Stanley Cup Finals, both won by Florida. 🏀 NCAAM: No. 23 Wisconsin at No. 9 BYU (Fri. 4pm, Peacock); No. 6 Louisville at Cincinnati (Fri. 6:30pm, ESPN2); No. 1 Purdue vs. No. 15 Texas Tech (Fri. 9:30pm, CBSSN) 🏀 NCAAW: No. 11 USC at No. 24 Notre Dame (Fri. 6pm, ESPN); No. 6 Michigan at No. 1 UConn (Fri. 8pm, Fox); No. 20 Kentucky at No. 21 Louisville (Sat. 2pm, CW) ⚽️ Premier League: Arsenal vs. Tottenham (Sun. 11:30am, Peacock) … The first-place Gunners host the fifth-place Spurs. ⚽️ Serie A: Inter Milan vs. AC Milan (Sun. 2:45pm, Paramount+) … The 245th Derby della Madonnina. ⛳️ PGA: RSM Classic (Fri-Sun, ESPN+, Golf) … Three players are tied atop the leaderboard at 10-under after the first round of the FedExCup Fall finale. 🏒 PWHL: Opening weekend (Fri-Sun, YouTube) … The league's third season begins with all eight franchises taking the ice. That includes expansion teams in Seattle and Vancouver.   📸 SNAPSHOTS THROUGH THE LENS Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. combined for 4.5 sacks. (Alex Slitz/Getty Images) Houston — The Texans held off a late comeback to beat the Bills, 23-19, on "Thursday Night Football" behind a punishing defense that sacked Josh Allen eight times (the most he's ever been taken down in his career), picked him off twice and recovered a fumble. Different directions: Houston (6-5) has won three straight to climb over .500 for the first time this season, while Buffalo (7-4) has lost two of three with nine turnovers in that span. (Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) Montreal, Canada — Alex Ovechkin scored his 33rd career hat trick in the Capitals' 8-4 rout of the Canadiens on Thursday, giving Washington 15 goals in the past two nights and giving Ovechkin — who is 40, by the way — six goals in his last four games. More history for Ovi: The Great 8 has now passed Joe Sakic for 10th on the NHL's all-time points leaderboard (1,643) and he's just the sixth player in NHL history with a hat trick after turning 40. Captains Steve Smith (Australia) and Ben Stokes (England) toss the coin ahead of Friday’s opener. (Gareth Copley/Getty Images) Perth, Australia — The 74th edition of the Ashes got underway last night, as Australia (the world's No. 1 ranked team) and England (No. 2) began their biennial Test cricket series. England have an early edge after taking 19 wickets, the most on the first day of an Ashes Test since 1909. How it works: Test cricket is the sport's traditional and longest format, with matches lasting up to five days. The Ashes is a five-match series, with the remaining four Tests in this edition being held in Brisbane (Dec. 4-8), Adelaide (Dec. 16-20), Melbourne (Dec. 25-29) and Sydney (Jan. 3-7). Australia are the current trophy-holders and lead the all-time series, 34-32, with seven draws. A rainbow formed above the paddock on Wednesday night. (Clive Mason/Getty Images) Las Vegas — The third annual Las Vegas Grand Prix is on Saturday night, marking the third and final U.S. stop on the F1 schedule. Flashback: While the Vegas GP is just three years old, it's not the first F1 race hosted by Sin City. Back in 1981 and 1982, the Caesars Palace Grand Prix was held in the parking lot of the iconic hotel and casino.   ⚾️ WPBL DRAFT A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN Draft-eligible players pose for a photo at the end of tryouts in August. (Win McNamee/Getty Images) The Women's Pro Baseball League held its inaugural draft on Thursday, as 120 women were selected to the four-team league with franchises based in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Boston that begins play next summer. Draft recap: San Francisco picked first in the six-round snake draft and selected 27-year-old Kelsie Whitmore, the trailblazing pitcher and outfielder who in 2022 became the first woman to play in a league with ties to MLB. Most recently, she played for the Savannah Bananas. Rounding out the top five were players from four different countries: Japanese pitching legend Ayami Sato (Los Angeles), American infielder Kylee Lahners (New York), Korean catcher Hyeonah Kim (Boston) and Canadian pitcher Alli Schroder (Boston). Mo'Ne Davis, the breakout star of the 2014 Little League World Series, was taken a few picks later by Los Angeles at No. 10. No longer the "first" or "only": For decades, women who wanted to play baseball — not softball — have been forced to wear the label of being the first woman to accomplish something or the only girl on the boys' team. But that can be "a lonely exercise," and one these women are excited to put in the rearview, writes SI's Emma Baccellieri in a profile on Davis and the league. Davis and Whitmore each had given so many interviews over the years as the first or the only. They were always positioned as singular figures, anomalies, unconnected from any other girl who might have ever played the game. But after the last day of tryouts, they sat before the cameras and microphones together, right next to [WPBL co-founder Justine] Siegal. Whitmore discussed her pitch mix and then shared one moment that she kept turning over in her mind. A group of players had grabbed dinner together after the first day of tryouts, and when they piled into the car, Whitmore had joked, "Girls' night out." But heart cracked open as soon as the words left her mouth. She thought of all her other first days on new teams in new leagues—always known as the girl, the only one, in a way that she could not out-run or out-hit or out-throw. "The isolation has always been real," Whitmore says. And here she was making a joke, girls, plural. She could hardly believe the freedom. There were no big contracts or long-term plans or even any team names yet. But the league had already given them something they had scarcely been able to dream of before. Looking ahead: The WPBL's inaugural seven-week season begins in August, with all four teams playing their games at Robin Roberts Stadium, a 5,200-seat venue in Springfield, Illinois, chosen for being roughly in the middle of the four big-city franchises. Each club will operate with a total salary of $95,000, and there are already plans to expand to six teams in 2027.   📚 GO DEEPER GOOD READS (Bruno Rouby/Yahoo Sports) 🏀 Kelly Iko: 'He's the ultimate vet:' How Kevin Durant is embracing his role as a leader of the Rockets Houston is embarking on a brave, two-timeline expedition, one born from a heartbreaking first-round exit six months ago — and one few teams have emerged from successfully. Blending young talent with experience and striking a balance between the two requires an outside-the-box approach. Something that appears to suit Durant well. (Grant Thomas/Yahoo Sports) 🏈 Jeff Eisenberg: How Odell Beckham Jr.'s iconic catch and a lab in Pakistan changed football Spectacular one-handed catches have become a staple of the modern game thanks to the advent of grip-enhancing receiver gloves, the influence of Beckham's iconic catch and the desire of young receivers to master a technique once dismissed as needlessly flashy. (Bruno Rouby, Yahoo Sports) 🥊 Elliot Worsell: Don't talk to Anthony Yarde about losing Though Britain's Anthony Yarde — who on Saturday faces David Benavidez for the light heavyweight title — has lost three times as a professional boxer, he carries his imperfect record (27-3) with pride. Because he knows that losing three fights in four years is nothing compared to losing four family members in the space of just 12 months … and that losing yourself is not the same as losing all hope.   ⚾ BIG UNIT MLB TRIVIA (Focus on Sport/Getty Images) Randy Johnson, whose No. 51 will be retired by the Mariners in May, is one of seven pitchers to win the Cy Young in both leagues. Question: Can you name the other six? Hint: Two are still active, and three of the other four won at least once this century. Answer at the bottom.   📆 NOV. 21 ON THIS DAY: TWO STARS ARE BORN (Yahoo Sports) 105 years ago today, Stan Musial was born in Donora, Pennsylvania. Exactly 49 years later, Ken Griffey Jr. was born in the same tiny town. What are the odds? One of my (Jeff) favorite bits of trivia is that Ken Griffey Jr. — one of the best to ever play the game — somehow has the second-most hits, runs, RBIs and MVPs among left-handed outfielders born on Nov. 21 in Donora (current population: 4,500). ‌Consider this: Donora has produced the same number of Hall of Famers as Philadelphia (Roy Campanella) and Pittsburgh (Bobby Wallace) combined.   Trivia answer: Roger Clemens, Pedro Martínez, Gaylord Perry, Roy Halladay, Max Scherzer, Blake Snell

Republican Podcaster Says ‘Wheels Are Coming Off the Trump Train’ Tim Miller of The Bulwark believes that time is running out for the Trump administration. The Trump Train is losing steam. Political commentator and former communications director for the Jeb Bush campaign, Tim Miller, spoke with Nicole Wallace on Deadline: White House about how the Trump administration is falling apart at the seams. “We think the wheels are coming off the Trump Train right now,” The Bulwark Podcast co-host said in a Wednesday episode recapping his appearance on the MS NOW program. While discussing U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan’s court appearance, where she revealed that a full grand jury never reviewed the final indictment against former FBI Director James Comey, Miller indicated that this slip-up was indicative of a sinking ship for the Trump administration. “I look at all this and it’s just blatantly incompetent,” Miller told Wallace. “The incompetence almost papers over the perniciousness of this.” “I think there’s something to the fact that we all kind of know that this is a preposterous case and that Jim Comey is not a real criminal and that they’re doing this for show,” Miller continued. “So the stakes feel a little bit low for people at some level. But to me it’s like, look, this is the government of the United States.” The case brought by Halligan, a former beauty pageant contestant who had never tried a case before her appointment, accuses Comey of lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding. The revelation that the full grand jury never saw the altered indictment is the latest in a series of challenges for a case already under scrutiny. Miller also railed on Attorney General Pam Bondi over her “extremely gross” selfie with billionaire Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff as details were coming out about the botched indictment. “That’s the attorney general in that selfie with a tech CEO [as she is] ordering an investigation against a political foe; that’s purely political—it’s based on nothing,” Miller said. “It’s based on pure politics because her boss told her to do so, like it’s a banana republic,” he added. “And she assigned a Florida insurance lawyer to do it because none of the professionals would actually do it. And then that lawyer botches it so badly that the judge is gobsmacked.” “To me, that series of facts would make anybody in polite society want to say, ‘I don’t want to be seen with Pam Bondi,’” he continued. “What she is doing is a frontal assault on the rule of law. She’s doing it in an extremely incompetent manner.” Wallace then cut to MAGA-adjacent podcaster Tim Dillon, who defected from previous Trump praise to label his second term “the lame duck presidency.” “This is the end of the Trump administration,” Dillon claimed, while speaking about H1-B visas. “Now we’ll start three years of talking about a ballroom. He will trail off, he will get older, he’s adorned the White House in gold. Epstein’s gonna suck the oxygen out of a lot of this.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/ex-gop-strategist-tim-miller-says-wheels-are-coming-off-the-trump-train/?

GOP Senators Chastise Trump Over Execution Threat Against Colleagues A handful of Republican senators are publicly rebuking Trump for his chilling threats against their colleagues across the aisle. Several Republican senators are chastising Donald Trump over his call to execute political enemies, even as the wider party appears content to shrug off the president’s death threats. Trump, 79, flew off the handle in a series of menacing Truth Social posts Thursday, suggesting that a group of Democrats should be punished by death after they urged U.S. service members and the intelligence community to refuse illegal orders in a video. “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” the president wrote in an extraordinary Truth Social post, moments after designating them “traitors.” He also reposted one of his supporters’ messages that called for the Democrats’ hanging. “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD !!” the post read. Republican Sen. Rand Paul raised alarms over Trump’s extreme language, arguing that such rhetoric all but invites violence from those inclined to take it literally. “That kind of rhetoric isn’t good and it stirs up people among us who may not be stable who may think well ‘traitors,’ what do we do with traitors? It’s the death penalty. Maybe I’ll just take matters into my own hands, which is not something we should be encouraging,” Paul, 62, told ABC News. The Kentucky senator, one of the few in his party to regularly challenge Trump, argued, “I think we have political disagreements and we need to work them out in a political way.” Meanwhile, North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis called Trump’s death threats against the Democrats, all of whom are veterans, “a little strong,” according to Huffington Post’s Igor Bobic. “Words carry a lot of weight,” said Tillis, 65, who is not running for reelection next year. “Kids are watching, and the president of the United States should always be thinking less about the adults you’re reacting to, to probably what was objectionable behavior by the Democrats, and the kids that are watching, too.” South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham called Trump’s posts “over the top,” while criticizing the Democrats’ video, which featured Sens. Elissa Slotkin and Mark Kelly, as well as Reps. Chrissy Houlahan, Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander, and Jason Crow. “This is the most irresponsible thing I’ve seen from members of Congress, period, but what the president said I don’t agree with,” said Graham, 70, according to Reuters. Reuters noted that “numerous” other Republican senators declined to comment on Trump’s posts. Florida Sen. Rick Scott, 72, told NOTUS, “It’s a hypothetical. Trump’s not going to do something illegal. OK, so it’s not going to happen.” Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, 45, said, “I’m sure the president has his tongue in cheek there.” Asked by CNN’s Manu Raju about the commander-in-chief’s comments, House Speaker Mike Johnson, 53, claimed that Trump was merely “defining the crime of sedition” and slammed the Democrats’ video as “wildly inappropriate.” When reached for comment, the White House referred the Daily Beast to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s press briefing Thursday. Asked if Trump wants to execute members of Congress, Leavitt said, “No,” before attacking the Democratic lawmakers in the video. “You have sitting members of the United States Congress who conspired together to orchestrate a video message to members of the United States military, to active duty service members, to members of the national security apparatus, encouraging them to defy the president’s lawful orders,” Leavitt declared. The Democrats in the video were clear in their message that service members took an oath to the U.S. Constitution and could refuse “illegal” orders. They did not specify what constitutes an illegal order. Leavitt called it a hazardous message and argued it was “perhaps punishable by law.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/gop-senators-chastise-trump-over-execution-threat-against-colleagues/?

Panicked Mike Johnson Struggles to Spin Trump’s Death Threats Johnson tried to defend and dismiss the president’s language. House Speaker Mike Johnson dialed up the outrage card as he tried to defend President Donald Trump’s call for the execution of Democratic lawmakers. Johnson stepped in to defend the president’s rhetoric—not by endorsing it outright, but by shifting blame onto the Democrats. Trump’s Truth Social post slammed into overdrive after six Democratic lawmakers, who are all veterans, released a direct message to U.S. service members, telling them that they can and must “refuse illegal orders.” Trump responded with a post reading, “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH,” and even reposted a Truth Social user who wrote, “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD!!” Johnson attempted to defend the president’s language, dismiss it, and scold Democrats all in the same breath as reporters hunted him down on Capitol Hill to get his take on Trump’s wild posts. He told reporters the uproar was misplaced. According to him, Trump was simply “defining the crime of sedition.”“That is a factual statement,” he said, insisting that lawyers would need to “parse” the statute. It was Democrats, he claimed, who were acting “wildly inappropriate.” Johnson acknowledged he hadn’t seen the full string of Trump’s comments, an excuse the speaker frequently leans on. He nonetheless joined the president in going after the six Democrats who had addressed military personnel. “For a senator like Mark Kelly or any member of the House or Senate to behave in that kind of talk is to me so just beyond the pale,” he said, abruptly ending with, “I’m not going to say anything more on it.” Some Republicans weren’t buying Trump’s wording. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said, “I don’t agree with that,” though he still dragged Democrats for being “ill-advised and provocative and unnecessary.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified that Trump did not literally want lawmakers executed. “No,” she responded to a reporter who asked if the president actually wanted the lawmakers to be put to death. When asked by the Daily Beast for comment, the White House referred us to Leavitt’s comments. Johnson took a second attempt at defending Trump later on Thursday, even conceding that his wording was remarkable. “The words that the president chose are not the ones that I would use,” he said. “Obviously, I don’t think that... these are crimes punishable by death or any of that.” Still, he doubled down on the central grievance. “Members of Congress in the Senate [and] House should not be telling troops to disobey orders. It is dangerous.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer torched the entire episode in a floor speech, warning that Trump “is lighting a match in a country soaked with political gasoline.” “Every senator, every representative, every American, regardless of party, should condemn this immediately and without qualification,” Schumer said. “Because if we don’t draw a line here, there is no line left to draw.” Representatives for Johnson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast. https://www.thedailybeast.com/panicked-mike-johnson-struggles-to-spin-trumps-death-threats/?

L.A. Olympics Open the Trough to Trump Loyalists Figures close to Trump in D.C are now on the Olympics board. Republican power players with strong ties to Donald Trump have been added to the committee behind the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. The LA28 board of directors now includes Reince Priebus, who was White House chief of staff during the first six months of Trump’s first presidency, and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Other MAGA additions to the voluntary board include Diane Hendricks, who has donated millions to Trump’s campaigns, Ken Moelis, who was Trump’s banker in the 1990s, and Patrick Dumont, owner of the Dallas Mavericks and son-in-law of Trump benefactor Miriam Adelson. Other names on the board include actress Jessica Alba, media proprietor Jeffrey Katzenberg, and entertainment executive and sports agent Casey Wasserman, who serves as chairperson. “We are thrilled to welcome this accomplished group to the LA28 Board, who will help create an unforgettable Games for athletes and fans alike,” Wasserman said in a statement. Former Trump Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao also remains on the board. She resigned from the cabinet after the Jan. 6 riots, saying they “deeply troubled me in a way I simply cannot set aside.” The 35-person board previously featured former Olympians, including swimmer Katie Ledecky and Paralympic cyclist Muffy Davis, who also served as the Democratic member in the Idaho House of Representatives from 2018 to 2021. The Daily Beast has contacted LA28 for comment about the changes. Politico reports that the Trump-adjacent new board members could be a strategic asset for the president, who has regularly clashed with California Gov. Gavin Newsom. McCarthy also has links to Los Angeles mMayorKaren Bass. The L.A.Summer Olympics run from July 14 to July 30, 2028, which is Trump’s final year in office. He will be 82 when the Olympics take place. In August last year, when Joe Biden was still president, Trump used his Truth Social platform to take credit for the Summer Games taking place in Los Angeles. “As President-Elect, I worked with the Olympic Organizing Committee of Los Angeles in getting the 2028 Olympics to come to the United States,” he wrote. “There was tremendous competition from other countries.” Trump announced a new task force for the Olympics in August this year, with himself conveniently serving as chair. Wasserman gifted him a set of official Olympic medals while in the White House. “Can I say I won them athletically? That would be an honor,” the 79-year-old asked. At the time, Trump also raised the transgender sporting issue, stating, “The United States will not let men steal trophies from women at the 2028 Olympics.” The president tackled the issue of crime, threatening, “We’ll do anything necessary to keep the Olympics safe, including using our National Guard or military. No, I will use the National Guard or military — this is going to be so safe — if I have to.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/la-olympics-purges-athletes-for-loyal-donald-trump-insiders/?

Kennedy Center Boss Melts Down Over Shock Corruption Probe A senator claims the prestigious arts venue is being used as Trump’s private club. Donald Trump loyalist Ric Grenell has gone into meltdown after claims that the Kennedy Center has become a private club for the president’s friends and supporters under his watch, according to The New York Times. Grenell, who was the ambassador to Germany during Trump’s first administration, was appointed as president of the iconic Kennedy Center in February, as the previous board members were purged and replaced with Trump loyalists. A new report in the Times has leveled allegations of cronyism and corruption at the performing arts center in Washington. That includes the American Conservative Union Foundation receiving a half-price discount on renting a stage at the venue for their summit on “ending Christian persecution” last month. The Times viewed documents that showed the final rental cost was $20,007, down from what should have been nearly $42,000. They claimed FIFA got an even bigger discount when they rented the entire Kennedy Center to host the 2026 World Cup draw. FIFA has been granted 24/7 access to the venue for nearly three weeks, starting from Monday, forcing it to cancel or reschedule lucrative holiday programming. The cost of renting the entire venue should have been around $5 million, which included $2.7 million in “rescheduling expenses” and “potential lost revenue.” However, FIFA was given the Kennedy Center for free, according to reporting by The Washington Post. On Thursday, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse launched an investigation into activities under Grenell’s reign at the Kennedy Center, claiming the “nation’s premier arts center is being used as a slush fund and private club for Trump’s friends and political allies.” The Rhode Island Democrat said contracts, invoices, and agreements to use the facilities revealed that Grenell is operating the Kennedy Center “for the enrichment of your friends and acquaintances, to dole out political favors, and as a playground for the president of the United States and his allies.” “The center is being looted to the tune of millions of dollars in foregone revenue, canceled programming, unpaid use of its facilities, and wasteful spending on luxury restaurants and hotels—an unprecedented pattern of self-dealing, favoritism, and waste,” he added. Whitehouse said the center was becoming “a swamp for cronyism and self-dealing.” As ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, he called for documents and information about the center’s financial management practices, expenditures, donors, and contracts under Grenell’s leadership to be handed over by Dec. 4. The venue receives some federal funding for building maintenance, with the rest generated from ticket sales and renting the space out for private events. A triggered Grenell posted a lengthy letter to Whitehouse on his X account, fiercely denying the claims he and the Times made. Grenell also lashed out on social media, saying Whitehouse “attacked the Kennedy Center with outrageous claims.” He added, “Oh boy - the facts are so clear: the NYT and the Senator’s letter writer are going to be embarrassed. We have a balanced budget, we’ve raised a whopping $117 MILLION under @realDonaldTrump - and FIFA has paid millions plus covered all expenses (the NYT made a gigantic mistake by assuming FIFA was a rental not a major Sponsor)." He also attacked Times reporter Katie Benner, calling her “an activist Lefty” who “wrote a hit piece full of lies about FIFA and the Kennedy Center.” Claiming the publication has “Trump derangement syndrome,” he said, “I have now called this New York Times reporter twice asking for corrections and a conversation about her tactics. She refuses to call me back. Truly pathetic.” In his letter, Grenell insists the venue remains apolitical, saying, “We continue to invite both Democrats and Republicans to see the changes we have made-we have yet to have a single Democrat take us up on our invitation.” The Daily Beast has contacted Whitehouse and Grenell for comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/kennedy-center-head-melts-down-after-shock-corruption-allegations/?

Gaza ceasefire Concerns are growing over the stability of the Gaza ceasefire as a new surge in violence threatens to unravel the US-brokered agreement. Qatar, one of the countries that helped mediate the truce, has accused Israel of violating the deal, saying its attacks are making the enclave "unliveable." Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 32 Palestinians from Wednesday into Thursday, with more than 80 others wounded, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Israeli forces said they carried out the strikes on Hamas targets after "several terrorists" fired on Israeli soldiers operating in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. It marked the third major escalation since the ceasefire took effect in October, each triggered by an attack on Israeli forces.

Autism and vaccines Scientific information on the CDC's website was replaced this week with anti-vaccine talking points, including false claims that link autism and vaccines. It's the latest move by the Trump administration to alter longstanding US vaccine policy and cast doubt on vaccinations. "We are updating the CDC's website to reflect gold standard, evidence-based science," Health and Human Services spokesperson Andrew Nixon said Thursday. But abundant evidence has shown that there is no connection between vaccines and autism. In a CNN interview, a former top CDC official called the website changes "a national embarrassment" that could leave parents confused.

Gunmen abduct more than 200 schoolchildren and 12 teachers in attack on Nigerian Catholic school ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Gunmen attacked a Catholic boarding school in a western region of Nigeria and abducted more than 200 schoolchildren Friday, the Christian Association of Nigeria said, in the latest in a spate of abductions in Africa’s most populous country. https://apnews.com/article/nigeria-abductions-catholic-school-children-157834ff945cc4efde47d37bb6ed4a88?

Netanyahu convenes cabinet on settler violence in the West Bank that continues unabated JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s prime minister met with top security officials to discuss a rising tide of Israeli settler violence in the West Bank, an Israeli official said Friday, as fresh allegations surfaced of Israeli settlers hurling rocks at passing Palestinian vehicles in the West Bank village of Huwara. https://apnews.com/article/mideast-wars-israel-palestine-west-bank-04a9ec4d55e1e0556428ca23c70efe91?

Ukraine’s president is under growing pressure For more than a week, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has struggled to contain the fallout from a $100 million corruption scheme implicating top officials and other associates. The pressure on him has ratcheted up as the U.S. pushes a proposal it drew up with Russia that would require major concessions from Ukraine — and seemingly few from Russia — to bring an end to the war. Read more. What to know: Reports about the U.S. and Russia’s plan aimed at ending the war came out just as Zelenskyy was facing a rebellion from lawmakers in his own party over the corruption scandal. “Zelenskyy is vulnerable. Both the U.S. and Russia (saw) the domestic scandal and decided to put more pressure on him to concede to a Russian plan,” said Orysia Lutsevych, a Ukraine expert at London-based think tank Chatham House. But the effort may not work out as envisioned, she said, noting that European allies are coming to Ukraine’s defense and speaking out against the plan. Zelenskyy’s hold on power isn’t imminently at risk. But the growing political headwinds he faces could challenge his ability to push through parliament any potential peace plan being negotiated with Russia.

💰 1 for the road: Auction for last pennies These final pennies will fetch more than their face value. Rendering: U.S. Mint Stack's Bowers Galleries of Costa Mesa, Calif., has been chosen by the U.S. Mint to auction some of the final pennies struck at the Philadelphia U.S. Mint earlier this month, Axios Philadelphia's Mike D'Onofrio reports. "Each of these coins exhibits a small Ω privy mark of the final Greek letter Omega, indicating their role as the capstone to a two-centuries-long legacy that first began in 1793," the announcement says. The 232 sets of pennies could fetch a small fortune, with estimates ranging from $45,000 to $5 million each, per USA Today. Each three-penny set includes two circulating pennies — one each from the Mint's facilities in Philly and Denver — and a 24-karat gold uncirculated penny minted in Philly. The live auction begins Dec. 11. More on the auction ...

💡 Trump, party of one Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photos: Getty Images President Trump's recent blowup with Marjorie Taylor Greene is just the latest spectacular split with a one-time confidante who held prized status in his inner sanctum, Axios' Neal Rothschild writes. Of 24 Cabinet-level positions Trump filled this term, just three were in the first-term Cabinet and only Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, held the same role he has now. His current chief of staff, Susie Wiles, is the fifth he's had in five years in office. Key staffers who have bridged both administrations include top adviser Stephen Miller, White House personnel director Dan Scavino and Communications Director Steven Cheung.

🍿 Hollywood's big bidding war Data: Financial Modeling Prep. Chart: Kavya Beheraj/Axios A trio of Hollywood power players submitted bids to buy all or part of Warner Bros. Discovery yesterday, launching a dramatic and historic media merger fight, Axios Media Trends author Sara Fischer writes. Why it matters: In a hyper-competitive streaming environment, scale matters. WBD includes the nation's top-performing movie studio this year (Warner Bros. Pictures), a prestige streamer (HBO Max) and a major news network (CNN). 🔭 Zoom in: WBD's board set a deadline for takeover bids that expired yesterday and received three different propositions, sources confirmed to Axios. Paramount, which already owns a top movie studio (Paramount Pictures), a major streamer (Paramount+), a broadcaster (CBS) and a slew of cable networks, has submitted a bid for all of WBD, including its cable channels like CNN and TBS. Netflix — which doesn't own a movie studio or TV networks, but has one of the largest subscription streaming bases in the world — submitted a bid solely for WBD's streaming and studio businesses. Comcast, which also owns a top movie studio in Universal, similarly is vying solely for WBD's streaming and studios businesses. Between the lines: President Trump is seen as favoring a Paramount bid over one by Comcast, given his alliance with Paramount CEO David Ellison's father Larry Ellison — and his public disdain for Comcast boss Brian Roberts. Keep reading.

🛢️ Trump's plans for drilling off Calif., Fla. Data: U.S. Energy Information Administration. Chart: Axios Visuals The Trump administration unveiled plans for new offshore oil drilling projects off the coasts of California and Florida in areas that haven't seen drilling in decades — or ever. The plan spans 1.27 billion acres up and down California's coast, Alaska's Arctic seas, and in the eastern Gulf near Florida, Axios' Ben Geman and Julianna Bragg write. The Interior Department says the lease auctions are needed to address the nation's "growing energy needs." 👀 What we're watching: Interest in remote, costly, and controversial projects off Alaska is a big question mark.

⚖️ New Saudi allegations in 9/11 lawsuit Family members and friends attend a 9/11 commemoration ceremony last year in New York City. Photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images Saudi Arabia's leader on Tuesday downplayed the kingdom's role in the 9/11 attacks. But an ongoing federal court case is revealing new details about Saudi officials' alleged ties to the terror plot — and the potential liability the Saudis face, Axios' Marc Caputo writes. The lawsuit unearthed evidence showing one Saudi official — who acknowledges aiding two men who became hijackers — made a drawing of a plane and a mathematical formula that allegedly could have been used to fly into the World Trade Center. Why it matters: A crucial U.S. ally, Saudi Arabia's oil-rich kingdom was the first foreign sovereign to be sued in U.S. federal court under the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act of 2016 for the attacks that killed 2,977 people. For 22 years, the kingdom has fought the New York lawsuit, the largest and longest-active case in the federal court system, with 10,000 or so families of victims and insurers seeking damages in what's been called a trillion-dollar lawsuit. Asked at the White House about 9/11 families' anger, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman expressed empathy but tacitly denied his government was involved in the attack. "We have to focus on reality, reality based in CIA documents and based on a lot of documents that Osama bin Laden used Saudi people in that event for one main purpose ... to destroy the American-Saudi relation[ship]," he said. Go deeper: Key evidence from the lawsuit.