Donkey's Precious Way of Saying 'Good Morning' Is Totally Irresistible

Associated Press
FBI committed to bringing home American hostages held in foreign countries, director says
The FBI will work to “zero out” the population of Americans detained or held hostage in foreign countries, Director Kash Patel said Thursday at a State Department ceremony honoring the hostage community and their families. “My singular promise to you in this community is that I will do everything as the director of the FBI to marshal the resources necessary to make sure that no other American family feels that pain,” he said during the flag-raising event. Patel spoke as the Trump administration is working to bring home Americans from multiple countries, including Russia and Venezuela.
AFP
SpaceX gears up for Starship launch as Musk controversy swirls
SpaceX prepared for the next test flight of its massive Starship prototype rocket Thursday, as scrutiny grows over founder Elon Musk's influence on the US government's space program.Starship is designed to eventually be fully reusable and is key to Musk's vision of colonizing Mars.
Associated Press
A South Carolina man is set to become the first executed by firing squad in 15 years
When the clock strikes 6 Friday evening, a South Carolina man will walk into the death chamber, be strapped into a chair and have a target placed over his heart. Unless the governor or the U.S. Supreme Court grants him a last-minute reprieve, Brad Sigmon, 67, will be the first person to die by firing squad in the U.S. since 2010 — and just the fourth since the death penalty resumed in the U.S. 49 years ago. Sigmon, who admitted to killing his ex-girlfriend's parents with a baseball bat after she refused to come back to him, said he chose to die by bullets because he considered the other choices offered by the state to be worse.
Yahoo Finance
Mortgage rates fell again this week to another 2025 low
Tariffs and downbeat economic data contributed to a drop in mortgage rates. The average rate on a 30-year loan was 6.63%, according to Freddie Mac.
AFP
UNRWA says 'growing concerns' annexation behind Israeli West Bank operation
A major offensive in the occupied West Bank which over several weeks has displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians and ravaged refugee camps increasingly appears to be part of Israel's "vision of annexation", a UN official told AFP. Israeli forces carry out regular raids targeting militants in the West Bank, occupied since 1967, but the ongoing operation since late January is already the longest in two decades, with dire effects on Palestinians.The Israeli operation, which the military says ta
NBC News
Trump considering major NATO policy shift
President Donald Trump has talked with aides about favoring NATO members that spend a set percentage of their GDP on defense, sources told NBC News.
Associated Press
Man sentenced to life in prison for killing 2 Kansas sheriff’s deputies
A man was sentenced to two life sentences Thursday for killing two Kansas sheriff's deputies as they were trying to move him between a courthouse and a jail in June 2018. Antoine Fielder, 36, pleaded guilty in December to two counts of capital murder and one count of aggravated robbery to avoid the death penalty. Fielder had already been charged with two other killings before overpowering and fatally shooting Wyandotte County Deputies Theresa King and Patrick Rohrer in a gated area behind the courthouse in Kansas City, Kansas.
Associated Press
Wisconsin voters whose ballots were not counted in November election seek damages
Four Wisconsin voters whose ballots were not counted in the November presidential election initiated a class-action lawsuit Thursday seeking $175,000 in damages each. The voters were among 193 in Madison whose ballots were misplaced by the city clerk and not discovered until weeks after the election. The Wisconsin Elections Commission investigated but did not determine whether Madison Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl failed to comply with state law or abused her discretion.
NBC News
Social Security Administration bars employees from reading the news at work
The Social Security Administration wrote in a Thursday morning email that employees can no longer read news websites on work devices.
AFP
Trump backs off Mexico tariffs while Canada tensions simmer
US President Donald Trump said Thursday that he was pausing sweeping tariffs recently imposed on Mexican imports after talks with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, while tensions with Canada continued to simmer amid strong blowback on world markets.Trump said on Truth Social of his deal: "I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President Sheinbaum.
Associated Press
Siemens announces $285 investment in US manufacturing
Siemens plans to invest $285 million in manufacturing in the United States, the tech company said Thursday, including two new facilities in California and Texas. The recent investments in the Siemens' U.S. manufacturing footprint and the planned acquisition of Altair, a Michigan-based software company, mark more than $10 billion in investment in the U.S.
Time
Never, Never Underestimate Ukraine
My country is not a Banana Republic that will simply bend to President Trump's wishes, writes Illia Ponomarenko.
Associated Press
You may want to jump off Wall Street's wild ride, but remember: This is what the market does
Much like all the upheaval shaking the world, the huge swings rocking Wall Street may feel far from normal. Sharp moves for the U.S. stock market, like its recent 6% drop in just a couple of weeks, happen regularly. Stomaching them is the price investors have to pay for the bigger returns that stocks can offer over other investments in the long term.
Reuters
Mexico president touts 'excellent' Trump call, promises collaboration
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum thanked her U.S. counterpart Donald Trump for an "excellent and respectful" call on Thursday, and promised Mexico would continue working on security and migration as Washington temporarily eases tariffs on some Mexican imports. Sheinbaum said the U.S. and Mexico would continue working together to stem the flow of the opioid fentanyl from Mexico into the United States, a key point of contention in negotiations over Washington's 25% tariffs on Mexican goods that went into effect earlier this week. "We had an excellent and respectful call in which we agreed that our work and collaboration have yielded unprecedented results, within the framework of respect for our sovereignties," Sheinbaum said in a post on X.
AFP
Europe's new rocket blasts off on first commercial mission
Europe's new heavy-lift rocket Ariane 6 blasted off on its first commercial mission Thursday, carrying with it the continent's hopes of bolstering its security and independent access to space.A successful Ariane 6 launch would be "an important step for the independence of France and Europe's access to space," he told AFP. "At the moment, Europe needs to find projects that bring us together," he said.
CBS News
New Zealand diplomat fired for questioning Trump's grasp of history
New Zealand sacked its High Commissioner to the U.K. Phil Goff after he wondered aloud whether President Trump "really understands" the history leading up to the second world war.
USA TODAY
First Loch Ness monster sighting in 2025 reported. Could mystery finally be solved?
A man on Scotland's Dores Beach said he saw the Loch Ness monster in January, the first potential sighting reported to The Loch Ness Centre in 2025.
AFP
Racked by violence, Haiti faces 'humanitarian catastrophe': MSF
Haiti is facing a "humanitarian catastrophe" as it reels from a surge in violence that is forcing people from their homes and pushing overstretched health facilities to the brink, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Thursday.Armed groups now control 85 percent of the capital, according to UNICEF. With an estimated one million people forced from their homes by violence, there are fears of disease outbreaks in makeshift camps for the displaced.
AFP
Gisele Pelicot's daughter says has filed sex abuse case against father
The daughter of convicted French rapist Dominique Pelicot said Thursday she had filed a complaint against her father accusing him of sexual abuse, after he was jailed for repeatedly sedating and raping her mother Gisele Pelicot along with dozens of strangers.Caroline Darian, whose parents are now divorced, filed the complaint on Wednesday, accusing Dominique Pelicot of drugging her and committing "sexual abuse" against her, she told AFP in an interview.
USA TODAY
A boy's kidnapping case was on Netflix's 'Unsolved Mysteries'. He has now been found safe.
The teen was found after a home owner reported two people, believed to be the child's mom and a man, of trespassing and entering a vacant property.

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