Megan Thee Stallion Brings Down the House in a Custom Corset, Hot Shorts & Sneakers at ACL Music Festival

Associated Press
Which US companies are pulling back on diversity initiatives?
Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta Platforms Inc. joins a growing list of companies that are pulling back on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Like others before it, the social media giant cited a U.S. Supreme Court decision in July 2023 that outlawed affirmative action in college admissions. Conservative activists have gone after companies — both in the courts and on social media — seeking to set a similar precedent in the working world.
CBS News
Meta ends diversity programs, joining McDonald's, Walmart and others
Meta confirms Axios report that the company is is axing its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, including for hiring and training.
NBC News
Puerto Rico's islandwide blackout attributed to outdated underground cable
Luma Energy, which oversees Puerto Rico's power transmission and distribution system, said the islandwide blackout on New Year's Eve was due to the failure of an underground cable.
AFP
Strong US jobs report sends stocks sliding, dollar rising
Wall Street stocks slumped and the dollar climbed on Friday as a robust US jobs report dimmed hopes of further interest rate cuts.Traders say a strong US economy, as evidenced by the jobs data, means there is less likelihood of further Federal Reserve rate cuts -- which have caused bond yields and the dollar to climb and stocks to move lower.
Associated Press
Panama Canal administrator pushes back against Trump's assertions of Chinese meddling
The administrator of the Panama Canal said Friday that the vital waterway will remain in Panamanian hands and open to commerce from all countries, rejecting claims by President-elect Donald Trump that the United States should take it over. In an interview with The Associated Press, Ricaurte Vásquez denied Trump’s claims that China was controlling the canal’s operations, and said making exceptions to current rules controlling its operation would lead to “chaos.” “It might be that you’ll have to do something,” Trump said Tuesday.
USA TODAY
Snow blasts the South, including Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Georgia: See photos.
Six to 10 inches of snow is expected from eastern Oklahoma through the Mid-South and the southern Appalachians during the winter storm.
Reuters
FTC weighs in on Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission weighed in on Friday on Elon Musk's lawsuit seeking to block OpenAI's conversion to a public company, pointing out legal doctrines that could support his claim that OpenAI and Microsoft engaged in anticompetitive practices. While it did not officially support either side, the FTC offered legal analysis that could aid Musk at a Tuesday hearing in Oakland, California. A spokesperson for Microsoft declined to comment.
NBC News
New Orleans police release bodycam footage of shootout with Bourbon Street attacker
The New Orleans Police Department on Friday released body camera footage of the shootout between three officers and the attacker who rammed his truck into pedestrians on Bourbon Street in the early hours of New Year’s Day, killing 14 people.
USA TODAY
Secret Service says goodbye to 'Deacon,' its longest-ever protectee - by far - Jimmy Carter
The Secret Service protects former presidents until they day. In Carter's case, the agents' solemn mission lasted 49 years and two months.
NBC News
Supreme Court leans toward upholding law that could ban TikTok
The fate of a law that would likely ban social media platform TikTok in the United States goes before the Supreme Court as the justices consider whether to block it.
Politico
Biden extends temporary status of nearly 1M migrants ahead of Trump deportations
Protected status could complicate Trump’s ability to move fast.
Associated Press
US to return $52.8 million in seized assets linked to Nigeria's former oil minister
The United States announced Friday that it would be returning $52.88 million in seized assets to Nigeria as part of a yearslong corruption probe against former oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke and associates, according to a joint statement by Nigeria's minister of justice and the United States government. It marks the first repatriation of assets linked to Alison-Madueke, who served as Nigeria's oil minister from 2010 to 2015.
Politico
Rudy Giuliani held in contempt for second time this week
Federal judge rips into Guiliani over "fabricated lies."
CNN
Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro sworn in for third presidential term as opposition decries ‘coup’
Maduro’s inauguration seals an election outcome that opposition politicians and the US government say was stolen.
Associated Press
Arizona prosecutors seek death penalty after a 2-year pause in executions
Prosecutors in Arizona are seeking to execute a prisoner in what would mark the state’s first use of the death penalty after a two-year pause. The Arizona Attorney General’s Office asked the state Supreme Court on Friday to issue a warrant for the execution of Aaron Brian Gunches, who pleaded guilty to murder in 2007. The court had issued a death warrant for Gunches nearly two years ago, but the sentence wasn’t carried out because the state's Democratic attorney general agreed not to pursue executions during a review of the state’s death penalty protocol.
AFP
Inauguration of Venezuela's Maduro draws international condemnation
Nicolas Maduro's inauguration on Friday for a third term as Venezuela's president drew widespread admonishment from countries that have accused him of stealing the July election.- European Union - The EU said Friday that Maduro was not Venezuela's legitimate president.
CBS News
Businesses offer aid to people affected by Los Angeles wildfires
Some businesses are offering free emergency shelter and other services to residents who have been displaced by the Los Angeles fires.
NBC News
Last year was the hottest in Earth's recorded history
Last year was the planet’s hottest in recorded history, NASA announced, marking two years in a row that global temperatures have shattered records.
Time
L.A. Fires Show the Reality of a World with 1.5°C of Warming
The planet crosses an important temperature threshold while wildfires ravage southern California.
Associated Press
Meta nixes diversity and inclusion program as it prepares for second Trump administration
Joining companies such as John Deere and Walmart, Facebook and Instagram's parent company Meta Platforms Inc. is getting rid of its diversity, equity and inclusion program that includes hiring, training and picking vendors, a company spokesperson confirmed on Friday. The move, which was first reported by Axios, comes on the heels of the social media giant's decision to end its third-party fact-checking program and scale back policies on hate speech and abuse. In practice, this means Meta will no longer have a team focused on diversity and inclusion and the company said it will instead “focus on how to apply fair and consistent practices that mitigate bias for all, no matter your background.”

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