Trenton Irwin awarded first game ball after Cincinnati Bengals win. His smile is priceless

Associated Press
US Justice Department drops case against Texas doctor charged with leaking transgender care data
Federal prosecutors on Friday dropped the case against a Texas doctor who called himself a whistleblower on transgender care for minors and was accused of illegally obtaining private information on patients who weren't under his care. The dismissal of the case against Dr. Eithan Haim in U.S. district court in Houston comes as the Trump administration in its first week has already issued executive orders rolling back transgender rights. Prosecutors had said that Haim, a 34-year-old surgeon, took the information and shared it with a conservative activist with “intent to cause malicious harm” to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, one of the nation's largest pediatric hospitals.
Reuters
Large drop in number of aid trucks entering Gaza on Friday
More than 4,200 aid trucks have entered the Gaza Strip in the six days since a ceasefire began between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas, the United Nations said, although there was a large drop in the number of loads delivered on Friday. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 339 aid trucks crossed into Gaza on Friday, citing information from Israeli authorities and the guarantors for the ceasefire agreement - the United States, Egypt and Qatar.
NBC News
Trump floats overhauling or eliminating FEMA while touring hurricane damage in North Carolina
President Donald Trump on Friday floated the idea of overhauling or eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, while visiting North Carolina to view the aftermath of last year's Hurricane Helene.
USA TODAY
Justice Department restricts prosecutions for interfering with abortion clinic access
A new Justice Department leader issued a memo Friday restricting prosecutions for interfering with patient access to reproductive health clinics.
Associated Press
Trump leans in on targeting Russian oil revenue as he tries to fulfill pledge to end Ukraine war
President Donald Trump is emphasizing that targeting Russia's oil revenue is the best way to get Moscow to end its nearly three-year war against Ukraine. Trump, who pledged in the campaign that he'd broker a quick end to the grinding conflict, in his first days in office has leaned in on the idea that OPEC+, the alliance of oil producing nations, holds the key to ending the war by reducing oil prices. The president on Friday renewed his call on the group of oil producing exporters, led by Saudi Arabia, to reduce the price of oil.
Associated Press
Last 4 escaped monkeys are captured in South Carolina after months on the loose
Authorities in South Carolina said Friday the last four of 43 escaped monkeys have been recaptured after two months living in the woods, weathering a rare snowstorm and being temped back into captivity by peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The rhesus macaque monkeys, all females, made a break for it after police say an employee did not fully lock their enclosure at Alpha Genesis, a facility that breeds them for medical research — known to locals as “the monkey farm.” The recaptured monkeys appeared to be in good health, Alpha Genesis CEO Greg Westergaard said in a statement relayed by Yemassee Police in a social media post, without further details.
Associated Press
Long Island’s last duck farm weighs closure after outbreak leads to killing of entire flock
New York’s Long Island was once synonymous with “duck” in the culinary world. Now it may lose its last commercial farm. The avian flu outbreak that has led to the slaughter of millions of birds at U.S. poultry farms and driven up the price of eggs struck the Crescent Duck Farm this week, leading federal officials to order the destruction of the operation’s entire flock.
AFP
US freezes almost all aid except for Israel, Egypt: memo
The United States, the world's biggest donor, froze virtually all foreign aid on Friday, making exceptions only for emergency food, and military funding for Israel and Egypt.But the memo explicitly made exceptions for military assistance to Israel -- whose longstanding major arms packages from the United States have expanded further since the Gaza war -- and Egypt, which has received generous US defense funding since it signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979.
USA TODAY
No proof of State Department message telling TikTok users to delete the app | Fact check
TikTok first displayed a message saying the app was unavailable and later thanked Trump after it restored service.
Politico
Trump LA disaster aid salvo riles California’s delegation
The president threatened to condition federal funding on a voter ID law and water policy changes ahead of a trip to California.
Associated Press
FACT FOCUS: A look at false and misleading claims made by Trump during his first week back in office
President Donald Trump stepped back into the presidency this week moving quickly to set a new agenda, but from his inaugural address continuing through a flurry of executive actions, press conferences and interviews Trump relied on an array of false and misleading information to support his case. CLAIM: Speaking to attendees at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, Trump said he won by millions of votes in the 2024 election, which gave him “a massive mandate from the American people, like hasn’t been seen in many years.” The popular vote, however, was far closer, with Trump receiving 49.9% of the vote with 77,303,573 votes cast to Harris’ 75,019,257 votes (48.4%), according to AP Vote Cast.
CNN
Judge bars Oath Keepers released from prison by Trump from entering DC or US Capitol grounds without permission
Several members of the Oath Keepers, a far-right extremist group, cannot enter Washington, DC, or the grounds of the US Capitol without first receiving court permission, a federal judge said Friday, days after President Donald Trump commuted their prison sentences.
CNN
Israel says it won’t withdraw from Lebanon by Sunday deadline
The Israeli government says its military will not withdraw from Lebanon by Sunday’s deadline, in violation of a deadline set in a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah.
Associated Press
North Dakota’s overturned abortion ban won’t be in effect during appeal, court rules
North Dakota’s abortion ban will not be enforced while the state appeals an earlier decision that found it unconstitutional, the state's highest court ruled Friday. The only scenarios in which North Dakotans can currently obtain an abortion in the state would be for life- or health-preserving reasons at a hospital. Attorneys for the state had asked the North Dakota Supreme Court to grant a stay pending appeal.
CNN
Supreme Court to weigh constitutionality of nation’s first religious charter school
The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide whether states may reject religious charter schools from receiving public funding, agreeing to hear arguments in an appeal out of Oklahoma involving the first such school in the nation.
AFP
US stocks retreat while yen gains on Bank of Japan rate hike
Wall Street stocks retreated Friday as the market's latest rally lost steam, while the yen pushed higher after the Bank of Japan lifted interest rates.In Japan, Tokyo's stock market dropped and the yen rallied after the Bank of Japan lifted borrowing costs to their highest level since 2008 and flagged further increases in the pipeline.
Politico
Stringer reveals consulting, lobbying clients
After leaving office, the former city comptroller started a company that was hired by the American Federation of Teachers.
CNN
Newsom and Trump face off from a distance as Los Angeles fires burn
Advisers to California Gov. Gavin Newsom spent the week monitoring new White House advance staffers’ social media accounts, hoping for clues for where President Donald Trump might be headed when he lands in Los Angeles on Friday afternoon to talk about the wildfire damage.
USA TODAY
Can Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes go to Capitol after Jan. 6 clemency? DOJ fights judge
The Justice Department told a judge he can't block Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes from visiting the Capitol after Donald Trump's Jan. 6 clemency.
CNN
Kemp says anyone who harms law enforcement ‘should be held fully accountable’ for actions
Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp criticized President Donald Trump’s decision to pardon virtually every rioter at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, including those who beat up cops.

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