Biden pushes South Carolina as first primary state, elevates Georgia and Michigan  —  The tectonic decision to radically remake his party's presidential nominating calendar for 2024 came as a shock to party officials and state leaders who had been lobbying hard to gain a place in the early calendar

Appeals Court Scraps Special Master Review in Trump Documents Case  —  The panel's decision removed a major obstacle that for more than two months had hindered the Justice Department's investigation into Mr. Trump's handling of sensitive government documents.

Kanye West's Deal to Buy Parler Has Been Terminated … Kanye “Ye” West is no longer acquiring Parler, the right-wing-friendly “free speech social media” platform.  —  The announcement of the termination of West's deal to buy Parler, a copycat of Twitter, came shortly after West appeared on Infowars …

EXCLUSIVE: Katie Hobbs' Office Threatened County Board With Arrest, Indictment If They Didn't Certify Results  — Katie Hobbs' office threatened Mohave County Supervisors with arrest and prosecution if they failed to certify the results of their elections before the state deadline.

On TikTok, Chinese State Media Pushes Divisive Videos About U.S. Politicians  —  Many of the videos attacked specific U.S. politicians before the midterm elections and pushed divisive social issues, without clear labels disclosing they were coming from state-controlled media.

Biden says he would talk to Russia's leader but only in consultation with NATO.  —  WASHINGTON — President Biden said he would talk with President Vladimir Putin if the Russian leader expresses a desire to end his invasion of Ukraine, but Mr. Biden said he would only do so in consultation with NATO allies.

HLN Gutted by CNN Layoffs … CNN is breaking news — but not in the way it usually does. … Some of the moves include ending one of the nation's longest-running morning programs and paring back on the number of non-staff contributors utilized on air.  —  HLN, the cable network once known …

Gavin Newsom's reparations committee will recommend handing out $223,200 per person to all descendants of slaves in California for ‘housing discrimination’ at a cost of $559BN - in nation's biggest restitution effort ever  — A task force was set up in California to make proposals for slavery reparations

Iranian security forces kill anti-government protester celebrating World Cup defeat, rights group says  —  A man is reported to have been killed by security forces in northern Iran during public celebrations by anti-government protesters following the national football team's defeat against the United States on Tuesday.

EU Asks Members to Set Russia Oil-Price Cap at $60  —  Move is an attempt to squeeze the Kremlin's oil revenues while keeping global supplies steady  —  The European Commission has asked the bloc's 27 member states to approve a price cap on Russian oil of $60 a barrel, according to people familiar with the matter.

CFO JIMMY PATRONIS: FLORIDA TREASURY DIVESTING FROM BLACKROCK  —  TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Today, Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis announced that the Florida Treasury will begin divesting $2 billion worth of assets currently under management by BlackRock.

Senate votes to avert costly rail strike  —  The Senate voted Thursday to avert a costly nationwide rail strike next week that lawmakers in both parties worried would shut down much of the economy and further add to inflation.  —  Senators voted 80 to 15 for a House-passed bill to implement …

First on CNN: Federal judge orders former top lawyers in Trump's White House to testify in criminal grand jury probe  —  A federal judge has ordered former top Trump White House lawyers to provide additional grand jury testimony, rejecting former President Donald Trump's privilege claims …

Trump company tax fraud trial nears end in battle over who to blame  —  Jurors heard starkly different views on Thursday on whether to convict former President Donald Trump's real estate company of tax fraud, with the prosecution describing a culture of wrongdoing at the Trump Organization …

Musk's Beloved Twitter Polls Are Bot-Driven Bullsh!t, Ex-Employees Say  —  “Polls are more prone to manipulation than almost anything else [on Twitter].  It's interesting, given his [Musk's] use of polls,” Yoel Roth, the company's former Head of Trust and Safety says

Report Suggests Tax Audits of Trump Foes Were Random, but Leaves Questions  —  The I.R.S.'s inspector general said that returns from James Comey and Andrew McCabe were initially part of a randomly generated pool, but that a flaw in the final winnowing required further attention.

Matt Gaetz associate Joel Greenberg gets 11 years as probe into congressman stalls, sources say  —  Joel Greenberg agreed to cooperate with the probe into Rep. Gaetz, sources said.  —  Former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg talks to the Orlando Sentinel during an interview at his office in Lake Mary, Fla., in Sept., 2019.