N.Y. grand jury paused on Trump case until at least Monday, people familiar with case say  —  Two people, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said no additional Manhattan grand jury activity is planned this week involving the former president  —  NEW YORK — A Manhattan grand jury …

An Interview With the School Board Chair Who Forced Out a Principal After Michelangelo's David Was Shown in Class  —  On Thursday, the Tallahassee Democrat reported that the principal of a local charter school, the Tallahassee Classical School, was forced to resign after three parents complained …

Suspected Iranian-affiliated drone kills US contractor and wounds 5 US service members in northeast Syria  —  A US contractor was killed Thursday after a suspected Iranian-affiliated drone struck a facility housing US personnel in northeast Syria, the Pentagon said in a statement.

TikTok Paid for Influencers to Attend the Pro-TikTok Rally in DC  —  The embattled social media company brought out the checkbook to ensure at least 30 of its biggest assets—creators—were in DC to help fend off critics.  —  Ahead of TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew's much-anticipated testimony …

Attempts to Ban Books Doubled in 2022  —  A new report from the American Library Association showed a spike in censorship efforts, with 1,269 attempts.  —  Efforts to ban books nearly doubled in 2022 over the previous year, according to a report published Thursday by the American Library Association.

NPR cancels 4 podcasts amid major layoffs  —  NPR moved this week to cut 10 percent of its staff and stop production of a trio of acclaimed seasonal podcasts — Invisibilia, Louder Than a Riot and Rough Translation — as it seeks to close a yawning budget gap that stands in excess of $30 million.

Russian accused of smuggling military tech escapes house arrest in Italy  —  Artem Uss broke electronic tag and went on run a day after court agreed to hand him over to US authorities  —  A Russian national accused of smuggling military technology has escaped house arrest …

Utah Law Could Curb Use of TikTok and Instagram by Children and Teens  —  The law, which prohibits social networks from allowing minors to have accounts without parental consent, may come as welcome news to many families even as it raises privacy concerns.  —  Natasha Singer, a technology reporter …

Biden irked by Kamala Harris not ‘rising to occasion’ or taking ‘anything off his plate’  —  WASHINGTON — Two former White House officials said President Biden is frustrated with Vice President Kamala Harris' performance — even if he remains committed to keeping her as his running mate in the 2024 election, a new report reveals.

‘Executive Guy’ DeSantis Says He Wouldn't Accept VP Offer from Trump  —  NO WAY, JOSE  —  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has yet to formally announce whether he will run for president in 2024, said he would decline to serve as Donald Trump's running mate if he were asked.

Dominion's Weak Case Against Fox  —  Victory for the plaintiff would severely weaken the First Amendment protection all news media enjoy.  —  WSJ Opinion: William Barr: ‘One Standard of Justice’  —  The mainstream press has reacted predictably in recent weeks after Fox News's internal communications …

Trump to GOP firms: Stop using my image or your clients will suffer  —  A memo sent on Thursday makes clear, the Trump campaign wants the digital dollars going to them.  —  The Trump campaign has sent a warning shot to the Republican Party's House campaign arm and some of its most prominent …

Top Trump attorney appeared before grand jury last December in classified docs probe: Sources  —  Timothy Parlatore testified about documents found at Mar-a-Lago sources said.  —  A top attorney for former President Donald Trump gave previously undisclosed testimony before a grand jury late …

House fails to override Biden's first veto  —  A new administration rule for retirement plans will be implemented as planned after the House failed to override President Joe Biden's first veto on Thursday.  —  In a 219-200 vote, the House fell short of the two-thirds majority needed in each chamber to undo a presidential veto.

In Trump Rape Case, Jurors Will Be Kept Anonymous to Protect Them  —  A judge said that they could become victims of “harassment or worse” from supporters of the former president as he faces a lawsuit by the writer E. Jean Carroll.  —  A Manhattan judge ruled on Thursday that jurors hearing …

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate OK with Jan. 6 participant  —  The Republican-backed candidate for Wisconsin Supreme Court said Thursday that he had no problem with someone who was on the U.S. Capitol grounds during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection campaigning for him across the state …

The Death of Peter Thiel's “Kept” Romantic Partner Is Being Investigated as a Suicide  —  Jeff Thomas, a model and social media influencer who was recently in a long-term relationship with billionaire Peter Thiel, said he spent much of his time with the tech mogul working to persuade him away …

Court Action Underscores Peril for Trump in Documents Investigation  —  Federal prosecutors continue to build a case that the former president obstructed efforts by the government to reclaim classified material and that he may have misled his own lawyer.  —  The behind-the-scenes legal fight …

Netanyahu Digs In on Court Overhaul, in the Face of Mass Protests  —  Amid a national crisis over a planned judicial overhaul, Israel's Parliament approved a bill making it much harder to remove a prime minister from office.  —  Reporting from Jerusalem  —  Hours after his coalition passed …

Senate Ethics admonishes Graham for campaign solicitations  —  The Senate Ethics Committee is admonishing South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham for soliciting campaign contributions inside a federal building after a Nov. 2022 Fox News interview in which he asked viewers to donate to a GOP candidate.

Stanford DEI Dean Escalates Battle against Law-School Dean  —  In a remarkable op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Stanford law school DEI dean Tirien Steinbach escalates her battle with law school dean Jenny Martinez.  Steinbach had already given Martinez ample cause to fire her.

Biden moves to undo Trump's political play on the Space Command  —  The aftershocks from Donald Trump's presidency reach even to outer space, but the Biden administration is quietly moving to repair one piece of the damage that could affect national security.

The Crisis of the Intellectuals  —  Traditional notions of the intellectual were never meant to include people who looked like me or who had a background like mine.  —  In 2017, I was trying to write How to Be an Antiracist.  Words came onto the page slower than ever.  On some days, no words came at all.