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Hostage families are celebrating the cease-fire deal — with a dose of trepidation. — The Israeli cabinet still has to ratify the deal, and some details remained unresolved. President Biden said hostages were to be released over 42 days. — Here are the latest developments.
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The Israeli Right May Soon Be Disenchanted With Trump — The most interesting detail of the hostage-cease fire deal that Israeli and Hamas officials agreed to on Wednesday lies neither in its terms, which mainly resemble what's been on the table for months, nor in the fact that Benjamin Netanyahu …
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Live updates: Multiple officials tout Gaza ceasefire deal; Israel says details are still in flux — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office says ceasefire deal with Hamas has still not been reached and that the final details were still being sorted out.
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Israel, Hamas reach ceasefire deal designed to end 15-month Gaza war — Israel and Hamas agreed to a deal to halt fighting in Gaza and exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, an official briefed on the deal told Reuters on Wednesday, opening the way to a possible end to a 15-month war that has upended the Middle East.


Biden on if Trump will get credit over him for ceasefire deal: ‘Is that a joke?’ — President Biden brushed off a question about who would get the credit for the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal struck on Wednesday. — “Is that a joke?” Biden responded, when asked by a reporter whether …
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Israel and Hamas agree to ceasefire deal, including hostage release, Biden says — Qatar announces Gaza ceasefire — A hostage and ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel has been reached Wednesday following more than 15 months of extraordinary bloodshed and violence in Gaza, President Joe Biden said Wednesday.
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Statement from President Joe Biden
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Biden Warns ‘Oligarchy is Taking Shape in America’ in Farewell Address
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A Year of Empty Threats and a “Smokescreen” Policy: How the State Department Let Israel Get Away With Horrors in Gaza
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Reuters

Biden says Americans will be among Gaza hostages released, snarkily refuses to credit Trump in sealing deal: ‘Is that a joke?’
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Democrats Call On Merrick Garland To Preserve Records On Trump Prosecutions — The letter signed by 10 senators who sit on the upper chamber's Judiciary Committee comes a week ahead of Trump taking office. — LOADING — Democratic senators on the upper chamber's Judiciary Committee …
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New York Times, Washington Times, Breitbart and Twin Cities
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No, Merrick Garland Did Not Let Donald Trump Skate — Some time in the next five days, Merrick Garland will step down as the nation's eighty-sixth attorney general, bringing to a close one of the most distinguished careers in public service in the last century.


Schiff and Bondi reignite old grudges at confirmation hearing: ‘You were censured’

AG pick Bondi says no ‘enemies list,’ won't rule out probes of Trump foes
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Bondi Vows to Keep Politics Out of Justice Department if Confirmed
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Zuckerberg Will Host a Party for Trump's Inauguration — Mark Zuckerberg, the Meta chief executive, is one of several tech leaders expected to play a high-profile role in celebrating the new administration next week. — Mark Zuckerberg, the Meta chief executive who has tried to keep …
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Apple's Tim Cook Plans to Join Tech CEOs at Trump's Inauguration
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Business Insider and 9to5Mac


Johnson removes Mike Turner as House Intelligence chair — The Ohio Republican has been an outspoken advocate for Ukraine funding and other hawkish national security stances. — Speaker Mike Johnson has removed Rep. Mike Turner as chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence …
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Nonprofit Founded by Stacey Abrams Admits Secretly Aiding Her 2018 Campaign — The New Georgia Project, whose leaders also included Raphael Warnock, now a senator, admitted violating campaign finance laws. It agreed to a $300,000 penalty. — A nonprofit founded by Stacey Abrams …
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NBC News, Washington Examiner, Associated Press, The Hill, HotAir, Daily Caller News Foundation, Instapundit and Twitchy
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Trump encourages Vivek Ramaswamy to seek Ohio's open Senate seat — The co-leader of the “Department of Government Efficiency” may move to replace JD Vance, though other contenders remain. — President-elect Donald Trump has encouraged billionaire biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy …
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Exclusive: Trump team asks three US senior career diplomats to resign, sources say — Aides to President-elect Donald Trump have asked three senior career diplomats who oversee the U.S. State Department's workforce and internal coordination to step down from their roles …


Trump's pick for energy secretary rejects linking climate change and wildfires — Chris Wright's arguments drew scrutiny from Senate Democrats during his confirmation hearing for the Energy Department post. — Oil executive Chris Wright, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Energy Department …
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Energy secretary nominee Chris Wright gets friendly confirmation hearing
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Biden Cites Threat From ‘Extreme Wealth’ in Farewell Address — President sees ‘dangerous concentration of power’ in the US — Biden offers direct critique of Trump and his allies — President Joe Biden warned Americans of a “dangerous concentration of power” in the hands of a …


UnitedHealth, employer of slain exec Brian Thompson, found to have overcharged some cancer patients for drugs by over 1,000% — OptumRx, the group's pharmacy benefit manager, along with its two main peers, Express Scripts and CVS Caremark Rx, have pocketed an extra $7.3 billion over cost thanks …


The First Domino — Democratic women lead the fight, all Republicans fail us — In the weeks immediately after Pete Hegseth's nomination to be Secretary of Defense was announced, and in the wake of the revelations about an alleged sexual assault allegations, business improprieties …
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Non-Profit A Jewish Voice for Peace, Inc. to Pay $677,634 to Resolve PPP Fraud Allegations — For Immediate Release — U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Columbia — WASHINGTON - A Jewish Voice for Peace, Inc., a Washington, D.C., based nonprofit organization, has agreed to pay $677,634 …
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CNN Poll: Biden leaves office with his approval rating matching the lowest of his term — President Joe Biden will leave office with his approval rating remaining at the lowest level of his term and his favorability rating close to his personal low, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS.
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FDA to Revoke Authorization for the Use of Red No. 3 in Food and Ingested Drugs — Constituent Update — The FDA is revoking the authorization for the use of FD&C Red No. 3 as a matter of law, based on the Delaney Clause of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act).
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Jill Biden still hopes for a good ending — The first lady, after a half-century in public life, reflects on the past year — and looks to the future. — The first lady says she's at peace with this ending. But. — “Let's just say I was disappointed with how it unfolded.” — Why?
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The Supreme Court seems eager to curb First Amendment protections for porn — On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard the first major First Amendment case involving pornography — or, for that matter, sexual speech of any kind — in more than two decades. It's also the first such case since …
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Washington Examiner, Slate, Los Angeles Times, SCOTUSblog, Courthouse News Service, The Independent and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »


Scoop: Trump's $500 million post-election windfall … - “The money is just pouring in at Mar-a-Lago. … - “We're looking at half a billion [dollars] by June, and we're on track,” this adviser said. … - They include the president-elect's inauguration account, the MAGA Inc. super PAC …
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New Republic, The Dispatch and New York Post


Biden Boosts AI Despite Energy Dept. Warning — Just before the president's executive order, his own administration sounded the alarm about data centers' energy consumption, water use, and emissions. — Just before President Joe Biden this week issued a last-minute order designed …
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ABC News and Washington Times


Musk Said to Have Intervened to Help Free Italian Jailed in Iran — The Italian journalist was released soon after Elon Musk met with an Iranian ambassador, officials in Iran said. So was an Iranian detained in Italy who was wanted by the U.S. — When an Italian journalist was arrested …
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Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »


As Biden exits the stage, Democrats are uncharacteristically quiet — The president's political allies wrestle with the meaning of his legacy. — Before a nearly empty chamber, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) paid tribute to a departing federal official whose presence is quietly vanishing from the Capitol: President Joe Biden.


How Biden Surprised Progressives — To the departing president, F.D.R. seemed a guiding, if often elusive, star. — A portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt has hung over the fireplace in the Oval Office since the very beginning of Joe Biden's presidency, a break with the longstanding tradition …


Rep. Byron Donalds makes his move ahead of expected 2026 Florida gubernatorial bid — The Republican congressman has told donors and other Florida political players that he is running to replace Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is term-limited. — WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla. …