FlashMobOfOne

The Trump administration wants the Supreme Court to permit the firing of the head of the federal agency dedicated to protecting whistleblowers, according to documents obtained Sunday that would mark the first appeal to the justices since President Donald Trump took office.

The emergency appeal is the start of what probably will be a steady stream from lawyers for the Republican president and his administration seeking to undo lower court rulings that have slowed his second-term agenda.

Almost $500 million in food aid is at risk of spoilage as it sits in ports, ships and warehouses after funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, was paused by the Trump administration, according to a Feb. 10 report from a government watchdog.

The report from USAID's inspector general highlighted the risks of "safeguarding and distribution" of $8.2 billion in unspent humanitarian aid after the Trump administration ordered almost all staff to be placed on leave and ordered a review of U.S. foreign assistance programs.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — An Israeli army reservist’s dream vacation in Brazil ended abruptly last month over an accusation that he committed war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

Yuval Vagdani woke up on Jan. 4 to a flurry of missed calls from family members and Israel’s Foreign Ministry with an urgent warning: A pro-Palestinian legal group had convinced a federal judge in Brazil to open a war crimes investigation for his alleged participation in the demolition of civilian homes in Gaza.

A frightened Vagdani fled the country on a commercial flight the next day to avoid the grip of a powerful legal concept called “universal jurisdiction,” which allows governments to prosecute people for the most serious crimes regardless of where they are allegedly committed.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — As New Orleans church leaders braced for the fallout from publishing a list of predatory Catholic priests, they turned to an unlikely ally: the front office of the city’s NFL franchise.

What followed was a months-long, crisis-communications blitz orchestrated by the New Orleans Saints’ president and other top team officials, according to hundreds of internal emails obtained by The Associated Press.

Are there any canon rules for an honor duel between sun elves in the Forgotten Realms setting?

A group of Quaker congregations has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over a policy change by Donald Trump designed to make it easier for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to locate and remove illegal immigrants.

The new U.S. president changed the law to allow ICE agents to conduct operations in "sensitive locations," including houses of worship, playgrounds, schools and hospitals, without prior approval from their supervisors, which was previously required.

Why It Matters

The Trump administration is seeking to crack down on illegal immigration. The president made immigration a central theme of his successful campaign for office, and Americans largely support his mass deportation plans.

A New York Times/Ipsos poll, carried out from January 2 to 10, found 55 percent of voters strongly or somewhat supported such plans. Eighty-eight percent supported "deporting immigrants who are here illegally and have criminal records." Large majorities of Democrats and Republicans agreed that the immigration system is broken.

Fifteen regular-season wins and two playoff victories -- including a nailbiter in the AFC Championship Game -- later, the Chiefs are once again conference champions and heading back to the Super Bowl.

To some, it might be old hat. Kansas City has represented the AFC in each of the last two Super Bowls and will do so again in New Orleans on Feb. 9. But this time, history is on the line.

As winners of the last two Super Bowls, the Chiefs have a chance to become the first team to three-peat in NFL history. The gravity of the opportunity is not lost on any of them. After taking down the Buffalo Bills, 32-29, in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, many of their responses ended with the same statement of a shared goal: Make history.

WASHINGTON ― President Joe Biden on Saturday named former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and billionaire political activist and philanthropist George Soros recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, part of a group of 19 people selected for the nation's highest civilian honor.

Others presented the medal by the outgoing president at a White House ceremony included U2 frontman Bono, actor Michael J. Fox, actor Denzel Washington, chef José Andrés and William Sanford Nye, better known as television's "Bill Nye the Science Guy."

From the sports world, decorated professional soccer player Lionel Messi of Argentina and retired NBA legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson also received the medal. Messi did not attend the ceremony because of a scheduling issue.

Mount Prospect Police Chief Michael Eterno said the teens attacked the two men in two different incidents on the evening of July 8, 2024. The victims were two gay men, aged 41 and 23, who responded to ads placed on an unnamed gay dating app. After arriving at the locations, a combination gas station and convenience store parking lot and a residential street in a different part of town, the teens allegedly attacked the men and vandalized their cars. Both victims were able to escape and report the attacks to police.

The charged teens were all aged 17 except for one boy aged 16. Police say all 11 participated in one or both attacks. Each was charged with either one or two felony counts each of Aggravated Battery, Criminal Damage to Property, and Mob Action. One of the 17-year-olds was also charged with two felony Hate Crime counts for “yelling a racial and another derogatory term” during the attacks.

Hello, fellow nerds:

What are some neat monsters or creatures I could use for a new campaign I'm running in 2025. The gist is that one of the four sons of the Vyshaantar Empire has gathered strength, occupied a castle in the Misty Forest, and is looking to take over the entirety of the territory and spearhead a resurgence of the Vyshaantar Empire. (Or, to put it even more succinctly: Nazi Elves.)

I've got a few Vyshaantar enemies built out, like a Vyshaantar Sniper, Elven War Golem, Corrupted Treant, and Pyromancer.

What are some others that are different but would fit this kind of campaign?

The United States saw an 18.1% increase in homelessness this year, a dramatic rise driven mostly by a lack of affordable housing as well as devastating natural disasters and a surge of migrants in several parts of the country, federal officials said Friday.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said federally required tallies taken across the country in January found that more than 770,000 people were counted as homeless — a number that misses some people and does not include those staying with friends or family because they do not have a place of their own.

That increase comes on top of a 12% increase in 2023, which HUD blamed on soaring rents and the end of pandemic assistance. The 2023 increase also was driven by people experiencing homelessness for the first time. The numbers overall represent 23 of every 10,000 people in the U.S., with Black people being overrepresented among the homeless population.

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican who briefly stood to become President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be attorney general, was found by congressional ethics investigators to have paid numerous women — including a 17-year-old girl — for sex, and to have purchased and used illegal drugs, including from his Capitol Hill office, according to a final draft of a comprehensive investigative report obtained by CBS News.