Twitter's new owner Elon Musk has suddenly suspended some news reporters from the social media platform without explanation. Also in the news: A drought emergency in Southern California and SpaceX will no longer attempt back-to-back launches today. |
🙋🏼♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. This column has a new look! Scroll down to share your thoughts on our redesign. |
Let's dive into Friday's news. |
Journalists suspended from Twitter with no explanation |
Twitter on Thursday suspended the accounts of journalists who cover the social media platform and its new owner Elon Musk, including reporters working for The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN and other publications. Neither the company nor Musk gave any explanation for why Twitter took down the accounts and made their profiles and past tweets disappear. Several of the reporters suspended had been writing about a new location policy and Musk's rationale for imposing it, which involved his allegations about a stalking incident that affected his family on Tuesday night in Los Angeles. Read more | Neither Twitter nor Elon Musk gave any explanation for why it took down the accounts of journalists and made their profiles and past tweets disappear.
ASSOCIATED PRESS/SUSAN WALSH |
Nation's largest water supplier declares drought emergency in Southern California |
The nation's largest water supplier has declared a drought emergency for all of Southern California, clearing the way for potential mandatory water restrictions early next year that could impact 19 million people. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California imports about half of its water from the Colorado River and the northern Sierra Nevada via the State Water Project – a complex system of dams, canals and reservoirs that provides drinking water for much of the state. But it's been so dry the past three years that those water deliveries have hit record lows. Read more | A buoy sits high and dry on cracked earth previously under the waters of Lake Mead at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area near Boulder City, Nev., on June 28, 2022.
John Locher, AP |
US judge temporarily halts Biden bid to end Trump-era border policy |
A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the Biden administration from ending a Donald Trump-era policy requiring asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas stayed the termination until legal challenges by Texas and Missouri are settled but didn't order the policy reinstated. The impact on the program wasn't immediately clear. |
More context: Under President Donald Trump, about 70,000 asylum-seekers were forced to wait in Mexico for U.S. hearings under the policy introduced in January 2019. President Joe Biden — who said it "goes against everything we stand for as a nation of immigrants" — suspended the policy on his first day in office. | Migrants wait to cross the US-Mexico border from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022.
Christian Chavez, AP |
Why maternal and infant death rates are higher in states that ban or restrict abortion |
States that banned or significantly restricted abortion access have higher rates of maternal mortality and infant death, especially among women of color; more maternity care "deserts"; fewer maternity care providers; and greater racial inequities across health care systems, according to a study of 2020 data published by the Commonwealth Fund this week. Public health experts say the findings are "no surprise" and disparities in maternal and infant health care outcomes will likely worsen as more states ban abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade earlier this year. Read more | Maternal death rates in 2020 were 62% higher in states with abortion bans or significant restrictions.
Rogelio V. Solis, AP |
SpaceX won't push double launch |
SpaceX will attempt only one Falcon 9 launch on Friday, reversing course from the plan to set the year's 55th and 56th launches to liftoff potentially less than 35 minutes apart. This would have been the quickest turnaround between orbital launches from the Space Coast which has stood since 1966. The company said Thursday night that it is "prioritizing launch of the O3b mPOWER mission on Friday afternoon, and setting up for launch of Starlink on Saturday, December 17." The missions will occur from the company's two Florida launch pads – Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Pad-39A at Kennedy Space Center Read more | A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands on a launch pad with the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite from NASA and France's space agency CNES at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in Lompoc, California on December 15, 2022.
PATRICK T. FALLON, AFP via Getty Images |
📷 Photo of the day: Miss America 2023 📷 |
Miss Wisconsin Grace Stanke was crowned the winner of the Miss America competition on Thursday, becoming the pageant's 95th winner. See more photos of the contestants who competed in this year's event at the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, Connecticut. | Miss Wisconsin Grace Stanke was crowned the winner of the Miss America competition on Dec. 15, 2022, becoming the pageant's winner.
Steven Senne, AP | "Avatar: The Way of Water," hits theaters Friday and is expected to take in $175 million at the box office this weekend alone.
20TH CENTURY STUDIOS |
Associated Press contributed reporting. | | | |
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