Congress once again avoided a partial government shutdown just a day before funding was set to expire. Also in the news: Israel's leader said he opposes the U.S.' postwar ideas for the region and SpaceX took the lead in a new era of space travel for NASA and private companies with the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket. | |  |
Here is the news to know Friday. |
Americans spared a shutdown — for another six weeks |
Both chambers approved a federal funding extension to March with overwhelming bipartisan support, allowing lawmakers more time to hammer out a long-term spending agreement. |
It's the third government funding extension this Congress has approved – first in September and again in November. Now, Congress will begin finally writing the spending legislation that was initially due at the end of September. |
Israel-US wartime rift over Gaza offensive |
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made it crystal clear he has no interest in the proposals by the United States, his country's strongest supporter, for either paring down the Gaza offensive or for the future after the war. In a news conference Thursday, Netanyahu seemed to dismiss the notion of a Palestinian state, a condition other Middle East nations have set for normalizing relations. He said he rejected the American "attempt to impose on us a reality that will jeopardize us.'' He also rebuffed calls for scaling down a military operation that has killed more than 24,000 Palestinians in Gaza and left countless others on the verge of starvation. Read more |
DOJ's scathing Uvalde school shooting report criticizes law enforcement |
The U.S. Justice Department released its 575-page analysis of failures by law enforcement that combined to make the May 2022 mass shooting at Uvalde's Robb Elementary School one of the worst in history. The report aims not only to help prevent further shootings, but also to guide, unflinchingly, the next American community to face a similar tragedy on how to best respond. While some Uvalde families commended the report, the document didn't address their most pressing concerns about lax gun regulations, which they said continue to put students at risk. It also doesn't give them the accountability families have sought for the officers who left their children to die and kept parents waiting outside the building during that agonizing 77-minute period. Read more | Dora Mendoza hugs a supporter after a meeting at the Herby Ham Activity Center in Uvalde, Texas, on Jan. 17, 2024. Jay Janner / American-Statesman |
Trump could owe $12 million (or much more) for defamation |
After a day of fireworks that saw Donald Trump threatened with expulsion from the courtroom, an expert for advice columnist E. Jean Carroll testified in a New York court that the price to repair the harm caused by Trump for defaming her could be as high as $12.1 million – not including any punitive damages. Carroll's legal team has argued Trump unleashed his millions of followers on their client after Carroll went public accusing him of sexual assault in 2019, and it's now Trump's turn to "pay dearly." Trump denies that he sexually assaulted Carroll nearly three decades ago. Read more |
Here's how SpaceX's latest launch is taking private company astronauts to the ISS |
SpaceX successfully launched an international crew of four non-NASA astronauts to the International Space Station aboard its Falcon 9 rocket Thursday for a two-week mission managed by a private company. The Falcon 9 lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida, at 4:49 p.m. EST. It's expected to dock with ISS on Saturday. The mission, designated Ax-3, is the third collaboration between NASA, SpaceX and Axiom Space. Axiom is planning to build its Axiom Station, the world's first private space station, which could replace the ISS around 2030. Read more | Axiom-3 astronauts ride a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket into space from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on Jan. 18, 2024. Craig Bailey, FLORIDA TODAY/USA TODAY |
Photo of the day: 40th annual Sundance Film Festival |
Sundance Film Festival is upon us again, shining a light on the best of the best in independent cinema. This year's event features another crop of premieres trying to make their mark, from the buzzy Kristen Stewart romantic thriller "Love Lies Bleeding" and Steven Soderbergh's haunted-house tale "Presence" to high-profile documentaries including "Devo," "The Greatest Night in Pop" and "Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story." Read more | Kristen Stewart attends the 2024 Sundance Film Festival's Opening Night Gala on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Kamas, Utah. Charles Sykes, Charles Sykes/Invision/AP |
Associated Press contributed reporting. | | This 7-day newsletter course will help you be an informed voter before Nov. 5. | | | | | | |
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