Trump Says Iran Halts Executions But Doesn't Take Military Action Off The Table
www.rferl.org

... Iran has stayed executions of protesters, President Donald Trump said quoting "very important sources on the other side," but tensions remained high across the Middle East as the possibility of US military action against Tehran remains.

"They've said the killing has stopped and the executions won't take place -- there were supposed to be a lot of executions today and that the executions won't take place -- and we're going to find out," Trump reporters at the White House on January 14.

"We've been told on good authority, and I hope it's true." ...

Privacy advocates: ICE using private data to intimidate observers and activists
www.mprnews.org

... When Judy Levy got a message on Tuesday from a member of her book club telling her that ICE agents appeared to be staging in a nearby parking lot, she and her husband Noah jumped into their car and drove over. They were the first observers on the scene.

The St. Paul couple followed when eight SUVs filled with masked and armed men peeled out of the parking lot. After failing to shake the observers, the frustrated agents halted their caravan in the middle of traffic and surrounded observers' cars, threatening them with arrest for impeding law enforcement.

Agents took photos of Levy and other observers' license plates. Then a masked agent walked up to Judy Levy's passenger side window.

The agent said: "Hello Judith. How are you today?'"

Judy Levy was shaken, but the couple followed when the federal agents' caravan started up again. That's when ICE vehicles turned onto Levy's street. They almost couldn't believe it.

"Our street is off the beaten path, you don't go down our street to get to anywhere." Noah Levy said. "I'd be lying if I said it wasn't intimidating." ...

MS WOW: Rebranded Network Sees Double-Digit Growth Since Shedding The MSNBC Name (December 2025)
www.forbes.com

... Whether viewers like MSNBC's new name or not, it seems they're sticking with the cable news network now known as MS NOW, for My Source: News, Opinion, World.

As media divorces go, this one has been surprisingly smooth and uneventful. NBC, by spinning off its cable properties, walked away from its nearly 30-year relationship with MSNBC. The settlement gave NBC full custody of the peacock, the NBC name and news legacy dating to the earliest days of television, and it kept the house"the network's headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York, where MSNBC moved its studio operations about 20 years ago. ...

In the news business, change carries enormous risk, as viewers tend to fall into habits and don't often like being forced to adjust to new anchors, new programming lineups, or having to search for their favorite programs on new channels. So, it's noteworthy that MSNBC's highest-rated show, The Rachel Maddow Show, has gained viewers on MS NOW.

According to ratings data compiled by Nielsen, Maddow has gained on Fox News Channel's Hannity and won the 9 p.m. ET hour (Maddow airs weekly on Monday nights) among viewers 25-54, the key demographic valued by advertisers"for five consecutive weeks since the launch of MS NOW. Among total viewers, Maddow ended 2025 with an average audience of 1.9 million viewers, trailing Fox but tripling the viewership of CNN's The Source with Kaitlan Collins (600,000 viewers). ...

... Joseph H. Thompson, the second in command at the U.S. attorney's office and oversaw the fraud investigation in Minnesota, joined his colleagues in quitting over the Justice Department's push to investigate Renee Good's widow and its reluctance to investigate Ross. ...

Gov Walz's comment on this ...

Governor Walz Statement on Six Prosecutors, Including Joe Thompson, Resigning from U.S. Attorney's Office
mn.gov

... Governor Tim Walz today released the following statement following the resignation of at least six prosecutors, including former acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson, from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota.

"Joe Thompson is a principled public servant who spent more than a decade achieving justice for Minnesotans. This is a huge loss for our state," said Governor Walz. "This is the latest sign that President Trump is pushing nonpartisan career professionals out of the Department of Justice and replacing them with his sycophants."

Thompson has worked extensively with state regulators and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to bring federal prosecutions against fraud involving public programs. His work supported oversight, enforcement, and program integrity. ...

x.com

... Hegseth took Laura Loomer and a bunch of right wing podcasters on a $380,000 an hour joyride on the Doomsday Plane for 6 hours at a cost of $ 2,290,000 each way from DC to LAX , just so they could film Hegseth working out at UCLA. This is a major security breach