Daily Briefing: Musk's Twitter suspends journalists
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. Banned cat videos? TikTok restrictions are spreading across the US.
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
- Twitter @ElonJet account that tracks Elon Musk's private jet flights suspended again.
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
- Scientists achieved a major advance in fusion energy that could provide clean, carbon-free power.
- What are the effects of climate change? How they disrupt our daily life, fuel disasters.
- Investments abroad: China has far surpassed the U.S. as an economic player in Africa. Can Biden change that?
More news to know now
- 📰 Five Louisiana officers were charged in a Black motorist's deadly 2019 arrest.
- 🔴 These charts show how Donald Trump's 2024 bid is losing steam.
- ⚫ Three men were sentenced in a kidnap plot against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
- 👉 Congress OK'd $858 billion in defense spending that sends billions to Ukraine.
- 😲 Once-classified files on JFK's assassination were released by Biden. Here's what we know.
- 👑 ''Harry & Meghan'' bombshells: Prince Harry recalls seeing Prince William ''scream'' over exit.
- 🎧 On today's 5 Things podcast, Paste BN Health Reporter Adrianna Rodriguez gives some tips on how to stay healthy this holiday season. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker.
- 📝 It's already Friday. Do you remember what happened this week? Test your knowledge with our news quiz.
🌤 What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.
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.
- Biden's suspension set off a long legal path. Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee in Amarillo, ordered that the policy be reinstated in 2021. The Biden administration complied with the order after agreeing to changes and additions demanded by Mexico. But it didn’t enforce the policy widely and only a few thousand people were sent back to wait in Mexico.
- Meanwhile, the Biden administration is trying to prevent a humanitarian crisis at the Southwest border when Title 42 expulsions end next week.
- Two different federal courts have issued conflicting rulings on Title 42. The Biden administration's strategy with the decisions is part of a longer-term approach to preserve authority of executive agencies.
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
- Some Democrats want to legally protect IVF after the fall of Roe v. Wade threw its legal fate in question.
- Should period products be part of Title IX? The Education Department is weighing input.
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- ✏ Why it costs a fortune to get the best test for disabilities like ADHD, autism and dyslexia.
- ⚽ Football is dying. Soccer is rising. How this changing Southern town is coming together.
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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
- NASA launched a series of flybys over the most volcanic place in the solar system.
📷 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.
One more thing
- 🍸 People are taking GHB in clubs. Experts say we're not paying enough attention.
- 🎓 Harvard University named Claudine Gay president, the first person of color in role.
- 🧦 21 of the best stocking stuffer ideas $10 and under.
- 🌴 The best travel tip: Here's how to relax on vacation by doing nothing (for at least a day).
- 🏈 College football bowl picks: Predictions for every postseason game through the playoff.
- 🤠 Who are the 7 generations of Duttons? Mapping the Dutton Family in ''Yellowstone'' and ''1883.''
- 💦The first ''Avatar'' sequel hits theaters today. Director James Cameron talks replicating box-office magic.
Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at Paste BN, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note, shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com or follow along with her musings on Twitter. Support journalism like this – subscribe to Paste BN here.
Associated Press contributed reporting.