A federal judge ruled Friday that President Trump's name was illegally added to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and ordered it removed within two weeks. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper found that the building was named for President Kennedy by an act of Congress, and only Congress can change that designation. Trump responded by announcing he is walking away from his planned two-year renovation overhaul of the landmark entirely.
Protests outside Newark's Delaney Hall immigration detention facility entered their ninth day Saturday as demonstrators turned violently against federal ICE agents, biting, kicking, and punching officers on the sixth night of clashes. Nine more individuals were arrested Thursday, with one man facing federal charges after bloody bite marks on agents' arms were photographed and documented by DHS. New Jersey State Police have now assumed full security operations around the facility.
Following a presidential executive order signed Friday, the CDC is overhauling its childhood immunization schedule, cutting recommended vaccines from 18 diseases down to 11. Six immunizations — including those for hepatitis A, hepatitis B, RSV, dengue, and both meningococcal strains — will now be advised only for children in high-risk categories. The American Academy of Pediatrics broke sharply from the new CDC guidance and issued its own independent recommendations, calling the change a major public health concern.
Former Attorney General Pam Bondi appeared before the House Oversight Committee Friday in a closed-door transcribed interview about her management of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Bondi defended the DOJ's record as one she is "proud of," but deflected direct responsibility onto Deputy AG Todd Blanche, saying she did not personally lead every aspect of the file review. Critics, including Democrats on the committee, are already pushing back on the decision to hold the session as an unsworn transcribed interview rather than a recorded deposition.
Russia launched 232 drones at Ukraine in a single overnight assault, with Ukrainian air defenses downing 217 before strikes caused damage across 14 regions including Odesa and Zaporizhzhia. One Russian drone veered off course and crashed into a residential apartment building in Romania, a NATO member nation, injuring two people and setting the structure on fire. Romanian President Nicusor Dan convened the country's Supreme Defense Council and called it the worst incident on Romanian territory since Russia's invasion began.
American and Iranian negotiators have agreed on a 60-day memorandum of understanding to extend the ceasefire and launch formal nuclear talks, but President Trump has yet to give his final approval and Iran has not publicly confirmed acceptance. The proposed framework would include an Iranian commitment to forgo nuclear weapons, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and the ability for Iran to freely sell oil during the negotiation window. Officials warned that if no deal is signed, all military options remain on the table.
Hezbollah fired approximately 15 rockets at northern Israel early Saturday, with one striking a commercial center in Kiryat Shmona and causing extensive property damage — though no injuries, as the center was closed at the time. Israel intercepted most of the barrage and issued evacuation warnings for seven villages in southern Lebanon, declaring Hezbollah's attack a violation of the ceasefire agreement. Israeli forces have simultaneously expanded their ground offensive past the Litani River in a widening campaign against Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon.
Stanford researchers have created a nanoscale device that links the quantum states of photons and electrons at room temperature, a feat that previously required cooling systems approaching absolute zero. The device uses a patterned layer of molybdenum diselenide combined with a nanopatterned silicon base, with photons spinning in a corkscrew pattern to impart their quantum spin onto electrons below. The findings, published in Nature Communications, could eventually make quantum computers and secure communication systems far smaller and cheaper to build and operate.
Researchers from three Japanese universities achieved a record-breaking wireless data transmission speed of 112 gigabits per second using a terahertz chip just 5 millimeters across, the first time scientists have crossed 100 Gbps beyond the 420 gigahertz spectrum band. The system uses soliton microcombs, specialized photonic devices that generate the precise frequencies needed for next-generation 6G networks. Commercial 6G deployment is still years away, but the milestone represents wireless speeds roughly 500 times faster than today's average 5G connection.
Gatlinburg police responded at 2:33 a.m. Friday after a hotel employee at the Quality Inn and Suites in downtown Gatlinburg reported that a black bear had wandered into an exterior bathroom and somehow locked itself inside. Officers carefully cracked the door open, and the bear casually strolled out and ambled off down the sidewalk while officers and bystanders scattered in every direction. The bear caused about fifty dollars in damage to a bathroom mirror, and the body-camera footage of the encounter has since gone completely viral.
