TV News LIES

The special agent in charge of the FBI’s Atlanta field office was reportedly removed from his post after questioning the Trump administration’s renewed interest in investigating the role of Fulton county, Georgia, in the 2020 election.

The agent, Paul W Brown, had expressed concerns around the unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud in Fulton county, which have been perpetuated by Donald Trump since he was defeated by Joe Biden in the 2020 election, according to an MS NOW report on Friday. Citing sources, MS NOW also reported that Brown refused to carry out searches and seizures of records connected to the election that Trump lost four years before winning a second presidency in 2024.

News of Brown’s ouster came after the justice department on Thursday executed a search warrant and seized records from the Fulton county elections office in the Atlanta area. Authorities seized 700 boxes related to 2020 election results in the county, which Biden won.

Trump’s national intelligence director, Tulsi Gabbard, was also seen at the county’s election office that day, drawing concern from Democratic lawmakers about partisan overreach.

Brown was replaced the week before the service of the search warrant at the elections office, as first reported by the Associated Press. The personnel decision was not publicized by the FBI, and the AP said the reason for Brown’s removal was not immediately clear.

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Don Lemon has been released from custody after a federal court appearance Friday in Los Angeles.

Lemon was arrested and charged after covering a Minnesota protest that interrupted a church service on Jan. 18.

He was arrested Thursday night and released on his own recognizance Friday. He'll be able to travel throughout the country, and was not ordered to give up his passport.

Lemon's next court date will be Feb. 9 in Minneapolis.
“I have spent my entire career covering the news,” he said. “I will not stop now. There is no more important time than right now, this very moment, for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable."

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Campaigners against Rosebank, Britain's largest untapped oil field, have told the UK government that approving the project would risk breaching international law.

They say profits would flow in part to the Israeli oil and gas company Delek Group, which the UN human rights commissioner accuses of "supporting the maintenance and existence" of illegal settlements in the West Bank.

Legal advice commissioned by the environmental group Uplift, says the link with Delek means the UK government risks breaching the Geneva Conventions if it gives drilling at Rosebank the green light.

Delek did not respond to a request for comment.

The UK government said it could not comment on individual projects.

Uplift's legal advice refers to potential breaches of Article 49 and Article 53 of the Geneva Conventions, which relate to occupation, deportation and the destruction of property.

It also alleges that Delek's activities could be regarded as "ancillary" to war crimes and crimes against humanity under Section 51 of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Act 2001.

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The Middle East today witnessed escalating developments across human rights, civilian protection, and critical infrastructure survival. From international warnings over settler-related violence in the West Bank to a worsening water collapse in Gaza, the situation reflects mounting humanitarian risks alongside continued conflict, legal scrutiny, and regional geopolitical tension affecting daily civilian life.

UN Warns Settler Violence Is Undermining Palestinian Presence In West Bank:

The UN Human Rights Office has warned that increasing settler violence is weakening Palestinian presence in key areas across the occupied West Bank. The office reported multiple serious attacks within a short period and warned that patterns of intimidation, land pressure, and displacement risk permanently altering demographic realities in strategic locations.

The UN stressed that the forced transfer of Palestinians within occupied territory may constitute a war crime and could also meet the threshold of a crime against humanity under international law. The office called on Israel to halt settlement expansion and end policies it says contribute to displacement and instability across the territory.

Gaza Water Emergency Intensifies After Major Pipeline Damage:

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A key border crossing is set to reopen, the ceasefire is moving forward and the United States is imagining a gleaming new Gaza, but Palestinians in the devastated enclave are still struggling to simply survive.

Residents of the Gaza Strip described desperate conditions this week, but also expressed hope that the reopening of the Rafah crossing with Egypt and phase two of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal will bring some relief after more than two years of death and destruction.

We "hope that this will be good for us because we are living in a very bad situation," Samir Abu Daqa, from Khan Younis in southern Gaza, said as he stood in front of a makeshift tent with his five young children.

"We want reconstruction, we want a life, we want schools, we want medical treatment, we want hospitals," said Abu Daqa, 51, who said he previously worked in a cafeteria but was injured during the war and left unable to work.

After months of stagnation, a breakthrough was made this week in efforts to push ahead with the ceasefire deal that was brokered in part by President Donald Trump.

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The Corporation for Public Broadcasting agreed Monday to fulfill a $36 million, multi-year contract with NPR that it had yanked after pressure from the Trump White House.

The arrangement resolves litigation filed by NPR accusing the corporation of illegally yielding to Trump's demands that the network be financially punished for its news coverage. The argument, part of a broader lawsuit by NPR and several stations against the Trump administration, focused on CPB funding for NPR's operation of a satellite distribution system for local public radio stations. NPR announced Monday it would waive all fees for the stations associated with the satellite service for two years.

The judge in the case had explicitly told CPB's legal team he did not find its defense credible. CPB lawyers had argued that the decision to award a contract instead to Public Media Infrastructure, a new consortium of public media institutions, was driven by a desire to foster digital innovations more swiftly.

"The settlement is a victory for editorial independence and a step toward upholding the First Amendment rights of NPR and the public media system in our legal challenge to [Trump's] Executive Order," Katherine Maher, President and CEO of NPR, said in a statement.

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No formal direct talks have been held between the US and Iran for a decade. Now, as Donald Trump continues to threaten direct military attacks against the regime, Turkey is stepping in as a last-ditch mediator.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, will travel to Ankara for talks aimed at preventing a US attack, as Turkish diplomats seek to convince Tehran it must offer concessions over its nuclear programme, if it is to avert a potentially devastating conflict.

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, proposed a video conference between Trump and his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian. It’s not yet known if the two sides will agree to the virtual sit down.

Araghchi’s visit on Friday comes against the backdrop of urgent international diplomacy and increasingly aggressive threats from both sides.

The US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, said at a cabinet meeting on Thursday that his department would be able to deliver on any military instructions given by Trump. “They [Iran] have all the options to make a deal,” he said. “They should not pursue nuclear capabilities. And we will be prepared to deliver whatever this president expects.”

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Donald Trump on Thursday sued the US treasury department and Internal Revenue Service for $10bn over the disclosure of his tax returns to the media in 2019 and 2020.

In a complaint filed in Miami federal court, Trump, his adult sons, and his namesake company said the agencies failed to take “mandatory precautions” to prevent former IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn from leaking their tax returns to “leftist media outlets”, including the New York Times and ProPublica.

Donald Trump on Thursday sued the US treasury department and Internal Revenue Service for $10bn over the disclosure of his tax returns to the media in 2019 and 2020.

In a complaint filed in Miami federal court, Trump, his adult sons, and his namesake company said the agencies failed to take “mandatory precautions” to prevent former IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn from leaking their tax returns to “leftist media outlets”, including the New York Times and ProPublica.

The plaintiffs said they suffered “significant and irreparable harm” to their reputations and financial interests, and may seek punitive damages because the leaks were either willful or resulted from gross negligence.

Thursday’s lawsuit puts Trump in the unusual position of suing government agencies that are part of the executive branch, which he leads.

The IRS is part of the treasury department. Neither agency immediately responded to requests for comment after business hours.

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