Biden pushes South Carolina as first primary state, elevates Georgia and Michigan  —  The tectonic decision to radically remake his party's presidential nominating calendar for 2024 came as a shock to party officials and state leaders who had been lobbying hard to gain a place in the early calendar

Appeals Court Scraps Special Master Review in Trump Documents Case  —  The panel's decision removed a major obstacle that for more than two months had hindered the Justice Department's investigation into Mr. Trump's handling of sensitive government documents.

Kanye West's Deal to Buy Parler Has Been Terminated … Kanye “Ye” West is no longer acquiring Parler, the right-wing-friendly “free speech social media” platform.  —  The announcement of the termination of West's deal to buy Parler, a copycat of Twitter, came shortly after West appeared on Infowars …

EXCLUSIVE: Katie Hobbs' Office Threatened County Board With Arrest, Indictment If They Didn't Certify Results  — Katie Hobbs' office threatened Mohave County Supervisors with arrest and prosecution if they failed to certify the results of their elections before the state deadline.

HLN Gutted by CNN Layoffs … CNN is breaking news — but not in the way it usually does. … Some of the moves include ending one of the nation's longest-running morning programs and paring back on the number of non-staff contributors utilized on air.  —  HLN, the cable network once known …

The Bidens' first state dinner features butter-poached lobster with a side of hospitality  —  President Joe Biden is hosting French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House on Thursday, using the very first state dinner of his presidency to shore up relations with a key American ally whose friendship …

CFO JIMMY PATRONIS: FLORIDA TREASURY DIVESTING FROM BLACKROCK  —  TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Today, Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis announced that the Florida Treasury will begin divesting $2 billion worth of assets currently under management by BlackRock.

First on CNN: Federal judge orders former top lawyers in Trump's White House to testify in criminal grand jury probe  —  A federal judge has ordered former top Trump White House lawyers to provide additional grand jury testimony, rejecting former President Donald Trump's privilege claims …

Report Suggests Tax Audits of Trump Foes Were Random, but Leaves Questions  —  The I.R.S.'s inspector general said that returns from James Comey and Andrew McCabe were initially part of a randomly generated pool, but that a flaw in the final winnowing required further attention.

Musk's Beloved Twitter Polls Are Bot-Driven Bullsh!t, Ex-Employees Say  —  “Polls are more prone to manipulation than almost anything else [on Twitter].  It's interesting, given his [Musk's] use of polls,” Yoel Roth, the company's former Head of Trust and Safety says

Iranian security forces kill anti-government protester celebrating World Cup defeat, rights group says  —  A man is reported to have been killed by security forces in northern Iran during public celebrations by anti-government protesters following the national football team's defeat against the United States on Tuesday.

Trump company tax fraud trial nears end in battle over who to blame  —  Jurors heard starkly different views on Thursday on whether to convict former President Donald Trump's real estate company of tax fraud, with the prosecution describing a culture of wrongdoing at the Trump Organization …

EU Asks Members to Set Russia Oil-Price Cap at $60  —  Move is an attempt to squeeze the Kremlin's oil revenues while keeping global supplies steady  —  The European Commission has asked the bloc's 27 member states to approve a price cap on Russian oil of $60 a barrel, according to people familiar with the matter.

Senate votes to avert costly rail strike  —  The Senate voted Thursday to avert a costly nationwide rail strike next week that lawmakers in both parties worried would shut down much of the economy and further add to inflation.  —  Senators voted 80 to 15 for a House-passed bill to implement …

The midterms have busted the myth of conservative ‘minority rule’  —  The 2022 midterms dealt a political blow to Republicans who claimed the previous election was rigged.  But they also struck a blow against a subtler self-serving theory undermining faith in democracy from the left …

Matt Gaetz associate Joel Greenberg gets 11 years as probe into congressman stalls, sources say  —  Joel Greenberg agreed to cooperate with the probe into Rep. Gaetz, sources said.  —  Former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg talks to the Orlando Sentinel during an interview at his office in Lake Mary, Fla., in Sept., 2019.

New Yorkers face long wait for mental health programs  —  More than 1,000 New Yorkers living with a serious mental illness are on waiting lists for government-funded community programs designed to help people who need comprehensive and frequent mental health and social services, according to recent data obtained by Crain's.

Uvalde officials say local prosecutor impeded investigation into police response to shooting  —  In a lawsuit filed Thursday, the city of Uvalde says the district attorney is restricting information needed by its independent investigator.  Uvalde wants a judge to compel the prosecutor to hand …

Gavin Newsom's reparations committee will recommend handing out $223,200 per person to all descendants of slaves in California for ‘housing discrimination’ at a cost of $559BN - in nation's biggest restitution effort ever  — A task force was set up in California to make proposals for slavery reparations