The Petersburg Post
Top News Stories for Thursday, December 18th 2025
Wednesday, Dec 17th, 2025 -
Ex-special counsel tells House panel US president's actions alone underpinned now-dropped prosecutions Jack Smith, the former US justice department special counsel who brought two now-dropped criminal cases against Donald Trump , has defended his investigation before a House of Representatives panel, telling lawmakers that the basis for the prosecutions "rests entirely with President Trump and his actions". Smith ...
Source: theguardian.com
Wednesday, Dec 17th, 2025 -
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is ordering a blockade of all "sanctioned oil tankers" into Venezuela, ramping up pressure on the country's authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro in a move that seemed designed to put a tighter chokehold on the South American country's economy. Trump's escalation comes after U.S. forces last week seized an oil tanker off Venezuela's coast, an ...
Source: military.com
Wednesday, Dec 17th, 2025 -
Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Four House Republicans joined Democrats to sign a discharge petition to force a vote on an amendment extending enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies as part of Wednesday's planned vote on healthcare legislation. The Republicans broke with House Speaker Mike Johnson , who said Tuesday he wouldn't call for a vote on an amendment. He said his decision rested on about a dozen Republicans in swing ...
Source: upi.com
Wednesday, Dec 17th, 2025 -
Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. Swipe for next article White House chief of staff labels JD Vance a 'conspiracy theorist' and Elon Musk an 'avowed ketamine' user in revealing interviews throughout the president's chaotic year in office Donald Trump's "ice maiden" and one of the most politically powerful women in the world has offered ...
Source: independent.co.uk
Wednesday, Dec 17th, 2025 -
Dec 17 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday said she would block President Donald Trump's administration from laying off hundreds of federal employees, the latest legal setback for Trump's efforts to downsize the U.S. government workforce. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston during a hearing in San Francisco said hundreds of layoffs at four agencies were likely not allowed under a law Congress passed ...
Source: news.yahoo.com
Wednesday, Dec 17th, 2025 -
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS, AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Warner Bros. Discovery is recommending its shareholders reject an unsolicited buyout offer from Paramount Skydance in favor of a rival bid from Netflix it said will better serve their interests and the entertainment company's audiences. The Warner board said in a letter to ...
Source: orlandosentinel.com
Wednesday, Dec 17th, 2025 -
The biggest night in Hollywood will soon be streamed right next to Mr. Beast. You heard right: the Oscars, the Academy Awards, the annual ceremony, the red carpet, the most glamourous faces in Hollywood gathering to give themselves golden statuettes, is going to YouTube—starting in 2029. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences delivered the bombshell news on Wednesday, and ...
Source: pcworld.com
Wednesday, Dec 17th, 2025 -
In today's newsletter: The BBC is bracing for a high-stakes legal fight after the US president sues over an edited Panorama clip, and questions mount about the broadcaster's future funding and political vulnerability Good morning. On Tuesday, the UK woke to the news Donald Trump had filed his threatened $10bn lawsuit against the BBC, alleging that the corporation "intentionally, maliciously and deceptively" defamed ...
Source: theguardian.com
Wednesday, Dec 17th, 2025 -
Dan Bongino has said he will leave his role as the FBI's deputy director in January. In a post on X, he thanked President Donald Trump, as well as the director of the FBI and the attorney general "for the opportunity to serve with purpose". It comes after Trump said earlier on Wednesday that the former podcast host "did a great job" in office, and "wants to go back to his show". Bongino, who was appointed to the ...
Source: bbc.com
Wednesday, Dec 17th, 2025 -
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances, 806,500 or less, increased to 6.38% from 6.33% Applications to refinance a home loan fell 4% for the week and were 86% higher than the same week one year ago. An aerial view of homes in a neighborhood on Aug.27, 2025 in San Francisco, California. The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate last week, and just ...
Source: cnbc.com
Wednesday, Dec 17th, 2025 -
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announces investment program for children born 2025-2028 with July 4, 2026 launch date Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday announced new details about the creation of so-called Trump accounts that were created under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and launched a website for the initiative. Bessent spoke at the Treasury Department and said that with the rollout of the ...
Source: foxbusiness.com
Wednesday, Dec 17th, 2025 -
Dec. 17 (UPI) -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a shift to a personalized approach for hepatitis B vaccination. The CDC's new policy change Tuesday allows parents of infants born to mothers who test negative for the virus to decide whether their newborns receive the vaccine, including the birth dose. Following approval by acting CDC Director and Deputy Health Secretary Jim O'Neill , the ...
Source: upi.com
Wednesday, Dec 17th, 2025 -
John Wilkerson is a Washington correspondent for STAT who writes about the politics of health care. He is also the author of the twice-weekly WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Wednesday passed a health care bill aimed at lowering health care costs and providing more options for employer-provided health insurance. That news was overshadowed by a revolt earlier in the day by moderate Republicans who joined ...
Source: statnews.com
Wednesday, Dec 17th, 2025 -
Meanwhile, Ted Cruz wants to restrict FCC's power to intimidate broadcasters. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr today faced blistering criticism in a Senate hearing for his September threats to revoke ABC station licenses over comments made by Jimmy Kimmel. While Democrats provided nearly all the criticism, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said that Congress should act to restrict the FCC's power to ...
Source: arstechnica.com
Wednesday, Dec 17th, 2025 -
Automakers must pay up to $9M in restitution and install anti-theft protections Hyundai and Kia will overhaul security features in millions of vehicles as part of a sweeping multistate settlement accusing the companies of failing to install industry-standard anti-theft technology in many of their models. Under the agreement, the automakers must provide free zinc-reinforced ignition cylinder protectors to current ...
Source: foxbusiness.com
Tuesday, Dec 16th, 2025 -
Former Kellanova CEO Steve Cahillane will become Kraft Heinz's latest CEO in the new year, the company announced. Kraft Heinz is planning to break up into two separate publicly traded companies by the second half of 2026. After the split, Cahillane will lead the business that will own high-growth brands like Heinz, Philadelphia and Kraft Mac & Cheese. In this article Kraft Heinz announced plans to split into two ...
Source: cnbc.com
Tuesday, Dec 16th, 2025 -
Jared Kushner's private equity firm says it is dropping out of the group of firms that planned to back Paramount Skydance's hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. "With two strong competitors vying to secure the future of this unique American asset, Affinity has decided no longer to pursue the opportunity," a spokesperson for the ...
Source: aol.com
Tuesday, Dec 16th, 2025 -
Sustainability: News about the rapidly growing climate tech sector and other areas of innovation to protect our planet. Three U.S. senators have launched an investigation into whether tech giants, driven by soaring AI energy demands, are raising residential power bills. Separately, Amazon released a white paper Tuesday stating that its data centers are not the problem, and that in some regions it actually pays more ...
Source: geekwire.com
Tuesday, Dec 16th, 2025 -
White House has chastised Attorney General Pam Bondi over her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files saga. In an extraordinary and lengthy profile in Vanity Fair , Wiles blasted the decision to hand over part of the Epstein files to MAGA influencers in February, as well as Bondi's claim to Fox News that Epstein's so-called "client list" was "sitting on my desk for review." The DOJ released what it called "phase 1" ...
Source: thedailybeast.com