News from Around the Web for Dec 12, 2024

#9 John Fetterman Joins Truth Social, Calls for Trump Pardon - Jesus Mesa for Newsweek, Leading Report, Chuck Callesto, Charlie Kirk, and Nick Sortor on X

Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman has become the first Democratic senator to join Truth Social, President-elect Donald Trump's social media platform. In his debut post, Fetterman made a surprising call to pardon Trump."The Trump hush money and Hunter Biden cases were both bull****, and pardons are appropriate," Fetterman wrote. "Weaponizing the judiciary for blatant, partisan gain diminishes the collective faith in our institutions and sows further division."So far, Fetterman has reached 28,700 followers on Truth Social, far behind the 860,000 he has amassed on X (formerly Twitter). Newsweek reached out to a spokesperson for Fetterman for comment via email.

#8 Trump Plans to Scrap Policy Restricting Ice Arrests at Churches, Schools and Hospitals - Julia Ainsley and Didi Martinez for NBC News, Benny Johnson, and George on X

The incoming Trump administration intends to rescind a long-standing policy that has prevented Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from arresting undocumented people at or near so-called sensitive locations, including houses of worship, schools and hospitals or events such as funerals, weddings and public demonstrations without approval from supervisors, according to three sources familiar with the plan. President-elect Donald Trump plans to rescind the policy as soon as the first day he is in office, according to the sources — who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the change publicly...

#7 ‘Great Day for America’: Trump Lauds Chris Wray Resigning as FBI Director - Luke Barr for ABC News, UncoverDC, Mollie, Texas Lindsay, and JR Majewski on X

FBI Director Christopher Wray told employees at an internal town hall on Wednesday that he is resigning, according to sources familiar with the meeting. He said he is stepping down at the end of the current Biden administration. "After weeks of careful thought, I've decided the right thing for the Bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current administration in January and then step down. My goal is to keep the focus on our mission -- the indispensable work you're doing on behalf of the American people every day. In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the Bureau deeper into the fray, while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work," he said in his remarks...

#6 Biden HHS Extends COVID Vaccine Liability Shield Through 2029 - Ian Lopez for Bloomberg Law, Tom Renz, Jordan Schachtel, and American Values on X

The US Department of Health and Human Services is extending through 2029 liability protections for those producing and administering Covid-19 vaccines, in a move to guard against future potential health emergencies. The HHS first declared the public health emergency in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 outbreak and continually renewed it until May 2023. In Tuesday’s notice, however, the HHS noted that there remains “a credible risk that COVID-19 may in the future constitute such an emergency.” The announcement comes as people working in the vaccine injury space have called for COVID-19 vaccines to be covered under the HHS’ Vaccine...

#5 Trump to Ring New York Stock Exchange Opening Bell Amid Time ‘Person of the Year’ Speculation - Diana Glebova for The New York Post, Margo Martin, Insider Paper, JD Vance, Eric Daugherty, and Robin Nakamoto on X

President-elect Donald Trump is set to ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday morning, a source familiar with the matter told The Post, weeks after his landslide election win fueled by voters’ concerns about the economy. The ringing of the bell in the morning signals the opening of the day’s trading — an honor bestowed in the past on celebrities and US presidents alike — and will coincide with the once and future president being declared Time magazine’s “Person of the Year,” according to reports. The event will undoubtedly have symbolic personal significance for Trump, a native New Yorker and businessman who made his fortune in the city...

#4 Biden Commutes Roughly 1,500 Sentences and Pardons 39 People in Biggest Single-Day Act of Clemency - Colleen Long for AP News, DK, The New York Post, and Emoji Queen on X

President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic and is pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes. It’s the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history. The commutations announced Thursday are for people who have served out home confinement sentences for at least one year after they were released. Prisons were uniquely bad for spreading the virus and some inmates were released in part to stop the spread. At one point, 1 in 5 prisoners had COVID-19, according to a tally kept by The Associated Press. Biden said he would be taking more steps in the weeks ahead and would continue to review clemency petitions. The second largest single-day act of clemency was by Barack Obama, with 330, shortly before leaving office in 2017...

#3 NJ Gov Says Feds Have Authority to Shoot Down Drones, ‘Wouldn’t Be Opposed’ to Them Playing ‘More Robust Role' - Greg Norman for Fox News, John Rich, Kylie Jane Kremer, Activist J, Alec Lace, and Tracy Beanz on X

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy says the federal government has the authority to shoot down the mysterious drones spotted flying over his state and that he "wouldn’t be opposed" to them playing a "more robust role" in the matter. Murphy made the remark during an interview with WNYC as the public and lawmakers remain baffled over the source of the large drones. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., told Fox News this week that a Coast Guard commander said "one of their 47-foot vessels, boats, was trailed very closely by more than a dozen of these drones." 

#2 US Appeals Court Rejects Nasdaq’s Diversity Rules for Company Boards - Michelle Chapman for MSN, Cori, Liu, Texas Lindsay, Brendan Carr, and Frank Ricci on X

An appeals court in Louisiana has ruled that Nasdaq can't require diversity on the boards of companies that list on the exchange. The decision comes more than three years after the Securities and Exchange Commission approved Nasdaq’s proposal to boost the number of women, racial minorities, and LGBTQ people on U.S. corporate boards. The proposed policy — which was to be the first of its kind for a U.S. securities exchange — would have required most of the nearly 3,000 companies listed on Nasdaq to have at least one woman on their board of directors, along with one person from a racial minority or who identifies as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or queer. It also would have required companies to publicly disclose statistics on the demographic composition of their boards...

#1 Trump Says He ‘Vehemently Disagrees’ With Use of US Missiles by Ukraine in Russia - Joe Barnes for The Telegraph, US Civil Defense News, Military News USA, and Alex Ward on X

Donald Trump has said he “vehemently” disagrees with the decision to permit Ukraine to strike targets within Russia with US-supplied long-range missiles. The president-elect said the policy switch by Joe Biden’s administration had escalated the war between Russia and Ukraine, and “made things worse”. “I disagree very vehemently with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia,” Mr Trump told Time in an interview to mark being named the magazine’s person of the year for a second time. “Why are we doing that? We’re just escalating this war and making it worse. That should not have been allowed to be done.”

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