President Donald Trump and his team are increasing the pressure on journalists to cover the war in the Middle East the way the administration wants. The Republican president has complained on social media about stories he doesn't like and berated a reporter on Air Force One over the weekend. The government's top media regulator warned broadcasters risk losing their licenses to operate if they don't stay away from “fake news.” Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have questioned the patriotism of some news outlets because of their reports. Antagonism between presidential administrations and the press isn't unusual, but Trump's team has shown a hostility toward the very idea of being questioned.
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A company that evaluates news outlets and websites to see which produce reliable journalism says it's under attack by the Trump administration. NewsGuard has sued the Federal Trade Commission over an agency investigation that the company says is threatening its livelihood. NewsGuard's ratings system is used to help advertisers and artificial intelligence companies decide which news sites they can trust with their business. Conservative groups and the television network Newsmax says the ratings system is trying to censor conservative thought. The FTC says its investigation of NewsGuard is part of a broader effort to see whether advertiser boycotts violate antitrust laws.
Families and supporters of Americans detained in Iran worry that their loved ones risk becoming collateral damage amid continued Israeli and American bombardment, or victims of retaliation from Iran’s repressive regime. Advocates for the detainees estimate there are at least six Americans are held in Iran, including some housed in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison. Among the Americans currently detained are Reza Valizadeh, an Iranian American reporter, Kamran Hekmati, an Iranian American jeweler from New York, and Afarin Mohajer, a California resident originally from Iran. The Trump administration declined to respond to specific questions about the detainees, but called on Iran to immediately release them.
Court documents say immigration authorities arrested a reporter for a Spanish-language news outlet in Tennessee without a warrant. But U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says in a court filing Friday that a valid arrest warrant was issued. Agents arrested Nashville Noticias reporter Estefany Rodriguez Florez during a traffic stop Wednesday. She is being detained by ICE’s enforcement and removal operations. Rodriguez has done stories critical of ICE. Her lawyers want her released. They say in court records that Rodriguez is a Colombian citizen who entered the U.S lawfully and has applied for political asylum and legal status through her husband, a U.S. citizen. A lawyer for ICE says her visa had expired.
AP Wire
Attorney General Pam Bondi says federal prosecutors have indicted 30 more people tied to a protest at a Minnesota church over an immigration enforcement crackdown. Bondi says 25 of those people are already under arrest. The protest on Jan. 18 also led to the arrests of independent journalist Don Lemon and local activist Nekima Levy Armstrong. Both have pleaded not guilty to civil rights charges. Trump officials have strongly condemned the protest for interrupting a church service. Protesters took the action after learning a pastor there is also an immigration enforcement official.
AP Wire
A New Orleans judge has ordered actor Shia LaBeouf to return to drug and alcohol rehabilitation and set a $100,000 bond after the film star was charged with two counts of battery. The film star appeared in court Thursday after his arrest this month over an alleged assault outside a bar during Mardi Gras. Orleans Parish Criminal Court Judge Simone Levine also admonished the actor for allegedly yelling homophobic slurs while hitting multiple people at a bar near the French Quarter. LaBeouf posted bond and left the courthouse without commenting to reporters.
A federal judge has permanently barred the release of a report by special counsel Jack Smith on his investigation into President Donald Trump’s hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was nominated by Trump, granted a request from the Republican president to keep under wraps the report detailing Smith’s findings that resulted in criminal charges in 2023. Cannon dismissed the case in 2024 after concluding that Smith was unlawfully appointed. American Oversight, a nonprofit watchdog that has been pushing for the report's release, says it “will continue using every tool available to force this information into the open." Trump attorney Kendra Wharton praised Cannon’s ruling and said Smith's report “should never see the light of day.”
The Palestinian Health Ministry and a witness say that Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank shot and killed a Palestinian American in an attack on a village. Resident Raed Abu Ali says the attack took place Wednesday in the village of Mukhmas. The Israeli military said its soldiers responded to a violent confrontation there and tried to disperse a riot. Separately, the Committee to Protect Journalists has reported that detained Palestinian journalists faced beatings, stress positions and medical neglect while in Israeli detention. The U.N. says Gaza’s destruction is so vast that clearing rubble alone will take seven years.
The game has changed.
The Courier Journal this week will leave its iconic building at 525 W. Broadway for new, more modern quarters on Main Street.