TV News LIES

The U.S. Department of Education fired nearly everyone in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in a wave of new layoffs that began Friday, according to the union representing the agency's employees.

Without an official estimate from the agency, it wasn't immediately clear how many people in the division were fired. Yet based on reports from staff and their managers, most employees below the leadership level were part of the workforce reduction, said Rachel Gittleman, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252.

Separately, employees involved in the college access program known as TRIO, which is located in a different office, were also let go, she said

The firings, which the union has challenged in court, "double down on the harm to K-12 students and schools across the country," Gittleman told USA TODAY.

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Diane Keaton has died at the age of 79, according to People.

The Oscar-winning actress broke through in the 1970s with her role as Kay Adams-Corleone in "The Godfather" franchise.

Her prestigious career continued with roles in "The First Wives Club," "Manhattan" and "Annie Hall," which landed her an Academy Award in the best actress category in 1978.

The Academy nominated her three more times, including in 1982 for "Reds," in 1997 for "Marvin's Room" and in 2004 for "Something's Gotta Give."

Before her film career took off, she earned a Tony nomination for her work in Woody Allen's 1969 stage production "Play It Again, Sam."

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The Trump administration laid off more than 4,100 employees Friday amid the ongoing government shutdown, according to a new court filing from the Justice Department. 

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston had ordered the administration to hand over the information in a lawsuit government unions filed just before the shutdown began.

Various agencies have since confirmed the layoffs, but the government’s new court filing provides the clearest picture yet of the breadth of the cuts.

The most significant layoffs took place at the Treasury Department, with 1,446 employees receiving RIF notices Friday.

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What to know about the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release plan:

An Israel-Hamas ceasefire went into effect at noon local time (5 a.m. Eastern) Friday as part of the first phase of President Trump's peace plan to end the war in Gaza, the Israeli military said.

Israeli troops have finished withdrawing from parts of Gaza, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said, starting a 72-hour countdown for Hamas to release all remaining Israeli hostages.

Israeli officials say 48 hostages are still in Gaza, including 20 who are believed to be alive. Hamas will release all of the remaining hostages by noon local time on Monday, an Israeli official told CBS News.

As part of the deal outlined by Mr. Trump, Israel will release dozens of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of the Israeli hostages, and allow the immediate provision of "full aid" to Gaza, which has faced severe food shortages and has fallen into famine in some regions, according to the world's leading authority on food crises.

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According to the poll results, 49% of Russians surveyed would support the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine and the start of peace talks without achieving the military goals set by Moscow, while 33% of respondents opposed such a decision. Also, 63% of survey participants were in favor of concluding a peace treaty with mutual concessions between Russia and Ukraine in the coming year.

As many as 32% of respondents said they were ready to participate in the war against Ukraine by order of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, while 30% expressed the opposite intention. 29% of Russians were in favor of a new wave of mobilization.

The experts specify that the number of residents of the Russian Federation who are in favor of the withdrawal of troops from Ukraine and a ceasefire without achieving the goals of the war has increased by 9% compared to February 2023. Then, 40% of respondents spoke in favor of such an initiative.

In addition, the respondents were asked what is more important – to oust the Ukrainian forces from Kursk region or to seize new territories in the Donbas. 53% of those polled were in favor of ousting the Ukrainian Armed Forces from near Kursk, while 15% - in favor of seizing territories in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.

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Late last month, the New York City medical examiner confirmed the man who shot and killed four people at a Manhattan office tower had the degenerative brain disease Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE.

The shooter, Shane Tamura, targeted the NFL headquarters in July. He left a note at the scene, claiming to suffer from CTE. He blamed football, which he played from age 6 through high school.

Tamura shot himself in the chest. His letter urged scientists to study his brain. That note included the names of prominent researchers in the field, including neuroscientist Chris Nowinski, CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation and a former professional wrestler.

Nowinski said he wasn’t surprised by Tamura’s diagnosis.

“CTE risk in football players, we know from the work at the Boston University CTE Center, is related to how many years of football you play. And we don't know where it starts, but the research thus far suggests it goes up by as much as 30% per year you play, your odds increase,” Nowinski said. “And in our experience now at BU studying hundreds of football players, if you get to 12 seasons, more than half of those that we've studied have had it.”

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Campbell County has agreed to pay $700,000 to Terri Lesley, its former library director, according to a settlement agreement shared with Wyoming Public Radio.

Lesley alleged in a lawsuit filed earlier this year that the county removed her for defending LGBTQ+ materials. The county denied her allegations.

"It's been a really long journey," Lesley said. "It's been hard, very hard, to go through, and it just feels glorious to be past it and to have what I feel is the right resolution."

Lesley had worked in the Campbell County Public Library System for almost 30 years, serving as its executive director for more than a decade. She became the target of angry local activists for recognizing Pride Month in a 2021 social media post and later refusing to remove books about LGBTQ+ youth from the children's section.

"I just wanted to do what any librarian would do in my shoes and just protect the access," Lesley said. "But as things went along, it got tougher and tougher. We had two years of conflict on this topic.

In 2023, she was fired. Lesley sued the government officials who removed her, as well as those who failed to stop her removal. She alleged county leaders violated her free speech rights when they acquiesced to "a small fraction of the community" who "relentlessly and maliciously mischaracterized" her.

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A video editor and producer for Chicago’s WGN television station was arrested by masked federal agents on Friday morning, and later released, during an Ice raid on the city’s North Side, as shown in videos shared widely on social media.

Videos show Debbie Brockman being violently forced to the ground by two agents before she is handcuffed and put in a van. A local resident filming the incident asks her name while she is face-down on the street being handcuffed.

“Debbie Brockman,” she replies. “I work for WGN. Please let them know.”

In another video, onlookers shout at the agents and call them “fascists”, telling them to “get out of our neighborhood, get out of our city”. The agents get in the van and scrape the side of another car, whose driver is still inside, as they speed off, tearing off part of its bumper.

A homeland security official said Brockman stood accused of assaulting a federal law enforcement officer by throwing objects at a vehicle.

The incident took place in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood, as immigration agents – at the behest of Trump officials – have been scouring the city for people to deport.

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