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Board votes
to close center
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Trump-aligned Kennedy Center board voted Tuesday to close most of the iconic performing arts venue just hours after a federal judge blocked the institution from returning President Donald Trump’s name to the building.
In a social media post, Trump said the closure was needed for safety repairs. But he said the repairs, which Congress has allocated $257 million to cover, would only happen if the board was allowed to move forward with plans to add his name to the building. A federal judge has twice said that can’t happen without the approval of Congress.
"Simply put, Defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress's blessing,” U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper said in the latest ruling Tuesday.
Reiner avoids
death penalty
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Prosecutors say Nick Reiner, son of filmmaker Rob Reiner, will not face the death penalty over charges he killed his parents in Los Angeles last year. If convicted, the 33-year-old could receive life without parole.
Tuesday’s announcement followed a review by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office, which considered input from the Reiner family and mitigating factors. Nick Reiner has twice pleaded not guilty first-degree murder.
In a statement, his public defender said prosecutors had made the right decision and highlighted Reiner’s mental illness and struggles with self-medication. A trial is not expected until next year.
Patel defends
FBI policies
WASHINGTON (AP) -- FBI Director Kash Patel is defending the bureau’s loosening of hiring requirements regarding prostitution and bestiality, saying the changes were meant to enable victims of those acts to apply for employment without fear of automatic disqualification.
The subject arose during a contentious Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in which Patel clashed with Democrats over his firing of agents who participated in investigations of President Donald Trump, a spate of media leak probes, and whether employees would be dispatched to the polls on Election Day in light of the bureau’s ongoing election-related investigations and Trump’s repeated and false claims about the existence of pervasive voter fraud.
Ed Sheeran’s
tour troubled
NEW YORK (AP) -- Four supporting acts have quit Ed Sheeran’s tour after Macklemore was removed for his pro-Palestinian comments onstage. Hours after Sheeran said he refused to be drawn into a discussion about the war in Gaza, Irish acts Aaron Rowe and Beoga, Denmark’s Lukas Graham, and Finneas posted separately on social media that they would withdraw from the tour.
Rowe was one of Macklemore’s replacements for Sheeran’s remaining U.S. dates, while Beoga was serving as Sheeran’s touring band.
Finneas was due to tour with Sheeran in South America later this year. Sheeran stated on Instagram that the decision to remove Macklemore was solely the tour promoter’s. Macklemore claimed he was dropped after expressing support for Palestine during a concert in New Jersey.