Thousands protesters advocating for a range of left wing causes have descended on Washington, D.C., to protest President–elect Trump’s inauguration on Monday. ... Read full Story
A Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) judge canceled an upcoming hearing on the Biden administration’s marijuana rescheduling proposal pending appeals, effectively kicking the process to the Trump administration. Advocates of more lenient marijuana laws alleged DEA officials had colluded with rescheduling opponents and are hopeful the process will move ahead under President-elect Trump. The first hearing... ... Read full Story
A Georgia state senator has had his ban from entering the state House chamber revoked following an ugly incident on Thursday which saw him flung to the floor, arrested and subsequently hospitalized. ... Read full Story
President-elect Trump told NBC News on Saturday that he is likely to give TikTok a 90-day extension while his incoming administration assesses the situation following the Supreme Court decision to uphold a federal ban. “The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it's appropriate. You know, it's appropriate. We have to... ... Read full Story
The White House on Saturday called TikTok’s statement warning that it will “go dark” on Sunday unless President Biden steps in a "stunt," arguing the app doesn’t have to take action before President-elect Trump is sworn in. “We have seen the most recent statement from TikTok. It is a stunt, and we see no reason... ... Read full Story
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is fighting to uphold a Texas law he says is keeping the pornography industry from targeting children with harmful content. ... Read full Story
Inauguration festivities will begin in full force Saturday as President-elect Trump and his allies — and protesters — arrive in Washington ahead of Monday's inauguration of the 47th president of the U.S. Trump is expected to arrive at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, and he will later host a reception and fireworks display at his... ... Read full Story
President-elect Trump launched his first official cryptocurrency, which shot up in value quickly to kick off his inauguration weekend. “My NEW Official Trump Meme is HERE! It’s time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING! Join my very special Trump Community. GET YOUR $TRUMP NOW,” the president-elect shared on Truth Social Friday night. The price... ... Read full Story
The majority of Americans in a new survey are seeking a toned-down agenda for President-elect Trump’s next term, which is set to start on Monday. A Wall Street Journal poll released Friday found that while 53 percent of Americans want the incoming president to make big changes to how the government is run, more than... ... Read full Story
HHS formally debarred EcoHealth Alliance Inc. and its former president Dr. Peter Daszak for allegedly failing to report dangerous gain-of-function research in China. ... Read full Story
Former Trump White House press secretary Sean Spicer predicted that President-elect Trump will sign over 100 executive orders on a range of topics “early next week. “My guess is that by the time we wake up Wednesday morning, there's over 100 executive orders in action, signed by this president,” Spicer said during his Thursday appearance... ... Read full Story
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) criticized the looming TikTok ban as a violation of the First Amendment, arguing that it's based on accusations, a day after the Supreme Court opted to uphold the law that will force the app to go dark unless it's China-based parent company sells it. “I do believe that banning a social... ... Read full Story
Many Americans support President-elect Trump’s agenda, including action on immigration and tariffs, but not the person himself, according to a new survey released on Saturday. The New York Times/Ipsos poll found that 87 percent of respondents support deporting illegal immigrants in the U.S. who have a criminal record, something Trump vowed to execute while campaigning... ... Read full Story
A New York Times reporter stepped into controversy this week when critics say he fundamentally misunderstood a constitutional law doctrine. ... Read full Story
Historian Victor Davis Hanson predicts an impending cultural shift in California, as the fires in Los Angeles have impacted liberal residents who may be changing their tune on politics. ... Read full Story
As she prepares to leave the Biden administration, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland expressed confidence that the work the department has done to conserve land and promote renewable energy during her tenure will be durable. “We have some pretty awesome attorneys here at the department,” she said “They really make sure that the work we’re doing is... ... Read full Story
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Friday ruled against the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which grants amnesty to illegal immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children. ... Read full Story
The outgoing top prosecutor for the nation’s capital said that he doesn’t see a basis for President-elect Trump to pardon those who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an exit interview with The Washington Post. U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves, who spearheaded the Justice Department’s (DOJ) investigation into the... ... Read full Story
Qatar, a key negotiator in the fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement, confirmed Saturday that the first hostages will be released in less than 24 hours. Qatari Foreign Minister Majid al-Ansari said the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is set to begin at 8:30 a.m. local time Sunday, less than day after Israel's war cabinet formally approved... ... Read full Story
Biden appointed more federal judges than Trump during his first term in the White House, including more female and minority judges who helped diversify the federal courts. ... Read full Story
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 18, 2025 is:
minuscule \MIN-uh-skyool\ adjective
Something described as minuscule is very small. Minuscule can also mean "written in, or in the size or style of, lowercase letters," in which case it can be contrasted with majuscular.
// The number of bugs in the latest version of the video game is minuscule compared to the number that surfaced in the beta version.
// The ancient manuscripts on display are all in minuscule script.
"Resembling a stout field mouse, B. brevicauda is a tiny burrowing mammal with inconspicuous ears and minuscule eyes well hidden behind a long narrow snout." — Bill Schutt, Bite: An Incisive History of Teeth, from Hagfish to Humans, 2024
Did you know?
Minuscule comes from the Latin adjective minusculus ("somewhat smaller" or "fairly small"), which in turn pairs the base of minus ("smaller") with -culus, a diminutive suffix (that is, one indicating small size). The minuscule spelling is consistent with the word’s etymology, but that didn’t stop English speakers from adopting the variant spelling miniscule, likely because they associated it with the combining form mini- and such words as minimal and minimum. Usage commentators generally consider the miniscule spelling an error, but it is widely used in reputable and carefully edited publications, and is accepted as a legitimate variant in some dictionaries. (Our own dictionary identifies miniscule as a "disputed spelling variant.")