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CNN  —  The Trump administration is preparing to cancel a large swath of federal funding for California, an effort that could begin as soon as Friday, according to multiple sources. Agencies are being told to start identifying grants the administration can withhold from California. Sources said the administration is specifically considering a full termination of federal grant funding for the University of California and California State University systems. “No taxpayer should be forced to fund the demise of our country,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement Friday afternoon, criticizing California for its energy, immigration and other policies.…

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The world’s smallest country has a big budget problem. The Vatican doesn’t tax its residents or issue bonds. It primarily finances the Catholic Church’s central government through donations that have been plunging, ticket sales for the Vatican Museums, as well as income from investments and an underperforming real estate portfolio.The last year the Holy See published a consolidated budget, in 2022, it projected 770 million euros ($878 million), with the bulk paying for embassies around the world and Vatican media operations. In recent years, it hasn’t been able to cover costs.That leaves Pope Leo XIV facing…

VATICAN CITY (AP) — As a bishop in Peru, Robert Prevost was often on the lookout for used cars that he could buy cheap and fix up himself for use in parishes around his diocese. With cars that were really broken down, he’d watch YouTube videos to learn how to fix them. That kind of make-do-with-less, fix-it-yourself mentality could serve Pope Leo XIV well as he addresses one of the greatest challenges facing him as pope: The Holy See’s chronic, 50 million to 60 million euro ($57-68 million) structural deficit, 1 billion euro ($1.14 billion) pension fund shortfall and declining…

BEIRUT (AP) — Fireworks lit up the night sky over Beirut’s famous St. Georges Hotel as hit songs from the 1960s and 70s filled the air in a courtyard overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.The retro-themed event was hosted last month by Lebanon’s Tourism Ministry to promote the upcoming summer season and perhaps recapture some of the good vibes from an era viewed as a golden one for the country. In the years before a civil war began in 1975, Lebanon was the go-to destination for wealthy tourists from neighboring Gulf countries seeking beaches in summer, snow-capped mountains in winter and urban…

Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma blasted his team’s performance as “not acceptable’ after a humbling 3-0 loss in Norway on Friday to begin their World Cup qualifying campaign.Italy have not reached a World Cup since 2014 — a painful drought for a nation that once stood proudly among football’s elite with four world titles to their name.Editor’s Picks1 RelatedFirst-half goals from Alexander Sørloth, Antonio Nusa and Erling Haaland in Oslo left Italy already on the backfoot in their attempts to make it to the United States, Canada and Mexico next year.”I have no words,” Donnarumma, who was playing six days after…

CNN  —  The Texas Longhorns won the Women’s College World Series in dominant fashion, blowing out Texas Tech 10-4 in Friday’s winner-take-all Game 3 to clinch the program’s first-ever national championship in softball. Despite Red Raiders superstar pitcher NiJaree Canady returning to the pitcher’s mound after her complete-game win on Thursday, the Longhorns did not back down from the challenge to face one of softball’s best players. Texas lit up the junior righthander, scoring five runs in the first inning, knocking the 21-year-old, two-time first team All-American out of the game early. A dejected Canady, who made national headlines earlier…

CNN  —  The Supreme Court handed the Department of Government Efficiency a pair of significant wins on Friday, allowing the entity to access sensitive Social Security data for millions of Americans while simultaneously pausing an effort to look into whether it is subject to a key transparency law. In the first and perhaps more important decision, a majority of the court allowed DOGE to review data at the Social Security Administration in an ostensible effort to rout out fraud and “modernize outdated systems.” Critics and lower courts suggested DOGE was engaged in a fishing expedition through highly sensitive data. “We…

CNN  —  The Supreme Court on Friday mistakenly sent out email alerts to attorneys and others laying out which cases it would hear days before it was scheduled to do so, the latest major technical glitch to come from the high court during its busiest month of the year. The high court acknowledged that, due to an “apparent software malfunction,” notifications about which cases would be granted or denied its review – that were not supposed to be released until Monday morning – were mistakenly distributed on Friday afternoon. The Supreme Court normally closely guards not only its opinions but…

Tesla displays Optimus next to two of its vehicles at the World Robot Conference in Beijing on Aug. 22, 2024.CNBC | EvelynTesla’s vice president of Optimus robotics, Milan Kovac, said on Friday that he’s leaving the company.In a post on X, Kovac thanked Tesla CEO Elon Musk and reminisced about his tenure, which began in 2016.”I want to thank @elonmusk from the bottom of my heart for his trust and teachings over the decade we’ve worked together,” Kovac wrote. “Elon, you’ve taught me to discern signal from noise, hardcore resilience, and many fundamental principles of engineering. I am forever grateful.…

Stock Chart IconStock chart iconWalt Disney’s year-to-date stock performance.Walt Disney: “I want you to stay in it. If anything, I’d like you to buy more…We don’t care where a stock came from, we care where it’s going to. I think it’s going higher.”Stock Chart IconStock chart iconPeloton’s year-to-date stock performance.Peloton: “I like subscription businesses, I think that they work. But I don’t think they have the growth. So, therefore, I’m going to say, if you want a subscription business, I want you to be in Spotify.”Stock Chart IconStock chart iconWalmart’s year-to-date stock performance.Walmart: “…It’s gaining momentum, it’ll burst through.”Stock Chart…