(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Volozymyr Zelensky said Donald Trump’s declaration of an “energy ceasefire” between Ukraine and Russia was “news for me.”

Trump made the announcement Sunday, writing, “Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed. Do not break it! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP.”

Zelensky told Axios Sunday that he wasn’t consulted about halting attacks on Russia’s energy facilities, “But if Russians agree to an energy ceasefire, Ukraine will agree.”

“If President Trump negotiated it with Putin, please tell us when the ceasefire begins. We are ready, and we will accept it,” Zelensky said.

Axios’s Barak Ravid wrote that “An ‘energy ceasefire’ would be a dramatic diplomatic breakthrough ahead of the winter. It remains unclear if Russia indeed agreed to stop the strikes.”

News of a possible ceasefire follows Trump’s Friday declaration that Putin agreed to bail out the U.S. diesel market.

“I have just concluded a highly successful discussion with President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, wherein it was agreed that Russia will immediately supply over 300,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel to the American and Global Marketplace, another 500,000 Tons during the month of November, and 1,000,000 Tons immediately thereafter. Additionally, based on the condition of their Diesel Refineries, Russia will then deliver, within a short period of time, 3,000,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel,” Trump wrote.

The deal would have dire consequences for Ukraine if the war continues, because it would funnel billions of dollars into Moscow.

Trump is desperate to bring down fuel prices ahead of the midterm elections, where polls put Republicans at a severe disadvantage to keep control of Congress.

At the end of his announcement, Trump assured Americans, “Between our TOTAL CONTROL of the Strait of Hormuz, and this great announcement on Russian Energy, Diesel Prices for Americans and, indeed, the World, will be COMING DOWN, IN RECORD NUMBERS, AND FAST! Lower prices for Americans, especially our Great Farmers, Ranchers, and Truckers, is my Greatest Priority. This is a very big and important announcement.”

Since Trump announced the energy ceasefire, Russia has struck a power plant in eastern Ukraine, according to ABC News. Zelensky confirmed the attack on a thermal power plant in the city of Kharkiv.

The post Zelensky Dumps Cold Water on Trump’s Claim of a Russia-Ukraine ‘Energy Ceasefire’: ‘News’ to Me! first appeared on Mediaite.

Students walk across the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

CBS New York confirmed it chose not to publish key parts of the text messages sent by the Jane Doe in the Cornell 7 case from their coverage, including a message she sent to one of her alleged rapists saying they should not feel “shame” because it was “our body our choice,” according to a report from The Federalist. 

The Federalist’s Brianna Lyman wrote on Friday the outlets left out another “crucial” section of the same message: where Doe refers to the sex they had as a “gangbang” (which was misspelled in the text message as “gamgbang”).

Here is the full text message below, which was pubished by TMZ:

aw jonathan i really appreciate this text. my memories super clouded too. i think we were all way to [redacted] drunk and high. i’m getting a little heat (pi phi girls ([redacted] and [redacted]) can’t get my name out of their mouth)) but that’s to be expected. but at the end of the day non[e] of the sexual stuff was illegal and honestly I really liked being w u and Matt. so anything anyone has to say about the gamgbang is out of their jurisdiction. I don’t think we should feel any shame for the part. our body our choice asf…

The CBS NY report from Mahsa Saeidi on Sept. 29 mentioned the accuser said she “liked” being with two of the alleged perpetrators, as well as where she said none “of the sexual stuff was illegal.”

A spokesperson for CBS NY told The Federalist Saeidi “reviewed the full text exchange before publishing,” but opted to keep the “our body our choice” part and the reference to a “gangbang” out. The spokesperson said the outlet included a statement from Doe’s attorney and “gave our audience the context necessary to understand why some of those messages may be disputed.”

Similarly, an Oct. 1 New York Times report — which had four journalists on the byline — left out those same key excerpts. It is unclear, however, whether they had reviewed those excerpts prior to publishing their report. The Times report noted they had obtained “detailed filings collected during the private Title IX proceedings — hundreds of pages of emails, text messages, photographs and interviews with Jane Doe, her friends and those she accused.”

The Times did not respond to The Federalist when asked the same questions about parts of the message not being included. A Times spokesperson also did not immediately respond to Mediaite’s request for comment on Sunday.

All of this comes as the alleged gang rape has become a national news story in the last few weeks. The Jane Doe in the case has claimed she was too inebriated to consent to some of the group sex and drug use she participated in back in 2024.

She made her rape claim weeks after texting one of her alleged perpetrators, “At the end of the day non [sic] of the sexual stuff was illegal and honestly I really liked being with u” — which, among other messages, has led to many saying the rape claims are bogus; the local DA declined to pursue charges against the seven men accused, but New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) appointed Letitia James as special prosecutor last week to probe it further.

The accuser also filed a civil complaint against the seven male students, as well as Cornell and the Chi Phi fraternity, in September.

The post CBS NY Confirms it Chose Not to Publish Key Parts of Cornell 7 Texts — Including Jane Doe Saying ‘Our Body Our Choice’ first appeared on Mediaite.

(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

A stunning new report in The New York Times examined the violent threats experienced by U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle just for doing their jobs.

Examples came from lawmakers serving in local and state governments, all the way up to the halls of Congress:

In January, a caller began leaving threats in the voice mail inboxes of members of Congress: “I want to see their throat cut from ear to ear.”

Another caller left a blunt threat for a U.S. senator: “I’m going to murder you, and I’m going to start with your children.”

A state attorney general received this three-word missive: “Bang, bang, bang.”

“Serving in public office in the United States is dangerous,” the Times declared, “And it’s getting worse, officeholders said in dozens of interviews.”

For the piece, Times reporter Nick Corasaniti examined “hundreds of records obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests, court documents and law enforcement logs.”

He found that at least 44 governors, their staff, and families, have received violent threats since 2024.

“That’s also true of at least 70 of the nation’s 100 senators, and at least 185 members of the House of Representatives — nearly half the body,” Corasaniti wrote. “More than half of the country’s secretaries of state, most of whom serve as their states’ chief election officers, have received threats of violence.”

Corasaniti wrote that actual violent attacks against political figures has also increased.

“Assassination attempts against Donald Trump, the killing of Charlie Kirk, the assassination of the legislative leader Melissa Hortman and her husband in Minnesota, the firebombing of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home in Pennsylvania. For many elected officials, the escalation is a grim testament to the toxicity of violent rhetoric and how it can shake the country’s democratic institutions.”

Corasaniti called this “the new normal” for politicians, and explained why so few prosecutions occur in these cases — only 53 individuals were charged with threatening public officials other than the president in the last two years.

“Vague state and federal laws and free speech protections can make prosecution challenging. Anonymous letters and screen names can be hard to track. The sheer volume of threats can make hunting down those responsible virtually impossible,” he wrote.

Read The New York Times article here.

The post ‘Bang, Bang, Bang!’ Stunning NY Times Report Reveals Chilling, Violent Threats Against Top Lawmakers first appeared on Mediaite.

President Donald Trump declared Saturday that he will make the final call on whether to livestream the planned December execution of the Fort Hood shooter — just days after the Defense Department had announced his approval of the decision.

The announcement that Nidal Malik Hasan’s scheduled December execution by firing squad would be live streamed for all to see has sparked bipartisan outrage and numerous pleas for the plan to be scrapped. Even Vice President JD Vance said he wouldn’t watch.

The former Army psychiatrist was convicted of killing 13 people and trying to kill 32 others in a 2009 mass shooting at the Texas military base, opening fire inside the Soldier Readiness Processing Center, where troops were preparing for deployment. He was sentenced to death in 2013.

Speaking to reporters Saturday as he departed the White House for an appearance in Tennessee, Trump stopped to take questions and addressed the decision to live stream Hasan’s execution.

“Well you have two thoughts,” Trump said. “He’s a vicious killer, killed 13 people in cold blood and wounded over 20, some of those people will never have their lives back in a true sense.

“He was vicious and he was violent, there are two thoughts, don’t show it, and show it. Because you know by showing it maybe other people won’t be doing what he did,” Trump added.

“So I’ll make a decision ultimately. I know what the military would like to do, but we’ll make a decision.”

It would be the first public execution in the United States in decades.

Such an event would also mark the first U.S. military execution since 1961, and be the first time someone was killed by military firing squad since 1945.

Trump then went on to reiterate his criticism of Nobel Peace Prize winner Navi Pillay, again boasting he’d ended eight wars and “got all the hostages back,” in a reference to those kidnapped by Hamas in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

“Nobody that I know ever heard of her,” he claimed of Pillay.

The post ‘I’ll Make a Decision Ultimately’ Trump Says He’ll Determine Whether to Live Stream Fort Hood Shooter’s Execution first appeared on Mediaite.

AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson

The Department of Justice’s civil rights division has reportedly begun hiring numerous partisan lawyers to fill its ranks, with some having criminal histories.

As noted in a Tuesday report from The New York Times, the division has lost at least 300 lawyers since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term. At the time of writing, 130 lawyers have been hired to fill out the short-staffed department. New hires have been overseen by Assistant Attorney General of Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon.

Many of those hirings, the Times pointed out, have backgrounds that likely would have disqualified them in the past. The report read:

Among her top hires: The gun rights activist Barry Arrington, the acting chief of a new Second Amendment unit, is a high-profile opponent of the theory of evolution and same-sex marriage. Last year, he successfully challenged Colorado’s ban on so-called conversion therapy before the Supreme Court.

The person she appointed to temporarily lead the voting section — the epicenter of the department’s aggressive actions ahead of the midterm elections — is Eric Neff, who tried more than 50 criminal cases during a 12-year career as a prosecutor in California. His stint as a prosecutor in Los Angeles County ended in rancor.

In 2022, Mr. Neff was placed on administrative leave after the office withdrew his indictment of an executive at a software company for storing data on poll workers on a Chinese server. His bosses cited irregularities in the case. The county ended up paying the company $5 million in a settlement.

Mr. Neff was reinstated in 2024 and has filed a whistle-blower claim against the county, which remains unresolved.

Another DOJ official, identified as David Michael Levin, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in 2016 after he hacked into the voting system of Lee County, Florida.

In a statement obtained by The New York Times, Dhillon praised the new hires for their prior work in the legal system. She said the ones mentioned in the report “have collectively tried hundreds of cases, prosecuted those who prey on trafficked children, won at the Supreme Court and practiced law for decades.”

“That is the experience this division needs to enforce civil rights laws for every American,” Dhillon said.

The post DOJ’s ‘Depleted’ Civil Rights Division Has Resorted to Hiring ‘Hyperpartisan’ Lawyers with Questionable Backgrounds: Report first appeared on Mediaite.

If you're like most people, you might still be getting used to iOS 27 on your iPhone. Perhaps you haven't even installed it yet, or maybe you're confused about why iOS 27.0.1 exists. (The short answer: The iPhone 18 Pro is a bit glitchy.) But there's a new iPhone update on the horizon that adds even more new features and changes to the mix: iOS 27.2. While this update isn't nearly as big of an overhaul as iOS 27 itself, it's still impactful, especially for Health app users. Here's what's new.

The update is currently in testing, so if you want to try it out early, you can enroll your iPhone in Apple's beta and check these features out today. Just know that all betas come with some level of risk, so if you decide to go down this path, create a proper backup of all important data before installing the beta.

iOS 27.2's new Health app

Credit: Beth Skwarecki

With iOS 27.2, Apple is totally overhauling the Health app. This is perhaps the biggest change coming with Apple's update, and fitness users will likely welcome many of these new features. With the new Health app, you'll be able to see your Fitness rings within the Health app, rather than the Fitness app; there's a new "Longevity" tab that gives you insights into key aspects of your long-term health, including mental wellbeing, nutrition, daily movement, heart health, metabolic health, sleep, and hearing health. There are also new assessments you can take to analyze your current overall health and where you can improve, including a new "Health Age" feature. You can even allow your iPhone's camera to watch you exercise in order to rate your fitness in categories like flexibility, balance, VO2max, and strength.

This is by far the Health app's biggest revamp in years, and I'm looking forward to exploring the new features when the update drops. For more on what's new with the Health app in iOS 27.2, check out Lifehacker senior health editor Beth Skwarecki's guide here. (Beth is particularly fond of the new step count that appears at the top of both the Health and Fitness apps.)

iOS 27.2 expands "Call Context"

Call Context is an excellent use of Apple Intelligence. When you're on a phone call, Apple Intelligence checks if the phone number you're calling is related to a business that you have relevant information for elsewhere on your device. If so, it fetches that information for you and displays it on the call screen. For example, if you're talking with your airline's customer service line, Call Context can proactively display your flight number based on the itinerary it finds in your email.

With iOS 27.2, Call Context now includes anniversary alerts. If you're on a phone call with someone you have a saved anniversary for, that alert will appear on-screen. That way, you can get a small reminder if you call a friend on their birthday, but you happened to forget the occasion. (Thank you, technology, for saving some of us from our thoughtlessness, even if you are enabling bad habits.)

FaceTime is getting ASL support

As part of a previous announcement of accessibility features, Apple revealed it was adding a new API to FaceTime that supports adding a human interpreter to video calls. This feature did not make it to iOS 27, but it appears to be rolling out in Apple's next update, making video calls more accessible going forward.

Apple TV profiles are coming to iPhone and iPad

If you have an Apple TV, you likely know you can set up profiles, so individual users can personalize the experience when watching shows and movies. As MacRumors highlights, these profiles are now coming to the Apple TV app in iOS and iPadOS 27.2. That way, multiple users can personalize the Apple TV experience on a single device: If your family shares an iPad, for example, each user can switch to their Apple TV profile when it's their turn to watch. Now, if we could only get system-level profiles too, Apple.

Siri AI is coming in more languages

At launch, Siri AI is only available in English. But with iOS 27.2, Apple is expanding that list. Once you update to the latest version, you'll be able to use Siri AI in French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish.

iOS 27.2 introduces small UI changes

Apple isn't thrilled with how some of its apps look in iOS 27, apparently. MacRumors also spotted that in the Music app, Apple removed some of the red accents and turned certain buttons from red to black—including the Play and Shuffle buttons, and the icons in the Library sections. In the Clock app, "AM" and "PM" are now smaller than the time when setting alarms. In Podcasts, "Up Next" is now "New Episodes," perhaps adding a touch more clarity. Finally, Apple changed "App Access" in Siri to "Excluded Apps," and now allows you to exclude multiple apps from Siri at once.

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Ever since the Fitbit app became the Google Health app, the app’s AI features became impossible to avoid for Premium users—or at least it may seem that way. There are two ways to avoid the long-winded, sometimes judgy insights that pop up on your screen multiple times a day. I'll show you both: a way to turn off the AI entirely, and a way to get those insights to go away without turning off all the AI-enabled features.  

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Why you may want to turn off the Google Health Coach

The AI-based Health Coach is the centerpiece of the Google Health app, at least if you have a premium subscription. You may have accepted a three-month free trial of Google Health Premium when you connected a new device, or you may pay for Google AI Pro or Ultra, which includes the Health Coach. 

When the Coach is enabled, it updates the main screen of the app with a few paragraphs of text several times a day. (You’ll also get a notification with each of these updates). The Coach will tell you how well you slept, congratulate you on a hard workout, or suggest workouts for the day given how recovered you seem to be. 

But, as I wrote in my Fitbit Air review, the Coach hallucinates pretty often, misreporting your workout data or misunderstanding what you’ve told it are your goals. One user, returning to their normal routine after surgery, posted to Reddit that the Coach keeps trying to talk them out of doing workouts. They called it a “Demotivation Coach.” Others have pointed out that the Coach doesn’t seem to be reading its own data correctly. On a more personal note, the Coach uses a tone that I find insufferable: arrogant and excessively positive, except when it’s being unnecessarily negative. I’d prefer neutral, factual feedback or none at all.

To be fair to Google, the team has been hard at work on the Coach, and I've noticed its insights become a little more readable and a little less random since the feature first launched. But I'm still not always in the mood to see the Coach's chipper little pep talks.

How to turn off the Coach "insights" without losing other AI features

Left: the Today screen with no insights. Right: asking the Coach for an insight on-demand still works. Credit: Beth Skwarecki

Those unprompted pep talks are what the Google Health app calls "insights." Google quietly added a setting to turn them off in the August 2026 feature update. Tap on your profile picture, then Google Health Settings, then Coaching, and select No Coach Insights.

Once I turned off the feature, the insights stopped, as promised. But if I miss them, I can still tap Ask Coach in the bottom right corner of the screen, and ask the Coach how my day is going. All other features still work, including the AI-powered ones, like logging nutrition and workouts from the chat interface.

How to turn off the Google Health Coach entirely

Credit: Beth Skwarecki

If you're sick of the entire Google Health Coach, you can disable it: The same August update that gave us the "no insights" switch also made the Health Coach easier to turn off. To reach it, tap on your profile picture, then Google Health Settings, then Coaching. Then you can tap Turn off Google Health Coach. As the next screen explains, "your app will stop providing tailored guidance like fitness plans, recommendations, and proactive summaries of your sleep, fitness, and health trends. You also won't be able to ask questions or log your progress by chatting with the coach. You can turn this back on anytime."

Confirm your decision, and the AI will be gone. When you return to the Google Health app, you’ll still see the paragraphs of text that the Health Coach previously wrote, but you won’t get any new ones. There will be a card inviting you to re-enable the Health Coach, but you can tap “not now.” You can re-enable the Coach at any time by hitting the “Ask Coach” button in the corner (it does not go away) and following the prompts to turn it back on.