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Politics

• Trump Administration Revoked Award for Female Journalist Who Criticized Him, Says Watchdog

  The Trump administration revoked an International Women of Courage Award for Finnish journalist Jessikka Aro after she criticized the president, according to a new report from the Office of the Inspector General.The report also says State Department officials gave a false explanation for why it rescinded the award.The inspector general’s office obtained meeting notes that showed senior U.S. officials saying Aro’s invitation to the State Department’s International Women of Courage Awards should be withdrawn. The acting director of the Office of Global Women’s Issues noted that Aro had made social media posts criticizing Trump and the “media could highlight the tweets and Facebook posts during the ceremony.”Also Read: Trump Lashes Out at Fox News After Poll Shows Him Down in Key StatesThe reasoning was that if the posts were highlighted, it would embarrass the department, as well as first lady Melania Trump, who was involved with the awards.The press highlighted the posts anyway: Foreign Policy reported last year that Aro’s award had been canceled due to her criticism.A State Department spokesperson said in an email to Foreign Policy at the time that Aro was “incorrectly notified” that she would be getting the award, calling it a mistake caused by “a lack of coordination in communications with candidates and our embassies.”The IG report found that Aro’s work on Russian propaganda had been selected, but, as Foreign Policy reported in 2019, she was booted from the list after her social media posts were discovered.Aro told Foreign Policy that the withdrawal left her feeling “appalled and surprised.”“The reality in which political decisions or presidential pettiness directs top U.S. diplomats’ choices over whose human rights work is mentioned in the public sphere and whose is not is a really scary reality,” she said at the time.Read original story Trump Administration Revoked Award for Female Journalist Who Criticized Him, Says Watchdog At TheWrap
• The Wrap
• Associated Press

  California braces for power shutoffs and warm, windy weekend

  Firefighters and officials at California's largest utility company braced for hot, dry and windy weather in northern and central areas of the state this weekend that may fan the flames of several major wildfires or ignite new ones. Pacific Gas & Electric warned Friday it may cut power from Sunday morning to Monday, potentially affecting 97,000 customers in 16 counties, during which forecasters said a ridge of high pressure will raise temperatures and generate gusts flowing from the interior to the coast. PG&E initially warned that approximately 21,000 customers in three counties would lose power beginning Saturday evening but expanded the potential shutoff when the forecast changed.
• USA TODAY

  5 things you need to know about Amy Coney Barrett, Trump's likely Supreme Court nominee

  Amy Coney Barrett, an Indiana law professor and appeals court judge, is the favorite to replace U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.