President-elect Donald Trump reacted to the news that his nominee for attorney general former Rep. Matt Gaetz suddenly withdrew his name from consideration. ‘I greatly appreciate the recent efforts of Matt Gaetz in seeking approval to be Attorney General,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social. ‘He was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the Administration, for which he has much respect.’ Gaetz, a unequivocal supporter of President Trump, had earned respect from the president-elect despite the salacious allegations that followed him.

Jay Leno has sparked a wild conspiracy theory after suffering a 60-foot fall down a hill that left him with significant bruising to the left side of his face, an eyepatch and a broken wrist. Despite revealing that his injuries were sustained during his nasty tumble while staying at a Hampton Inn, social media users began speculating that the 74-year-old comedian, whose net worth is estimated to be around $450 million, might be lying. Some conspiracy theorists on X (previously known as Twitter) shared a number of unsubstantiated theories that he was the victim of loan sharks, the mafia or someone he has ‘dirt on.’

A year on from the failed Voice referendum, the value of acknowledgement of country ceremonies are again being widely debated in Australia. But no one expected such a ceremony would be performed by an Australian government delegation in the Azerbaijan, 13,230km from Sydney, which has been dubbed ‘a complete farce’. Most Australians probably couldn’t find Azerbaijan on a map – it’s a former Soviet republic, partly in Asia and partly in Europe – but that didn’t stop delegate Dr Clare Anderson from performing an acknowledgement of country there to a near empty-room.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene will soon have a new powerful job assisting the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by billionaire Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer plans to create a Congressional subcommittee chaired by the firebrand Republican from Georgia. Greene confirmed the ‘big news,’ writing on X that she’ll be working closely with Trump’s top allies.

An art installation of a banana duct taped to a wall that was previously hailed as a ‘defiant work of pure genius’ has sold at Sotheby’s in New York for $6.2 million. Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan’s ‘Comedian’ piece was snatched up by Chinese crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, who outbid six other offers on Wednesday. ‘After over 6 minutes of heated bidding, Deputy Chairman of Sotheby’s and Chairman of Sotheby’s China, Jen Hua, placed the winning bid for ‘Comedian’ on behalf of, Chinese collector and founder of cryptocurrency platform TRON, Sotheby’s announced on X.

Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary Pete Hegseth has broken his silence on sordid sexual assault claims in a police report released on Wednesday night. ‘As far as the media is concerned, the matter was fully investigated and I was completely cleared,’ he told reporters on Capitol Hill on Thursday. ‘That’s where I’m gonna leave it,’ he said before walking away before meeting with more Republican senators who will vote on his nomination.