Trump suit over Bob Woodward’s recordings dismissed for now

WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Manhattan has dismissed a lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump against journalist Bob Woodward and a publishing house over the release of interview recordings from his first term in office.

U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe ruled on Friday that Trump failed to “plausibly” claim that he and Woodward intended to be co-authors or that Trump had a copyright interest in his answers to Woodward’s questions. Trump’s decision to submit a copyright registration later couldn’t save his case, the judge held.

Gardephe did leave open the possibility of another round, though, saying Trump could file an updated lawsuit to take another shot at arguing over the copyright question or bring new claims under state law. Gardephe wrote it was “unlikely” Trump could prevail, but also not “futile” to let him try again. Trump also could appeal Gardephe’s decision.

Interviews are “a collaborative exercise,” Gardephe wrote, but that didn’t automatically give Trump a copyright interest. “There is almost no support in the case law for the notion that an interviewee has a copyright interest in his responses to interview questions, and such a conclusion would run counter to animating principles of the Copyright Act,” the judge said.

—Bloomberg News

'Jimmy Kimmel is next': Trump gloats after cancellation of Colbert's 'Late Show'

LOS ANGELES — President Donald Trump is celebrating the cancellation of Stephen Colbert's "The Late Show" on CBS — and calling for even more late-night hosts to be axed.

"I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings," Trump wrote Friday morning on Truth Social. "I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert!"

He added that Greg Gutfeld, who has a late-night show and co-hosts "The Five" on Fox News, "is better than all of them combined, including the Moron on NBC who ruined the once great Tonight Show," referring to Jimmy Fallon.

Although "Late Night" is the top-rated late-night broadcast show, "Gutfeld!" draws a bigger audience. Colbert, 61, has hosted the show for a decade and shared the news of its cancellation Thursday night, noting that he was made aware of the decision only the night before. "The Late Show" will end in May.

—Los Angeles Times

University of Kentucky professor under investigation for petition calling for Israel’s destruction

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A University of Kentucky employee has been removed from teaching and is under investigation for circulating an online petition calling for the destruction of Israel, university officials said Friday.

UK law professor Ramsi Woodcock is running a website called the “Antizionist Legal Studies Movement.” It includes a petition demanding “every country in the world make war on Israel immediately until such time as Israel has submitted permanently and unconditionally to the government of Palestine,” according to the website.

Though Woodcock is not identified in the statement from the university as the professor under investigation, the website aligns with allegations in the statement from UK. Woodcock identifies himself as a UK law professor on the site.

Woodcock’s signature is the only one currently visible on the petition. The website also includes a call for papers for “The Inaugural Ending Israel Conference,” with the dates set for May 2026, and discusses being a safe space to discuss “ending Israel and liberating Palestine.”

—Lexington Herald-Leader

UK sanctions Russian spies over cyber warfare operations

LONDON — The U.K. government sanctioned 18 people it named as spies from Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency who it said were responsible for conducting cyber and hybrid warfare operations against Britain and Ukraine.

One of the sanctioned GRU units carried out online reconnaissance to help target missile strikes against Mariupol in Ukraine, enabling a 2022 attack that destroyed a theater in the city killing hundreds of civilians, the Foreign Office said in a statement.

Russia’s military intelligence officers also targeted the device of Yulia Skripal, the daughter of former spy Sergei Skripal who Russian agents tried to kill in the U.K. in 2018, according to the statement. That operation involved using malware known as X-Agent five years before the assassination attempt, it said.

“GRU spies are running a campaign to destabilize Europe, undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty and threaten the safety of British citizens,” Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in the statement. The U.K. government said it was stepping up efforts with NATO allies and the FBI to expose malign activity by Russia.

—Bloomberg News