The Trump administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to bypass lower courts and take up a case involving the military’s proposed ban on most transgender military members.

The military’s proposed policy would prohibit service by those “who require or have undergone gender transition,” according to NPR.

Opponents of the ban, including GLAD and Lambda Legal, filed suit in federal court seeking to have the proposed ban blocked. The military, under the Obama administration, changed rules to allow transgender personnel to serve.  

“This is simply one more attempt by a reckless Trump administration to push through a discriminatory policy,” Jennifer Levi, the Transgender Rights Project director at GLAD, said in a statement. “The policy flies in the face of military research and dozens of top military experts.”

But the Department of Justice asked the Supreme Court to fast-track the suit because current policy — adopted during the Obama administration — harms the military.  

“[T]he military has concluded [the policy] poses a threat to ‘readiness, good order and discipline, sound leadership, and unit cohesion,’ which ‘are essential to military effectiveness and lethality,’” the request to the high court reads. 

Concerns over privacy also are an issue, the Department of Justice argues.

“The military…

Airbnb announced Monday it will not allow rental listings in Judea and Samaria.

“We concluded that we should remove listings in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank that are at the core of the dispute between Israelis and Palestinians,” a statement on Airbnb’s website reads.

Some are criticizing the hospitality site’s decision. In a tweet, one person wrote that the announcement was “not a policy about disputed territories, but about Jews.”

Another said: “@Airbnb you guys suck. This is a dumb, dumb move.”

According to Airbnb, there were about 200 home-share listings in the area.

Meanwhile, Saeb Erekat, chief negotiator for the Palestine Liberation Organization, said the decision was a step in the right direction.

“We reiterate our call upon the U.N. Human Rights Council to release the database of companies profiting from the Israeli colonial occupation,” he said, according to The Jerusalem Post. “Israeli settlements are not just an obstacle to peace, but defy the very definition of peace.”

In response to Airbnb’s decision, the city council of Beverly Hills in California voted to pass a resolution condemning the change, saying Airbnb is “not welcome in Beverly Hills as long as its policies are based on anti-Jewish double standards.”

“Airbnb’s decision to remove all listings in Jewish settlements in the West Bank demonstrates hatred,…

On Wednesday, Warner Bros. and Netflix settled a lawsuit brought against them by The Satanic Temple for using the temple’s statue of Baphomet in the spin-off of the 90s classic “Sabrina the Teenage Witch.”

The temple’s co-founder Lucien Greaves wrote in a blog post that the suit was “amicably settled” between the parties. 

Greaves continued noting that The Satanic Temple will be acknowledged for the goat-headed statue in the credits for the remaining episodes of “The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.” He also noted that the remainder of the agreement is protected by a confidentiality agreement.

The New York Times reports that The Satanic Temple filed suit against Netflix and Warner Bros. on Nov. 9 in the Federal District Court in Manhattan. Reportedly the group asked for at a minimum of $50 million for copyright infringement and defamation to the temple’s reputation.

According to the temple’s mission statement, the group, which defines itself as an activist group, works in part to “reject tyrannical authority” and to “encourage benevolence and empathy among all people.” 

The New York Times reports that the goat-headed statue called “Baphomet With Children,” was designed five years ago to be used for protests on religious freedom. The statue was based on a drawing of the deity made by occultist Éliphas…

The extensive wildfire that took the lives of dozens and demolished thousands of homes in Northern California has been fully contained after it burned for over two weeks, authorities declared on Sunday. 

According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Camp Fire has been encircled by firefighters after a few days of rain in the Paradise area. 

CBN News reports that the most destructive wildfire to occur in the past century took the lives of at least 85 people, with 249 unaccounted for. Fortunately, the number of missing people dropped in the past few days as officials confirmed that more people were alive. 

As time went on, crews continued to comb through debris and ash for human remains. The fire began on November 8th in the scorched Sierra Nevada foothills and hastily made its way across 240 square miles, consuming the majority of Paradise within a day. 

An astonishing 19,000 buildings, most of which were homes, are now destroyed. 

Last week, the first considerable winter storm to blow through California was the force needed to push the fight against the fire. Over a three-day period, the storm dropped an approximated 7 inches of rain without causing serious mudslides, according to Hannah Chandler-Cooley of the National Weather Service.  

Jennifer Erickson, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service, reported to  

The migrant caravan that originated in Honduras and Guatemala is nearing the United States’ southern border and President Trump is preparing to close the shared border with Mexico until the situation is “under control.”

In a news conference last week, President Trump told reporters, “if we find that it is uncontrollable, if we find that it gets to a level where we are gonna lose control or people are gonna start getting hurt, we will close entry into the country for a period of time until we can get it under control.”

A reporter then asked if that meant the entire U.S.-Mexico border would be closed, the President replied by saying, “the whole border,” as he shook his head in confirmation. 

President Trump also confirmed that he has authorized the military to use lethal force if necessary, though Trump said he hopes it does not have to come to that. 

He said, “If they have to, they are gonna use lethal force. I’ve given the okay if they have to. I hope they don’t have to, but you know you’re dealing with a minimum of 500 serious criminals.” He added, “I’m not gonna let the military be taken advantage of.”  

The Associated Press reports that on Sunday, only a few days after the news conference, U.S. agents used tear gas on migrants who were attempting to breach the border fences. 

According to…