A federal judge on Friday barred Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes from entering Washington without the court’s approval after President Donald Trump commuted the extremist group leader’s 18-year prison sentence in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who oversaw the seditious conspiracy trial of Rhodes and other Oath Keepers, issued the order two days after Rhodes visited Capitol Hill, where he met with at least one lawmaker, chatted with others and defended his actions the day of the riot.

Mehta’s order applies to seven other defendants who were charged in one of the most serious conspiracy cases brought by the Justice Department over the riot. The order also prohibits them from entering the Capitol building or surrounding grounds without the court’s permission.

Ed Martin, who has been serving as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia since Trump’s inauguration on Monday, argued that Trump’s commutations mean Rhodes and others are no longer subject to the court’s supervision. In a court filing that bears only his name and signature, Martin urged the judge to vacate Friday’s order.

Martin has served as a board member of the Patriot Freedom Project group, which portrays the Jan. 6 defendants as victims of political persecution. He’s now overseeing the office that prosecuted the hundreds of riot defendants.

“The individuals referenced in our motion have had their sentences commuted — period, end of sentence,” Martin said in a statement Friday.

Federal agencies begin removing DEI guidance

Federal agencies have begun removing resources for underrepresented Americans from their webpages following President Donald Trump’s executive order cracking down on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Agencies also have been cancelling staff trainings and shuttering diversity offices to comply with the order from Trump, who has called for all DEI staff to be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off.

Documents on DEI have been removed from websites at agencies including the Office of Personnel Management, State Department and Department of Homeland Security. Web addresses that once led to DEI pages now display “Page Not Found — 404” messages or notes above archived material explaining the change.

At some agencies, the drive to remove diversity mentions was creating widespread questions and confusion. Lacking clear guidance, Defense Department staff members were pulling websites down in often inconsistent ways.

The Army, as an example, temporarily removed its sexual assault guidelines — raising questions about what message that might be sending, considering that Trump’s defense nominee Pete Hegseth has been involved in sex assault allegations, which he denies. The guidelines were back up late Thursday.

Some of the materials that vanished aimed to help agencies recruit diverse workforces and foster a sense of belonging for employees and students in schools across America. Critics say the rollbacks could result in dramatic shifts in hiring and a return to discriminatory practices of the past.

Israel might not finish withdrawal by deadline

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested Friday that Israel might not withdraw all of its forces from Lebanon by a deadline set in its ceasefire with Hezbollah, and Washington appears prepared to push for an extension.

Under the deal reached in November, Israel is supposed to complete its withdrawal from the country by Sunday. Hezbollah militants must pull back to the north of the Litani River, and the Lebanese armed forces would patrol the buffer zone in southern Lebanon alongside U.N. peacekeepers.

Netanyahu said in a statement that the ceasefire “is based on the understanding that the withdrawal process could possibly continue beyond the 60 days.” The statement went on to say that the Lebanese government hasn’t yet “fully enforced” the agreement, an apparent reference to the deployment of Lebanese troops.

The Trump administration believes that “a short, temporary ceasefire extension is urgently needed” in Lebanon, National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes said in a statement Friday.

U.S. freezes most foreign aid

The State Department on Friday froze new funding for almost all U.S. foreign assistance, making exceptions to allow humanitarian food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt to continue.

The sweeping order threatened a quick halt to countless projects globally aiding health, education, development, job training and other efforts by the United States, the largest provider of foreign aid. It appears to begin enforcement of a pledge to eliminate aid programs that President Donald Trump judges not to be in U.S. interests.

The order — sent in a cable to U.S. embassies worldwide and obtained by The Associated Press — prohibits new government spending, which appears to limit programs to running only as long as they have cash on hand.

The State Department during the freeze will conduct a review of which of the thousands of U.S. aid and development programs can continue.

Trump administration renames landmarks

The Trump administration said Friday that it had followed through on the president’s promises to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” and return Denali, the Alaska Native name for North America’s tallest peak, to its earlier name, Mount McKinley.

Changing the name of the Gulf as it is used in the United States is within the administration’s power. Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida has already started using the name “Gulf of America,” putting it in a winter weather warning that an area of low pressure was moving “across the Gulf of America” toward Florida.

Other countries don’t have to follow suit, though. When President Donald Trump announced his plan for the name changes, President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico responded by suggesting America should be renamed América Mexicana, or Mexican America.

Fla. trooper shoots suspect in hospital

A Florida Highway Patrol trooper fatally shot a suspect during an altercation at a central Florida hospital on Friday, authorities said.

The altercation happened in the emergency department at HCA Florida Ocala Hospital in Ocala, Fla., according to a statement from the hospital. The unidentified suspect died when the trooper used deadly force, the Ocala Police Department said in a statement.

No law enforcement officers or hospital staff were injured. The highway patrol requested the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the shooting, according to the police department.

Ocala is located about 80 miles northwest of Orlando.

TikTok user arrested for Trump threats

An Indiana man accused of using TikTok to urge attacks on the government and death to President Donald Trump has been arrested, the FBI said.

The man, 23, of Goshen, made a series of threats in videos posted to the social media site this week, authorities said.

He was in custody awaiting an appearance Monday in federal court in South Bend. He does not have an attorney yet who could respond to the charge of using interstate commerce to make threats.

In one TikTok video, the man said Trump needed to be killed “and this time don’t ... miss,” FBI agent Taylor Pletz said in a court filing. It was an apparent reference to an assassination attempt last July in Pennsylvania.

UN suspends trips into Houthi-held Yemen

The United Nations on Friday suspended all travel into areas held by Yemen’s Houthi rebels after seven more of their staff were detained by the rebels.

The Houthis have already detained U.N. staffers, as well as individuals associated with the once-open U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, aid groups and civil society.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres late Friday demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the seven, as well as all other U.N. who are being held by the Houthis, some since 2021.

Before Friday, the U.N. had a total of 16 Yemeni staff in Houthi detention. Staffers found seven others had been taken and halted their work, which provides food, medicine and other aid to the impoverished nation.

Rocker Manson avoids sex-abuse charges

Prosecutors said Friday that they will not file charges against Marilyn Manson after a years-long investigation of allegations of sexual assault and domestic violence.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said the allegations are too old under the law and the evidence is not sufficient to charge the 56-year-old shock rocker whose legal name is Brian Warner.

Nearly four years after the investigation began, then-District Attorney George Gascón said on Oct. 9 that his office was pursuing new leads that added to the “already extensive” file that authorities had amassed.

— From news services