- Important state and national stories, market and business news, sports and entertainment, delivered in quick-hit fashion to start your day informed.
In Mississippi
Ole Miss set for biggest game in Mississippi history
Ole Miss will play in their first-ever invite to the College Football Playoff against Tulane on Saturday, marking arguably the biggest in-state game in Mississippi history for one of the state’s college programs.
No. 6 Ole Miss (11-1, 7-1 SEC) will play host to 11-seed Tulane at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Sat., Dec. 20 at 2:30 p.m. CT on both TNT and HBO Max.
This is a rematch from earlier this fall when the Rebels triumphed over the Green Wave, 45-10.
This will be the 75th meeting all-time between the two schools in a long-standing series that dates back to 1893. On the field, Ole Miss leads 46-28, including a dominant 14-2 mark in Oxford.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Trump administration pauses immigrant visa program following Brown shooting
As the New York Times reports, “The Trump administration is suspending the immigrant visa program under which the man suspected of killing two Brown University students and an M.I.T. professor moved to the United States, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday night.”
“Claudio Manuel Neves Valente was issued a diversity visa in 2017 and became a legal permanent resident of the United States that year, according to immigration records in an affidavit filed by the police in Providence, R.I,” NYT reported.
“This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” Ms. Noem said on social media, per NYT.
NYT went on to report, “The Trump administration has pointed to recent violent events as evidence that its crackdown on immigration is necessary to protect Americans.”
2. Release of Epstein files expected today
The Hill reports that the Trump administration “is poised to release the highly anticipated Jeffrey Epstein files today, a major milestone after months of debate and speculation that caused a split within the president’s base.”
“Friday is the deadline set by the Epstein Files Transparency Act for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release all unclassified records and documents it has that are tied to the convicted sex offender,” The Hill reported.
The Hill added, “President Trump, who campaigned last year on releasing the materials, spent much of this year opposing the documents’ release. He reversed and backed releasing the files as congressional Republicans threw their support behind the bill to disclose them, which Trump signed last month.”
Sports
1. Lacy named 1st Team FWAA All-American
Ole Miss football sophomore running back Kewan Lacy has been named a first team All-American by the Football Writers Association of America, as announced by the FWAA on Thursday.
Ole Miss Athletics said this is the sixth All-America honor for Lacy, who was also the first Doak Walker Award finalist in Ole Miss history.
Lacy has been a second-team honoree on other All-America teams released by the Associated Press, AFCA, The Sporting News, Walter Camp and Sports Info Solutions. Lacy has also been a first-team All-SEC running back for both the AP and the league coaches.
Lacy has been one of the best rushers in the nation all season long for the 11-1 Rebels, currently holding a season line of 258 attempts for 1,279 yards and 20 touchdowns. Those 20 rushing scores shattered the previous single-season record at Ole Miss of 16 set by Quinshon Judkins in 2022, and it also gave him the all-purpose touchdown record of 17 that was set four times previously by Judkins (2022, ’23), Brandon Bolden (2010) and Deuce McAllister (2000).
2. MSU freshman has career night for women’s basketball team
Mississippi State freshman Madison Francis collected her first career 30-point game and was an integral part of helping the Mississippi State Bulldogs to an 11-1 record when they took down the Alabama State Hornets, 105-57.
MSU Athletics said Francis became the first Bulldog freshman to score at least 30 points since 2020 when Rickea Jackson scored 34.
She also joins Bulldog legends Victoria Vivians and LaToya Thomas as the only freshmen in program history to score at least 30 points in the game.
Markets & Business
1. Trump Media merging with nuclear fusion firm
According to the Wall Street Journal, “Trump Media & Technology Group agreed to merge with an Alphabet-backed fusion energy company in a merger valued at $6 billion, seeking to capitalize on the artificial-intelligence boom’s growing power requirements.”
“The all-stock transaction for TAE Technologies values each share of TAE stock at $53.89, but TAE is a privately held company, making the total value of its portion of the deal unclear. Trump Media, which has a market capitalization of around $2.9 billion, would provide $200 million in cash to TAE at the deal’s closing, expected in mid-2026, the company said,” WSJ reported.
WSJ continued, “The deal combines Trump Media’s ‘access to significant capital’ and TAE’s “leading fusion technology” to supply power for AI technology, the companies said in a statement Thursday. Under the deal, President Trump’s media company and TAE would split ownership of the combined company about evenly.”
2. Markets snap 4-day losing streak
CNBC reports that the S&P 500 and the Dow “both snapped their four-day losing streaks in the previous session. The Nasdaq Composite also rose, gaining 1.4%, as several tech stocks recouped losses from the day before.”
“Stocks on Thursday climbed after a lighter-than-expected inflation reading from November’s consumer price index report and gains in the market’s tech leaders. The CPI data — which reflected a 2.7% year-over-year jump in consumer prices, lower than expected — gave investors hope that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates in 2026,” CNBC reported.
CNBC noted, “To be sure, some economists warned that the methodology used in the data release — which was the first CPI report since the government shutdown this fall — could lead to a reacceleration in December’s inflation report.”
