The ongoing fracas over the facade of Washington DC’s Kennedy Center reached a key moment Friday night in the US capital.An appeals court in Washington DC rejected an emergency appeal seeking to pause the removal of Donald Trump’s name from the building on Friday.Justice department lawyers for Donald Trump and his hand-picked Kennedy Center board filed the emergency appeal earlier in the day, asking the court to stay a judge’s order that his name be removed from the facade of Washington’s leading performing arts venue.The Kennedy Center filed its appeal shortly before the Friday evening deadline set by US district judge Christopher Cooper. Earlier on Friday, Cooper denied a last-minute bid by the center to keep his name on the building.As crews returned on Friday evening, onlookers gathered once again at the center to cheer on workers in hard hats and yellow vests gathering at the building, apparently ready to pry the president’s name from its marbled exterior. “Take it down!” they chanted.Court denies emergency appeal to retain Trump’s name on Kennedy CenterAn exuberant crowd gathered Friday night as workers continued to assemble scaffolding along the building, currently named the Donald J Trump and the John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.Many residents of the capital have viewed the rebranding of the Kennedy Center, and Trump’s other architectural ambitions, as narcissistic and anti-democratic. Carolyn, a 50-year-old retired government worker who did not wish to give her surname, said: “Putting his name on everything is right out of the dictator playbook.”Read the full storyUS justice department approves $111bn merger of Paramount and Warner Bros DiscoveryTrump’s Department of Justice has decided to approve the $111bn merger of Paramount Skydance, controlled by the Ellison family, and Warner Bros Discovery, the parent company of networks including CNN and HBO.The deal was approved by the justice department’s anti-trust division after months of review, and despite the concerns of many people in the entertainment and media industries who believe it will hurt competition by reducing the number of film studios and – most probably – merging two news networks, Paramount’s CBS News and CNN.Read the full storyUS-Iran peace deal remains elusive as Trump and Tehran trade conflicting claimsProspects for an immediate end to the war between Iran and the US remained uncertain on Friday amid a chaotic series of conflicting claims and counter-claims by US and Iranian officials about ongoing negotiations.Trump seemed to distance himself from his earlier comments that suggested a preliminary agreement could be signed as soon as this weekend, with a series of angry social media posts describing the Iranians as “very dishonorable people to deal with”.Read the full storyTrump asking Congress for symbolic expunging of his two impeachmentsThe president is pressing Congress to erase one of the darkest chapters of his political career, urging Republicans to pass a resolution that would symbolically nullify the two impeachments he suffered during his first term in office.The effort, first reported by the Wall Street Journal and confirmed by a White House official, would allow Trump to claim a symbolic victory on a key grievance from his first term. But experts say it would have little legal significance, since the constitution provides no procedure for undoing an impeachment.Read the full storyTrump officials cut federal funds to LA homeless services agencyThe Trump administration has suspended federal funding to Los Angeles’s beleaguered homelessness agency. The announcement is the administration’s latest move rescinding funding to California, where Donald Trump has feuded with the state’s Democratic leaders.Read the full storyWhat else happened today: