diff --git a/agent/src/index.ts b/agent/src/index.ts
index 190e9254d9..c9fd57793b 100644
--- a/agent/src/index.ts
+++ b/agent/src/index.ts
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ import { newsPlugin } from "@ai16z/plugin-news";
 import { zgPlugin } from "@ai16z/plugin-0g";
 import { bootstrapPlugin } from "@ai16z/plugin-bootstrap";
 import createGoatPlugin from "@ai16z/plugin-goat";
-import { intifacePlugin } from "@ai16z/plugin-intiface";
+//import { intifacePlugin } from "@ai16z/plugin-intiface";
 import { DirectClient } from "@ai16z/client-direct";
 import { aptosPlugin } from "@ai16z/plugin-aptos";
 import {
@@ -483,7 +483,6 @@ export async function createAgent(
         // character.plugins are handled when clients are added
         plugins: [
             bootstrapPlugin,
-            newsPlugin,
             getSecret(character, "CONFLUX_CORE_PRIVATE_KEY")
                 ? confluxPlugin
                 : null,
diff --git a/packages/plugin-news/src/actions/news.ts b/packages/plugin-news/src/actions/news.ts
index 5304d9af19..887315bc64 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-news/src/actions/news.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-news/src/actions/news.ts
@@ -10,11 +10,15 @@ import {
     type Action,
 } from "@ai16z/eliza";
 
-
 export const currentNewsAction: Action = {
     name: "CURRENT_NEWS",
     similes: ["NEWS", "GET_NEWS", "GET_CURRENT_NEWS"],
     validate: async (_runtime: IAgentRuntime, _message: Memory) => {
+        const apiKey = process.env.NEWS_API_KEY;
+        if (!apiKey) {
+            console.error('NEWS_API_KEY environment variable is not set');
+            return false;
+        }
         return true;
     },
     description:
@@ -28,11 +32,6 @@ export const currentNewsAction: Action = {
     ): Promise<boolean> => {
         async function getCurrentNews(searchTerm: string) {
             try {
-                const apiKey = process.env.NEWS_API_KEY;
-                if (!apiKey) {
-                    throw new Error('NEWS_API_KEY environment variable is not set');
-                }
-
                 // Add quotes and additional context terms
                 const enhancedSearchTerm = encodeURIComponent(`"${searchTerm}" AND (Spain OR Spanish OR Madrid OR Felipe)`);
 
@@ -43,7 +42,7 @@ export const currentNewsAction: Action = {
                         `sortBy=relevancy&` +
                         `language=en&` +
                         `pageSize=50&` +
-                        `apiKey=${apiKey}`
+                        `apiKey=${process.env.NEWS_API_KEY}`
                     ),
                     fetch(
                         `https://newsapi.org/v2/top-headlines?` +
@@ -51,7 +50,7 @@ export const currentNewsAction: Action = {
                         `country=es&` +
                         `language=en&` +
                         `pageSize=50&` +
-                        `apiKey=${apiKey}`
+                        `apiKey=${process.env.NEWS_API_KEY}`
                     )
                 ]);