Author: rpnadmin

Washington — Secret Service suspended six personnel without pay as the agency faced intense scrutiny after the assassination attempt against President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, nearly a year ago. Matt Quinn, Secret Service deputy director, told CBS News that their penalty ranged from 10 to 42 days of leave without pay or benefits. The personnel were placed into restricted duty or roles with less operational responsibility upon their return. “We are laser focused on fixing the root cause of the problem,” said Quinn, who defended the agency’s decision to not dismiss anyone after the security failure on July 13, 2024, in which…

A person holds a telephone displaying the logo of Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI and its chatbot, Grok. Vincent Feuray/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Vincent Feuray/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images “We have improved @Grok significantly,” Elon Musk wrote on X last Friday about his platform’s integrated artificial intelligence chatbot. “You should notice a difference when you ask Grok questions.” Indeed, the update did not go unnoticed. By Tuesday, Grok was calling itself “MechaHitler.” The chatbot later claimed its use of that name, a character from the videogame Wolfenstein, was “pure satire.” In another widely-viewed thread…

The Justice Department filed a civil lawsuit against California’s Department of Education and a nongovernmental sports organization alleging that they violated federal civil rights laws by implementing policies that “force girls to compete against boys” in state athletic events. California’s policies, the Justice Department alleges in its complaint, “eviscerate equal athletic opportunities for girls” and cause “a hostile educational environment that denies girls educational opportunities.””The Governor of California has previously admitted that it is ‘deeply unfair’ to force women and girls to compete with men and boys in competitive sports,”  Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement.  “But not only…

Politics / StudentNation / July 9, 2025 Staff at Media Empowerment for a Democratic Sri Lanka never expected their small initiative to become the target of the kind of fake news it had actively worked to fight against. Ad Policy Protestors gather outside of USAID headquarters in Washington, DC.(Kayla Bartkowski / Getty Images) This story was produced for StudentNation, a program of the Nation Fund for Independent Journalism, which is dedicated to highlighting the best of student journalism. For more StudentNation, check out our archive or learn more about the program here. StudentNation is made possible through generous funding from The Puffin Foundation. If…

Washington — The Trump administration said Wednesday that it will be sending administrative subpoenas to Harvard University for information about its foreign students, the latest escalation in its ongoing battle with the Ivy League school.The Department of Homeland Security said the demand for information relates to Harvard’s certification under the Student Visitor and Exchange Program, through which the university can enroll international students.The administration first demanded Harvard hand over detailed records on its foreign student visa holders’ alleged “illegal and violent” activities in April. The school said in court filings that it turned over the information, but the Department of…

Washington — Former President Joe Biden’s White House physician appeared before the House Oversight Committee for closed-door testimony on Wednesday and declined to answer questions as the GOP-led panel ramped up its investigation into Biden’s age and health. The committee has sought Dr. Kevin O’Connor’s testimony as new reporting emerged earlier this year about the circumstances surrounding Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race and his mental acuity while in office. Meanwhile, President Trump ordered an investigation last month into “whether certain individuals conspired to deceive the public about Biden’s mental state and unconstitutionally exercise the authorities and responsibilities of the…

Good morning. You’re reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day. Today’s top stories The death toll in Texas has risen to 109 people after the devastating floods on July 4. Search and rescue efforts continue, and 161 people are known to be missing. State officials haven’t yet said they’re shifting to recovery efforts, but they confirmed the last time first responders found someone alive was Friday. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says first responders will continue working until “every missing person…

The death of a paddleboarder who went missing in Maine last week has been ruled a homicide, police said Monday.Sunshine Stewart, 48, was found dead during a search last Thursday on Crawford Pond in the town of Union, Maine State Police said in a statement. An autopsy by the state medical examiner’s office determined her death was a homicide, although the cause of death has not been released.  “At first, a lot of people thought it was a boating accident,” Kate Hamar, who lives in the area, told CBS’ local affiliate WGME.”It’s left everybody pretty shaken,” Hamar said. Kathy Lunt, the owner of…

Ad Policy (Madison Swart / Hans Lucas via AFP) Trump’s ICE is attacking undocumented people in LA County because there are a lot of them—maybe a million, out of a total of 3.3 million Latinos, and also because LA is one of the most Democratic counties in the country. And LA has a big and militant alliance of immigrant rights groups that are fighting Trump. Harold Meyerson will explain the deportation battle in Southern California at this point.  Also: Rachel Kushner will talk about the informant and provocateur who infiltrates an anarchist eco-commune in rural France – the central character in…

New Orleans —  An Iranian mother detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers was released this week following advocacy from Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.Mandonna “Donna” Kashanian, 64, was detained by ICE officers last month as she gardened in the yard of her New Orleans home. CBS New Orleans affiliate WWL-TV reports that it happened on June 22, the day after U.S. forces bombed Iran.She’s lived in the United States for 47 years and her husband of 35 years, Russell Milne, and 32-year-old daughter Kaitlynn are both U.S. citizens.Milne and Kaitlynn picked her up at an ICE detention…