Author: rpnadmin

With elite U.S. universities in President Trump’s crosshairs, the leader of Harvard University says institutions need to double down on their “commitment to the good of the nation” and be firm in what they stand for. The Trump administration, acting on its claims that Harvard has failed to stamp out antisemitism on campus, froze more than $2 billion in research grants and contracts in April and attempted to revoke the school’s ability to enroll international students last week. The university is suing the federal government for both actions. Harvard President Alan Garber told Morning Edition that he finds the measures…

Washington — President Trump said he would pardon reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who are in prison for charges that include bank fraud and tax evasion, in an emotional call with their children on Tuesday. “Your parents are going to be free and clean. I hope we can do it by tomorrow,” Mr. Trump said in a nearly two-minute-long clip of the call shared by a White House aide. “I don’t know them, but give them my regards and wish them a good life.” The couple was sentenced in 2022, with Todd Chrisley receiving 12 years and Julie Chrisley receiving…

With Federal Aviation Administration approval, SpaceX readied a gargantuan 400-foot-tall Super Heavy-Starship for its 9th test flight Tuesday — a launch featuring multiple upgrades in the wake of spectacular back-to-back upper stage failures during the previous two flights in January and March.Company founder Elon Musk planned to provide a post-launch update on his long-range plans to “make life multi-planetary,” presumably outlining the role the Super Heavy-Starship will play in eventual flights to Mars. He originally planned to speak before the latest launch but decided, without explanation, to hold it up until after the flight. SpaceX readies a Super Heavy-Starship rocket…

NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher testifies during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing at the U.S. Capitol on March 26, 2025. NPR and several member stations are suing the Trump administration over an executive order directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to stop funding NPR and PBS. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images/Getty Images North America hide caption toggle caption Andrew Harnik/Getty Images/Getty Images North America NPR and three Colorado public radio stations filed suit Tuesday morning in federal court against the Trump White House over the president’s executive order that purportedly bars the use of Congressionally appropriated funds for…

President Trump is pressuring California officials to prevent a transgender student from competing in the girls’ state track and field finals there, threatening to withhold funding if they don’t comply. Without naming the student, Mr. Trump took to Truth Social on Tuesday, advising that federal funding “will be held back, maybe permanently,” if state and local authorities don’t do as he says. The president signed an executive order in February banning transgender girls and women from competing on sports teams that match their gender identity, and stating that it’s the policy of the U.S. to “rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and…

Watch bear steal bird feeder camera Black bear films itself running away with stolen bird feeder camera 00:48 A black bear crashed through the ceiling of a home in southeastern Kentucky last week and ended up on top of a stove, state wildlife officials said. Photos show the furry intruder perched on top of the stove in the kitchen, where a warden and local sheriff’s deputy discovered the animal before chasing it from the property through an open door. The incident happened at a Bell County residence last Wednesday at around 5 a.m., according to the law enforcement branch of the…

Harvard University’s campus in Cambridge, Mass., pictured on Saturday, as students prepared to graduate. Zhu Ziyu/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Zhu Ziyu/Getty Images The Trump administration is asking federal agencies to cancel their remaining federal contracts with Harvard University, worth an estimated $100 million, according to a government official. A letter from the U.S. General Services Administration, which is dated Tuesday, tells agencies to submit a list of contracts they have terminated with the university by June 6. “Going forward, we also encourage your agency to seek alternative vendors for future services where you had previously considered Harvard,” reads…

Washington — NPR on Tuesday sued President Trump and administration officials over an executive order signed earlier this month that seeks to cut federal funding to the news organization and PBS.Filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., the suit was brought by NPR and three Colorado-based public radio stations. It argues that Mr. Trump’s executive order violates the First Amendment and provisions of the Public Broadcasting Act, which was passed by Congress in 1967. The plaintiffs also assert that Mr. Trump did not have the authority to stop federal funding for NPR and PBS, and his order should…

A man believed to be on drugs was shot and killed Monday by Florida sheriff’s deputies who had tried to shock him with a Taser as he wielded a set of garden shears shortly after he was apparently bitten by an alligator in a lake, a sheriff said.Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told reporters the two deputies were trying to de-escalate the situation before the man, identified as 42-year-old Timothy Schulz, climbed into their running patrol vehicle and tried to get the weapons inside. That’s when the deputies opened fire, Judd said.”This is just crazy stuff, OK?” Judd said. “You…

Stephanie Scarbrough/Associated Press This is Part 2 in our series on manufacturing in America. Part 1 asked why Americans aren’t filling the manufacturing jobs that are already here. Subscribe to the Planet Money newsletter for the next installment. As always, our podcast is here. Politicians in both big political parties have been trying to reengineer the U.S. economy to boost manufacturing. What makes manufacturing so special? Besides, you know, politics. Some writers and economists say that romanticizing this one particular sector of the economy is more about nostalgia or political pandering than rational thinking about what will best serve workers…