Author: rpnadmin

We need to be sending more federal research dollars to more people in more places. Instead, the government is doing the opposite. Ad Policy A memorial for the loss of funding for research and public health programs is placed in front of the National Institutes of Health on May 10, 2025.(Kayla Bartkowski / Getty Images) It has been a tumultuous few months for the National Institutes of Health (NIH)—a federal agency that funds billions of dollars in health-related research. From the very beginning of the second Trump administration, the ability of the NIH to support research has been severely hampered.…

The fire that destroyed the Clayborn Temple, a historic Black church in downtown Memphis that was the organizing point for Martin Luther King Jr.’s final campaign in 1968, was intentionally set, investigators said Wednesday.The Memphis Fire Department said the fire on April 28 was started on the interior of the church, and authorities are searching for a person of interest. Memphis Fire Chief Gina Sweat last month described the inside of the church as “a total loss.” Media Update: Clayborn Temple Fire Investigation pic.twitter.com/mcFaPmt9NW— Memphis Fire Department (@MEM_Fire) May 21, 2025 The fire department also released images of the person…

ICE officials and a prison contractor have refused to grant a contact visit between Mahmoud Khalil and his family, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, denying him the chance to hold his newborn son. The boy was born last month while Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student and Palestinian activist, remained in ICE custody in Louisiana.”After flying over a thousand miles to Louisiana with our newborn son, his very first flight, all so his father could finally hold him in his arms, ICE has denied us even this most basic human right,” his wife, Noor Abdalla, said in a…

A Qatari Boeing 747 sits on the tarmac of Palm Beach International airport after President Trump toured the aircraft on Feb. 15. The U.S. has since accepted the luxury Boeing jet from the Qatari royal family. Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images The United States has officially accepted a Boeing 747-8 luxury jetliner as a gift from the Qatari government, and the Air Force has been tasked with upgrading it to be used as a new plane for President Trump, according to an Air Force spokesperson. The spokesperson, who spoke on the…

The Trump administration on Wednesday said it placed eight migrant detainees with serious criminal records on a deportation flight that lawyers alleged was destined for the violence-plagued African country of South Sudan, in its latest attempt to deport migrants to countries that are not their own. The administration has not publicly disclosed the whereabouts of the flight, which a federal judge on Wednesday said “unquestionably” violated a court ruling blocking deportations to third countries without allowing detainees to contest their removal.Top Department of Homeland Security officials said the eight men were in the U.S. illegally and hailed from Cuba, Laos, Mexico,…

May 21, 2025 For all the deserved criticism of the American media, it remains one of the strongest pillars propping up what’s left of democracy in a time that’s been anything but good for the First Amendment. Ad Policy President Donald Trump speaks to the press on the South Lawn of the White House in 2018.(Jacquelyn Martin / AP Photo) This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To stay on top of important articles like these, sign up to receive the latest updates from TomDispatch.com. It’s not a good time to be an American journalist. Or a consumer of American journalism.…

Washington — The Defense Department said Wednesday it has accepted a Boeing jet from Qatar that will be retrofitted and used to transport President Trump.Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth accepted the Boeing 747 “in accordance with all federal rules and regulations.” “The Department of Defense will work to ensure proper security measures and functional-mission requirements are considered for an aircraft used to transport the President of the United States,” Parnell said.The New York Times first reported that the Pentagon had accepted the jetliner from the government of Qatar.Hegseth’s acceptance of the plane…

President Trump is meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House on Wednesday, with South African-born billionaire Elon Musk present, for a critical conversation amid tensions between the U.S. and South Africa.A White House official confirmed Musk will join the meeting with the two world leaders, as Mr. Trump echoes Musk’s claim that genocide is being committed against White Afrikaners. The U.S. accepted 59 White Afrikaners last week, granting them status as refugees. Mr. Trump has repeatedly said White farmers in South Africa have been targets of “genocide” — an allegation South Africa has rejected — and insists…

Adriana Smith remains on life-support at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. Brynn Anderson/AP/AP hide caption toggle caption Brynn Anderson/AP/AP Adriana Smith, a 30 year-old nurse and mother, was about nine weeks pregnant in February when doctors declared her brain dead after she suffered a medical emergency. But Smith’s mother, April Newkirk, told Atlanta TV station WXIA that doctors at Emory University Hospital have been keeping her organs functioning since then until the fetus can be delivered, citing Georgia’s law banning most abortions after fetal cardiac activity can be detected, or roughly six weeks into pregnancy. Smith is now roughly 22…

Washington — Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia died Wednesday, his family announced. He was 75 years old.Connolly’s death comes weeks after he announced that he would not seek reelection in 2026 and would be stepping back from his post as the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee because his cancer had returned.”It is with immense sadness that we share that our devoted and loving father, husband, brother, friend, and public servant, Congressman Gerald E. Connolly, passed away peacefully at his home this morning surrounded by family,” Connolly’s family announced in a statement. Melissa Quinn Melissa Quinn is a…