Author: rpnadmin

BATON ROUGE, La. — President Trump’s preferred candidate for U.S. Senate in Louisiana is looking to clinch the GOP nomination Saturday and deliver another win for the president, who has sought to replace Republicans who cross him with hand-picked loyalists. U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, who was endorsed by Trump, and state Treasurer John Fleming are competing in the runoff. The two finished ahead of Sen. Bill Cassidy in the May 16 primary after Trump denounced the two-term senator, who voted to convict him following his 2021 impeachment. A Letlow victory would cap Trump’s primary efforts to unseat Republicans who have…

A New York judge ruled against a university that blocked a transgender athlete from competing in a women’s track meet, saying that state law banning discrimination based on gender identity supersedes President Trump’s executive order on female sports. State Judge Richard McNally rejected a motion from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to dismiss the lawsuit brought by Sadie Schreiner, a transgender runner who was barred from a 2025 women’s track meet hosted by the university. The institute cited Mr. Trump’s Executive Order 14201, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” but Judge McNally called the order an “interpretive statement that details the executive…

NEW YORK — About 3 million fewer people in the United States had Affordable Care Act health insurance plans in February compared with the same time last year, according to new federal data. In the report released Friday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services suggested the 13% drop in enrollment from 22.1 million people in 2025 to 19.2 million this year could be attributed to a federal crackdown on fraudulent or “phantom” enrollment. But health analysts said it was more likely related to the Jan. 1 expiration of federal subsidies, which caused a surge in plan costs that…

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said authorities temporarily removed his young twins from their home after he was anonymously accused of posing a danger to children in what he condemned as a “cruel, politically motivated hoax.” Mr. Buttigieg said the 4-year-old youngsters were taken to their grandparents’ house for 24 hours, and he was interviewed by police and Children’s Protective Services after an unidentified caller alleged that he had committed violent crimes. Michigan State Police told media outlets that the report was determined to be fake. “This week, the Michigan State Police received an anonymous report. The Michigan State Police…

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is many things. Murky. Peaceful. Stinky. The backdrop for protests, vigils, celebrations and stunning sunrise photos. Beset by gnats and algae. Scenery for a run. A key part of the capital’s carefully designed monumental core. The location of an iconic scene in “Forrest Gump.” One thing it’s generally not: a strictly enforced police zone. Entering the pool has always been illegal, but, in general, the most someone wading into the water might expect is a direction from a police officer to get out. People walk along the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Tuesday, June 23, 2026,…

The U.S. Navy and its defense industry partners are moving beyond the prototyping phase and toward production of cutting-edge drone boats, a key Pentagon official said this week, with expected increases in defense budgets set to help fund a revolution in unmanned maritime technology. Rebecca J. Gassler, the Navy’s portfolio acquisition executive for robotic and autonomous systems, told an audience in Washington on Wednesday that the Navy specifically needs medium unmanned surface vessels, generally defined as vessels between about 40 and 170 feet long. “The time is now,” Ms. Gassler said during a panel discussion on autonomy at this week’s…

A man who was accused of faking his own death in 2020 and fleeing to Europe to evade rape charges in the U.S. has died after he was taken to a hospital from a Utah prison, authorities said Friday. Nicholas Rossi was serving at least 10 years in prison for two sexual assault cases that went to trial in Utah in 2025, following a yearslong global saga to find him and then extradite him from Scotland. A judge had described him as a “serial abuser of women.” Rossi, 38, died Thursday night from “complications of an existing medical condition after…

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is handing down major opinions at a rapid clip, but even with some of the biggest decisions yet to come, there are signs of tension as the justices near the end of the term. A misunderstanding led to a highly unusual exchange for the restrained and traditional atmosphere after the nation’s highest court took the bench Thursday to hand down their decisions. Those rulings included two major immigration wins for President Donald Trump. After conservative Justice Samuel Alito finished his reading of the majority’s ruling limiting how people can seek asylum at the southern border,…

The Utah judge in the murder case over Charlie Kirk’s killing held prosecutors in contempt of court on Friday over comments they made to media organizations about defendant Tyler Robinson. Judge Tony Graf said the comments violated his restrictions on what the two sides can say about the case outside of court. But Graf denied a defense request to take the death penalty off the table as a sanction for the violation. He said the problem could instead be resolved through the screening and questioning process for potential jurors, which is intended to weed out people who could be biased…

Thomas Jefferson, the face of the nickel, is now the face of 250,000 special quarters the United States Mint is releasing to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary. They feature Jefferson on one face along with the words “In God We Trust,” “1776-2026” and the motto “E Pluribus Unum,” and a ringing Liberty Bell and the words “The Declaration of Independence” on the other side, along with a special “July 4th” privy mark, mint officials said Tuesday. The “July 4th” mark sets the 250,000 quarters apart from other Declaration of Independence-themed quarters, which will instead have the usual Philadelphia or Denver mint…