The Trump administration is demanding Harvard University provide detailed information on foreign funding and foreign-born faculty, alleging incomplete disclosures. This follows previous threats to withhold funding and revoke tax-exempt status. Harvard maintains its disclosures are accurate and compliant, citing decades of reporting. The administration claims concerns about foreign...
The Trump administration plans to reclassify approximately 50,000 federal employees, removing their civil service protections. This move, using a "Schedule Policy/Career" classification, allows for easier dismissal of employees deemed disloyal or incompetent. Critics argue this will create a "spoils system", leading to incompetence and corruption, undermining the merit-based...
The federal Covid.gov website, previously offering Covid-related resources, now redirects to a White House site promoting the lab leak theory of Covid-19's origin. This theory, favored by some Republicans, suggests the virus originated in a Wuhan lab. The change coincides with the release of a Republican-led House report...
A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration's policy banning the use of an "X" gender marker on passports. The policy, based on a narrow definition of sex, was challenged by the ACLU on behalf of transgender and nonbinary individuals. The judge ruled the policy...
A divided D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily halted Judge James Boasberg's investigation into whether the Trump administration committed criminal contempt by refusing to return deported Venezuelan gang members. The 2-1 ruling, with one judge dissenting, doesn't address the merits of the inquiry but sets deadlines for further filings...
A St. Petersburg court sentenced 19-year-old Darya Kozyreva to two years and eight months in a penal colony for repeatedly "discrediting" the Russian army. Kozyreva's actions included gluing a Ukrainian poem to a statue and giving an anti-war interview. The sentence, condemned by Amnesty International, follows a pattern...
A federal judge in Boston ruled in favor of six transgender plaintiffs, ordering the Trump administration to issue passports reflecting their self-identified gender, not their birth certificates. Judge Julia Kobick deemed the administration's policy unconstitutional sex discrimination, violating the Fifth Amendment and the Administrative Procedures Act. The ruling,...
Barbara Lee has surged ahead in the Oakland mayoral race, currently holding 53% of the vote after a ranked-choice runoff. This is a dramatic shift from election night, where Loren Taylor initially led. The final count, including late mail-in ballots, won't be complete for several weeks. In...
A federal judge temporarily blocked a Trump administration policy banning the use of an "X" gender marker on passports. Judge Julia Kobick ruled the policy violated equal protection, citing irrational prejudice against transgender individuals. The ruling allows six plaintiffs to obtain passports reflecting their gender identity and the ACLU...
The White House has replaced the COVID.gov website with a new page arguing for a lab leak origin of COVID-19. The site cites five points of evidence, including the virus's unique characteristics and researchers in Wuhan exhibiting COVID-like symptoms. It also alleges that Dr. Anthony Fauci and federal...
