Live from NPR news in Washington, I'm Dan Roland.
President Trump has officially nominated Todd Blanch to serve as Attorney General and PR's Ryan Lucas reports.
“Todd Blanch previously served as President Trump's personal attorney, defending him against”
criminal prosecutions. After Trump returned to the White House, he tapped Blanch for the number two post at the Justice Department.
Blanch then stepped into the top job on an acting basis after Trump pushed out his first
Attorney General Pam Bondi in April. Since Blanch took over, the Justice Department has aggressively pursued the president's agenda, including prosecutions of Trump's perceived enemies. Blanch also has signed papers that would shield Trump, his family, and companies from IRS tax audits.
Blanch's recent work has won praise from Trump, but could complicate his road to confirmation in the Senate. Ryan Lucas and PR news, Washington. A federal judge has ruled President Trump's $100,000 fee for the H1B visa applications is unlawful.
“As NPR Sergio Martinez Beltran reports, the visas are given to highly skilled foreign”
workers. Boston Federal Judge Leo Sorokin ruled that $100,000 fee constituted a tax, something the president has no authority to implement. Before, the cost of H1B visa petitions ranged from $960 to about $7500. This ruling gives relief to employers, although the White House has said it will appeal.
This lawsuit was filed by 20 states, including California. The argued the fee would impede their ability to hire teachers for their primary and secondary schools, exacerbating existing teacher shortages. They also said it would lead to a decline in medical workers. Sergio Martinez Beltran and PR news Austin, Texas.
Discrete crypto currency executive Sam Bankman Freed is asking President Trump for a pardon. Bankman Freed is serving a 25 year sentence for fraud and money laundering. NPR's Bobby Allen reports. After months of praising Trump, Bankman Freed has formally asked for a presidential
pardon. A jury convicted the one-time crypto star in 2023. After prosecutors alleged he used money from his customers at the crypto exchange FTX to prop up another business and to pay for his luxury penthouse in the Bahamas. Bankman Freed was a Democratic mega-donor before he was sent to federal prison, but he
has since changed his tune, taking Jail House interviews with Fox News and celebrating President Trump. Trump has issued more than 1,600 pardon and clemencies in his second term. Most of those tied to the January 6 capital rioters. Bobby Allen and PR news.
One of Africa's top soccer referees, Oman Arton, will not be officiating the upcoming World Cup after being denied entry into the United States over the weekend. Arton is from Somalia and that nation is one of several currently under a wide-ranging travel ban imposed by the Trump administration. And from Washington, you're listening to NPR.
At least 35 people have been killed in the Philippines after a powerful 7.8th earthquake
shook the 7th part of the country on Monday and estimated 200 people have been injured, many of the deaths were the result of a landslide, buildings collapsed and the earthquake caused several small tsunamis, as far away as Japan, the country's president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is ordering a disaster response effort. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says, "Future doctors will need stronger knowledge
of nutrition-based medicine before they obtain a license to practice." NPR's Maria Gode reports the changes part of Kennedy's push to get medical schools to teach more about nutrition. Kennedy announced the change at a press conference Monday. He said nutrition will now account for about 15% of the content on the three-step medical
licensing exams that medical students are required to take in the U.S. That means nutrition will no longer sit at the margins of medical education. It will shape what students learn what physicians master, what licensing boards assess, and ultimately, how patients receive care. The groups that agreed to the plan include the national board of medical examiners, and
the national board of osteopathic medical examiners, Maria Gode and PR News. Apple Monday unveiled its upgraded Siri voice assistant that said its annual developer's conference in California. The changes include adding more AI into the operating system. Stocks finished Monday, mixed the S&P and the NASDAQ rose, the Dow was down.
This is NPR. Support for NPR. On June 11, the globe's biggest sporting event comes to North America, the FIFA World Cup.
The Super Bowl, and you might say, averages something over a hundred million live viewers,
“but the World Cup final, I think like five times that much.”
The favorites, the underdogs, and the Americanization of the world's game. Listen now to the Sunday Story from the Up First Podcast on the NPR app.
