Assistant

Advocates condemn change that caps loans at $20,500 per year – less than half median annual cost of PA programStrict new caps on federal student loans are causing would-be physician assistants to reconsider training, groups representing physician assistants said.An overhaul of the federal student loan system scheduled to go into effect 1 July strictly caps the annual amount of federal loans physician assistants can borrow to $20,500 per year – less than half the median annual cost of a PA program. Continue reading...

• France is investing an additional €655 million into artificial intelligence to strengthen its technological capabilities. • Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced the deployment of a "sovereign" conversational AI assistant designed for use by one million public sector employees. • This strategic move follows a global disruption of two leading American AI models by the U.S. Department of Commerce, highlighting the risks of relying on foreign technology.

Groff worked for Epstein for nearly 20 years, starting in 2001, in which her job was to ‘organize one man’s life’Lesley Groff, Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime executive assistant, is testifying on Tuesday before the House oversight and reform committee as lawmakers on the panel continue their investigation into the late convicted sex offender. Groff worked for Epstein for almost 20 years, beginning in 2001 and ending in July 2019 when he was arrested. Notes from a 2021 FBI interview with Groff, which was included in the millions of documents related to Epstein released by the Department of Justice earlier this year, state that she told agents that she began working for Epstein after she was contacted by a headhunter, who found her resume and told her that there “was a job to organize one man’s life”. Continue reading...

David Lammy to announce trial of AI assistants in crown courts in effort to cut backlog of casesA plan to roll out virtual legal assistants powered by artificial intelligence to crown courts has prompted warnings that the technology should not be used to “replace vital funding and additional court staff”.David Lammy, the deputy prime minister, will announce on Tuesday that AI assistants will be trialled in an effort to cut the backlog of court cases in England and Wales. Continue reading...

Hair stylist Frédéric Fekkai and ex-Miami Beach mayor Philip Levine accused in new testimony, lawmakers revealRepublican lawmakers have asked the Department of Justice to investigate sexual assault allegations involving two men made by Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime assistant.In a transcribed closed-door interview in late May, as part of a congressional investigation into Epstein, Sarah Kellen, one of the late sex offender’s former aides, told the House oversight and reform committee she was “sexually and psychologically abused” by him during her employment – but also alleged she was sexually assaulted by the French celebrity hairstylist Frédéric Fekkai, and by Philip Levine, the former mayor of Miami Beach, in separate incidents in the early 2000s. Continue reading...

Kenneth Iwamasa pleaded guilty over role in Friends actor’s death from drug overdose in 2023Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailThe personal assistant who injected Matthew Perry with ketamine several times with no medical training, including on the day the Friends actor was found dead in a hot tub at his Los Angeles residence, will be sentenced on Wednesday.Kenneth Iwamasa, 61, pleaded guilty to distributing ketamine that resulted in death or serious bodily injury. Prosecutors are seeking a sentence of three years and five months. Continue reading...

Sarah Kellen told lawmakers that convicted sex offender ‘sexually and psychologically abused me … and gaslit me’Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email One of Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime assistants has fiercely denied she was an accomplice of the convicted sex offender during a congressional interview, claiming she was “sexually and psychologically abused” by the late financier.“I am here today to answer your questions, to dispel rumors and conspiracies, and to tell you the truth,” Sarah Kellen told lawmakers on the House of Representatives oversight and reform committee on Thursday morning, as part of its ongoing review of the federal investigation into Epstein. Continue reading...

Ebony Parker was accused of ignoring warnings about six-year-old boy who shot and wounded his teacher in 2023Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailA Virginia judge has thrown out a case against an elementary school principal who was accused of failing to act on warnings that a six-year-old student had brought a gun to school, leading to the wounding of his teacher in 2023.The eight-count indictment against Richneck elementary assistant principal Ebony Parker was dismissed abruptly on Thursday on legal principles just one day after prosecutors rested their case. Continue reading...

• Google announced a new family of AI advances led by Gemini 3.5, which it said is rolling out first through Gemini 3.5 Flash to billions of users. • The company said Flash is its strongest agentic and coding model yet and that it is now the default model in the Gemini app and Google Search AI mode. • Google also introduced Gemini Omni for video generation from text, images, video, and audio, plus Gemini Spark, a cloud-based agent that can organize notes, emails, and chats.

Ebony Parker is accused of ignoring warnings that the student brought a loaded gun to a US elementary schoolSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailA former assistant principal at an elementary school in Virginia is due in court for trial on criminal charges of ignoring warnings that a six-year-old student brought a loaded gun to school which was later used to shoot his first-grade teacher.Ebony Parker’s criminal trial is set to start on Monday in Newport News. Continue reading...

• Penn State men's basketball team hired Dwayne Stephens, a former Michigan State assistant, as their new assistant coach on May 12, 2026. • Stephens spent nearly two decades with the Spartans under Tom Izzo before becoming a head coach at Denver and Wright State. • The hire strengthens Penn State's staff amid efforts to rebuild the program after recent seasons.

• Chandranath Rath, personal assistant to West Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, was assassinated in Madhyamgram, North 24 Parganas, hit by three of four bullets while in a moving car. • The killing occurred two days after BJP's historic assembly election win over TMC on May 6, 2026, heightening post-poll tensions. • TMC condemned the murder on Thursday, demanding a CBI probe, while Chandra's mother broke down publicly, calling for life imprisonment for the killers.