
A top-ranked college may not be best for your kid. Give them these gifts instead
CNN
Around the United States, many families are helping teens make important decisions about their college education. While it might be tempting to push kids toward the most competitive school possible, experts urge parents to take a more well-rounded look at what is best.
It's hard not to let peer pressure and your own feelings get in the way as your child makes a decision that feels so public and important to their future, said Kymberly Spector, a parent of a high school senior in southern California.
"It does feel like, when you're in it, that this is the biggest decision and the biggest deciding factor of their future," she said, adding that she strives to keep her daughter's individual experience a priority over competition with other parents.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information that could have endangered US troops through his use of Signal to discuss attack plans, a Pentagon watchdog said in an unclassified report released Thursday. It also details how Hegseth declined to cooperate with the probe.

Two top House lawmakers emerged divided along party lines after a private briefing with the military official who oversaw September’s attack on an alleged drug vessel that included a so-called double-tap strike that killed surviving crew members, with a top Democrat calling video of the incident that was shared as part of the briefing “one of the most troubling things” he has seen as a lawmaker.

Authorities in Colombia are dealing with increasingly sophisticated criminals, who use advanced tech to produce and conceal the drugs they hope to export around the world. But police and the military are fighting back, using AI to flag suspicious passengers, cargo and mail - alongside more conventional air and sea patrols. CNN’s Isa Soares gets an inside look at Bogotá’s war on drugs.










