SpaceX launches its biggest, most beefed-up Starship yet on a test flight
SpaceX has launched its biggest, most powerful Starship yet. The rocket blasted off from the southern tip of Texas on Friday, carrying 20 mock Starlink satellites on a test flight extending halfway around the world. Nothing was recovered as planned. It’s the 12th test flight of the rocket that Elon Musk is building to get people to Mars one day. But first comes the moon and NASA’s Artemis astronaut program. SpaceX’s newest Starship model made its debut two days after Musk announced he’s taking his company public.
Tulsi Gabbard resigns as director of national intelligence, citing her husband's health
WASHINGTON (AP) — Tulsi Gabbard has resigned as President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence, saying she needed to leave office as her husband battles cancer. She is the fourth Cabinet member to depart during Trump’s second term, all of them women. In her resignation letter, which she posted on social media, Gabbard said she told Trump she would leave her job on June 30. She said her husband had recently been diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer and “faces major challenges in the coming weeks and months.” Trump posted that her principal deputy, Aaron Lukas, will serve as acting director of national intelligence.
Warsh is sworn in as the Fed chair after Trump's bid for greater control over the independent bank
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has overseen the White House swearing-in of the new Federal Reserve chair. Trump said Friday that he'd like Kevin Warsh’s help in stimulating the economy even as the president tried to emphasize that the nation’s central bank would remain independent. Trump has spent months criticizing Warsh’s predecessor, Jerome Powell, for being reluctant to cut interests rates. Warsh noted the Fed’s mandate “is to promote price stability and maximum employment" and he pledged that the central bank would pursue those aims with “independence and resolve.” It was unusual that the ceremony didn't take place at the Fed's headquarters.
Behavior of teen in mosque shooting led police to seize family guns a year before attack
Court records reveal new details about one of two teenagers who killed three people at a San Diego mosque. The records show that Caleb Vazquez was flagged to police for idolizing Nazis and mass shooters last year, and that his parents locked away their collection of 26 guns as a precaution under a protective order. Court records and a family statement say Vazquez had a history of mental health issues and was involuntarily hospitalized. His family said they tried to help him, but experts say online radicalization is difficult to combat. Authorities say Vazquez and Cain Clark met online, and that Clark's mother reported guns missing hours before the shooting.
Ugandans rue link to Bundibugyo, the Ebola virus type named after a district of cocoa farmers
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Bundibugyo is the somewhat easy-to-mispronounce name of a species of Ebola. But firstly it's a mountainous district in western Uganda that even some locals would struggle to pinpoint on a map. The district is home to roughly 200,000 people. Many are cocoa farmers who search for whatever cultivable land they can find in the impossibly steep landscape of hills and valleys marking Uganda’s border with Congo. Bundibugyo is a beautiful place. Yet it now trends for an unpleasant reason. That has caused some Ugandans to rue Bundibugyo’s association with the rare type of Ebola virus that has infected hundreds of people in eastern Congo.
1 person has died after blast at New York City shipyard that also injured 36 people, officials say.
NEW YORK (AP) — One person has died after blast Friday at a New York City shipyard, officials say. Officials said 36 people were injured, most of them firefighters and other first responders, and one civilian died. A firefighter and a fire marshal were inside the structure when a second explosion happened, and both were seriously injured by the shock wave from the blast. “This was a complex, fast-developing emergency situation,” New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said during a news conference Friday evening.
Rubio arrives in India ahead of Quad talks as US tries to reset strained ties
NEW DELHI (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has arrived in India ahead of a meeting next week with his counterparts from India, Australia, and Japan, members of the Indo-Pacific strategic alliance known as the Quad. The visit comes as Washington is seeking to stabilize relations with India after ties soured over President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, which raised duties on several Indian exports. Much of Rubio’s four-day visit, however, will focus on a multi-city tour, along with a gala reception in New Delhi marking the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence.
Coal mine gas explosion in China kills 82 people, state media say
BEIJING (AP) — A gas explosion at a coal mine in China’s northern province of Shanxi has killed at least 82 people. State media reported earlier Saturday that dozens were trapped underground. Official news agency Xinhua said the accident at Changzhi city’s Liushenyu coal mine happened on Friday evening and 247 workers were trapped underground. The agency initially reported early Saturday eight people were killed and 38 were trapped underground. The cause of the explosion was under investigation, Xinhua reported, and rescue work is pressing on.
Judge dismisses criminal charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A human smuggling case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia in Tennessee has been dismissed without a trial. Abrego Garcia's mistaken deportation to El Salvador last year became an embarrassment for President Donald Trump’s administration when it was ordered to return him to the U.S. Abrego Garcia claimed the timing of the criminal charges and inflammatory statements about him by top Trump officials demonstrated the prosecution was vindictive. A federal judge in Tennessee on Friday agreed to dismiss the charges. Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran citizen with an American wife and child who has lived in Maryland for years, although he immigrated to the U.S. illegally as a teenager.
Rubio reports 'slight progress' in Iran talks as Pakistan renews efforts to mediate a peace deal
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says “slight progress” has been made during talks with Iran. Rubio made the comment Friday as Pakistan’s army chief traveled to Tehran in a renewed effort to mediate a peace deal and uncertainty loomed over whether war will resume. The secretary of state's remark comes days after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was holding off on a military strike against the Islamic Republic because negotiations were underway. Trump has been threatening for weeks that the ceasefire reached in mid-April could end if Iran does not make a deal.
