SpaceX reveals plans for what could be the biggest-ever initial public offering
NEW YORK — Elon Musk announced plans Wednesday for one of the biggest stock sales ever by taking public a space company that is currently losing billions of dollars year. A filing shows that his SpaceX lost $2.6 billion from operations last year on $18.7 billion in revenue, and the...
RFK Jr. fires leaders of group that sets guidelines for preventive health screenings
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has fired the two leaders of an influential health group that determines when insurance must provide free preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies, for millions of Americans. In letters dated May 11, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. notified the two doctors who chaired the...
House committee discusses modernizing the TSA as Trump seeks to privatize airport screening
NEW YORK — A House committee on Wednesday expressed bipartisan support for ensuring Transportation Security Administration officers get paid during future government shutdowns and are equipped with the latest technology, discussing the agency’s future as the Trump administration lobbies to make airport screening a job for private contractors. Members of...
Republicans mull dropping $1 billion security money request for the White House and Trump’s ballroom
WASHINGTON — Republican senators are considering dropping a proposal for $1 billion in security money for the White House complex and President Donald Trump’s ballroom after it has failed to win enough party support on Capitol Hill. Pressured by the White House, Republicans have tried to add the money to...
3 dead in New Mexico and first responders decontaminated after exposure to unknown substance
MOUNTAINAIR, N.M. — Three people are dead and more than a dozen first responders had to be quarantined and assessed Wednesday for possible exposure to an unidentified substance after being called to a suspected drug overdose at a rural New Mexico home, authorities said. New Mexico State Police said three...
James Murdoch, media scion, strikes deal for New York Magazine and Vox
NEW YORK — Promising a commitment to “ambitious journalism and agenda-setting conversations,” media scion James Murdoch has struck a deal with the Vox Media digital company to acquire New York magazine, the Vox Media Podcast Network and the Vox editorial brand. The deal with Vox, widely seen as liberal-leaning, represents...
9 deportees from U.S. arrive in Sierra Leone under 3rd-country agreement
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — Nine migrants deported from the United States landed in Sierra Leone on Wednesday, the West African country said, in the latest example of the Trump administration’s widely criticized deals with African nations to take third-country deportees. Five migrants are from Ghana, two from Guinea, one from...
Officers who defended Capitol from rioters sue to block payouts from $1.8B ‘anti-weaponization’ fund
WASHINGTON — Two police officers who helped defend the U.S. Capitol from an attack by a mob of Trump supporters sued on Wednesday to block anyone — including Jan. 6, 2021, rioters — from receiving payouts from a new $1.776 billion settlement fund for people who claim to be victims...
Trump tells Coast Guard graduates they will ‘be tested’ in their military careers
NEW LONDON, Conn. — President Donald Trump told the U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s graduates on Wednesday that they show “unbelievable heroism and exceptional selflessness” but that the cadets will “be tested further” as they embark on their military careers. Trump’s remarks to the class of 2026 were the first time...
U.S. announces charges against former Cuban leader Raúl Castro in 1996 aircraft shootdown
MIAMI — Federal prosecutors on Wednesday announced charges against former Cuban President Raúl Castro in the 1996 downing of civilian planes flown by Miami-based exiles as the Trump administration escalated pressure on the island’s socialist government. The indictment was related to Castro’s alleged role in the shootdown of two small...
Residents of Lithuania’s capital told to shelter as drone alarm underlines NATO’s eastern jitters
VILNIUS, Lithuania — Residents of Lithuania’s capital were told to take shelter and the country’s president and prime minister were taken to safe locations Wednesday because of an alarm over drone activity near the border with Belarus, underlining jitters on NATO’s eastern flank over incursions related to Russia’s invasion of...
Barney Frank, a liberal congressman and trailblazer for gay rights, diesVideo
WASHINGTON — Barney Frank, the longtime Democratic congressman and leading liberal who brought new visibility to gay rights and crafted the most significant reforms to the financial system in a generation, has died. He was 86. Frank died late Tuesday, according to Jim Segel, Frank’s former campaign manager and close...
Putin and Xi hail their friendship and growing energy trade at their meeting in Beijing
BEIJING — Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed their strategic ties and growing energy trade as they met in Beijing Wednesday only days after a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump to China. Putin and Xi oversaw the signing of more than 40 cooperation agreements in...
Tennessee man jailed over Charlie Kirk post wins $835,000 settlement
Tennessee officials will pay $835,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a man who was jailed for more than a month over a Facebook post he made about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. While many people across the country lost their jobs over social media comments about Kirk’s...
Single Gen Z women outpace Gen Z men to homeownership despite overall decline in first-time buyers
LOS ANGELES — Single Gen Z women are outpacing their male counterparts when it comes to buying a home. They accounted for 35% of all homebuyers in their generation, while single Gen Z men represented 18%, according to survey data from the National Association of Realtors. NAR surveyed people who...
Ukraine ally Britain eases new sanctions on Russian oil as fuel prices surge over Iran war
LONDON — The U.K. government has delayed some new sanctions on Russian oil in an effort to shelter Britons from the cost-of-living squeeze triggered by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz in the Iran war. A trade license that came into effect Wednesday permits the import of Russian...
Ebola fears surge on the ground in Congo over rapid spread of a rare type
BUNIA, Congo — Anxious healthcare workers in eastern Congo said Wednesday they are underprotected and undertrained in a rapidly spreading Ebola outbreak of a rare type of the virus in one of the world’s most remote and vulnerable places. The region has long been threatened by armed groups that control...
Disney facing $5M lawsuit over use of facial recognition tech on park visitorsVideo
The Walt Disney Co. was hit by a new class action lawsuit — with park visitors alleging the company is illegally collecting their biometric information. Specifically, the suit cites Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park, saying they are not properly disclosing the company’s biometric collection policies for adult and child...
The UAE says drones that targeted its Barakah nuclear power plant came from Iraqi territory
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The drones that targeted the United Arab Emirates’ Barakah nuclear power plant all came from Iraq, the country’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday, an indication that Iraqi Shiite militias backed by Iran were likely behind the assault. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack...
Senate advances bill aimed at ending Iran war as Bill Cassidy, after primary loss, flips to support it
WASHINGTON — The Senate advanced legislation Tuesday that seeks to force President Donald Trump to withdraw from the Iran war, as a growing number of Republicans defied the president’s direction on a conflict that has spanned well over two months. Since Trump ordered the attack on Iran at the end...
The White House push for $1 billion in security funds is facing GOP oppositionVideo
WASHINGTON — A proposal to fund $1 billion in security additions for the White House campus and the president’s new ballroom is facing growing opposition from Republicans ahead of an expected vote this week, even as President Donald Trump and the U.S. Secret Service push for the money. Republicans are...
U.S. government agrees to drop tax claims against Trump in broadening of IRS lawsuit settlement
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government will permanently drop tax claims against President Donald Trump, according to a settlement document that is part of a deal to resolve Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns. As part of the settlement agreement, the...
Woman dies after falling into an uncovered maintenance hole in New York City
NEW YORK — A 56-year-old woman fell into an open maintenance hole on a busy New York City street and died, police and utility officials said as they investigated how it could have happened. The woman parked her Mercedes-Benz SUV right next to the maintenance hole Monday night near the...
NATO’s top officer doesn’t expect more American drawdowns beyond the 5,000 troops Trump announced
BRUSSELS — NATO’s top military officer said Tuesday that he doesn’t expect any more drawdowns of American troops from Europe — at least not anytime soon — beyond the 5,000 that U.S. President Donald Trump announced would leave the continent. The remarks by U.S. Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich follow Trump’s...
San Diego mosque shooters met online and left writings expressing hate, FBI says
SAN DIEGO — Two teenagers who shot and killed three people in an attack on a California mosque were radicalized online where they first met and shared white supremacist views, according to authorities and writings they authored. The pair “didn’t discriminate on who they hated,” Mark Remily, the lead FBI...
