President Trump announced Thursday an overhaul of two Biden-era EPA regulations on hydrofluorocarbons, extending deadlines for grocers and other businesses to phase out HFCs and exempting refrigerated transport from new leak rules. The administration says the changes will save businesses and consumers $2.4 billion per year by letting companies choose refrigeration systems that work best for them. The rollback loosens a 2020 bipartisan law that mandated a rapid phasedown of HFCs — chemicals thousands of times more potent than CO2.
The Justice Department on Thursday charged 15 people in connection with $90 million in fraud tied to Minnesota's Medicaid and social services programs, including what prosecutors called the "largest autism fraud" ever. Separately, Aimee Bock, the mastermind behind the $250 million Feeding Our Future pandemic meals scam, was sentenced to 41.5 years in federal prison — the culmination of the nation's largest COVID-era fraud case. Defendants in the new charges allegedly used stolen funds for luxury cars, Rolex watches, and overseas real estate.
The national average for a gallon of regular gas climbed to $4.564, setting a new 2026 high as crude oil remains elevated above $126 a barrel — its highest since the start of the Iran conflict. The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed, with 800 tankers among 3,200 vessels backed up, and analysts warn the national average could breach $5 per gallon if the blockade continues. Rising energy costs are emerging as a major political headache for Republicans heading into midterms.
The first poll since Tuesday's Georgia Republican Senate primary shows Rep. Mike Collins leading former Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley 54-37 ahead of the June 16 runoff. Collins, backed by Gov. Brian Kemp, is vying for the GOP nomination to take on Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff. The Quantus Insights poll of 782 likely Republican primary voters carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 points.
President Trump told reporters Wednesday he is giving Iran "one shot" for a deal that would immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz, insisting Tehran has agreed to no nuclear weapons and no enrichment. Project Freedom, the U.S. military operation guiding trapped ships through the strait, has been paused amid what the White House calls progress in negotiations. Meanwhile, Trump's $40 billion maritime shipping insurance program through the DFC has failed to draw a single buyer, and Iran has launched its own Bitcoin-backed insurance alternative.
The European Union agreed Tuesday to a provisional deal removing import duties on U.S. goods, fulfilling a key obligation under last summer's Turnberry Agreement. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen declared "A deal is a deal" as the bloc moved to avoid Trump's threatened tariff escalation ahead of the July 4 deadline. The breakthrough comes after months of friction over metals duties, the Greenland dispute, and what Washington saw as insufficient EU support during the Iran conflict.
British Health Secretary Wes Streeting resigned from the cabinet Thursday, telling PM Keir Starmer he has "lost confidence" in his "heavy-handed" leadership, and formally announced a leadership campaign. Streeting says he believes he has the 81 Labour MPs needed to trigger a challenge, and has endorsed Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham as a potential ally. Top Labour leadership contenders, including Streeting, have signaled openness to rejoining the EU — putting Brexit back on the political agenda.
The White House terminated every member of the National Science Board, the independent body created in 1950 to guide the National Science Foundation. Board members received letters from the Presidential Personnel Office stating their positions were terminated effective immediately. The administration framed the move as part of its push for "gold standard science," citing declining innovation and public distrust in the scientific establishment after COVID-19.
A hantavirus outbreak aboard the Dutch expedition vessel MV Hondius has killed three passengers — a Dutch couple and a German national — and infected at least 11 people across multiple countries. The Andes virus, carried by rodents in South America, has now been confirmed in passengers who returned to Canada and the United States after the ship departed Ushuaia, Argentina. Health officials are raising new questions about possible human-to-human spread of the rare respiratory pathogen.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed legislation legalizing Safe Haven Baby Boxes, bringing the total number of states offering the temperature-controlled surrender option to 26. The boxes — built into exterior walls of fire stations, police stations, and hospitals — allow at-risk mothers to safely and anonymously surrender newborns. Maine recently installed its first box at the Rumford Fire Department, and Alaska's Senate has passed its own baby box bill.
