Elon Musk turned up at the Institute of Peace in Washington for the White House's "New Golden Age" summit, where President Trump hung the National Medal of Science around his neck and called him a "modern day Thomas Edison." Insiders describe the reconciliation after last year's very public blowup as "water under the bridge." The summit also drew OSTP Director Michael Kratsios, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.
AAA pegs the national average diesel price at a record $6.52 a gallon, up from about $3.72 before the war-driven supply crunch. Trump's executive order opening tax-free red-dyed diesel to on-road truckers could save over $100 per refill, and seven states have already waived their own restrictions. Industry groups warn it's the same fuel from the same strained supply — flexibility now, not a fix.
The Justice Department is investigating former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson over whether she lied to Congress during her 2022 testimony to the House January 6 Committee. Hutchinson was the committee's most-publicized witness, and her account of events inside the West Wing drove much of its public narrative.
A newly released Army investigation found cascading, systemic breakdowns — not a single error — led to last year's midair collision between an Army helicopter and a commercial airliner near Washington. The findings point to training, oversight, and airspace coordination problems that had gone uncorrected.
Iran-backed Houthi forces claim ballistic missile strikes on King Khalid International in Riyadh and the airport at Abha, killing three civilians and wounding 36. A parked Saudia airliner was heavily damaged by fire, Riyadh's airport closed again, and Lufthansa plus three Indian carriers have suspended flights.
CENTCOM says US forces have escorted more than 1.25 billion barrels of Gulf crude through the Strait of Hormuz while Iran has shipped none under what it calls an "ironclad blockade" of Iranian ports. Iranian President Pezeshkian says his country faces "all-out war in all dimensions" yet still wants diplomacy, and Trump insists "productive discussions" continue.
The new China-Laos Joint Logistics Airbase has opened on an airstrip American forces once used for covert operations during the Vietnam War. It's another concrete step in Beijing's push to project military power across mainland Southeast Asia.
NASA is extending two flagship planetary missions, citing records of success that have "increased our understanding of our solar system, as well as spurred new sets of diverse questions." Extensions are cheap science compared to new launches — you get fresh data from hardware already parked in the right orbit.
The FDA has expanded clearance for an accelerated Deep TMS protocol that compresses the initial phase of depression treatment from roughly four weeks of daily clinic visits to six treatment days. Alongside it, a wave of newly certified medical hardware is heading to market, including the first overground pediatric exoskeleton with powered ankle motion for children as young as two and a half.
Christa Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital during a failed lethal injection and is now walking again more than a week later, according to her attorney. She has pneumonia, can't swallow, and has a blood clot in one arm — her lawyer described her hands as looking "like if you were to blow up a surgical glove." The legal questions this raises are, to put it mildly, unsettled.
