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May 12 (UPI) — A nonpartisan office said Tuesday that President Donald Trump‘s proposed Golden Dome missile defense system could cost $1.2 trillion over two decades – far more than the $175 billion he said it would cost last year.

The Congressional Budget Office said in a report that this analysis isn’t based on final blueprints, as full details of the system’s architecture haven’t been announced, Time reported. It said this estimate shows the price of “one illustrative approach rather than an estimate of a full Administration proposal.”

The CBO said that acquisition costs for the system would alone cost more than $1 trillion, and of that, about 70 percent of the cost would be for the interceptor layer, orbital weapons meant to destroy missiles after they’re launched, The Hill reported. This would include about 7,800 satellites.

Gen. Mike Guetlein, the Pentagon official in charge of the project, said in March that it would cost about $185 billion. The CBO report said that this difference in estimated price may mean that the “objective architecture is more limited” for the project than the system accounted for by the CBO, The Hill reported.

Congressional Republicans have earmarked $25 billion for the project in the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The Pentagon has asked for $17 billion more in a reconciliation bill this year.

The Trump administration’s fiscal 2027 budget request, which includes $750 billion earmarked for the Golden Dome system, says the system “keeps Americans safe, while using innovative program management and acquisition approaches to prudently employ taxpayer dollars,” The Hill reported. Trump has said he wants the system operational by the end of his term.

The CBO said the system it used in its estimate could counter a limited attack but would be overwhelmed by a large-scale one, Time reported. Israel’s similar air-defense system, often called the Iron Dome, has intercepted missiles from Iran and other localized groups but is meant for a smaller area and shorter-range threats, as opposed to the United States’ need to defend a much larger area from long-range attacks, it said.

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., requested the CBO report. He said Tuesday that the report shows the Golden Dome project “is nothing more than a massive giveaway to defense contractors paid for entirely by working Americans” that will “do little to advance American national security.”

May 12 (UPI) — Polycystic ovary syndrome, known to more than 170 million women suffering from the condition worldwide, was renamed polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome Tuesday by patients and medical organizations.

PMOS causes fluctuations in hormones, with impacts on weight, metabolic and mental health, skin and the reproductive system.

“For too long, the name reduced a complex, long-term hormonal or endocrine disorder to a misunderstanding about ‘cysts’ and a focus on ovaries. This contributed to missed diagnoses and inadequate treatment,” a press release from the Endocrine Society said.

Professor Helena Teede, director of Monash University’s Monash Centre for Health Research & Implementation and an endocrinologist at Monash Health in Melbourne, Australia, led the name change process after spending decades researching the condition and seeing the patient impacts firsthand, the release said.

“What we now know is that there is actually no increase in abnormal cysts on the ovary, and the diverse features of the condition were often unappreciated,” Teede said in a statement. “It was heart-breaking to see the delayed diagnosis, limited awareness and inadequate care afforded those affected by this neglected condition.

“While international guidelines have advanced awareness and care, a name change was the next critical step towards recognition and improvement in the long-term impacts of this condition.”

While the name change was published Tuesday in The Lancet, it took 14 years of collaboration between those who live with the condition and experts.

Teede led the name change process with Professor Terhi Piltonen, president of the International Androgen Excess and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Society from Oulu University and Oulu University Hospital, Finland, and AE-PCOS Society Executive Director Anuja Dokras from the United States and Chair of Verity Rachel Morman. There were 56 other patient and professional organizations involved.

“It was essential that the new name was scientifically correct but also considered across diverse cultural contexts to avoid certain reproductive terms that could heighten stigma and be harmful for women in some countries,” Piltonen said in a statement. “This made a culturally and internationally informed consultation critical to getting it right.”

May 12 (UPI) — Prices for consumer goods rose faster than expected in April, with food and energy prices driving the spike, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Tuesday.

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers increased 0.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis in April, after rising 0.9% in March, the BLS said. Over the past 12 months, the all-items index increased 3.8% before seasonal adjustment.

The energy index rose 3.8% in April, which was more than 40% of the increase. That put the 12-month rise at 17.9%. The gasoline index rose 28.4% annually.

Airline fares rose 2.8%, making the 12-month rise at 20.7%, CNBC reported.

Food prices rose 0.5% for the month. The price of food at home rose 0.7%, which is the biggest monthly rise since August 2022, CNBC reported. The price for food away from home increased 0.2%, the BLS said.

When excluding energy and food, prices rose 0.4% in April. Those prices are calculated from household furnishings and operations, airline fares, personal care, apparel and education. That number puts inflation higher than the 2% goal set by the Federal Reserve, with the monthly rate at its highest since January 2025.

But the index for new vehicles, communication and medical care decreased in April. New vehicles and communication declined 0.2%, while medical care declined 0.1%. Used vehicle prices stayed flat.

Workers are feeling the pinch, too, as real average hourly wages dropped 0.5% for the month and 0.3% annually.

“Inflation is the key drag on the U.S. economy now,” said Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, CNBC reported. “This is hurting Americans. There is a real financial squeeze underway. For the first time in three years, inflation is eating up all wage gains. This is a setback for middle-class and lower-income households and they know it.”

Whether the Fed will lower interest rates in the wake of rising inflation is a concern for economists.

“Given that inflation is heading in the wrong direction and the labor market is holding up, it’s very unlikely that the Fed will be able to lower interest rates any time soon, and it’s possible that we may start pricing in rate hikes for next year,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Northlight Asset Management, CNBC reported.

May 11 (UPI) — A gunman armed with an assault-style rifle fired dozens of rounds at vehicles as he walked Cambridge’s iconic Memorial Drive, seriously wounding two people before being shot by state police and an armed bystander, authorities said.

The suspect, identified as 46-year-old Tyler Brown of Boston, suffered multiple gunshot wounds to his extremities and was taken for treatment to a Boston hospital, where he remains under police custody in the intensive care unit.

The shooting began around 1 p.m. EDET, authorities said.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan told reporters during a Monday evening press conference the suspect was firing erratically at vehicles as he walked east down the center of the famous drive that banks Charles River near Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Two males in separate cars driving the street, one a ride-share driver, were shot, suffering life-threatening injuries, she said, adding: “That does not begin to address the trauma experienced by everybody who was out there: Those individuals on the river walking, pushing baby carriages, riding by.”

“We know that that weapon had the capacity to have struck people on the other side of that river,” she said.

The suspect fired upwards of 60 rounds, striking “at least a dozen” vehicles, Ryan said, adding that people were jumping from their cars and scattering in all directions, unsure of where to find safety. Some hid under their vehicles, she said.

A Massachusetts State Police trooper responding to the shooting and a civilian, a former Marine in legal possession of a firearm, confronted the suspect, who is accused of continuing to fire, striking the cruiser the trooper had exited.

The shooting ended when the trooper and civilian opened fire on the suspect.

“Clearly people’s lives were at risk,” Ryan said.

Ryan said they expect to charge Brown with two counts of armed assault with intent to murder, firearms offenses and potentially other offenses to be determined by the ongoing investigation.

Brown was moving to Cambridge and was under the supervision of either the Massachusetts Probation Department or the Department of Parole, Ryan said, adding that his criminal record, if there is one, will be addressed at his arraignment.

Boston Police had initially notified Cambridge Police at 1:06 p.m. of a person observed acting erratically while of a rifle, according to Ryan, who told reporters that they are still investigating how he came to be on the drive.

Cambridge Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui said she is “deeply grateful” to the first responders who acted, stating their “swift action protected our community during a dangerous and rapidly evolving situation.”

“My thoughts are with the individuals who were injured, those affected by today’s violence and victims of gun violence everywhere,” she said in a statement.

“I recognize how frightening this incident was for community members, and your safety is my first concern.”

May 11 (UPI) — President Donald Trump‘s annual dental and medical evaluations are scheduled for May 26, the White House announced on Monday evening.

At 79, Trump is the second-oldest person to serve as president and was the oldest to be sworn into a new term. Questions about his health and mental fitness that surfaced during his first administration have intensified since he returned to the White House last year amid reports and images that appear to show him falling asleep during public events, as well as makeup covering apparent bruises on his hands.

The evaluations are to be conducted at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland, the White House said, stating it is part of Trump’s “regular preventive healthcare.”

Trump frequently boasts about his physical health and mental acuity amid questions about whether his age could affect his ability to carry out the duties of his office.

In October, Trump underwent what administration officials initially described as “a routine yearly check-up,” which would have been his second in six months.

After the examination, Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, physician to the president, said Trump “remains in exceptional health” following what he called “a scheduled follow-up evaluation.”

The White House said that while in Maryland for the annual evaluations, Trump will “spend time with service members and staff at Walter Reed in recognition of their service, professionalism and dedication to the nation.”

May 11 (UPI) — President Donald Trump will be accompanied by 16 senior executives of U.S. companies for his trip to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The White House on Monday shared a list of the executives, which include Tesla’s Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook, BlackRock’s Larry Fink and Boeing’s Kelly Ortberg, among others.

Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins was unable to join the trip, however executives from Blackstone, Cargill, Citigroup, Coherent, GE Aerospace, Goldman Sachs, Illumina, Matstercard, Meta, Micron Technology, Qualcomm and Visa will also travel to China with Trump.

Trump is expected to discuss trade, artificial intelligence, Taiwan and the Iran War, with the creation of a board of investment and a board of trade with China high on his list of goals for his meetings with Xi.

“We’re doing a lot of business [with China], but it’s smart business,” Trump told reporters during a press briefing in the Oval Office on Monday.

“We used to be taken advantage of for years with our previous presidents,” he said. “And now we’re doing great with China. We make a lot of Monday with China.”

The U.S. caravan will depart for Beijing on Tuesday, with meetings scheduled for the rest of the week between the two delegations.

Each of the executives traveling for the meetings has significant business interests in China, which is why they were asked to join Trump for the trip, White House officials have said.

May 11 (UPI) — Google announced Monday that it identified a cyber threat it believes hackers developed using artificial intelligence, meant to exploit networks on a large scale.

Google Threat Intelligence Group said the hackers were using a zero-day exploit, a security vulnerability that is unknown to security companies, and planned to use it for mass exploitation.

Google said this is the first time it has identified a threat with evidence that AI was used to develop it.

“AI-enabled malware, such as PROMPTSPY, signal a shift toward autonomous attack orchestration, where models interpret system states to dynamically generate commands and manipulate victim environments,” Google Threat Intelligence Group said in a news release.

Google’s AI Gemini and Claude Mythos were highlighted as AI models it does not believe were used in this threat attempt.

If the threat was successful, hackers would have been able to bypass two-factor authentication on “a popular open-source, web-based system administration tool,” Google said. The attempt occurred within the last couple months but Google did not specify when exactly.

AI is also being used for cybersecurity, as a tool to identify potential security risks. Google says Monday’s report shows criminal hacker groups are also interested in using AI for their goals.

“For every zero-day we can trace back to AI, there are probably more out there,” John Hultquist, chief analyst at Google Intelligence Group, said in a statement. “Threat actors are using AI to boost the speed, scale, and sophistication of their attacks.

May 11 (UPI) — A nonprofit organization filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration Monday over renovating the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

The lawsuit, filed by the Cultural Landscape Foundation and founder Charles Birnbaum, argues that the National Mall renovation violates environmental and preservation laws without proper authority by changing the “historic character” of the reflecting pool.

“The dark grey, achromatic basin was not incidental to the design,” the lawsuit reads. “It was the design.”

The lawsuit seeks a preliminary injunction to block the renovation from moving forward.

The National Historic Preservation Act, the main law cited in the lawsuit, requires a review process before changing historic properties like the reflecting pool.

The Trump administration plans to add a coat of “American flag blue” paint to the base of the reflecting pool.

“The [Interior] Department is proud of the work being carried out by our Park Service to ensure this magical spot can be enjoyed for not only our 250th, but for many generations to come,” the Interior Department said in a statement.

The Cultural Landscape Foundation called the project and other renovations led by President Donald Trump, such as the demolition of the East Wing of the White House to build a ballroom, a “desecration.”

“A blue-tinted basin is more appropriate to a resort or theme park,” Birnbaum said in a statement.

Trump announced the project last month with an estimate for it to be completed by July 4.

May 11 (UPI) — AAA estimates that 45 million Americans will be traveling at least 50 miles from home over Memorial Day weekend, a slight uptick over last year.

AAA reported its estimate on Monday, forecasting an uptick in travel between Thursday, May 21 and Monday, May 25. Last year about 44.8 million people traveled for Memorial Day weekend.

About 39.1 million people are estimated to be hitting the road while another 3.66 million will fly and 2.22 million will take other forms of travel.

“Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer, and for most Americans, it’s a three-day weekend,” Stacey Barber, AAA vice president, said in a statement. “Travel demand remains strong, and despite higher fuel prices, many people are prioritizing leisure travel during holiday breaks.”

AAA said last year the average gallon of regular gasoline cost $3.17 on Memorial Day.

Fuel prices remain high across the United States as the war in Iran drags on. The average cost of a gallon of regular gasoline in the United States is $4.52. That is up from $4.45 last week, $4.13 last month and $3.13 a year ago.

Oil prices climbed again on Monday, following President Donald Trump‘s statement that Iran’s response to the United States’ latest peace proposal was “totally unacceptable.”

Brent crude oil increased by 4% to $105.50 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate rose 4.4% to $99.80.

May 11 (UPI) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said his department will “review” comments made by Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., about the U.S. military’s weapons stockpiles.

Hegseth’s renewed criticism into Kelly came in response to the senator’s appearance Sunday on CBS’ Face the Nation. Kelly, a retired Navy captain and former astronaut, said he received Pentagon briefings and it was “shocking … how deep we have gone into these magazines.”

“We’ve expended a lot of munitions. And that means the American people are less safe. Whether it’s a conflict in the western Pacific with China or somewhere else in the world, the munitions are depleted,” Kelly said.

In a post on X on Sunday evening, Hegseth questioned whether Kelly violated his oath by discussion the matter publicly.

“Now he’s blabbing on TV (falsely & dumbly) about a *CLASSIFIED* Pentagon briefing he received,” Hegseth said in his post, promising to have the Pentagon’s legal counsel review the comments.

Kelly said the information he shared wasn’t classified because Hegseth spoke on the topic during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Armed Services last week.

“We had this conversation in a public hearing a week ago and you said it would take ‘years’ to replenish some of these stockpiles. That’s not classified, it’s a quote from you.”

Kelly also shared a video of Hegseth’s comments from the hearing in his response on X.

The two leaders have been embroiled in a legal battle after Hegseth tried to censure and demote Kelly from his military rank over comments he made in November telling service members that they have the right and duty to ignore “unlawful orders” made by the Trump administration. Hegseth also sought to reduce Kelly’s retirement pay, calling his remarks “seditious.”

May 10 (UPI) — Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday the Trump administration is “open” to the possibility of suspending the federal tax on gasoline sales as prices spike amid the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.

Wright said during an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press he and Trump are “open to all ideas” to lower energy prices, including following the lead of some U.S. states in temporarily shelving taxes on gas at the pump amid the price surge.

“All measures that can be taken to lower the price at the pump and lower the prices for Americans, this administration is in support of,” he said. “We are constantly looking for different ideas.”

Citing previous measures such as releasing oil from the U.S. strategic petroleum reserves and “revising federal regulations on summer gasoline blends to make it easier for American refineries to produce more gasoline,” Wright said the suspension of the 18-cents-per-gallon federal tax on gas is also on the table.

“We are working every day to offset this rise in prices because of a critical conflict in Iran to drive prices down, and we’re open to all such ideas,” he said.

Wright’s comments came as the average national price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline stood at $4.52 per gallon as of Sunday, according to the Automobile Association of America.

U.S. drivers have seen sharp increases in pump prices in recent weeks after Iran blocked the vital Strait of Hormuz waterway connecting Persian Gulf oil and natural gas producers with world markets.

The move came in retaliation to a wave U.S.-Israeli bombing attacks on Iran beginning Feb. 28, which Washington and Tel Aviv claim were necessary to prevent the imminent development of a nuclear weapon by Iran’s rulers.

The price of regular gas last week surged 25 cents for the second consecutive week to $4.55 — $1.40 higher than they were a year ago and marking their highest level since 2022, the AAA reported.

Crude oil prices have dipped below $100 per barrel while a fragile cease-fire between the United States and Iran has been in place and negotiations to reopen the Strait have been ongoing. But with global oil supplies tightening, upwards pressure on pump prices continues.

In a separate appearance on CBS News’ Face the Nation on Sunday, Wright refused to predict were gas prices were heading.

“I don’t know the future of gas prices,” he said while admitting that “gasoline and diesel prices are up, and they will remain up while this conflict’s in place, and then they will come back down.

“And, ultimately, they’ll come back down lower than they were before.”

May 8 (UPI) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio highlighted his support for NATO, the pope and Italy on Friday during his visit to the country, but said President Donald Trump may still continue social media attacks.

“The president will always speak clearly about how he feels about the U.S. and U.S. policy,” Rubio said after being asked by reporters in Rome if he would ask Trump to limit his verbal attacks. He said, “the president of the United States is always going to act on what’s in the best interest of the United States.”

He added that Trump’s decision to remove troops from Germany was already in the works.

“There was always a plan to do some shifting within NATO,” Rubio said. He added that the troops that are being removed from Germany “represent less than 14% of our total troop presence there.”

Rubio, who visited Pope Leo XIV with his wife and several State Department employees Thursday, gifted the pope a crystal football with the State Department’s logo on it, while the pope gave Rubio a pen made from an olive branch.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni gave Rubio documentation of his family’s Italian origins in Piedmont, in the country’s northwest.

Rubio said it was a “true honor” to get the documentation. He said visiting Piedmont is “one more reason to be back” in Italy. He’ll give a speech in Italian next time he visits, he said.

“I need to learn a third language,” Rubio said.

Meloni and Trump had been cordial until the president began attacking the pope and Italy stayed out of the war in Iran.

Meloni said the meeting was a “frank dialogue, between allies who defend their own national interests but who both know how precious Western unity is.”

Polls in Italy show that most Italians are against joining the war against Iran. Meloni said, “we are not at war, and we do not want to go to war.”

May 8 (UPI) — Consumer sentiment in the United States has hit another record low as Americans worry about the cost of life as gas prices continue to rise amid the war in Iran.

A monthly University of Michigan survey found that consumer sentiment dropped 3.2% in the last month — from 49.8 to 48.2 — and was down 7.7% over the course of the year, the university’s Institute for Social Research said on Friday.

Joanne Hsu, director of the university’s Surveys of Consumers, said that consumer sentiment is “essentially unchanged” from April, while the current economic conditions survey dropped 9% because of high prices affecting personal finances and whether people will make major purchases.

The decline in the current economic conditions survey was down nearly 19% from last year.

She pegged the survey results to the effects of the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, and specifically the widespread effects that Iranian and U.S. blockades of the Strait of Hormuz have had on the global economy.

“Taken together, consumers continue to feel buffeted by cost pressures, led by soaring prices at the pump,” Joanne Hsu, director of the survey, said in an analysis.

“Middle East developments are unlikely to meaningfully boost sentiment until supply disruptions have been fully resolved and energy prices fall,” she said.

Hsu noted that, in the surveys, “about one-third of consumers spontaneously mentioned gasoline prices, and about 30% mentioned tariffs.”

The index of consumer expectations did, however, show a 0.8% gain from last month, and is up 1.3% over last year.

May’s consumer sentiment survey is the lowest going back to 1952 — April also set a record — although markets did not react significantly after the institute published its preliminary data for this month’s surveys.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday also released its April jobs report, which showed that the economy gained 115,000 non-farm payroll jobs — more than double what Wall Street expected — but down from the 185,000 added in March.

For the 12 months ended in April, BLS noted that net payrolls were relatively unchanged.

The unemployment rate for April was unchanged from March at 4.3%.

May 8 (UPI) — The Department of Government Efficiency illegally canceled roughly $100 million in grants that Congress had approved the National Endowment for the Humanities to award, a judge ruled.

U.S. District Court Judge Colleen McMahon said Thursday in a 143-page decision that DOGE and the Trump administration had “no constitutional authority to block, amend, subvert or delay spending appropriations based on the president’s own policy preferences,” CBS News and The Washington Post reported.

DOGE used ChatGPT to revoke grants the NEH had already awarded that it thought were related to diversity, equity and inclusion programs the administration sought to rapidly eliminate throughout the federal government in 2025.

The NEH was one of 16 “small agencies” that President Donald Trump last May marked for elimination in his 2026 budget proposal, which the DOGE effort, as spearheaded by Elon Musk, had already started culling expenditures from.

“The termination of NEH grants challenged in this action was unlawful because it was undertaken in violation of the First Amendment, in violation of the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment and without statutory authority,” McMahon wrote in the decision.

The lawsuit was brought by the American Council of Learned Societies, the American Historical Association and the Modern Language Association of America after DOGE cut more than 1,400 grants that had been awarded to scholars, research institutions and humanities organizations.

McMahon said that because Congress had not given DOGE the authority to “identify, select or direct the termination of the grants,” she permanently enjoined the government from terminating all of the grants referenced in the lawsuit, as well as from cutting any others using the arguments rejected in the ruling.

Representatives of the three organizations hailed the ruling and said they would continue to push for the full restoration of all the NEH grants, which includes “staff, programs and capacity to serve the public it was created to support.”

“This ruling is an important achievement in our effort to restore the NEH’s ability to fulfill the vital mission with which Congress charged it,” Sarah Weicksel, executive director of the American Historical Association, said in a press release.

“From history exhibitions and path breaking scholarship to library programs and professional development opportunities, the humanities help us understand our past and ourselves, providing all of us with the essential tools for our future,” she said.

May 9 (UPI) — A man accused of shooting and injuring three Syracuse, N.Y., police officers surrendered without incident Saturday after an hours-long standoff in the city, authorities said.

The suspect surrendered to police at 3:15 p.m. Saturday, nine hours after barricading himself in an apartment complex on the city’s south side, Syracuse Police Chief Chief Mark Rusin told reporters.

The man’s arrest came after he allegedly fired shots at officers who had formed a perimeter around the building, hitting two of them in the arm and another in the hand, the chief said.

“They’re in stable condition,” he said. “Most of the injuries are to their arms, to their hands, but they are in stable condition and they’re with their families right now, so the officers are okay.”

The incident began at 6:30 a.m. with a call to police about a man with a machete menacing people and a dog and escalated from there.

It drew a large cadre of responding units, including the Syracuse Police Department’s SWAT team, the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office, New York State Police and the FBI.

Residents from the surrounding area were evacuated from their homes during the standoff.

Rusin said the suspect, who is expected to be arraigned on Sunday, could face attempted murder charges for shooting at the officers, as well as possible charges of assault and criminal weapons possession.

Syracuse Mayor Sharon Owens praised the responders for their “outstanding coordination.

“This community should be very proud of the coordinated efforts of all of our law enforcement and emergency services teams to bring this situation to a close, which what is obviously — aside from our officers being harmed — the best scenario we can get with what we have.”

May 9 (UPI) — Multiple injuries were reported Saturday in what rescuers called a “mass casualty” event involving a possible boat explosion at a popular Miami sandbar.

First responders to the scene of a possible boat explosion at around 12:45 p.m. “found multiple patients with various injuries, some burned, some minor injuries,” Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Juan Arias told reporters.

“All patients were treated and transported to local hospitals,” he said, adding that the incident was designated as a “level 2 mass casualty incident, which gives us the sufficient amount of units on scene to go ahead and deal with the number of patients that we had.”

Arias said the injuries were from burns and that some victims suffered “traumatic” injuries.

The U.S. Coast Guard and Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission personnel also responded to the scene at Haulover Sandbar, a favorite party cruise spot for tourists located in Biscayne Bay north of Bal Harbour, Fla.

Arias did not specify how many people were injured in the incident, but multiple media reports quoted rescuers as saying 11 people were taken to area hospitals.

Witnesses said the injuries were caused by an explosion aboard a boat which knocked several people overboard and left them with burns.

A marina worker told WTVJ-TV the explosion was caused by a gas leak that happened when the boat’s captain turned on the ignition. Another person who was aboard the boat told the broadcaster there were 14 people on the vessel before the explosion.

An investigation into the incident was continuing into Saturday night.

May 9 (UPI) — Péter Magyar has been sworn in as Hungary’s new prime minister, ending Viktor Orban’s 16-year, right-wing leadership.

“I will not rule over Hungary — I will serve my country,” Magyar said Saturday after he took the oath of office in parliament, The BBC reported.

Magyar’s Tisza Party now holds 141 out of 199 seats in the parliament. That’s up from none because the party was formed two years ago.

Orbán’s Fidesz party dropped from 135 to 52 seats in the election in April.

Tisza is not a strong swing to the left; Magyar, 44, was once a Fidesz Party operative. But on March 15, 2024, he left the party to join Tisza, then an unknown startup.

Now, Magyar is a center-right politician: not quite a liberal or progressive, and definitely a conservative. But he is pro-Europe and European Union, which Orbán was not.

The EU flag was hung on the Hungarian parliament building for the first time since 2014.

Magyar had invited people to join him to “write Hungarian history” together Saturday and “step through the gate of regime change.” Supporters gathered outside the parliament building, cheering and waving Hungarian flags.

Leftist and liberal parties will have no seats in the parliament for the first time since 1990, when Hungary broke free of the Soviet Union. But Budapest’s liberal mayor Gergely Karácsony said the new regime is still cause for celebration.

“Teachers fired, civilians and journalists humiliated, small churches torn apart,” Karácsony wrote on social media. “We can finally leave this era behind us — but first, let us remember the everyday heroes and express our gratitude with a farewell to the system.”

“This is the first time I feel like it’s good to be Hungarian,” Erzsébet Medve, 68, from Miskolc in northeastern Hungary, told The Guardian. “I feel like I could cry.”

Orbán and the Fidesz government cut education funding in Hungary. “The government had enough money, but they didn’t spend it there,” said Medve, a teacher.

Marianna Szűcs, 70, said she hoped Hungary would become more livable. “Now we feel like our children and grandchildren have a future here.”

New Tisza ministers said that while there will be no revenge against Orban’s people, those guilty of financial crimes will be held accountable. There will be a new office created to “recover stolen assets.”

“I don’t think that we should talk about a guillotine,” said Zoltán Tarr, incoming minister for Social Relations and Culture.

“We are talking about investigations and actions which are totally in line with the rule of law. Interestingly enough, the current chief prosecutor, and the police, have started certain investigations which they did not start before the election. They are questioning people.”

The Magyar government plans to convince the EU to release $20 billion in funds that the EU had held back from the Orbán government.

“I’m not worried, I’m excited,” Tarr said. “We are serving the country. We are serving the people. We are not here to rule. We are here to serve. We are here to fulfill a mandate.”

May 8 (UPI) — President Donald Trump intends to fire Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary because he is frustrated with the agency.

Trump signed off on the decision to replace Makary as he has clashed with Trump, officials in the Department of Health and Human Services and other officials in the administration, multiple reports said on Friday.

The reports — from NBC News, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post — all were attributed to Trump administration sources who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to comment on the issue.

Makary, a former surgeon at Johns Hopkins, was confirmed to run the FDA in March 2025 on a vote the included two Democratic members of the Senate voting yes.

His nomination carried some controversy because, like several other Trump cabinet members and nominees, is a former Fox News contributor who preferred that society develop natural immunity to the virus that causes COVID-19 instead of the CDC’s preferred method of using vaccine-induced immunity during the pandemic.

The reports suggest that Makary has struggled to run the FDA as long-time staff have left the agency and a range of healthcare, pharmaceutical and advocacy groups have been highly critical of its actions.

The Department of Health and Human Services and Makary have not commented on the reports, and sources for all four news organizations noted that the plan could change if Trump changes his mind.

May 8 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Friday delivered a Mother’s Day address as he hosted Gold Star Mothers and Angel Mothers in the White House Rose Garden.

Starting with his own mother, Trump thanked mothers across the country in a 20-minute speech that included specific thanks for mothers in the audience and those who work for his administration.

“I want to thank every single mother here this afternoon and all across our nation for your work,” Trump said.

“Every single day, America’s moms are raising — really — raising the future of our country … You have the most important job there is in America or any place else, and you’re doing an incredible job,” he said.

During the speech, Trump honored the mothers of children who died in crimes linked to illegal immigrants, whom he has dubbed Angel Mothers, noting that he hoped to prevent their ranks from growing due to “open borders” and what his administration has in pursuit of that goal.

The president honored Gold Star Mothers — the mothers of members of the military who have been killed in action — some of whom in attendance lost children during the war in Afghanistan.

Questioning whether “time heals all wounds,” Trump said that “our hearts are out to you on Mother’s Day.”

He also spoke about legislative and executive actions his administration has meant to benefit mothers and families.

“We’re honored to be joined by many strong and truly heroic moms who have stood up for their children,” he said, wishing them a Mother’s Day “filled with love and gratitude and joy.”

May 8 (UPI) — President Donald Trump threatened to raise tariffs to “much higher levels” on the European Union if it doesn’t agree to a trade deal by July 4.

“I had a great call with The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. We discussed many topics, including that we are completely united that Iran can never have a Nuclear Weapon. We agreed that a regime that kills its own people cannot control a bomb that can kill millions. I’ve been waiting patiently for the EU to fulfill their side of the Historic Trade Deal we agreed in Turnberry, Scotland, the largest Trade Deal, ever! A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO! I agreed to give her until our Country’s 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels,” the president said Thursday afternoon on Truth Social.

The threat came after The EU has struggled to agree on the terms of the Turnberry Accord, which was for the United States to lower tariffs on EU products and for the EU to remove tariffs on U.S. industrial goods and invest billions in U.S. industries, including energy.

Von Der Leyen said on X that the bloc is still committed to the deal.

“I had a very good call with @POTUS. We discussed the situation in the Middle East and our close coordination with regional partners. We are united that Iran must never possess a nuclear weapon. Recent events have clearly shown that the risks to regional stability and global security are too great.

“We also discussed the EU-U.S. trade deal. We remain fully committed, on both sides, to its implementation. Good progress is being made towards tariff reduction by early July.”

Last week, Trump threatened to raise tariffs on European autos to 25%. It’s unclear if his renewed threat is specifically for vehicles or if it encompasses all EU exports.

Complicating matters is that Trump’s current method of levying tariffs was blocked Thursday by the U.S. Court of International Trade.

In February, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the administration’s tariffs issued under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977. Trump then added a 10% across-the-board tariff and then later upped it to 15%.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in an interview with Politico Thursday that the EU is moving slowly.

“With the tariffs, they’ve at least started a process. They’re working it through,” Greer said. “It’s a pain. I understand it’s slow. We’re not patient. But there are other things where they haven’t even started a process.”

“We’re 95% compliant for nine months … and they’ve been 0% compliant during that time. What am I supposed to do?” he said.

May 7 (UPI) — A group appointed by President Donald Trump made its final recommendations Thursday on changes to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, suggesting moves that would put more responsibility back on states and other authorities.

The changes also include reviews of agency staffing and privatizing flood insurance, The Hill reported.

“We need to refocus FEMA to get it back on what its mission originally was,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said. FEMA is part of Homeland Security.

Panel members said FEMA has become too involved in politics, specifically mentioning state assistance during the coronavirus epidemic, The New York Times reported. Recommendations included changes in how FEMA helps state and local governments with financial recovery.

“Disaster response is complicated and increasingly expensive,” the final report said. “With taxpayers bearing the burden of funding emergency management in the United States, it is the responsibility of every American to embrace their individual responsibility to lessen this burden by being prepared for disasters. … As our nation returns ownership of emergency management back to local communities and their states, tribes and territories, we encourage every American to review their insurance policies and personal disaster plans as well as engaging with their local community leaders to be better prepared when disaster strikes.”

Trump has said that FEMA’s work is too expensive and that state governors should be able to manage more on their own, the Times reported. He has also suggested in the past that the agency should “go away” entirely.

The changes recommended by the report would require congressional approval. They include tweaks meant to make the reimbursement process, once approved, quicker and more direct, and changes meaning the FEMA plays less of a role in helping disaster survivors find housing.

“These recommendations are all about accelerating federal dollars, streamlining the process, making it less bureaucratic, so that Americans can get the help they need on the worst day of their lives,” said former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a member of the council. “And this is not a moment for bureaucracy, it is a moment for action, it is a moment for clarity.”

The Environmental Defense Fund said in a statement that Americans are facing increasingly severe weather and the council’s recommendations “don’t meet this reality.”

“The proposed changes would leave communities without the necessary funding, information and access to insurance to stay prepared and safe when disasters strike,” said Will McDow, the fund’s associate vice president for coasts and watersheds.

The group said the proposed changes would “shift enormous burdens onto states and communities and reduce government efficiency.”

May 7 (UPI) — White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Thursday that she gave birth to her second child earlier in the month.

The baby is her second with husband Nicholas Riccio, with whom she welcomed a son in July 2024.

“On May 1st, Viviana aka ‘Vivi’ joined our family, and our hearts instantly exploded with love,” Leavitt said in an Instagram post announcing the birth.

“She is perfect and healthy, and her big brother is joyfully adjusting to life with his new baby sister. We are enjoying every moment in our blissful newborn bubble.

Leavitt went on maternity leave at the end of April, announcing that various administration officials — including possibly President Donald Trump — would handle the daily White House press briefings in her absence.

She gave no indication of how long she would be on maternity leave, but federal employee are given 12 weeks of paid parental leave for the birth of a child.