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June 8 (UPI) — Artificial intelligence company OpenAI confidentially filed for an initial public offering Monday, becoming the third in a well-known trio of U.S. AI companies to do so in the past few weeks.

Rival AI company Anthropic filed for an IPO on June 1, and SpaceX (which merged with xAI, also owned by Elon Musk) filed in late May. SpaceX’s debut is set for Friday. All three are expected to be very lucrative for early investors, as they have valuations around $1 trillion, Axios reported.

OpenAI said in a post that there has been no decision on the IPO’s timing yet.

“It may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company,” the post said.

The company has had both successes and trials in recent months, CNN reported. Musk lost a lawsuit against it in mid-May because of the statute of limitations, and the company has expanded ChatGPT options and other AI tools and programs.

However, the company and founder/CEO Sam Altman are also facing lawsuits because of ChatGPT’s role in recent shootings and other issues. Florida announced last week that it is suing the company and Altman, claiming the company chose “profits over public safety” in creating a dangerous product in the form of ChatGPT. The state also has an ongoing criminal investigation into the company.

Individuals including the family members of those killed or injured in a recent school shooting have also sued, saying that the company should have warned authorities about the shooter’s interactions with ChatGPT.

June 8 (UPI) — Days after sharing a shortened list of religious affiliations for service members, the Pentagon has issued a new list removing the “Christian” category. The change was apparently spurred by backlash that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was not originally listed in that category.

Last week, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell shared a list of 31 religious affiliations from which service members could choose. This was a change from the prior list of 200. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth earlier called the lengthier list of faith codes “impractical and unusable” and said the Pentagon would shorten it.

“An overwhelming majority of the military population used only six of the codes,” Hegseth said in March, The Hill reported. He said a shorter list would help chaplains minister to service members “in a way that aligns with that service member’s faith background and religious practice.”

However, the list shared last week gave 21 of the affiliations a “Christian” label — and the Church of Latter-Day Saints was not among them. This drew ire from several lawmakers, including Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, a Mormon and a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump; Rep. Mike Kennedy, R-Utah; and Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah.

“I find this offensive, not just because that happens to be my faith, and not just because that happens to be the faith of tens of thousands of U.S. military personnel, but it’s also just repugnant to any sense of decency, any sense of our common heritage and our common belief that the government needs to not weigh in doctrinal disputes between various religious denominations,” Lee said in a video posted Sunday on social media.

Parnell’s original post on the list said that the Pentagon wasn’t making “any claims on the legitimacy of any faith or religious belief” but trying to streamline matters.

The new list shared Monday removes the “Christian” label altogether. The Pentagon said the original list had “redundant and unnecessary labeling” and the new list fixes that.

“The Pentagon’s job is not to adjudicate theological debates, but instead to ensure sincerely held faith is respected and encouraged in our ranks,” the post said. It also noted that “the goal of this effort is to simplify a previously out-of-control ‘belief’ coding system.”

Lee said he was grateful to Hegseth for “correcting the error,” CNN reported.

Under the new list, service members can pick from about 20 Christian faiths or chose to be identified as Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Bahá’i or agnostic. They can no longer chose from many codes including those for Unitarian Universalist, Wicca, pagan or humanist. There are codes for “no religion” or “other religion.”

June 8 (UPI) — Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., introduced a bill Monday that seeks to limit the Department of Defense’s use of artificial intelligence in lethal strikes.

The Human Authority in Lethal Operations Act would establish guardrails and oversight for the use of autonomous and semi-autonomous weapons and surveillance systems that use AI. Schiff said the department’s use of AI in recent months shows there is an “urgent need” for the legislation.

“There are good reasons to use AI technology to advance our national security,” Schiff said in a statement. “However — just as with any tool, we cannot depend on technology alone to guide us, particularly when the risks of harm can be fatal. My legislation would protect Americans from unlawful domestic surveillance, ensure that humans in the chain of command exercise responsibility for the use of any lethal technology, and maintain strong ethical protections in the deployment of autonomous and semi-autonomous weapons.”

The bill requires the disclosure of designated commanders who give orders to use force that involve autonomous weapons systems and maintain records of the decision-making process, including how targets are selected.

The bill also requires autonomous and semi-autonomous weapons systems to be put through a review process and prohibits the Pentagon from using AI to surveil people who are doing constitutional activities, such as protesting. The Pentagon would also be barred from purchasing personal data on Americans if doing so would violate the act.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., is preparing a separate bill proposal related to AI use in defense.

June 7 (UPI) — Five people were injured and a suspect is in custody after a mass stabbing incident at New York City’s Penn Station, officials said.

New York Police Department, Fire Department of New York and Amtrak officials confirmed to local media that five were hospitalized in the aftermath of the stabbings, which happened at around 7 p.m. EDT.

Officials said one those who were attacked was seriously injured, two were injured less seriously and two others suffered minor injuries. All were taken to a nearby hospital. officials said.

A sixth person was taken to another hospital and officials did not share details about the person’s condition.

Law enforcement sources told amNewYork a male suspect allegedly attacked passersby with a sharp object before police subdued him.

Witnesses said Penn Station and the area surrounding 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan were crowded with ambulances and police cars after the stabbing.

The incident came at a tense moment in the city as New York prepares for the appearance of President Donald Trump at Game 3 of the NBA Finals in the adjacent Madison Square Garden on Monday.

Trump’s presence is expected to generate a massive security presence around Penn Station, including the cancellation of a scheduled watch party in the streets outside of the arena.

The New York Knicks are hosting the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals.

June 7 (UPI) — Five people were injured and a suspect is in custody after a mass stabbing incident at New York City’s Penn Station, officials said.

New York Police Department, Fire Department of New York and Amtrak officials confirmed to local media that five were hospitalized in the aftermath of the stabbings, which happened at around 7 p.m. EDT.

Officials said one those who were attacked was seriously injured, two were injured less seriously and two others suffered minor injuries. All were taken to a nearby hospital. officials said.

Law enforcement sources told amNewYork a male suspect allegedly attacked passersby with a sharp object before police subdued him.

Witnesses said Penn Station and the area surrounding 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan were crowded with ambulances and police cars after the stabbing.

The incident came at a tense moment in the city as New York prepares for the appearance of President Donald Trump at Game 3 of the NBA Finals in the adjacent Madison Square Garden on Monday.

Trump’s presence is expected to generate a massive security presence around Penn Station, including the cancelation of a scheduled watch party in the streets outside of the arena.

The New York Knicks are hosting the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals.

June 6 (UPI) — A second case of New World screwworm was confirmed in Texas this week in a one-month old calf nearly six miles from where the first case was detected.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the second confirmed case on Friday, which was detected in Zavala County, Texas, but 5.6 miles away from the first one.

The second case was confirmed just 24 hours after the first, which had been detected in a three-week old calf, and has spurred the USDA to step up surveillance, as well as take other actions to prevent the infestation from spreading.

New World screwworm is spread by flies that lay their eggs in the exposed flesh of living animals — livestock, pets, wildlife and humans are all susceptible — and when the fly larvae, or maggots, emerge from the eggs they burrow through muscle as they grow.

Although screwworm was eradicated from the United States in the 1960s, severe infestations in recent years in Central America slowly moved toward the southern border and was detected here in 2025, according to the USDA.

“With our partners in Texas, we are responding with speed and strength,” the USDA said in a statement about the second case that was posted on X.

“We have defeated this pest before, and we will do it again,” the agency said. “America’s livestock producers have USDA’s FULL support.”

The primary way of controlling the spread of New World screwworm is a combination of trapping flies for testing, implementing detection and quarantine zones where it confirmed, and releasing sterile flies into the area it has been detected to prevent infected insects from reproducing, the agency said.

The USDA has encouraged people in the area of the two cases to check their pets and livestock for draining or enlarging wounds, if not maggots or eggs around bodily opening such as the nose, ears or genitals, or around the navel of newborn animals.

Although screwworm infection in humans is relatively rare, the infestations can happen in ways similar to animals and require immediate medical attention.

June 6 (UPI) — Several people were shot Saturday afternoon at an outdoor festival in Ohio, with “many victims” sent to the hospital.

At least eight people were shot around 5:30 p.m. at the Old West End Festival in Toledo, Ohio, all of whom were transported to the hospital and all of whom are expected to survive, the city’s mayor, Wade Kapszukiewicz, told WTOL-11.

As of 8:00 p.m., police said that they were still looking for the suspect or suspects that were involved in the shooting.

“The investigation currently includes scenes in the area of Delaware Avenue and Robinwood Avenue,” the Toledo Police Department said in a statement posted to Facebook.

“Residents and visitors are asked to avoid scenes in the area and expect a significant police presence as officers continue their search and investigators work to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident,” the police department said.

The Old West Festival, an event that has been held for more than 50 years, is a celebration of the history of the area, and was scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

“Summer festivals should be safe spaces for families to spend time together without fear of violence,” Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine said in a statement on social media.

“We are confident that law enforcement will locate the suspects involved in this senseless crime,” he said.

June 6 (UPI) — President Donald Trump pardoned former U.S. Rep. Stephen Buyer, R-Ind., who was convicted on four counts of securities fraud in 2023 after he left Congress.

Buyer had been convicted and sentenced to 22 months in prison after he was charged with trading stock based on two mergers he knew about based on work at his consulting firm, ABC News and The New York Times reported.

The two mergers he based trades on were T-Mobile’s deal to acquire Sprint and the professional services firm Guidehouse’s deal to buy its competitor Navigant.

In a proclamation released Thursday by the White House, President Donald Trump included a list of current and former members of members of Congress, including Sens. Roger Wicker and Lindsey Graham and Reps. Pet Sessions and Jack Bergman, among several others.

“Mr. Buyer’s career serving as a judge advocate general in the United States Army and as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the State of Indiana was distinguished and highly productive,” Trump said.

Buyer was first elected to Congress in 1992, retired from the House in 2010 and then formed his consulting company.

The trades he made based, which were based on executives of the companies he was working for, netted him well over $330,000 in profit when he sold shares of the companies after the mergers were announced.

During his time in Congress, Buyer also was a House prosecutor during the impeaching of former President Bill Clinton in the late 1990s.

June 6 (UPI) — A former Central Intelligence Agency officer who was caught with $40 million in gold bars allegedly created a fake intelligence program in order to steal the money.

David J. Rush was arrested in May and charged with theft of public funds after he lied to the agency about his military history, education and pilot license, and was then accused of stealing the gold bars and $2 million in cash that was found in his home.

U.S. officials have now said that Rush created a fake intelligence operation, or “special access program,” related to the “continuity of government operations” that he used to convince another agent to transfer the money to his operation, The New York Times and The Washington Post reported.

“He made up a contract,” one of the officials told The Post.

Rush allegedly read in two CIA colleagues on the fraudulent operation, which he claimed was related to keeping the government running in the event of a catastrophic event, such as destructive weather or a military attack.

It is not clear how the former officer was able to create a secret program and obtain the funds without involving superiors in the agency, but he managed to convince one of the colleagues to purchase the gold and transfer it to him.

The fact that Rush managed to apply to and was hired by the CIA using false credentials has raised questions about the agency’s background checks and security when hiring, the Times and the Post reported.

Additionally, several former U.S. officials question how somebody could be hired and then assigned to a significantly sensitive intelligence-gathering program that is classified.

Rush was caught and charged after the agency conducted a review of expenses and could not locate the gold or cash he had requested.

June 6 (UPI) — The United States said it intercepted several Iranian ballistic missiles and drones shot toward the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf, Bahrain and Kuwait Friday night.

The U.S. Central Command said seven missiles were fired toward Kuwait and Bahrain Friday after it shot down four Iranian drones headed toward the strait. It said six of the missiles were intercepted and one didn’t reach its target.

Bahrain and Kuwait said there were no injuries, but Kuwait said there was some “material damage.”

The Kuwaiti Army, attributed to the official spokesperson for its defense ministry Brigadier General Saud Abdulaziz Al-Otaibi, posted on X: “The armed forces detected and responded at dawn today to 7 hostile ballistic missiles within Kuwaiti airspace, which were intercepted over several residential areas, resulting in the fall of some debris.

“The Iranian criminal aggression caused material damage with no human casualties.”

CENTCOM also said there were no American casualties.

“There are currently no reports of harm to U.S. personnel, and Iranian claims of damaging U.S. 5th fleet headquarters in Bahrain are false,” CENTCOM said in a press release.

Kuwait and Bahrain called the strikes a violation of their sovereignty and a threat to regional security. Egypt, Jordan and Qatar also condemned the strikes Saturday.

Iran said it launched the strikes against U.S. military bases in the region after the United States struck Iran. CENTCOM said it hit coastal surveillance radar sites in Goruk and Queshm Island “to defend against further maritime attacks.”

Iran called the U.S. attacks a “flagrant” violation of the cease-fire, which has been in place since April. It said the American side “not only lacks the will to reduce tensions,” but “seriously endangers the security of the region.”

“These facilities are tasked with safeguarding the country’s border security and ensuring the security of navigation in international waterways,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “The attack constitutes a clear violation of the April 8 ceasefire and an act of military aggression against the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Iran said the U.S. strikes violate international law.

“This action, which comes as a continuation of the hostile and provocative conduct of the U.S. regime against the Islamic Republic of Iran, demonstrates the complete disregard of the U.S. ruling establishment for the fundamental principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations,” the foreign ministry said.

Tehran also said the U.S. is responsible for “all the effects and consequences of these illegal actions, as well as any possible escalation of tension.”

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard claimed the clash started when the U.S. military tried to “illegally” escort oil tankers through the waterway, which Iran has largely closed off during the war.

The Gulf Cooperation Council condemned the Iranian missile attacks Saturday.

“These treacherous Iranian terrorist acts represent a dangerous and irresponsible escalation, a blatant violation of all international laws and norms, and a direct threat to regional stability,” Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, said in a statement.

The Gulf Cooperation Council, formed in the 1980s, is an economic pact that includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

“The Council countries stand in a united and steadfast position alongside the Kingdom of Bahrain and the State of Kuwait, fully supporting all measures and steps they undertake to protect their security, safeguard their sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as ensure the safety of their peoples,” Albudaiwi said.

June 6 (UPI) — Democrat Xavier Becerra is advancing to the November election in the California governor’s race, while Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Tom Steyer battle for the second spot.

California’s primary is nonpartisan, so the top two finishers advance, regardless of party.

If elected, Becerra, 68, would be California’s first Latino governor since 1875. The state’s population is about 41% Latino.

“The people of the great state of California, in the greatest nation on Earth, have spoken — loudly and proudly,” Becerra said in a statement. “We will not be bought. We will not be bullied. And we are never backing down.”

Becerra was the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary under President Joe Biden and is a former California attorney general.

No Republican has won statewide office since 2006. Hilton has also been endorsed by President Donald Trump, who is unpopular in the state. California Gov. Gavin Newsom can’t run for re-election because of term limits.

The vote count has taken several days because California has mail-in voting. It’s not unusual for California’s elections to take a long time to count. Trump-endorsed Hilton led early, but it’s likely that’s because Republicans voted early, while Democrats waited because they had many more contenders from which to choose, The New York Times reported.

Hilton, 56, is a British-born former Fox News host who once worked for Prime Minister David Cameron. Steyer, 68, is a New York-born billionaire philanthropist and climate activist who ran for president in 2020.

On Friday, the Department of Justice sent a federal prosecutor to observe ballot counting in Los Angeles after Trump claimed that the count was being rigged by Democrats.

The Los Angeles County registrar-recorder said in a statement Friday: “Our office was notified late yesterday that the U.S. attorney’s office would send an assistant U.S. attorney to the Ballot Processing Center to observe ballot processing activities.”

“The individual arrived this morning, was provided an overview of the public observation program and participated in a walkthrough of the ballot processing operations,” spokesperson Mike Sanchez said in an email to CNN.

Sanchez noted that ballot processing is open to the public.

California law gives election officials 30 days to complete the counting and certification process, California Secretary of State Shirley Weber said in a statement.

“Our commitment is immediate: in California, every ballot is counted properly and every ballot is accounted for,” Weber said.

June 5 (UPI) — The Treasury Department on Friday issued an advisory that financial institutions, including banks and casinos, to “be vigilant” against signs of unlawful employment of illegal immigrants.

The Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, called FinCEN, in the advisory calls on the institutions employ methods to detect schemes covering up the employment of people who are not authorized to work in the United States.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a FinCEN press release that part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration includes “securing our financial system.”

“This administration will not allow illegal aliens to abuse financial institutions to steal billions of dollars from hardworking American taxpayers,” Bessent said.

In order for non-immigrants to work in the United States, employers are required to petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for eligibility, before a prospective employee either applies to the State Department for a visa or enters the country through a port of entry, according to USCIS.

FinCEN said in the release that the hiring, concealing and exploiting of workers without visas can give employers advantages over other businesses, depress wages, facilitate identity theft and steal tax revenue from the United States.

The agencies additionally said that the hiring of these workers can also help fund and assist criminal enterprises that include drug trafficking and human trafficking.

The financial institutions are being asked to watch out for red flags of shell companies, identity theft, fraudulently used social security and worker identification numbers, shell companies and a raft of other detectable signs of fraud.

In addition to depository institutions such as banks, credit unions, money services businesses and securities and futures firms, FinCEN has aimed the advisory at casinos, the insurance industry, mortgage companies and brokers, and the precious metals and jewelry industries.

The Treasury Department said that more than $2.5 billion in suspicious activity reported by financial institutions was linked to payroll fraud schemes in 2025 alone, noting one multi-year scheme that cost the United States more than $38 million in tax revenue.

June 5 (UPI) — The attorneys general of several states are preparing to file a lawsuit in the coming weeks to prevent the $111 billion merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery.

As many as 10 states are involved in a California-led antitrust investigation of the merger, which would create an entertainment monolith comprised of two of the biggest major players in television, film and streaming globally, the Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg and The Wrap reported.

Officials in the states have started working on the lawsuit and where to file it, the news organizations confirmed, and the litigation could potentially be filed before the end of June.

Although California Attorney General Rob Bonta told The Wrap in early April that “red flags are everywhere when you have a merger of this type,” his office did not confirm that the lawsuit was taking shape and could be filed soon.

“The Paramount acquisition of Warner Brothers remains an active investigation, and we do have any updates to share at this time,” Bonta’s office told the news organizations in a statement.

The states that have been involved in Bonta’s investigation and may join the lawsuit, aside from California, are Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

Paramount and Netflix competed for months to win the right to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, with Warner’s shareholders voting to approve selling the company to Paramount for $31 per share.

The merger has been controversial because Paramount Chairman David Ellison has said that after the company receives regulatory approval, he plans to make $6 billion in cuts between both companies.

Although Ellison said that the Paramount and Warner Bros. film studios will maintain their current pace of 15 theatrical releases per year, the deal has drawn sharp rebukes from across Hollywood and some parts of the federal government because the downsizing will most likely include job cuts.

June 5 (UPI) — Artificial intelligence company Anthropic issued a warning about systems that can improve themselves and said that humans need a way to intervene when necessary.

AI systems will soon be able to better themselves — known as “full-recursive self-improvement” — and that has a lot of benefits, like for health care and science. But just like science fiction movies warn, it could cause serious risks to people, said Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark and leader of the Anthropic Institute Marina Favaro in a recent blog post.

“Full recursive self-improvement also might increase the risks of humans losing control over AI systems,” the blog said. “If systems are capable of fully building their own successors, the ways we secure them, monitor them, and shape their behavior all grow much more important.”

Clark called for the industry to give itself a “brake pedal” on CNN Thursday.

“When I look down at the car we’re driving, all I have is a gas pedal. I don’t have a brake pedal, and surely at some point in the future we might want that option,” he said. The inability to validate, verify and trust AI’s behavior is risky, he added.

Clark told CNN that countries have made similar changes in the past.

“We’ve done this before. In the height of the Cold War, under highly tense situations between rivalrous countries, they found ways to stabilize aspects of the nuclear arms race,” he said “All of this has been done before in other domains, and it may need to be something we do in the domain of AI.”

But critics say this talk of curbing AI is nothing new, even from Anthropic, which battled the Pentagon when it wanted full access to use its AI product.

In July 2025, Anthropic signed a $200 million contract with the U.S. Department of Defense. But CEO Dario Amodei said that Anthropic’s AI model Claude could not be used for mass surveillance in the United States or for autonomous weapons without human approval.

On Feb. 27, the Pentagon gave Anthropic a 5 p.m. deadline to comply with its demands that the government be able to use the service as it sees fit. Before the deadline, President Donald Trump announced that no government workers would be allowed to use Anthropic.

Then, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth labeled the company a supply-chain risk, which blocked it from any government contracts, but a judge struck it down in March.

“Anthropic might give the impression of being warm and fuzzy, but their definition of AI safety is narrow,” Steven Murdoch, a professor at University College London, told The Guardian. “Supporting U.S. authorities in the development of offensive capabilities has never been something they have spoken against.”

Murdoch said Anthropic’s blog left out evidence that AI is close to self-improvement.

“It is true that there’s some evidence that AI capabilities have increased and continue to increase with no limits becoming immediately clear,” he said. But, “I don’t think anything has fundamentally changed today that has caused Anthropic to publish this article.”

Murdoch pointed out that Athropic’s call for a pause on AI was similar to other proposals it has made in the past.

“It’s a reminder of what they are concerned about and have been concerned about for many years. I’m sure the attention is welcome, but again this isn’t a new thing,” Murdoch said. “Anthropic have been trying to get the attention of policymakers since they were founded.”

June 5 (UPI) — A federal judge on Friday canceled a batch of President Donald Trump‘s immigration policies, forcing the administration to begin processing immigration and asylum applications.

The decision from a judge in Rhode Island said Trump’s immigration policies enacted last fall had left immigrants in the United States in “indeterminate legal limbo” because of “anti-immigrant sentiments that it is forbidden from letting influence its decision-making.”

The 135-page decision from Judge John J. McConnell Jr. said the decision to stop processing immigration applications from people from 39 countries “placed the lives of countless individuals on hold — solely by virtue of their countries of birth.”

The policies in question include a global pause on asylum applications filed with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a pause on decisions on immigration applications of people from the 39 countries in a travel ban, which prevented them from getting permanent residency status, citizenship and more.

The administration announced the changes after an Afghan man allegedly shot two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., in November. Rahmanullah Lakanwal pleaded not guilty.

“USCIS’s hold on adjudications cannot be attributed to anything that these individuals did wrong; rather, it arises solely by the happenstance of their birth,” McConnell wrote.

“The court is reminded of a line often repeated in discussions around immigration policy: If people wish to immigrate to the United States, they ought to ‘follow the law’ and ‘do things the right way,'” he wrote. “This case serves as a perfect example of immigrants doing just that.”

Democracy Forward, a legal nonprofit that helped represent the immigration groups and unions behind the lawsuit, told The New York Times that it celebrates the ruling.

“This ruling reaffirms a basic principle: The federal government cannot shut down lawful immigration pathways or discriminate against people based on where they come from,” organization President Skye Perryman said. “These unlawful policies caused enormous harm to families, workers, asylum seekers and communities across the country.”

Shawn VanDiver, president of #AfghanEvac, also celebrated the ruling.

“For months, we have heard from Afghan allies whose citizenship ceremonies were canceled, work permits expired while waiting for decisions, green card applications stopped moving and families were left in uncertainty despite doing everything the right way,” The Hill reported VanDiver said in a statement.

“Today’s ruling is a significant victory for the rule of law and for thousands of Afghan allies and other immigrants who followed every requirement asked of them, only to see their cases frozen indefinitely.”

June 5 (UPI) — NASA briefly moved five of the seven crew members aboard the International Space Station to the docked SpaceX Crew Dragon “Freedom” while Russian cosmonauts planned to repair leaks in a transfer tunnel in the Russian module.

The Russian crew members decided to only perform measurements Friday, so Mission Control told the crew members it was OK to exit the safe haven configuration.

“Roscosmos has paused Friday’s structural repair efforts … as more measurements and data is assessed. Given this development, NASA has instructed the crew members inside the Dragon spacecraft to end the safe haven procedures and return to planned operations aboard the International Space Station. We look forward to working with Roscosmos on a collaborative approach to address the leaks,” NASA Spokesperson Bethany Stevens posted on X.

The cracks have created a small air leak on and off for about six years and is a safety risk.

“The Zvezda service module transfer tunnel, known as PrK, has suffered from cracks and leaks for some time, and has been mitigated by Roscosmos as much as possible to date. The cracks have always been a concern that NASA watches very closely. NASA and Roscosmos have been working to determine the root cause of the cracks, and Roscosmos manages the issue through operational mitigation measures and periodic partial-repair efforts,” Steven wrote in another post.

The NASA Crew-12 members on the ISS include: Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adenot and Andrew Fedyaev. Astronaut Chris Williams went to the Dragon spacecraft, Stevens said.

Roscosmos noticed a slow pressure drop in the tunnel last month after a Russian cargo ship arrived, CBS News reported. NASA and Roscosmos have been working on “operational mitigation measures and periodic partial-repair efforts.”

June 4 (UPI) — The pilots of a United Airlines flight that flew low enough to shear off a light pole on the New Jersey Turnpike as it landed in May knew they were flying too low but were unable to compensate in time, a preliminary report stated Thursday.

The first officer of United Airlines Flight 169 from Venice, Italy, to Newark Liberty International Airport called out, “Hey you are slow,” just before the Boeing B767-424ER clipped a light pole along the turnpike while approaching Newark’s runway 29, according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s initial report of the May 3 accident.

The incident resulted in debris from the light pole impacting a tractor-trailer traveling southbound on the turnpike.

The aircraft was just 19 feet above the busy highway when it connected with the 15-foot-high light post.

Following the impact, the airplane landed and taxied to the gate without further incident, after which the three flight crew members, eight cabin crew members and 220 passengers deplaned at the gate without any injury.

The driver of the tractor-trailer sustained minor injuries, the NTSB said, while the damage to the aircraft was called “substantial.”

The safety agency’s report found that moments after the first officer voiced an initial alarm about the plane being too low, he followed it by saying, “You are still slow and a little low.”

The pilot said at that point he looked outside and recalled, “I thought we were low,” but since they were about to touch down, it was too late to order a “go-around” and abort the landing.

The captain stated that just before touchdown “he heard a thump,” the report said, while the first officer recalled feeling a “mild jolt” as they neared the runway.

After the flight landed, the purser reported that the aft flight attendants heard “a loud bang” just prior to landing.

June 4 (UPI) — Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte, whose new assignment has drawn bipartisan criticism, won’t be the “permanent” choice for the job, President Donald Trump said Thursday.

Trump, speaking to reporters Thursday the White House, said Pulte’s role as acting director of DNI to replace Tulsi Gabbard, which began Tuesday, would not be “permanent.”

Rather, the president said Pulte will be “very good” as he takes the job on for a “little while,” while also asserting he will be able to “figure it out quickly.”

Gabbard announced her resignation in May, saying she will step down June 30, and Trump’s pick of Pulte to replace her two days ago ignited a backlash among lawmakers of both parties.

A former housing developer and currently director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Pulte — a staunch Trump loyalist — has no experience in foreign intelligence work, a fact that has sparked criticism from both sides of the political aisle.

Sen. Thom Tillis., R-N.C., on Wednesday blasted Pulte as an “incendiary attack dog” for Trump who likely wouldn’t pass Senate muster for confirmation.

“I don’t think he has a prayer” of becoming the permanent DNI, Tillis told CNBC, adding that Pulte’s presence could hurt the GOP congressional majority’s efforts to reauthorize the part of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act governing warrantless surveillance.

Similarly, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a long-serving member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, decried the choice of Pulte for DNI director, saying Trump is “appointing his top political henchman to one of the most important positions for protecting the safety of Americans and preventing terrorist attacks like September 11th.”

Pulte, he said, “appears to be unscathed by intelligence or any semblance of ethics,” noting he has already used his post at a housing agency “to persecute Trump’s political opponents, including Senator Adam Schiff, New York Attorney General Leticia James and Federal Reserve Board member Lisa Cook.”

Pulte has alleged fraud against several of Trump’s foes in their mortgage applications, including Cook for claiming two different homes as her primary residence. She has appealed her firing by Trump to the U.S. Supreme Court.

June 4 (UPI) — The United States on Thursday leveled sanctions against Cuban Miguel Díaz-Canel, members of former President Raul Castro‘s family, the Cuban military and other organizations as it continued a crackdown on the country’s communist government.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the measures against Diaz-Canel the others in a statement, asserting they are being targeted because they “fund the [Cuban] regime and its efforts to mobilize its radical revolutionary movements in the United States and around the world.”

The Cuban president, Rubio said, poses a threat to U.S. national security, while the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba, with its “many majority holdings and subsidiaries,” is also now “considered blocked.”

Other organizations newly added to the sanctions list are the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, or ICAP, Amistur Cuba S.A., Committees for the Defense of the Revolution and Minera La Victoria S.A.

The individuals sanctioned include Alejandro Castro Espin, the former head of the Cuban intelligence services and the son of Raul Castro, and Raul Alejandro Castro Calis, Castro Espin’s son.

“For decades, Cuba has been the world capital for radical left-wing terrorism,” Rubio asserted. “The regime in Havana has recruited, trained and backed violent Marxist and ‘third-worldist’ movements across our hemisphere and beyond.

“Today, we are targeting the network that enables and funds Cuba’s subversive and radical operations.”

In a stated response, Diaz-Canel said the latest sanctions are “illegitimate” and are “aimed at reinforcing the blockade measures and the scenario of conflict between Cuba and the United States.

“This political blindness is added to the coercive measures applied in recent weeks against our country, designed to harm the Cuban people,” he added. “The aggressiveness and perversity of the Yankee government will clash with our determination to confront the worst scenarios and resist the imperialist onslaught.”

The newly issued sanctions are the latest in a series of moves designed to ratchet up pressure on the Cuban government.

The Trump administration has set a Friday deadline for foreign companies to sever ties with GAESA, the business conglomerate run by Cuba’s Armed Forces, sparking a mass exodus of tourism-related businesses from the island nation.

Meanwhile, Cuba is struggling with the effects of a January 2026 executive order issued by U.S. President Donald Trump imposing a fuel blockade against the nation on national security grounds.

The move has resulted in shortages of electricity, fuel, medicine and medical supplies across Cuba, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the World Health Organization, which says emergency care, blood banks, laboratories, immunization programs and maternal and child health services have all been “severely disrupted.”

June 4 (UPI) — The Kennedy Center ordered its staff Thursday to remove President Donald Trump‘s name from the center by June 12.

A memo was sent out from the center’s general counsel that said they must remove all references from signs, brochures, websites, furniture and more, and that they must update email signatures and letterhead immediately.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the center’s board had overstepped its authority when it voted to add Trump’s name to the center. The memo was the first sign that the center plans to comply with the order.

“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” Cooper said.

Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, filed a lawsuit on Dec. 23 against Trump and others alleging that the move was illegal.

Trump claimed that naming the center after him was a surprise, but the name was added to the sign the next day.

Justice Department lawyers representing Trump later said the speed of the move showed it had been “prepared and/or purchased prior to the Board’s vote the day before,” The Washington Post reported.

Thursday’s memo also said officials were “considering their options and will provide further guidance shortly” on whether the center will close after July 5. The center was scheduled for two years of closure for a $257 million renovation.

In his decision, Cooper said the renovations are “sorely needed,” and his ruling doesn’t bar the board from closing “should it come to this decision anew after independently balancing its multiple obligations to the Center in a prudent fashion,” CBS News reported.

“By way of this opinion, the Court does not purport to dictate how the Center should be run, nor does it prescribe any particular plan for the institution — construction, closure or otherwise — moving forward,” he wrote. “It simply holds the Kennedy Center Board to certain minimum requirements imposed by law. Beyond that, the Court will let the parties play on.”

June 4 (UPI) — Melinda French Gates has added another $215 million to her organization Pivotal, which funds social initiatives for women and families around the world.

The latest boost in funding is specifically to address problems with women’s reproductive and menopause health, she said. French Gates has contributed $600 million to women’s health over the past two years.

As part of this round, she is donating $10 million to The Menopause Society for the education of healthcare professionals and to expand outreach in areas where access to menopause care is limited.

“For too long, perimenopause and menopause have been treated as invisible — something women are expected to manage quietly, without clear answers or support. That must change. By getting healthcare practitioners better training and investing in research, we can help ensure women have the care they need to live full and healthy lives,” French Gates said in a statement.

While midlife issues have seen more attention, thanks to social media, that attention doesn’t always translate to correct information from practitioners.

“The piece that I’m focused on with Pivotal is: How do we make sure that women get accurate information about what we do know about this phase of life? And how do we make sure that all providers are trained?” she told Time in an interview.

“In midlife, I would say we both don’t have enough knowledge or tools,” she said. “The research should have been started more than 50 years ago. We should have had many, many, many studies about this period of life, so that we have different tools, not just hormone replacement therapy. Then, we have a lack of provider training, which is the piece I’m going to work on with this particular amount of funding.”

The Menopause Society said the funding will help reach women who need the care.

“Menopause is a universal life stage, but quality care is not universally available,” said Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director of The Menopause Society, in a statement. “With this funding, we can scale evidence-based training for front line clinicians and extend our reach to areas where menopause care has long been overlooked. This is a meaningful step toward ensuring that women receive the informed, compassionate care they need and deserve so they can make smarter healthcare decisions. It also allows for exploration and a better understanding of the need for system changes.”

While the donation is critical, Faubion said the attention generated by French Gates is even more important.

“It shows that somebody like Melinda Gates and Pivotal feel that this is an important issue,” Faubion told the Independent. “It will illuminate the gaps that are still there … and it makes people not only aware, but maybe motivated to take some action.”

Though women make up half the population, health issues that affect them get only 2% of private healthcare funding, according to the World Economic Forum.

“The role of philanthropy, in my opinion, is to look at some of these societal problems that have been left behind, and shine light on them, show ways of making progress so you can then crowd in other donors and ultimately crowd in government funding,” French Gates told The Independent. “Part of what I’m doing here, I hope, is sending a signal to say, ‘This is really important. Let’s do something about it.’ And my hope is that I’ll be able to get others who will join me.”

June 4 (UPI) — Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra are leading a crowded field in California’s primary for governor on Thursday with millions of ballots left to count.

The two candidates that receive the most votes will advance to the November election, regardless of party. Democrat Tom Steyer has the third most votes so far.

Sixty-one candidates qualified to appear on the primary ballot to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Polls closed on Tuesday night at 8 p.m. PDT. It is common for California to take days if not weeks to tally enough votes to declare a winner.

Despite millions of votes still being counted, President Donald Trump has alleged that Democrats have cheated in California’s primaries.

“There’s BIG cheating by the Dumocrats in California,” Trump posted on social media. “Votes are all tied up. May not be in for weeks. Under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. Why the vote counting DELAY?”

Trump also declared Hilton the winner of the primary, even though not enough votes have been counted to make that determination.

“Congratulations to Steve Hilton on coming in first, last night, in the California Vote for Governor,” Trump wrote.

Hilton, a former Fox News host, is the top overall vote-getter as of Thursday morning.

Becerra is the former Biden administration U.S. human services and health secretary. Steyer, a billionaire, is a philanthropist and climate activist.