Global Pulse

标签： North America

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  • China envoy condemns killing of peacekeepers in Lebanon

    China envoy condemns killing of peacekeepers in Lebanon

    A surge of lethal violence targeting United Nations peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon has spurred an emergency UN Security Council meeting, with China formally denouncing the attacks and calling for urgent global action to head off a full-scale regional conflict. The emergency session, held Tuesday, was convened after two separate attacks within a 24-hour window left two UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeepers dead and two more injured, one critically. The first assault, a projectile strike on a UN position, killed an Indonesian service member deployed with the mission, while a second blast — widely assessed to be an improvised explosive device — detonated beside a UNIFIL vehicle near the southern Lebanese town of Bani Hayyan a day later, killing another peacekeeper.

    In remarks delivered to the Security Council, China’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations Sun Lei emphasized that deliberate attacks against UN peacekeepers represent a blatant and severe breach of both international humanitarian law and Security Council Resolution 1701, the 2006 measure that established the framework for UNIFIL’s mandate along the Lebanon-Israel border. “These attacks are absolutely unacceptable and must immediately stop,” Sun stated.

    The Chinese envoy extended sincere condolences on behalf of Beijing to the family of the fallen Indonesian peacekeeper and expressed deep sympathy for those wounded in the violence. He went on to warn that rapidly escalating tensions across the Middle East are already generating alarming spillover effects that threaten broader regional stability, stressing that the international community must act swiftly to hit the brakes on further escalation.

    Sun reiterated China’s longstanding position that Israel must implement an immediate and full withdrawal of its military forces from Lebanese territory and respect Lebanon’s inviolable sovereignty, security and territorial integrity. “Lebanon cannot become another Gaza, and the international community must under no circumstances allow the tragedy of Gaza to be repeated,” he said. He added that China calls on all involved parties to immediately halt all hostilities and prioritize diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the crisis.

    In the wake of the attacks, conflicting claims of responsibility have emerged, with Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon publicly asserting that Hezbollah was behind the strikes. No independent verification of Danon’s claim has been released to date, and UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric confirmed Tuesday that official investigations into the incidents are still ongoing. “As soon as we can share the findings, we will do so,” Dujarric told reporters during the UN’s daily briefing, confirming one attack was a projectile strike on an Indonesian contingent position and the second was a roadside IED attack.

    According to UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, more than 1,200 people in Lebanon have been killed since the latest round of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah began eight months ago. Recent announcements from Israel that it plans to expand ground operations and widen its self-declared buffer zone in southern Lebanon have stoked widespread fears that the country could be facing a long-term Israeli military occupation and a further intensification of conflict.

    First established by the UN Security Council in 1978, UNIFIL currently deploys more than 8,000 uniformed peacekeepers drawn from nearly 50 countries around the world to monitor ceasefire violations and support stability along the Lebanon-Israel border. In the aftermath of the latest attacks, China has once again urged the international community to take urgent coordinated action to prevent the conflict from spiraling into an uncontrollable full-scale regional war. The killing of the Indonesian peacekeeper has already prompted mourning in his home country, where his mother was photographed receiving comfort from community members at her home in Yogyakarta’s Kulon Progo district a day after his death was confirmed.

  • Lula says US fabricated lie to wage ‘unnecessary war’ against Iran

    Lula says US fabricated lie to wage ‘unnecessary war’ against Iran

    Less than two months after the United States and Israel launched joint military strikes on Iran that roiled global energy markets and disrupted international trade, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has publicly called out the US for launching what he frames as an unnecessary conflict built on false claims. Speaking to reporters during an interview in Brazil’s northeastern state of Ceara on Wednesday, Lula pulled no punches in his criticism of American foreign policy in the Middle East. “The United States got involved in an unnecessary war in Iran, claiming that Iran had nuclear weapons or that they were trying to make nuclear weapons. That’s a lie!” Lula told assembled press. The Brazilian leader went on to draw a direct parallel to the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, a conflict that was justified by allegations of Iraqi stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction that were never uncovered after the invasion. Lula emphasized that this pattern of manufacturing pretext for military action has a long track record, arguing that armed conflict has never produced meaningful solutions to global disputes. “That’s just a pretext … and war has never solved anything,” he added. Beyond his critique of the conflict itself, Lula highlighted the tangible economic spillover that the conflict has already inflicted on Brazil, thousands of miles from the Middle East. He called on the United Nations Security Council to undertake deliberate, rational reflection on the escalating conflict to chart a path toward de-escalation. Disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for nearly a fifth of the world’s daily oil consumption, have driven sharp upward pressure on fuel prices globally, and Brazil has not been immune. Lula confirmed that diesel prices in the Latin American giant are facing notable upward pressure as a result of the conflict, which has exacerbated existing economic headwinds for working households. To mitigate the damage, Lula said his administration has already implemented targeted policy interventions, including cuts to fuel taxes and strengthened market oversight, all aimed at protecting the livelihoods of low-income Brazilian citizens who are disproportionately affected by rising energy costs. The regional conflict has sent shockwaves across the global economy since the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran were launched on February 28. In addition to disrupting global shipping lanes and sending crude oil prices soaring in the immediate aftermath of the strikes, the escalation has introduced new uncertainty to a global economy still recovering from the aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing inflationary pressures.

  • Trump threatens to hit Iran ‘extremely hard’ over next 2 to 3 weeks

    Trump threatens to hit Iran ‘extremely hard’ over next 2 to 3 weeks

    In a primetime national address delivered from the White House on April 1, 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump laid out an aggressive new timeline for the month-long conflict with Iran, threatening devastating new military strikes against the country within the next 14 to 21 days. The speech marked Trump’s first major public update on the war since it entered its fifth week, framing ongoing military operations as nearing their final phases while doubling down on hardline rhetoric against Tehran.

  • How a chance meeting shaped Canadian Jeremy Hansen’s mission to the Moon

    How a chance meeting shaped Canadian Jeremy Hansen’s mission to the Moon

    Fifty years after the last Apollo mission carried humans to the Moon’s vicinity, Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen stands on the cusp of making history as the only non-American crew member of NASA’s groundbreaking Artemis II mission – a milestone decades in the making, rooted in childhood wonder and a chance mentorship that shaped his path to space.

    Long before his name was attached to humanity’s first crewed lunar orbit mission in a generation, Hansen was a curious five-year-old growing up on a small farm outside London, Ontario. His passion for space ignited unexpectedly when he stumbled on an encyclopedia entry featuring Neil Armstrong and the iconic 1969 Apollo 11 lunar landing image. That moment left an indelible mark: “That page is still burnt in my brain,” Hansen recalled in a recent interview with *Spaceflight Now*. The young aspiring explorer quickly converted his family’s treehouse into a makeshift rocket, turning childhood daydreams into the first step of a decades-long journey.

    By his teens, Hansen had translated that fascination into action, joining the air cadets youth program before pursuing degrees in space science and physics at university. He went on to become a Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot, flying CF-18 jets out of Cold Lake, Alberta’s military base and collaborating with the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). But a chance encounter during his first year at the Royal Military College of Canada in 1995 would cement his trajectory: the young cadet met his idol, fellow Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield – years before Hadfield would take command of the International Space Station.

    Hansen worked up the courage to ask Hadfield for his email address, and the quick exchange sparked a years-long mentorship that would guide Hansen’s career. When Hansen joined the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) in 2009, following in Hadfield’s footsteps as both a fighter pilot and astronaut, Hadfield remained a key advisor, leaving Hansen with one simple, enduring piece of advice: chase the work that sets your passion alight. “Jeremy has been getting ready for this flight since he was five years old,” Hadfield noted in a March podcast conversation with Canadian singer Emm Gryner.

    Fourteen years after joining the CSA, Hansen’s lifelong preparation culminated in a historic selection: he was named mission specialist for Artemis II, the first crewed mission to travel beyond low-Earth orbit and circle the Moon since NASA’s Apollo program concluded in the 1970s. Over the 10-day mission, Hansen and three crewmates – commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and fellow mission specialist Christina Koch – will travel farther from Earth than any human group in history.

    Hansen is under no illusion that the groundbreaking mission will be without risk. “To do something that has never been done before means that your team is very likely to face failure,” he shared in an interview with the CSA. But that uncertainty has not dimmed his commitment to pushing human exploration forward. “I like the fact that in space, we are committed to bold goals to the extent that we will not let periodic failure stop our forward progress,” he added.

    For the historic flight, Hansen has woven personal and cultural meaning into every detail of his mission. He will carry four small moon-shaped pendants, each engraved with a birthstone for his wife and three teenage children. His custom blue spacesuit bears a mission patch designed by Anishinaabe artist Henry Guimond, with input from Dave Courchene III of Manitoba’s Sagkeeng First Nation. The patch’s heptagonal shape and featured animals draw from Indigenous teachings that center on four core values: love, respect, courage and humility for all people. Hansen says the patch is a deliberate tribute to Indigenous peoples of Canada and their millennia of traditional knowledge.

    In a recent BBC interview with science editor Rebecca Morelle and 13 Minutes podcast host Tim Peake – himself a former astronaut – Hansen opened up about the moments he is most anticipating. He is already looking forward to his first glimpse of Earth from orbit during his opening hour in space, but the highlight he expects will be the view of the Moon in the foreground, with our home planet hanging delicate and blue in the black distance behind it.

    For Hansen, the mission is about more than just pushing the boundaries of human exploration: it is a reminder of what humanity can achieve when we work together. “I hope humanity will stop for a moment when four humans are on the far side of the Moon, and just look at some of the imagery that we are sharing – and just be reminded that we can do a better job as humans of just lifting each other up,” he said. “Not destroying but creating together.”

  • Trump Fed pick Warsh eyes a ‘family fight’ shakeup

    Trump Fed pick Warsh eyes a ‘family fight’ shakeup

    When former U.S. President Donald Trump named Kevin Warsh as his pick for Federal Reserve Chair on January 30, 2026, global financial markets immediately zeroed in on one prevailing question: Would the long-time inflation hawk retain his tough stance on price growth, or would he bend to the president’s long-standing demand for lower benchmark interest rates?

    But two New York University economists argue that this widespread focus misses the bigger, underdiscussed story. Drawing on decades of peer-reviewed research on central banking practice and an extensive 2023 interview with Warsh conducted for an upcoming book on the Federal Reserve, the pair argue that the most transformative change under Warsh’s leadership would not be shifts in interest rate levels, but an overhaul of how the Fed conducts internal deliberations and communicates its policy decisions to the public.

    The 2023 interview revealed two core throughlines in Warsh’s thinking on central banking. The first, a long-stated commitment to anchoring price stability, aligned with market expectations. The second, however, offered surprising insight into his policy priorities: a deep desire to reimagine the Fed’s current framework for internal policy debate and public communication.

    During the conversation, Warsh shared a formative anecdote from 2006, when he was first nominated to the Fed’s Board of Governors and sought guidance from legendary former Fed Chair Paul Volcker. Volcker’s first instruction was to set interest rates “about right” — a phrase Warsh says acknowledges the unavoidable reality that policymakers can never calculate the exact optimal policy rate with perfect precision, given the complexity of the U.S. economy.

    But Volcker shared a second, far more important lesson that has stayed with Warsh: Always project confidence and intentionality in the Fed’s actions. For Warsh, this framing underscores a core truth of modern central banking: setting policy is only half the job; the other half is framing outcomes as the product of rigorous, thoughtful deliberation to maintain public and market confidence.

    Warsh has long advocated for what he calls the “family fight” model of monetary policymaking: robust, unfiltered disagreement among committee members behind closed doors, followed by a unified public message once a final decision is reached. He pointed to the 2007-2009 financial crisis under then-Chair Ben Bernanke as a successful example of this approach: heated debates unfolded in the chair’s office until the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) reached a consensus, after which all members spoke with one cohesive voice to markets. For large, systemically important institutions — particularly during periods of economic crisis — projecting a unified public stance is non-negotiable, Warsh argues.

    This framework shaped Warsh’s 2014 policy review for the Bank of England, where he recommended that policy meetings open with unrecorded, off-the-record discussion to enable this type of open debate. His core concern is that the current norm of releasing full meeting transcripts years after the fact changes how policymakers speak: when officials know their words will eventually face public scrutiny, they tend to hedge their positions and avoid blunt, honest takes rather than sharing unvarnished perspectives. This dynamic, he argues, weakens the quality of decision-making by discouraging genuine debate.

    Warsh’s stance represents a sharp break from the Fed’s 30-year trajectory toward greater transparency, a shift that policymakers have framed as critical to reducing market uncertainty, anchoring economic expectations, and improving policy effectiveness. The shift began in 1994 under then-Chair Alan Greenspan, when the Fed first started publicly announcing its interest rate decisions — a major break from decades prior, when markets were forced to infer policy shifts from the Fed’s open market operations. Bernanke expanded this transparency push after the 2008 crisis, introducing quarterly press conferences, forward guidance on future interest rate moves, and the publication of FOMC members’ interest rate projections, widely known as the “dot plot.” Subsequent chairs Janet Yellen and Jerome Powell retained this framework, with Powell holding a press conference after every FOMC meeting and working to replace cryptic “Fed speak” with clear, accessible language. Today, the Fed is far more transparent than at any point in its history, regularly explaining both its decisions and its interpretation of broader economic trends.

    Warsh, however, remains deeply skeptical of this push for ever-greater transparency. In the 2023 interview, he argued that publishing individual policymakers’ projections encourages a “troubling convergence of views” that stifles genuine, productive disagreement within the FOMC. In his view, short-term economic forecasts offer limited practical benefit while subtly biasing how officials think about future policy, locking in consensus before new data can shift perspectives.

    His critique extends to all forms of expansive central bank communication. He argues that oversharing policy intentions makes it harder for policymakers to adjust course when economic conditions change, noting that extensive pre-commitment to a policy path erodes a central banker’s “ability to change his mind.” For Warsh, a central bank that cannot adapt its position when new information emerges cannot be considered credible — and credibility, he argues, comes from adaptability, not rigid consistency, a stance that would put widely used tools like the dot plot into question.

    The debate over Fed communication carries far more weight than many observers recognize, because modern financial markets respond just as much to central bank signals as they do to actual policy actions. Investors do not wait for rate changes to adjust their portfolios; they rebalance holdings based on expectations of future Fed moves. Proponents of current transparency practices argue forward guidance and published projections reduce volatility by helping markets anticipate policy shifts.

    A shift toward Warsh’s model would not inherently push interest rates higher or lower, but it would almost certainly make policy less predictable — even though the unified public stance he favors would offset some of that uncertainty. Markets would likely become more sensitive to incoming economic data, as fewer explicit signals about the Fed’s long-term intentions would be available to price in.

    These impacts stretch far beyond Wall Street trading floors. Mortgage rates, corporate investment plans, and business hiring decisions all rely on expectations of future borrowing costs. The current framework of clear communication stabilizes these expectations, while a shift toward greater policymaker discretion would give the Fed more flexibility to respond to unexpected economic shocks.

    Based on his 2023 comments, Warsh’s priority would be to trade some of that current predictability for greater policy adaptability. Under his leadership, the public would likely receive less explicit guidance about where policy is heading, but policy could adjust faster when economic conditions shift.

    The authors note that they cannot predict whether Warsh would push for lower rates or stick to Volcker’s mantra of getting policy “about right.” But Warsh’s own public and private comments make clear that his first priority would be reshaping how the Fed debates, signals, and defends its policy decisions — and in modern central banking, changing how the Fed communicates can ultimately change the very nature of policy itself.

  • Trump signs order to create voter eligibility lists, restrict mail ballots

    Trump signs order to create voter eligibility lists, restrict mail ballots

    Less than 24 hours after the formal signing ceremony held in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., a new executive order from U.S. President Donald Trump aimed at overhauling core parts of the nation’s election administration has ignited immediate political and legal firestorm across the country. Dated March 31, 2026, the directive marks the second major executive action Trump has taken to reshape voting procedures since he returned to office, following a 2025 order that was largely blocked by federal courts.

    Under the terms of the new order, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is mandated to work in direct partnership with the Social Security Administration to assemble comprehensive, state-by-state rosters of voters who have been formally confirmed as U.S. citizens aged 18 and older, the minimum voting age in the country. Once compiled, these national voter eligibility lists will be turned over to state-level election authorities for use in verifying who is eligible to cast ballots in federal elections.

    Beyond creating centralized eligibility rolls, the order also imposes new restrictions on mail-in and absentee voting, a method of voting that has been the subject of fierce partisan debate in U.S. politics for years. The U.S. Postal Service is instructed to only deliver ballot packages to voters whose names appear on the state-approved eligibility lists compiled under the new federal framework. Additionally, all election mail will be required to use official, pre-marked envelopes with tracking barcodes to monitor delivery and confirm receipt by election officials.

    The move has triggered swift pushback from legal experts, election administrators, voting rights advocates and Democratic party officials, nearly all of whom question the foundational legality of the order. Under the U.S. Constitution, authority over the administration of federal, state and local elections is primarily granted to individual state governments, with limited rule-setting power reserved for Congress. Legal analysts widely agree that the executive order oversteps federal authority granted under the Constitution, making it vulnerable to being struck down by the courts.

    Within hours of the order being signed, voting rights organizations and Democratic leaders from multiple states announced they would immediately file legal challenges to block the directive from taking effect. This latest effort to alter election rules follows a similar executive order Trump issued in 2025, which sought to tighten voter registration requirements and stop the counting of ballots that arrive after Election Day. Courts ultimately blocked key provisions of that 2025 order, a precedent that opponents of the new directive say suggests a similar outcome is likely this time around.

  • Megan Thee Stallion taken to hospital during Moulin Rouge performance

    Megan Thee Stallion taken to hospital during Moulin Rouge performance

    One of hip-hop’s biggest award-winning stars has hit an unexpected hurdle early into her first Broadway stint. Grammy-winning rapper Megan Thee Stallion was rushed to a local New York hospital mid-show during a Tuesday night performance of *Moulin Rouge! The Musical*, her representative has officially confirmed.

    The 31-year-old artist, who made her highly anticipated Broadway debut March 24 stepping into the iconic role of Harold Zidler — the musical’s unapologetically eccentric emcee — began experiencing unexpected severe illness mid-performance. According to her spokesperson, she was immediately transported to a nearby medical facility for evaluation, where providers are still assessing the cause of her symptoms. “We will share additional updates as more information becomes available,” the representative told multiple U.S. media outlets.

    News of the emergency hospitalization was first shared publicly by Megan Thee Stallion’s long-time hair stylist Kellon Deryck, who posted a plea to fans on the social platform X: “Everyone say a prayer for Megan, we are all at the hospital.”

    The rapper, whose legal name is Megan Pete, had spent weeks building excitement for her limited Broadway run, which is currently scheduled to run through May 19. Ahead of her opening night, she shared her enthusiasm for trading her usual concert tour schedule for a turn in the spotlight of New York’s theater world. After her triumphant opening night performance, she took to social media to shout out her loyal fanbase — known affectionately as “Hotties” — writing, “HOTTIES IM ON BROADWAY!!”

    A multi-platinum global superstar, Megan Thee Stallion rose to mainstream fame with chart-topping hits including *Savage*, *WAP*, and *Body*. In 2021, she made history taking home three Grammy Awards in a single year: Best Rap Song, Best New Artist, and Best Rap Performance. She followed that milestone with a 2022 Album of the Year nomination for her critically acclaimed debut studio album.

    The role of Harold Zidler, which Megan is currently performing in the limited celebrity guest stint, is one of Broadway’s most coveted. The character was originated by Broadway veteran Danny Burstein, who took home the 2020 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal. Earlier this year, famous drag artist Bob the Drag Queen held the role for an eight-week limited engagement before Megan stepped into the part.

    The BBC has confirmed it has reached out to Megan Thee Stallion’s representation for additional comment as details of her health condition remain pending.

  • US Army pilots who flew near Kid Rock’s home suspended and then reinstated within hours

    US Army pilots who flew near Kid Rock’s home suspended and then reinstated within hours

    A recent incident involving two U.S. Army Apache helicopter crews and a high-profile conservative entertainer has sparked new debate over military conduct and political alignment, after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth abruptly reversed a temporary suspension of the personnel just hours after it was announced. The controversy began on March 28, when two AH-64 Apache helicopters from the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, stationed at nearby Fort Campbell, hovered low over the Tennessee property of Kid Rock, a renowned musician and outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump.

    Kid Rock, born Robert Ritchie, shared a video of the encounter on social media over the weekend. The clips show the artist standing poolside beside a mini Statue of Liberty replica, saluting the passing aircraft at his sprawling estate, which he has nicknamed the “Southern White House.” His social media caption combined a patriotic message honoring fallen U.S. service members with a verbal jab at California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, who has had public conflicts with both Kid Rock and Trump.

    After the video spread widely online, the U.S. Army announced Tuesday morning that it had temporarily pulled the two flight crews from active duty pending an investigation into whether the flyby violated federal flight regulations and military operating standards. “The Army takes any allegations of unauthorized or unsafe flight operations very seriously and is committed to enforcing standards and holding personnel accountable,” Army Major Montrell Russell told the BBC in an early statement.

    But within hours of the suspension announcement, Defense Secretary Hegseth stepped in to reverse the decision, announcing on social media that the crews would face no punishment and no formal investigation. “No punishment. No Investigation. Carry on, patriots,” Hegseth wrote. Kid Rock told local Nashville outlet WKRN-TV that low-altitude flights near his property are far from unusual, noting he has a long history of entertaining troops at Fort Campbell and on overseas deployments. “I think they know this is a pretty friendly spot,” he said. “I’ve talked to some of these pilots. I’ve told them, ‘You guys see me waving when you come by the house?’ I’m like, ‘You guys are always welcome to cruise by my house, any time.’”

    When asked about the incident during a White House press interaction Tuesday, President Trump struck a mixed tone, at first joking that “maybe they were trying to defend him.” He acknowledged that the unapproved flyby likely violated military rules: “probably shouldn’t have been doing it. You’re not supposed to be playing games,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. The president added, however, that he shares the crews’ positive view of the entertainer: “They like Kid Rock. I like Kid Rock.” Kid Rock has long held a high profile in conservative politics, most recently headlining an alternative Super Bowl halftime event for the right-wing organization Turning Point USA and speaking at the 2024 Republican National Convention. The BBC has reached out to the U.S. Army for additional comment following Hegseth’s reversal of the suspension.

  • What it’s like to be on Florida’s Space Coast ahead of Artemis launch

    What it’s like to be on Florida’s Space Coast ahead of Artemis launch

    As the sun sets over Florida’s Space Coast this Wednesday, hundreds of thousands of space enthusiasts from across the United States are flooding into local causeways, public beaches, and motel balconies, all gathering to witness the long-awaited launch of NASA’s Artemis II mission — humanity’s first crewed trip around the Moon in more than 50 years.

    Among the excited crowd is 8-year-old Isiah, who summed up the collective mood simply: “People going up to the Moon is kind of cool.” Traveling more than 1,000 miles from her home in New Mexico to be at the launch site, Amanda Garcia echoed that enthusiasm. “I heard it’s gonna be a great show. A lot of people are going to be here,” she said, explaining why she made the cross-country trip to be part of the historic moment.

    Local authorities are describing the surge of visitors as a “historic influx”, with projections that the event will deliver an estimated $160 million boost to the regional economy. Months of preparation have gone into managing the crowds: traffic control plans are in place, local bars have rolled out moon-themed drink specials, and hotels have warned guests to expect lengthy travel delays between their accommodations and public viewing sites. Even highway streetlights will share the night sky with the glow of floodlit launch towers and the warm light of camper van barbecue grills scattered across viewing areas.

    Just a mile from the launch pad, Brenda Mulberry, owner of Space Shirts — a local NASA souvenir shop that has operated on Merritt Island for 40 years — says this event is unlike any launch she has ever hosted. “We’ve wanted to go back to the Moon since the ’70s. People are excited. People are beyond excited,” she explained, noting that she has stocked her small shop full of hand-illustrated T-shirts emblazoned with rockets, mission patches and lunar landscapes to meet unprecedented demand. When asked about her long-term vision, Mulberry laughed and joked, “I want to have the first T-shirt shop on the Moon. Because if you’ve been there, you get the T-shirt, right?”

    The Artemis II mission marks a critical turning point for NASA’s broader lunar exploration program, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972. Unlike the original Apollo missions, which focused on short surface visits, the long-term goal of the Artemis program is to construct a permanent lunar base camp, tap into the Moon’s untapped natural resources, and develop a sustainable starting point for the first human mission to Mars.

    Speaking ahead of the launch, Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman emphasized the program’s intergenerational mission. “In our lifetime, we’ve looked at the Moon knowing that people had been there. And now in the Artemis generation, kids will walk out and look at the Moon going, we are there. We are there now, and we are going further into our solar system,” he said.

    All eyes on launch night will be fixed on Launch Pad 39B, the same historic concrete launch site that supported the Apollo 11 mission that put the first humans on the Moon in 1969. Standing on the pad is NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), a 321-foot-tall white and orange rocket that is the most powerful and heaviest launch vehicle the agency has ever built. Mounted atop the rocket is the Orion crew capsule, a vehicle roughly the size of a small van that will carry four astronauts on the 10-day unlanded test flight. This mission marks the first time Orion will be tested with a full human crew on board.

    The launch window opens between 18:24 and 20:24 local Florida time on Wednesday. The four-person crew — commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, who will make his first trip to space on this mission — will board the capsule approximately four hours before liftoff.

    The mission follows a carefully planned 10-day timeline. After reaching Earth orbit, the crew will spend their first day testing manual flight controls and life support systems before setting a course for the Moon. On day two, a major engine burn will put Orion on a free-return trajectory that will naturally carry it around the Moon and back to Earth, with only small course corrections needed along the way. Each day of the flight is dedicated to new system tests and operational challenges, with the most anticipated milestone coming on day six, when Orion is scheduled to fly behind the far side of the Moon. For roughly 40 minutes, all radio contact between the capsule and ground control will be cut off, leaving flight controllers waiting for the spacecraft to emerge from behind the lunar disk. During this pass, Orion will travel between 4,000 and 6,000 miles above the lunar surface, and depending on its exact trajectory, it could surpass the 1970 Apollo 13 record for the farthest any human crew has ever traveled from Earth.

    The most high-stakes phase of the mission comes on re-entry day. Orion will plummet through Earth’s atmosphere at roughly 25,000 miles per hour, generating external temperatures hot enough to melt rock, which must be absorbed by the capsule’s reinforced heat shield. After the 2022 uncrewed Artemis I test flight, engineers discovered that chunks of the heat shield’s protective coating had cracked and broken away during the mission’s two-stage “skip” re-entry maneuver. The maneuver — designed to reduce heat stress, G-force loads, and improve splashdown accuracy — dips the capsule into the upper atmosphere before briefly climbing back up and making a final plunge. For Artemis II, engineers have retained the two-stage approach but adjusted the entry angle and timing to reduce the time Orion spends in the initial, gentle atmospheric dip. Modeling suggests this change will reduce the heat and structural stress that caused the earlier damage, but this mission will be the first real-world test of the adjusted design with a crew on board.

    If Artemis II completes its mission successfully, the next large-scale gathering on the Space Coast will come for the next step in the program: bringing humans back to walk the surface of the Moon, half a century after the last Apollo astronauts left their footprints in the lunar regolith. And as thousands of visitors carry home their custom mission T-shirts from Space Shirts, many will already be sharing Brenda Mulberry’s quiet, playful dream: that one day, her shop’s logo will not only be printed on Florida cotton, but featured in a photograph taken on the surface of the Moon.

  • Judge temporarily halts construction of Trump’s White House ballroom

    Judge temporarily halts construction of Trump’s White House ballroom

    A landmark federal court ruling has temporarily paused a high-profile construction project to build a new presidential ballroom at the White House, after judge Richard Leon found the Trump administration skipped legally required approval processes before breaking ground. The case was brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a congressionally chartered non-profit dedicated to protecting America’s historic landmarks, which argued the White House violated multiple federal laws by launching the project without mandatory review.

    In a forceful 35-page ruling published Tuesday, Leon left little room for ambiguity about his decision: “Unless and until Congress blesses this project through statutory authorization, construction has to stop!” he wrote, emphasizing that while the U.S. president serves as a steward of the White House for future generations, he does not hold personal ownership of the iconic property. Leon concluded the preservation group was likely to prevail in the full trial, noting no existing federal statute grants the president the authority he claims to alter the White House grounds without congressional approval. The temporary halt will go into effect in 14 days, giving the administration time to file its planned appeal.

    The project, which was launched last October after the 1902-built East Wing was demolished, has grown substantially from its original plan: what was first proposed as a 500-person ballroom is now designed to hold 1,350 guests. The White House estimates the total cost will hit $400 million, all covered by private donations rather than taxpayer funds. Last week, Trump confirmed the project also includes a large underground military complex, saying the above-ground ballroom would effectively serve as a cover for the classified subterranean structure. Demolition and foundation work have already been completed, with above-ground construction scheduled to start next month.

    In its lawsuit, the National Trust laid out three core legal grievances: the White House failed to submit construction plans to the National Capital Planning Commission, skipped a required environmental impact assessment, and never obtained explicit congressional authorization for the project. The group also argued the project violates the U.S. Constitution, which reserves authority over federal property to the legislative branch. Following the ruling, National Trust president Carol Quillen called the decision a victory for all Americans. “This is a win for the American people on a project that forever impacts one of the most beloved and iconic places in our nation,” Quillen said in an official statement.

    Shortly after the ruling was released, former president (current U.S. president) Donald Trump pushed back aggressively against the decision on his Truth Social platform and in comments to reporters. Trump denied he needs congressional approval for the project, and vowed to appeal the ruling to a higher court. He defended the project as being under budget, ahead of schedule, and entirely funded by private donors, claiming it will become the finest event space of its kind in the world. He also argued the current temporary event space, a tented arrangement, is inadequate for upcoming high-profile events, including the upcoming state visit of Britain’s King Charles III next month. “We don’t want him to sit in a pool of water” if it rains, Trump told reporters, adding the existing facilities cannot properly host visiting world leaders.

    The Trump administration had previously attempted to justify rushing the project by claiming delays would threaten U.S. national security, a argument Leon rejected outright. Calling the claim “grasping at straws,” Leon wrote sarcastically, “The existence of a ‘large hole’ beside the White House is, of course, a problem of the President’s own making!” Trump also hit out at the National Trust for opposing a separate renovation project at the Kennedy Center, which he recently renamed to honor himself. He claimed the performing arts center had fallen into disrepair over decades, and his project is only meant to restore and improve the space. The ruling marks a major constitutional check on executive authority to alter the White House grounds, setting up a high-stakes legal battle over separation of powers as the project nears its next construction phase.