Several Trump-endorsed candidates win their primary races. The Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates steady in its first meeting with a new chairman. And Lionel Messi ties World Cup goals record.
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Here’s what to know today.
Candidates endorsed by Donald Trump won several primary races across the U.S. last night, though one billionaire defeated the president’s pick in a race for governor.
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In Georgia, Rep. Mike Collins won the Republican Senate runoff, setting up a race against Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in one of the most competitive contests in the country. In his victory speech, Collins — endorsed by Trump just a few days before Tuesday’s vote — painted Ossoff as “an out-of-touch far-left liberal.” Meanwhile, Ossoff called his opponent “a notorious bigot, antisemite and extremist.”
Other Trump-endorsed candidates who won their races included:
→ Rep. Kevin Hern in Oklahoma’s Republican Senate primary for the seat previously represented by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
→ Rep. Barry Moore in the Republican primary runoff for Alabama Senate, making him the heavy favorite in the general election to succeed Sen. Tommy Tuberville.
→ In the race for Oklahoma governor, Trump-endorsed former state Sen. Mike Mazzei and state Attorney General Gentner Drummond advanced to a runoff.
However, in Georgia’s race for governor, billionaire business Rick Jackson won the Republican primary runoff over Trump’s pick, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones.
Meanwhile, in the race for mayor of Washington, D.C, City Council member Janeese Lewis George, a democratic socialist, leads the pack in the Democratic primary, though it’s not yet clear whether the contest will go to a ranked-choice tabulation.
And in California’s 14th District, no candidate was set to get a majority in the special election to succeed former Rep. Eric Swalwell, though state Sen. Aisha Wahab is well in front of the pack.
More politics news:
- Trump delays Jay Clayton’s nomination for intel director, citing frustration over spying tool and voter ID bill.
- In the final two weeks of the Supreme Court’s term, justices are expected to rule on significant cases involving birthright citizenship and Trump’s attempt to fire a Fed member. Here’s what else.
- Five people were arrested in an alleged plot to attack the UFC event last weekend at the White House with explosives-laden drones and guns.
- Trump wanted the Lincoln Memorial’s reflecting pool to be “American flag blue.” Algae are turning it green.
- For subscribers: From a personalized German national soccer jersey to a dinner at Versailles, world leaders at the G7 summit are taking pains to please Trump. But is it worth their time?
Staff Pick: NASA is going to great lengths to keep dirty fingers off its $4.3 billion space telescope
It’s not every day that I get to see one of NASA’s giant space telescopes up close mere months before it launches into space. In May, I traveled to the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, to see the facility where NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is housed and talk to some of the scientists and engineers who have been working on this project for more than a decade.
To access the clean room at Goddard, I had to follow strict protocols to protect the telescope from earthly contamination. First, an “air shower” blew off any dust, dirt and other particles from my shoes, clothing and skin. Then, I put on the full white “bunny suit” — a one-piece jumper, hood, long boots, gloves and face mask— that covered everything but my eyes. It was hard to imagine that in less than three months, the telescope before me would be around 1 million miles away, capturing mind-blowing images of the cosmos.
The Roman telescope is designed to spend at least five years surveying the universe, observing hundreds of millions of stars and billions of galaxies, and mapping more of the sky than ever before. With this new observatory, slated to launch Aug. 30, NASA hopes to unravel the secrets of dark matter and energy and discover thousands of planets beyond our solar system.
Come journey with me into the clean room as we get to know the telescope and its mission ahead. — Denise Chow, science reporter
Inflation and Kevin Warsh in spotlight at interest rate meeting
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged at its meeting this afternoon, the first for Kevin Warsh as the central bank’s new chairman. But investors will be looking closely for clues to Warsh’s views on rates, inflation and the bank’s operations at large.
The meeting comes just days after the U.S. and Iran said they had reached a peace deal, which has not been signed yet. The falling oil prices as a result will likely ease some pressure on Warsh. And while Trump has asked the Fed to lower interest rates, he recently conveyed to Warsh that the new chairman was free to “do your own thing.”
Another thing to keep your eye on today: The committee’s so-called “dot plot.”
Why it could take weeks to reopen the Strait of Hormuz
President Trump said yesterday at the Group of Seven summit in France that the Strait of Hormuz would be “completely open” on Friday, the same day that a formal peace deal is set to be signed in Geneva. But it remains unclear what shipping through the crucial waterway will look like, and some are skeptical.
“Seeing is believing,” said Halvor Ellefsen, a director at Fearnley’s Shipbrokers, adding that there had “been a lot of ‘cry wolf’” about a potential ceasefire. Jakob Larsen, chief safety and security officer at shipping industry association BIMCO, said that they “still consider it very risky for ships to commerce transits at this point.”
Those fears about fragility of the truce between the U.S. and Iran, as well as possible Iranian mines and the potential of fees being levied by the Islamic Republic on ships mean many will watch and wait before allowing their vessels to set sail.
What other industry experts are saying about the situation.
More Iran war news:
- Trump has quietly invoked the Defense Production Act to force companies to quickly produce more weaponry to replenish stockpiles depleted over the course of the war.
1-year-old killed as police respond to alleged shoplifting
A 1-year-old boy was fatally shot Sunday afternoon at a Walmart in Senatobia, Mississippi, after police fired at a family’s vehicle while responding to a shoplifting call. Kohen Wiley was in the car with his mother and a family friend, who was also critically injured.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigations, which is investigating the shooting, said police fired after the driver “drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one.” A community advocate helping the family said the boy’s mother was skipping to the car with her son, not fleeing a theft.
World Cup: Messi puts on a show
Lionel Messi scored a hat trick — three goals in a single game — as he propelled Argentina to a 3-0 victory in its World Cup opener against Algeria. Messi, 38, first scored in the opening minutes of the match, the second off a rebound early in the second half and the third moments before being subbed to a standing ovation. His final goal marked his 16th in a World Cup, tying the record for career goals scored in the tournament.
Read a recap of Messi’s remarkable night.
🇫🇷 vs. 🇸🇳: Not far behind Messi in the record books with 14 career World Cup goals is Kylian Mbappé, who after a slow start notched two goals in France’s 3-1 win against Senegal.
🇳🇴 vs. 🇮🇶: And Norway striker Erling Haaland, in his tournament debut, scored twice in his team’s 4-1 win against Iraq.
🗓 What to watch today: Portugal and Democratic Republic of Congo play first at 1 p.m. ET, followed by England and Croatia at 4 p.m., Ghana and Panama at 7 p.m., and Uzbekistan and Colombia at 10 p.m. See the full schedule.
📩 Join the excitement: Sign up for The Sports Desk newsletter for more in-depth World Cup coverage.
Read All About It
- Russia’s defense ministry released a statement explaining why a warship fired warning shots toward a British yacht in the English Channel.
- Los Angeles police killed a dogkilled a dog while responding to a call about a woman screaming after the New York Knicks won the NBA title.
- What does Pizza Hut, 24 Hour Fitness and a funeral casket and urn maker have in common? They have the same owner.
- For subscribers: A vaccine that could one day be used to help prevent fentanyl overdoses and treat addiction showed promise in an early-stage clinical trial, drugmaker ARMR Sciences said.
NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified
Father’s Day is just around the corner, and it’s not too late to snag the perfect gift. These 19 last-minute picks from Amazon are sure to arrive on time. If dad is a World Cup fan, we highly recommend grabbing one of these limited edition Owala water bottles to help him take his fandom to a whole new level.
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