Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Libby Casey.
The crew of Artemis II is safely back on Earth after a more than nine-day journey around the Moon and back. Central Florida Public Media's Brendan Burn reports their spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, southwest of San Diego, under a canopy of three parachutes. "You've figured he's splashed down, sending post-wand in command now."
The crew's Orion spacecraft made the 13-and-a-half-minute journey through the atmosphere, reaching a top speed of around 33 times the speed of sound and slowing to just around 19 miles per hour at Splashdown. The four astronauts have traveled more than 694,000 miles since launching from Florida's Kennedy Space Center.
It was the first time humans ventured to the Moon in more than 50 years.
The mission was a critical flight of Orion, carrying crew for the first time, and testing
“key systems like the life support, propulsion, and the heat shield.”
NASA will take this data and use it for future astronaut missions, with a goal to land humans on the Moon by 2028. For NPR News, I'm Brendan Burn in Orlando. Iran's team of negotiators have arrived in Pakistan for talks there Saturday with Vice President J.D. Vance, and PRSA Batrawi reports the two sides are meeting after President Trump
back down from threats to bomb Iran's power plants, and instead agreed to a two-week ceasefire. Pakistan's state TV showed Iran's Parliament speaker Mahamad Barra Ralebath and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqqi being welcomed on the tarmac in Islamabad by senior Pakistani officials. The Iranian team will be holding talks with Vance, who's traveling with special envoy Steve Whitkoff and President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Trump says his top priorities now are ensuring Iran has no nuclear weapon and that the state of her moves opens for shipping. Iran is demanding an end to Israel's invasion of Lebanon. Israel's attacks on the Iran-backed Hezbollah group and civilian areas of Beirut killed more
“than 350 people Wednesday according to Lebanon's health ministry threatening the talks in”
Pakistan. Doesn'ts more have been killed since. I Abbasraawi and PR News, Dubai. California Congressman Eric Swallwell is facing calls from fellow Democrats to end his campaign for governor.
For member-station KQED, Guy Marsarati reports, Swallwell has been accused of sexual assault by a former staffer, allegations Swallwell strongly denies.
The San Francisco Chronicle first reported the allegations from a former staff member,
who said Swallwell sexually assaulted her twice when she was too intoxicated to give consent. Swallwell is a leading candidate in the June 2nd primary for governor. In a statement, he called the allegations false. But some of his top supporters, including California Senator Adam Schiff and Congressman Jimmy Gomez, are dropping their endorsements and calling on Swallwell to end his campaign.
“For MPR News, I'm Guy Marsarati in San Francisco.”
March saw a sharp spike in inflation because of the largest monthly jumping gas prices in six decades. This is NPR. The White House has released official architectural plans for a 250-foot triumphal arch president Trump has proposed to add to the national mall in Washington, D.C.
As NPR's Anastasia Silcus reports, the plans will be reviewed next week. The committee charged with reviewing the plans for the arch is the commission of fine arts, a group president Trump has filled with his appointees. The submitted plans from the Harrison Design firm show structure very similar to the model that Trump showed off at a fundraising dinner at the White House last October.
The proposed arch bears a striking resemblance to the arch to Trump and Paris, and is topped with two eagles and a winged crowned figure reminiscent of the Statue of Liberty. On one side, the words "one nation under God" appear with the phrase "with liberty and justice for all on the other." The structure would be more than twice the height of the nearby Lincoln Memorial.
Anastasia Silcus and Pierre News, New York. The world's first facility for permanently disposing of spent nuclear fuel is set to begin operations in Finland in the coming months. The site, called Oncalo, which means "cave" in Finnish has been under construction for decades. It will be the repository for thousands of tons of dangerous radioactive waste.
The site cost $1.2 billion to build deep in stable bedrock that is 1.9 billion years old.
It's on an island on Finland's west coast, the closest town is less than 10 miles away. Nuclear safety experts have raised concerns about such disposal. This is NPR News live in Washington. This is Ira Glass. On this American life, we tell stories about when things change.
Like for this guy David, whose entire life took a sharp and expected and very unpleasant term. It's taken me a while to realise it's basically because the monkey pressed the button.
