News - Friday, June 5, 2026

The puppet stands only a few inches tall, but bringing it to life requires patience measured not in minutes but in fractions of an inch.

In Matt Eslinger’s small home studio, he leans over a miniature figure. His camera waits for the next frame. He adjusts a hand slightly and presses a Bluetooth controller.

Ask Matt Eslinger about stop-motion animation, and the conversation will turn to the artists who helped define the medium.

At the top of the list is legendary animator Ray Harryhausen, whose creatures in films such as “Jason and the Argonauts” and “Clash of the Titans” captivated generations of moviegoers.

For anyone curious about stop-motion, Matt Eslinger has no shortage of recommendations.

His list spans decades of filmmaking, from childhood favorites to modern masterpieces. He cites “Kubo and the Two Strings,” “Coraline,” Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio” and Wes Anderson’s “Isle of Dogs” as examples of the medium at its creative peak.

Rows of blooms stretch across the property in vibrant shades of pink, yellow and purple. Children crowd around the goat pens while couples stroll through flower-draped archways and pause for photographs among the gardens. Months of planning, planting and hard work have finally culminated in this moment.

A New York-based duo known for blending jazz, soul and storytelling will bring a vintage atmosphere to Chattanooga this month. Acute Inflections, a jazzy R&B pair with a minimalist sound built on voice and upright bass, is scheduled to perform June 14 at The Granfalloon.

Strong associations do not run on one person’s leadership. They move forward because members step up, share their time and bring different strengths to the table.

This Director Spotlight features Beverly Boss, whose path to real estate started with coaching and helping people prepare for big life transitions. That same service mindset carries over into their work as a Realtor and how they show up for Greater Chattanooga Realtors.

As your new graduate prepares to step into the next chapter of life – whether that’s more education or starting a career – one of the best things you can do is help them understand how to use credit cards, debit cards and prepaid cards wisely. They can be powerful financial tools, but without some basic knowledge, they can also lead to trouble.

The Chattanooga Fire Department has formally established a Community Risk Reduction Division to coordinate and expand its prevention, education and outreach efforts across the city.

The new division will focus on identifying community-specific risks and implementing programs designed to prevent emergencies before they occur, according to a department announcement.

You don’t know. You just don’t. Not because you’re ignorant, but because the information’s new, you’re still learning, you need directions somewhere or your body’s doing something weird. You’re smart, but you can’t know everything, and that’s OK. 

By Rhiannon Potkey

After an unprecedented run of success under former head coach Tony Vitello, the University of Tennessee baseball program hit a few stumbling blocks to begin the Josh Elander era.

The Vols had a quick exit from the NCAA Tournament, going 0-2 for the first time in program history and getting eliminated in the regional round for the first time since 2019. Tennessee opened the tournament last Friday in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with a 7-3 loss to East Carolina in 14 innings. The Vols saw their season end the following day, losing 5-4 to Virginia Commonwealth.

Buying a car is a major investment, especially when everyday costs keep rising. It can seem especially daunting given that the average price of a new vehicle is close to $50,000 in 2026.

This is why the experts at Edmunds have compiled a list of the five least expensive vehicles on sale in 2026.

The NCAA is on the cusp of extending Division I athlete eligibility from four years of competition to five and essentially setting an age limit, just the latest development on a topic that has been a point of contention in college athletics for decades.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — June is widely recognized as Pride Month, but a handful of Republican governors have bestowed alternative titles that both supporters and opponents view as counterprogramming.

Without directly saying the idea was to replace Pride, the governors of Indiana and Tennessee rebranded June as Nuclear Family Month to celebrate units made up of "one husband, one wife and any biological, adopted or fostered children."

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is again seeking to boost the struggling U.S. coal industry, with an announcement expected Thursday to spend nearly $700 million to support coal-fired power plants and coal exports.

A White House official said the administration will use authority under a Cold War-era national defense law to support 13 coal plants across the country and help build coal plants in Alaska and West Virginia — the first new U.S. coal plants since 2013. The money will also help restart a shuttered coal-fired power plant in Maryland and support construction of a long-delayed coal export terminal in Oakland, California.

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street rallied Thursday after falling oil prices and yields in the bond market eased the pressure on U.S. stocks. Banks, small companies and other stocks that had earlier been left behind by the euphoria around artificial-intelligence technology led the way.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House is on course to pass legislation that would aid Ukraine and sanction key segments of the Russian economy despite opposition from Republican leaders who warn the bill will undermine negotiations designed to achieve a comparable but stronger result.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans cleared the first hurdle on Thursday as they are struggling to pass legislation to fund President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement agencies, narrowly beating back a Democratic effort to permanently block Trump from creating a $1.776 billion settlement fund for payouts to allies who claim they were persecuted by the government.

WASHINGTON (AP) — An American journalist who has lived in China since 2010 and worked for several state media organizations there pleaded guilty in a U.S. court Thursday to acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government, the Justice Department said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military is still waiting for clarity from the Pentagon following President Donald Trump's back-and-forth on troop levels in Europe, upending the lives of military personnel and potentially costing taxpayers millions of dollars, two U.S. defense officials told The Associated Press.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The manufacturer of a firefighting foam that contaminated the water supply in northeastern Wisconsin with PFAS chemicals for decades agreed to a $10 million settlement with the state, the governor and attorney general announced on Thursday.

NEW YORK (AP) — As if Scott Pelley's years in a glamorous, globetrotting, seven-figure dream job weren't enough, he's pulled off one more thing to stir your envy: a cutting takedown of his boss that went loudly public.

The "60 Minutes" correspondent's searing rebuke of CBS management this week, in which he questioned his bosses' credentials and motives, may have ended in his firing, but amounted to the sort of mouthing-off that workplace peons typically only fantasize about.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Television and movie actors on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to ratify a four-year contract with studios and streaming services, a month after their union leaders negotiated a deal they say provides protections against synthetic actors created by artificial intelligence.

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Trump administration's push to expand oil and gas development in Alaska faces a new test Friday, with the latest lease sale set for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Opponents of drilling in the refuge's coastal plain have pointed to a lack of industry interest in the prior two sales held there and ongoing changes in Alaska's arctic region due to climate change as proof the region should be off-limits to drilling. But supporters of drilling see the coastal plain, which is roughly the size of Delaware, as a potential untapped resource that could boost U.S. oil production and generate new revenue and jobs.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury's financial crimes arm wants banks to help identify payroll schemes tied to people living in the country illegally, as part of the Trump administration's latest measure to clamp down on immigration.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network — also known a FinCEN — issued an advisory Friday to banks that tells them to watch out for identity theft, payroll tax fraud, and money laundering schemes tied to hiring unauthorized workers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The American job market continues to show surprising strength, shrugging off the high costs of the Iran war.

Employers added 172,000 jobs in May – roughly double what forecasters had expected – and the unemployment rate remained at a low 4.3%.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday rejected a proposal by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a face-to-face negotiation on the conflict, saying he sees "no point" in it.

Thursday's letter, the first public message Zelenskyy has written directly to Putin since Russia sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, was a sweeping critique of the Russian leader's 26 years in power.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that developing countries have gained an increasingly important role in the global economy, while the share of output by Western countries has shrunk.

In a speech to the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin accused the West of undermining the global economy and finances with unilateral sanctions.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate passed legislation to fund President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement agencies early Friday, after weeks of delays and fierce backlash to an unrelated $1.776 billion settlement fund that threatened to derail the bill.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House passed legislation Thursday that would aid Ukraine and sanction key segments of the Russian economy, overriding objections from Republican leaders who warned the bill would undermine negotiations designed to achieve a comparable but stronger result.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that federal housing finance regulator Bill Pulte, his pick for acting director of national intelligence, would not be his "permanent" choice for the critical security post.

The Republican president's disclosure that he was ruling out installing Pulte in the position full-time came after bipartisan pushback on Capitol Hill in recent days over Pulte's lack of national security experience. The position requires Senate confirmation, something that lawmakers indicated was unlikely if Pulte were the nominee.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate blocked an extension early Friday of a key surveillance program used by U.S. intelligence agencies as concerns mounted over President Donald Trump's selection of federal housing finance regulator Bill Pulte to serve as director of national intelligence.

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (AP) — Miles from shore, Chris Kemp pumps and reels as he battles a fish 150 feet below. Eventually, it gives up, and the 10-pound red snapper is hauled aboard the Jodie Lynn II.

There's barely time to rejoice. As Kemp raises his trophy for a picture, the charter boat's captain rushes over and then drives a knifelike tool into the fish's gas-filled bladder. The procedure, required by federal law, is intended to improve the fish's chances of survival after release.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The last time Washington, D.C., residents chose a new delegate to Congress and a new mayor in the same election, gas was $1.33 a gallon and George H.W. Bush was president.

This fall they will do it again — under starkly different circumstances.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States imposed sanctions Thursday on Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, his wife and three other individuals, in the latest move by the Trump administration to pressure the island's leadership that drew immediate condemnation from Havana.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers representing the federal government argued Friday that a court could not stop construction of a White House ballroom it was already underway and because of the sensitive security concerns they say the structure is meant to address.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A former senior CIA official accused of stashing over $40 million worth of gold bars from the federal government at his Virginia home was ordered to remain jailed until his trial after a hearing Friday where a defense attorney accused prosecutors of smearing the official with "sensational," irrelevant allegations.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Defense announced on Friday a significant reduction in the number of religious affiliations it officially recognizes.

The new list of 31 is down from more than 200 previously recognized traditions that troops could choose from. The list no longer includes atheists, Unitarian Universalists, pagans and Wiccans.

NEW YORK (AP) — Saying "We don't want to see '60 Minutes' die," the three remaining correspondents at the turmoil-plagued CBS News show have decided to stay – for now.

A memo from Lesley Stahl, Jon Wertheim and Bill Whitaker to fellow staffers at the CBS News show expressed anger over the recent firings at the show, and said the three had had "a hard time" deciding whether to stay — but ultimately decided to remain.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Energy Department says a small nuclear reactor under development at a national lab has reached a crucial milestone that could allow it to produce electricity within a few years.

The microreactor being developed by Antares Nuclear Inc. at the Idaho National Lab reached "criticality" on Thursday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said. The milestone occurs when a nuclear reactor achieves a self-sustaining chain reaction capable of producing a steady release of energy.

The U.S. stock market had its worst day since October Friday as a sell-off in big technology companies weighed down the broader market and a strong jobs report boosted expectations that the Federal Reserve will be forced to hike interest rates at some point this year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — With virtually no strings attached, Congress is on the verge of providing a sizable infusion of cash to the Department of Homeland Security, powering President Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda for the remainder of his term in the White House.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dozens of mayors and other city leaders gathered in the ballroom of a Washington hotel on a snowy January morning this year gripped by anger and anxiety about the federal government's increasingly aggressive immigration enforcement operation that included the killings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.

KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Two more cases of the New World screwworm have been confirmed in Texas, demonstrating the difficulty of stopping the spread of a pest that could potentially devastate the nation's cattle industry, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday.

MONGBWALU, Congo (AP) — Dr. Richard Lokudu, the medical director of Mongbwalu General Referral Hospital, has received barely any compensation for his work on the front line of one of Congo's deadliest Ebola virus outbreaks.

Lokudu and several of his colleagues work all day at the hospital treating an influx of patients. Notifications of suspected cases come even late at night.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the U.S. prepares for an extravagant celebration of its founding principles, fewer Americans see their country as exceptional, a new poll finds.

The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research highlights many Americans' feeling of unease over the future of its representative government — particularly among young people. It presents a jarring contrast as communities around the country commemorate the nation's 250th anniversary.

DEXTER TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — On the kind of warm, bright afternoon that Michigan boaters wait all year for, Malik Amine and his brother readied their family's pontoon boat for the summer.

The cover was off and Portage Lake sparkled in the sun. But before the brothers could leave a narrow wooden dock, they had a decision to make: how much gasoline to put in the pontoon's 52-gallon engine.

WASHINGTON (AP) — After Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cut nine Navy officers, including all the women, from a promotion list, several female officers say they see the unusual intervention as a sign that their careers now have a ceiling and worry for the future generation of female military leaders.

MADRID (AP) — Pope Leo XIV met Monday with six survivors of clergy sexual abuse in Madrid and vowed to consider their suggestions for how the Catholic Church can improve its response to the crisis, the Vatican said.

The meeting, which followed in the tradition of popes meeting with abuse survivors during their foreign trips, lasted about an hour and took place at the Vatican Embassy in Madrid, the Vatican said in a statement.

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. (AP) — On a drizzly Saturday morning late last month, the basement of the New Paltz United Methodist Church filled with old lamps, blunt knives, malfunctioning sound mixers and balky zippers.

About a dozen volunteers welcomed the broken goods and their owners to a worldwide movement that's evangelizing new relationships between people and their things.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new Treasury inspector general report raises concerns about Immigration and Customs Enforcement's ability to safeguard taxpayer information, after ICE and the IRS agreed in 2025 to share taxpayer data for the purpose of immigration investigations.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has issued a pardon to Stephen Buyer, a former Republican congressman from Indiana who served nearly two years in prison for making illegal stock trades based on inside information after he left office.

Buyer was sentenced to 22 months in prison in 2023 for trades made while working as a consultant and lobbyist. He was ordered to forfeit more than $350,000, representing the amount of the illegal gains, and pay a $10,000 fine. He was released in 2025.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Several FBI analysts tied to the creation of a 2023 memo warning of a potential threat from Catholic "violent extremists" were fired Friday, according to their lawyer, the latest wave of terminations under the leadership of its director Kash Patel.

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal lawsuit seeks to halt the upcoming UFC fight card on the White House South Lawn in a mixed martial arts show timed for President Donald Trump's 80th birthday and part of the celebration of the nation's 250th anniversary.

The filing Saturday by the Public Integrity Project on behalf of two Virginia residents contends the Trump administration's authorization of the June 14 event was unlawful. The lawsuit says such approval violated National Park Service regulations prohibiting sporting events on federal parklands, Congress did not consent to the towering arch overlooking the event space and no environmental review was conducted before the construction.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The College Sports Commission portrayed an arbitrator's decision involving name, image and likeness payments to two Georgia athletes as one that "reinforces the integrity of the neutral arbitration process" that is part of the NIL-era rulebook for college sports.

CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) — Apple on Monday unveiled new artificial intelligence advances including upgrades to its Siri assistant, emphasizing a focus on privacy and day-to-day use as the iPhone maker tries to catch up to rivals when it comes to AI.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department will offer a "premium" expedited service for foreigners seeking business or tourist visas to come to the United States that will set applicants back $750 — on top of the initial fee of $185.

In a notice to be published in the Federal Register this week, the department will unveil a pilot program that will allow visa applicants to pay the $750 to schedule an appointment for an interview within 10 days of the payment at select U.S. embassies and consulates.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are warning the White House that a critical surveillance authority is likely to lapse this week amid bipartisan backlash over President Donald Trump's pick to lead the nation's intelligence community.

Sen. Tom Cotton, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sounded the alarm over the weekend after a failed procedural vote to extend the program.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has placed travel bans on more than 100 Nicaraguan officials and their family members as part of a broader campaign to punish the current government for human rights abuses.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement on Monday that the new sanctions were imposed in part because of the death last month of an imprisoned activist, Brooklyn Rivera, who criticized the policies of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and his wife and co-president Rosario Murillo.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A lawyer who represented Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for nearly a decade over accusations of corruption and securities fraud is supporting Democrat James Talarico — and not his former client — in one of the biggest U.S. Senate races.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Wataru Endo made clear Monday night that Japan has very high expectations for the World Cup.

"We will do our best with pride and passion to achieve something that we've never seen before in Japan's soccer history," Japan's captain said.

BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge on Monday struck down the Trump administration's $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas, contradicting an earlier federal court ruling upholding the fee hike.

The administration announced the much-higher fee as a way of preventing foreign workers from taking American jobs.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump last year dramatically ratched up the fee for H-1B work visas to $100,000, saying it would protect American workers from losing their jobs to lower-paid foreigners.

But on Monday a federal judge struck down the fees, siding with 20 states and ruling that the Trump administration exceeded its authority by raising the fee without congressional approval.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has warned more than 500 hospitals that they are failing to provide the public with basic pricing information — arguing that the lack of disclosure is keeping healthcare costs higher than they should be.

The Associated Press obtained exclusively the list of hospitals that since April have either received letters of warning or requests to submit plans to provide transparent pricing. Failing to comply with the warnings comes with penalties as high as $2 million annually for each recipient that doesn't create a plan to post clear pricing data.

A study commissioned by President Joe Biden's administration to investigate alcohol-related health harms was released independently on Tuesday, after President Donald Trump's administration decided not to feature the researchers' findings in new dietary guidelines as it faced pushback from the alcohol industry and a congressional committee.

LONDON (AP) — European Union regulators on Tuesday ordered Meta Platforms to restore access to WhatsApp for rival AI chatbot makers until its antitrust investigation is complete.

The bloc's executive Commission, which is the 27-nation EU's top antitrust and competition enforcer, said it was taking action to prevent harm to competition in the growing market for AI assistants before it's too late.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Marguerite Casey Foundation plans to donate at least $500 million over the next decade, doubling its annual payout as leaders try to spur more urgent grantmaking throughout philanthropy — especially given what it calls the sector's "suffering" under President Donald Trump's policies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has added several prominent Chinese businesses, including the tech giant Alibaba, electric car maker BYD and search engine Baidu, to its list of Chinese military companies, preventing them from getting U.S. defense contracts.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A U.S. Army Apache attack helicopter crashed early Tuesday near the Strait of Hormuz, but President Donald Trump said the two crew members aboard were not injured in the incident near the strategic waterway that Iran has effectively closed during the war.

TORONTO (AP) — A new Canadian-built bridge across the Detroit River that U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to block will open soon, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans will look to get nearly $70 billion for immigration enforcement over the finish line Tuesday, enough to fund a pair of Homeland Security agencies through the next three years and the rest of President Donald Trump's time in office.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Teddy Roosevelt boxed. Richard Nixon bowled.

Dwight D. Eisenhower put in a putting green. George H.W. Bush added a horseshoe pit. Herbert Hoover played a game named for himself to get more exercise, while George W. Bush threw open the space for youth T-ball.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Chiefs and L'Jarius Sneed are reuniting on a one-year, $5 million contract that gives the veteran cornerback a reset after an injury-plague tenure in Tennessee while bringing some depth and stability to the Kansas City defensive backfield.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump last year dramatically ratched up the fee for H-1B work visas to $100,000, saying it would protect American workers from losing their jobs to lower-paid foreigners.

But on Monday a federal judge struck down the fees, siding with 20 states and ruling that the Trump administration exceeded its authority by raising the charge without congressional approval.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health regulators on Tuesday signed off on the first new sunscreen ingredient for the U.S. market in more than 25 years, giving Americans access to a skin-protecting chemical long used in Europe and other parts of the world.

NEW YORK (AP) — Another sudden reversal for high-flying artificial-intelligence stocks sent Wall Street reeling on Tuesday.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3% after careening between an initial gain of 1% and a midday loss of 2.3%, pulling further from its all-time high set a week ago. After similar yo-yo moves, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 86 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite dropped 1%.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Social Security's retirement trust fund is projected to face a funding shortfall in 2032, a year earlier than last year's projections, according to an annual report released Tuesday, while Medicare's hospital insurance trust fund will be unable to pay full benefits in 2033, which is unchanged from last year's estimate.

WASHINGTON (AP) — After complaints about staffing cuts and long waits to get help at the Social Security Administration, its commissioner says he's ready to make the case to Congress this week that things are getting a lot better at the embattled agency.

NEW YORK (AP) — He's a country music star, but keen listeners know Keith Urban's songwriting style is fluid across genres. Still, surely no one expected the shift of his 2026 album, "Flow State." It features an original song with music legend, Michael McDonald, and 10 yacht rock covers.

The court officials overseeing the NFL's $1 billion settlement fund for concussion-related injuries have barred five law firms from handling any more claims from former players, after finding that they fraudulently steered clients toward doctors willing to give them a Parkinson's disease diagnosis whether they exhibited symptoms or not.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Younger students have regained ground academically after the pandemic's disruptions, while older students' test scores continue to stagnate, according to the latest testing data released by the federal government.

Nine-year-olds rebounded to pre-pandemic reading scores and saw some recovery in math, according to data from a test taken regularly in the U.S. since the 1970s. The same recovery has not emerged for 13-year-olds, whose average scores in math and reading remain below pre-pandemic averages. In fact, the latest reading scores, from teens who took the test in 2024, are essentially the same level as they were when the test started in 1971.

Even as President Donald Trump boosts coal over clean energy, solar power is hitting new milestones in the U.S. and remains the leading source of new power.

Data released Wednesday by global energy think tank Ember, along with a report by the Solar Energy Industries Association and analytics firm Wood Mackenzie, show the continued growth of solar and decline of coal in the United States despite federal policy. In May, for the first time, solar supplied more of the nation's electricity than coal, or 12.8%, Ember said. Coal supplied 12.2%, its fourth-lowest monthly share ever.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bill Gates will appear Wednesday before a congressional panel investigating the Jeffrey Epstein files, becoming the latest powerful figure linked to the disgraced financier to testify.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States launched airstrikes early Wednesday against Iran, and Tehran fired back at countries in the region. The escalating attacks threatened to derail efforts to end the war, as U.S. President Donald Trump warned that Tehran would "pay the price" for stalled peace negotiations.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rising gas prices pushed inflation to its highest level in three years last month, a headache for the Federal Reserve and a potential political challenge for the Trump administration as midterm elections near.

Consumer prices rose 4.2% in May from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Wednesday, up from 3.8% in April and the third straight monthly increase. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.5% last month, after big gains of 0.6% in April and 0.9% in March.

NEW YORK (AP) — When SpaceX makes its debut on the U.S. stock market, it wants smaller-pocketed, mom-and-pop investors to play a big role in what may be the biggest IPO ever.

Elon Musk's rocket company, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., is steering some of its initial public offering of stock directly to what are called "retail" investors. These are people who buy stocks in a brokerage account on their phone, not pension funds or other big "institutional" investors routing orders to their professional trading desks.

NEW YORK (AP) — The prediction market platform Kalshi will start collecting customer employment information for trading in certain markets that are at heightened risk of insider trading, the company said.

The Tuesday announcement follows several incidents where traders have used inside information to profit on prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket. Just last week, it was disclosed that former Congressman George Santos was under investigation for allegedly illegally betting he wouldn't attend President Donald Trump's State of the Union address after initially saying he would. In April, a U.S. Army soldier was charged with using classified information to make a $400,000 profit trading on Polymarket on the timing of the U.S. military operations in Venezuela earlier this year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nevada, South Carolina and North Dakota hosted primary elections Tuesday, but much of the political world was focused on Maine's high-stakes U.S. Senate contest.

The results were never in question. Neither Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins nor Democratic challenger Graham Platner faced serious opposition for their party's nomination. And yet Tuesday marked an especially significant moment for Platner, the embattled veteran and oyster farmer, who is fighting to rebuild his credibility in a campaign rocked by controversy.