Latest Episode
June 4 1600 UTC Brief
In Washington
President Donald Trump says he will nominate Todd Blanche as permanent attorney general, two months after firing Pam Bondi. In the same political orbit, Trump called four Republicans “unpatriotic” after they joined Democrats on a House resolution aimed at limiting his approach to Iran, which is a tidy reminder that loyalty tests remain a full-time industry.
Separately, multiple outlets report that John Bolton is expected to plead guilty to one count of illegally retaining sensitive national security documents and to pay more than $2 million in fines.
House Democrats also added four candidates to their Red to Blue challenger program, part of their effort to target Republican-held districts in next year’s midterms.
In crime and public safety
In Norristown, Pennsylvania, investigators say publicly posted videos from a fatal shooting scene helped lead to the arrest of a teenager. Prosecutors said the clips showed several juveniles running away after the shot was fired.
In New Hampshire, an 18-year-old man pleaded guilty to reckless second-degree murder in the shooting death of 17-year-old Christian Walker outside a Walmart in Keene. Prosecutors said he fired from his car after seeing Walker with his ex-girlfriend, and Walker later died at a hospital.
In Indiana, Rebecca Dewey has been charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death after police said her husband died in their Terre Haute home in January. Investigators say he had dementia, multiple strokes, malnutrition and skin breakdown, and that cellphone data placed Dewey away from home much of the time.
An autopsy in Washington state says Matt Brown, the former Alaskan Bush People star, died by suicide last month. The report says he suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was later found in a river.
In business and markets
Portuguese utility EDP says it is still pouring money into U.S. renewables despite the Trump administration’s rollback of some wind projects and tax credits. The company says it plans to spend $5.3 billion over the next three years on solar, battery storage and related projects, mostly tied to long-term contracts with Big Tech customers like Meta. Data center demand, it says, is the bottleneck. The modern American economy, still powered by giant server rooms and a very expensive sense of urgency.
Separately, the Russell 2000 is outpacing the S&P 500 this year, up 17.7% through late May 2026 versus 9.9% for the S&P. The catch is that about 40% of the index’s companies are not earning money.
In science and the sky
Several coronal mass ejections could hit Earth today, creating conditions that may make the northern lights visible in parts of the United States. So if the sky turns dramatic, blame the sun for once.
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