A huge explosion rocked a chemical plant in China’s eastern Shandong province around noon Tuesday, killing at least five people and injuring 19, according to state broadcaster CCTV. An additional six people remain missing. The blast was powerful enough to knock out the windows at a storage warehouse more than two miles (three kilometers) away from the factory, according to a video shared by a local resident, who declined to give his name out of concern for retaliation. His home shook from the blast, he said. As he went to the window to see what was wrong, he saw a tall column of smoke from the site, more than seven kilometers (4.3 miles) away. The explosion happened at the Gaomi Youdao Chemical Co., which is located in an industrial park in the city of Weifang.

Fifteen members of Israel’s Knesset have formally appealed to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, urging her to pursue capital punishment for the man accused of carrying out last week’s antisemitic double homicide at the Jewish Museum located near Washington, D.C., where two Israeli Embassy staffers were killed, according to a report from the Jewish News Syndicate.
The appeal was made in a letter sent to Bondi on May 22, just one day after the attack took place. In the message, the lawmakers wrote, “In light of the gravity of the crime—its premeditated nature, the likely ideological motivation, and the victims’ diplomatic status—we believe it would be appropriate for you to seek the death penalty for its perpetrator.”

Melania Trump firmly denied a widely circulated online claim on Tuesday that her son, Barron, had sought admission to Harvard University and been turned down. A representative for the first lady dismissed the story as entirely fabricated.
“Barron did not apply to Harvard, and any assertion that he, or that anyone on his behalf, applied is completely false,” said Nicholas Clemens, the communications director for the first lady.
The 19-year-old’s college application journey has been a hot topic on various social media platforms, particularly as his father has continued to criticize the Ivy League university and has cut off significant streams of federal funding to the institution.

Americans’ views of the economy improved in May after five straight months of declines sent consumer confidence to the lowest level since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, largely driven by anxiety over the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose 12.3 points in May to 98, up from April’s 85.7, its lowest reading since May 2020. A measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for their income, business conditions and the job market jumped 17.4 points to 72.8, but remained below 80, which can signal a recession ahead. The proportion of consumers surveyed saying they think a U.S. recession is coming in the next 12 months also declined from April. (AP)

JD Vance visited the Israeli Embassy in Washington today, in order to pay tribute to Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, the two embassy staffers who were gunned down last week by a Palestinian supporter outside of the Capital Jewish Museum in D.C.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday announced that COVID-19 vaccines are no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women — a move immediately questioned by several public health experts. In a 58-second video posted on the social media site X, Kennedy said he removed COVID-19 shots from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations for those groups. No one from the CDC was in the video, and CDC officials referred questions about the announcement to Kennedy and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. No other details were released, and HHS officials did not immediately respond to questions about how the decision was made. Some doctors and public health leaders called the move concerning and confusing.

Palestinian mobs are now stealing the humanitarian aid delivered to Nuseirat camp, bypassing the wait for company boxes from the US.

DESANTIS: “We have a Republican Congress and to this day…not one cent in DOGE cuts have been implemented by the Congress…I think DOGE fought the Swamp & so far, the Swamp won.”