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Month: May 2025

SpaceX gets back to work with Falcon 9 launch from KSC

SpaceX gets back to work with Falcon 9 launch from KSC

The day after losing another Starship during a test launch, SpaceX was back to its normal routine with a Falcon 9 launch from the Space Coast on Wednesday.

The workhorse rocket sent up another 27 Starlink satellites from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A at 9:30 a.m.

The first-stage booster made its 19th flight with a recovery landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions stationed in the Atlantic.

The launch was the 45th from the Space Coast in 2025 with all but two coming from SpaceX.

Including California launches, SpaceX has now flown 64 Falcon 9s so far this year, surpassing the total flown in 2022. It flew 96 operational missions in 2023 and 134 in 2024, which includes Falcon Heavy missions, although no Falcon Heavy mission have flown so far in 2025.

Overall it was the 481st Falcon 9 launch and 420th reflight of a Falcon booster. The recovery landing marked the 453rd booster landing since the first in 2015. read more

Wall Street drifts lower as US stocks slow their roll

Wall Street drifts lower as US stocks slow their roll

By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks drifted lower on Wednesday, cooling down a day after leaping within a few good days’ worth of gains from their all-time high.

The S&P 500 fell 0.6%, but it’s still within 4.2% of its record after charging higher amid hopes that the worst of the turmoil caused by President Donald Trump’s trade war may have passed. It had been roughly 20% below the mark last month.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 244 points, or 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.5%.

Trading was relatively quiet in the countdown to Wednesday’s main event for financial markets, the latest quarterly earnings release for Nvidia. That came after trading ended for the day. Before that, the AI darling’s stock slipped 0.5%.

Expectations were high for the bellwether of the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology. So are worries that its stock price may have run too high, even after it has largely stalled this year.

Like Nvidia, Macy’s stock also swung up and down through much of the day, even though it reported milder drops in revenue and profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. read more

The US and EU are in a showdown over trade. What does Trump want and what can Europe offer?

The US and EU are in a showdown over trade. What does Trump want and what can Europe offer?

By DAVID McHUGH and PAUL WISEMAN, AP Business Writers

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Top officials at the European Union’s executive commission says they’re pushing hard for a trade deal with the Trump administration to avoid a 50% tariff on imported goods. Trump had threatened to impose the tariffs on June 1, but has pushed back the deadline to July 9, repeating an oft-used tactic in his trade war.

European negotiators are contending with Trump’s everchanging and unpredictable tariff threats, but “still, they have to come up with something to hopefully pacify him,” said Bruce Stokes, visiting senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Stokes also sees more at play than just a disagreement over trade deficits. Trump’s threats “are rooted in frustration with the EU that has little to do with trade,’’ Stokes said. “He doesn’t like the EU. He doesn’t like Germany.”

What exactly does Trump want? What can Europe offer? Here are the key areas where the two side are squaring off. read more

Facing tariffs, should shoppers seek ‘Made in USA’ goods?

Facing tariffs, should shoppers seek ‘Made in USA’ goods?

By Anna Helhoski, NerdWallet

Shoppers who are concerned about tariffs driving up the costs of their favorite products might think that “Made in USA” goods could offer financial relief. But finding domestically manufactured, budget-friendly items may take effort.

Americans like the idea of buying more American-made products. A November 2024 poll by Morning Consult, conducted for the Alliance for American Manufacturing, found that 60% of Americans said they made an effort to buy U.S.-made goods over the past year. And 82% said they’d buy more if retailers made those products easier to find.

‘Made in USA’ won’t always mean tariff-free

Buying American products doesn’t mean avoiding tariffs or the global supply chain. Even the most well-known U.S. companies depend on imported components to make finished goods.

Take Crayola, for example: It’s headquartered in Pennsylvania and has manufacturing facilities in the U.S., but it also produces some of its products in Mexico. Some other iconic American brands base at least some — if not all — of their manufacturing outside the U.S. where labor and other production costs are lower. That includes Levi’s jeans, L.L. Bean apparel, Converse’s Chuck Taylor All Star sneakers, Ray-Ban sunglasses, Major League baseballs, American Girl dolls, Fender guitars and essentially everything Nike. read more

Nets and high-tech hijackings: Anti-drone systems offer new ways to counter rising threats

Nets and high-tech hijackings: Anti-drone systems offer new ways to counter rising threats

By DAVID KLEPPER

WASHINGTON (AP) — Drones have harassed airports and bedeviled local police. They have trespassed over nuclear plants and prisons. On the battlefield, they can kill.

But aside from shooting down the devices, which may create further danger, there’s often not much anyone can do to stop drones when they pose a threat or wander where they’re not welcome.

That’s beginning to change. Cheap and easily modified, unmanned aerial vehicles have become a part of daily life as well as a tool for governments and bad actors alike — used for intelligence gathering, surveillance, sabotage, terrorism and more. Concerns about their misuse have spurred a technological scramble for ways to stop the devices in midair.

“An adversary can use an off-the-shelf drone they bought for $500 and find out what’s going on at U.S. nuclear weapons bases,” said Zachary Kallenborn, a London-based national security consultant and expert on drone warfare. “China, Russia, Iran: If they’re not doing it they’re stupid.” read more