The news has taken over the internet, getting broad coverage from news organizations and spreading rapidly on social media. That massive spread has led to a lot of fear, a lot of misinformation and a lot of misleading information. 

And having just been through a deadly pandemic a few years ago, it makes sense that some may see the headlines and immediately revert to their COVID-19 personas. But a look at the facts behind the outbreak should be enough to stop people from hoarding toilet paper. 

The internet is spiraling

Searching hantavarius on TikTok brings a flood of videos from people saying they’ve once again started wearing face masks at airports. Others are joking about stocking up on toilet paper before the “world shuts down again,” and purchasing ring lights so they don’t miss out on their opportunity to become an influencer. 

All this, as there have been just a few confirmed cases. 

Just this week, a user posted a thread on Reddit asking if the virus is “something to worry about.”

“I’m starting to get really freaked out about hantavirus,” The user wrote. “It seems like something people don’t survive, I feel like it might just be because I’m seeing so many videos, but I can’t stop thinking about it.”

The user is expressing what many are probably feeling, and depending on the platform you’re using, responses vary. On TikTok, comments are flooded with scared Americans, some spreading false information, adding to the concern regarding the virus outbreak and what could happen next.

Meanwhile, users on Reddit are trying to calm people down, acknowledging that the disease can be serious but has also been around for decades. 

One user replied to the Reddit Thread, saying that fact is what many are missing. 

“This is what people are missing,” the user replied.  “We've been dealing with this for decades. It's not new. Doesn't mean it can't become the worst outbreak, but there's no real reason to think it will.”

And despite folks trying to quell some fears, fearful comments seem to be overpowering social media, likely leading to a lot of anxiety. So, let’s look at the facts. 

Here’s what’s really happening

The outbreak was first reported earlier this week, when three passengers died after being on board the MV Hondius, a Dutch-flagged cruise ship carrying around 150 passengers. 

As of Thursday, there have been five additional confirmed cases and three suspected infections, the World Health Organization (WHO) told NBC News. 

Three people were evacuated from the ship on Wednesday, two with hantavirus and one suspected of having the infection. They were flown to Europe for treatment. 

An additional 29 passengers, including six Americans, left the vessel on April 24, after the first Hantavirus death. Now, the CDC is working to track down those passengers and monitor their health. 

The ship remains at sea, and health officials are monitoring the health of the remaining passengers and crew. 

The facts of Hantavirus

Now, while all that sounds scary, it’s important to note a few other things. For one, this disease has been around for decades. The U.S., specifically, began tracking the disease in 1993, during an outbreak in the Four Corners region of the Southwest. 

From then, through 2023, the U.S. has seen a total of 890 cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The majority occurred on the West Coast, spanning from Texas and Kansas to California. 

Of those cases, 564 patients lived. 

Another important takeaway is the disease's transmissibility. Primarily, rodents carry the disease, which is most often transmitted through exposure to infected droppings or urine.

While human-to-human transmission is possible, the WHO said it remains uncommon. When it does occur, WHO says it's limited to people who have experienced close, prolonged contact, particularly between household members and intimate partners. 

Public health expert Professor Lawrence Gostin, an internationally recognized scholar at Georgetown University and Johns Hopkins University, spoke with Straight Arrow’s Craig Nigrelli about the disease's transmissibility. 

He told Craig, “It’s very unlikely that, being in close quarters, you’ll contract the virus from another person.” 

When speaking of those on board the ship, he said it’s more likely that if they get the disease, it’s because they were exposed to contaminated rat or mice droppings. 

COVID-19 left a lasting impact

Many of the facts from WHO should be enough to quell fears regarding the outbreak, but the COVID-19 pandemic could be playing a part in hanatavirus anxiety.

As Straight Arrow previously reported, COVID-19 broke something in many Americans, and in the years since, things haven’t quite returned to normal. Many are living in “survival mode,” a state where a person’s nervous system remains activated, waiting for the next crisis to drop in their lap. 

Dr. Ash Bhatt, chief medical director at Legacy Healing Center, told Straight Arrow that people have an “ongoing hypervigilance.” Folks are feeling constantly “on” and mentally overloaded. 

That ongoing high-stress feeling could be contributing to what the internet is promoting as the next big crisis across the globe. 

Well, your stance might change after you read this. 

The Defense Department just released a batch of previously confidential files detailing unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP’s. 

The department worked with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the FBI to release the records, calling it an “unprecedented, historic undertaking.”

Why now?

In March, President Donald Trump directed the Pentagon and other departments to identify and release files related to alien and extraterrestrial life. He announced the order shortly after former President Barack Obama fielded questions — somewhat jokingly — about aliens on Brian Tyler Cohen’s podcast.

“They’re real, but I haven’t seen them,” Obama said, adding that they’re not being kept in Area 51, “unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president.”

He elaborated a few days later after a clip from the podcast went viral. 

The universe is vast, he wrote on Instagram, so life elsewhere is plausible. But, he insisted, “I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!”

That’s when Trump jumped into the conversation. He claimed Obama had shared classified information by discussing aliens and said he would get the former president “out of trouble” by declassifying files. 

So what did the department actually share?

Now, the fun part. The department released hundreds of PDFs, detailing all sorts of UAP accounts dating back at least to the 1940s. 

The Defense Department said all of Friday’s files are materials from unresolved cases, “meaning the government is unable to make a definitive determination on the nature of the observed phenomena.”

One file includes paperwork from a 1947 FBI investigation into a flying disc spotted outside Chicago. It notes an 18-year-old woman reported seeing a disc flying over Lake Michigan at around 3:30 a.m. 

Other files detail individuals across the country claiming to see strange lights, floating devices and other weird phenomena. In New Mexico in 1948, the Air Force recorded numerous instances of aerial phenomena, including green fireballs, discs in the sky, meteors and more. 

“Since 1948, approximately 150 observations of aerial phenomena referred to above have been recorded in the vicinity of installations in New Mexico,” the files read. 

In addition to files, the department shared something even more fun for those of us interested in all things extra-terrestrial: photos. 

Some show weird black spots in the sky, and some are a little harder to make out. But the fact that the government hasn’t been able to identify these things is rather… spooky. 

“Under this Administration, we will pursue the truth and share our findings with the American people,” the department said Friday. But the age-old question remains. Aliens: are they real or not? 

Round out your reading

• First, it was the schools. Now they’re coming for your cellphone at work.
• Why one of America’s top economic forecasters is worried about a recession.
• AI companies may not be adhering to their own guidelines — with potentially deadly outcomes.
• Data centers are a thorny issue for Democrats. Maine shows us why.
• We’re building a new Straight Arrow. Help us shape our future by taking our survey.

Plus, the cruise ship tied to a deadly hantavirus outbreak is finally heading to port, as health officials try to track down passengers who already left the vessel.

And the Trump administration wants to let Americans mail handguns through the U.S. Postal Service for the first time in nearly 100 years.

These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Friday, May 8, 2026.

Fresh attacks in the Strait of Hormuz raise fears of escalation as Trump warns Iran to sign a deal fast

The U.S.-Iran ceasefire is looking increasingly fragile after the United Arab Emirates said it responded to a new missile and drone attack. The escalation comes just hours after the U.S. said it stopped attacks on three Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz, and retaliated against Iranian military facilities.

President Donald Trump has insisted the ceasefire remains, but also warned Iran to sign a broader peace deal quickly or face a much stronger U.S. response.

"They trifled with us today. We blew them away. They trifled. I call that a trifle,” Trump said. “I'll let you know when there's no cease ... You won't have to know. If there's no ceasefire, you're not going to have to know. You're just going to look at one big glow coming out of Iran. And they better sign their agreement fast."

Iranian officials said they are still reviewing the latest U.S. proposal, which would formally end the fighting and open a 30-day window for talks on bigger issues, including Iran’s nuclear program and control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, the renewed tensions have pushed oil prices higher again. Brent crude topped $100 a barrel early Friday morning, though that’s still well below the extreme spikes we saw earlier this week.

The U.S. standard saw little movement.

Hantavirus cruise ship heads to Spain’s Canary Islands as countries plan to bring citizens home

The cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak is now heading for Spain’s Canary Islands, as health officials race to contain the spread.

Authorities in the Canary Islands have prepared a fully isolated evacuation zone for the roughly 140 passengers and crew still on board the MV Hondius.

The expedition cruise ship is expected to arrive in Tenerife by the end of the weekend. U.S. officials are sending a charter flight to bring 17 Americans home, while the U.K. is arranging a separate flight for about 20 British passengers.

The outbreak has killed at least three people. Several other cases have also been confirmed. The ship had been sailing near the remote South Atlantic island of Saint Helena when passengers first started reporting flu-like symptoms.

The World Health Organization said the risk to the general public remains low because hantavirus is typically spread through contact with infected rodent droppings or urine. Human-to-human spread is considered rare.

But the biggest concern now is tracking down people who have already left the ship. About 30 passengers from more than a dozen countries disembarked two weeks ago, before the outbreak was confirmed.

Now, health officials around the world are working to identify those passengers and anyone they may have been in contact with.

Court blocks Trump’s 10% global tariffs, ruling he exceeded his authority

A federal court has struck down Trump's latest global tariffs push.

On Thursday, a three-judge panel of the Court of International Trade in New York ruled Trump's 10% global tariffs are illegal, after a group of small businesses sued. Trump put the new tariffs in place after the Supreme Court blocked his broader "Liberation Day" tariffs earlier this year.

In a two-to-one decision, the court said Trump overstepped his authority, calling the tariffs "Invalid" and "unauthorized by law."

The Trump administration is expected to appeal, and the case could ultimately head back to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Also, on Thursday, a federal judge ruled Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts to humanities grants were unconstitutional.

The case centers on more than $100 million in canceled grants through the National Endowment for the Humanities. The judge said DOGE "blatantly used" race, gender and other protected characteristics in deciding which grants to terminate. The judge then issued a permanent block on the cuts.

It's not yet clear whether the Trump administration will appeal that ruling.

Florida may shutter Alligator Alcatraz

Florida could soon close its controversial “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention center in the Everglades, less than a year after state leaders touted it as a model for the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

The New York Times reported the state is now in preliminary talks with the administration to shut down the facility after Homeland Security officials concluded it's too expensive and not working as intended. The state has spent $1 million a day to keep the site operating. The site sits on a swampy stretch of the Everglades between Miami and Naples.

The center opened last summer and became a political lightning rod, praised by Trump and Republicans as a tough deterrent, while immigration advocates described conditions inside as inhumane and unsanitary.

A senior official in Florida told Fox News that the facility was always intended to be temporary, saying it would "return to the Everglades" once larger federal detention sites open.

More than 21,000 migrants have been processed at the facility since it opened.

USPS may start mailing handguns

Americans may soon be able to mail a handgun via the U.S. Postal Service. The Trump administration is pushing to overturn a nearly 100-year-old federal restriction that bans most people from mailing concealable firearms.

The Justice Department said the rule violates the Second Amendment, which protects the right of law-abiding gun owners to mail handguns under the same safety requirements already used for rifles and shotguns.

The proposal has already drawn pushback from Democratic attorneys general in more than 20 states, including Nevada, where the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history occurred at the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas in 2017.

In a statement to the Associated Press, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford said, "To suggest we make it easier for criminals and abusers to access firearms is a slap in the face to gun violence survivors and to law enforcement.” 

The National Rifle Association (NRA) has praised the change, while gun safety groups have warned that it could make illegal firearms more difficult to track.

Broadcast icon David Attenborough turns 100, marking a century of wildlife storytelling

The average life expectancy for men in the U.K. is about 79 years, but one of the world’s most famous voices has surpassed that milestone.

Broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough turned 100 years old Friday.

For decades, his voice has been synonymous with wildlife, nature and conservation, narrating some of the most iconic documentaries ever made. The BBC honored the occasion with a special tribute broadcast featuring stories and reflections on his life and legacy.

Attenborough said he’s received birthday wishes from everyone — from preschoolers to seniors in nursing homes — and that he’s been deeply touched by the response.

"I had rather thought that I would celebrate my 100th birthday quietly, but it seems that many of you have had other ideas," he said. "I simply can't reply to each of you all separately, but I would like to think you all most sincerely for your kind messages."

To mark the milestone, the Natural History Museum named a newly discovered parasitic wasp species after him: Attenboroughnculus tau.

More from Straight Arrow:

Is the US still at war with Iran — or not?

It’s no stretch to say Americans are confused and upset over the war in Iran. Polling throughout the war has shown broad dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump’s handling of the conflict and a strong feeling that the administration never adequately explained why the U.S. was attacking Iran to begin with.

Now, as Trump awaits Iran’s response to a formal peace proposal, Americans are left to wonder whether the nation is actually at war.

Read the full story now>

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Unbiased. Straight Facts.^TM

About 1,200 tornadoes hit the U.S. every year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The storms ripped through several counties in the central and western parts of the state, toppling trees, downing powerlines and collapsing homes. As of late Thursday morning, more than 15,000 people had no electricity.

Officials said they received reports of at least 14 tornadoes overnight, though only one has been confirmed so far. Supercell storms spawned reported twisters near Purvis, Brookhaven and Bogue Chitto, according to The Weather Channel.

The tornadoes have no reported fatalities, but have injured at least 17 people, including 12 residents of a trailer park community heavily damaged in Bogue Chitto, about 65 miles southwest of Jackson.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said the American Red Cross and the Cajun Navy have offered shelter and support while state emergency crews assess damage and work to reopen blocked roads. 

The National Weather Service warned the severe weather threat is not over yet. Forecasters say scattered storms capable of producing tornadoes remain possible Thursday across parts of southeast Alabama, south Georgia and north Florida. Isolated severe storms are also possible in parts of the Carolinas, the lower Rio Grande Valley and Deep South Texas.

“We’re just going to bottled water in a couple days,” Mendoza told a couple as they found a seat at her New Orleans-style restaurant.

Corpus Christi’s city leaders have called for declaring a “Level 1” water emergency at the end of the summer, cutting the amount of water residents, small businesses and big industry can use by 25%. And Mendoza isn’t one to wait for an emergency to hit her. So she’s preparing. 

“No more free water,” she said. “We’re trying to get ahead of it.” 

What’s behind the water crisis in Corpus Christi?

She is moving to paper plates for certain dishes and throwaway cups for anything but cocktails, so there will be less to clean in the kitchen. 

Perrin’s just opened about two months ago, and Mendoza hopes the summer regulars still decide to vacation in town. The next few months, she said, is their best time. 

“Something has got to be done,” Mendoza said. “And it’s got to be done soon.” 

Mendoza is just one of Corpus Christi’s roughly 318,000 residents squaring off with a water crisis after several dry and rainless years. Now the city is at an impasse: Demand for water has reached a limit as its dedicated lakes, reservoirs and groundwater wither away.

In the past few months, the local shortage has gained state and national attention, sparking concerns for the global oil and gas industry  — in which Corpus Christi is a vital player  — and threats of a state takeover by Gov. Greg Abbott. It has also laid bare the ongoing rift between leadership, residents and industry on how the city should move forward, whether through conservation, new sources of water or a mix of both. 

Residents and leaders alike dig in on opposite sides of the debate over removing salt from the Gulf’s waters to aid the city. 

Is desalination the best solution for the Texas coast?

The city has for years considered constructing desalination plants — costly facilities that convert saltwater to fresh drinking water. The project is controversial among residents who remain divided on whether desalination is the right move. Critics point to the environmental impact, the location and concerns over industrial water consumption, while proponents assert it's the best decision for the community, the economy and the growing industrial market despite a $1 billion price tag.

Meanwhile, Corpus Christi is far from the first Texas city drying up. Lake Medina west of San Antonio has for years barely reached 5% of its total capacity, causing residents to buy water and dig deeper wells. And across Texas, communities are raising concerns over water shortages due to a rise in data centers, all the while there is a concerted effort from some to ship East Texas water to drier regions. 

READ MORE: A data center is moving into a small town. Residents say it will ruin their history

“Corpus Christi is just one canary in the coal mine,” said Jennifer Walker, director of the Texas Coast and Water Program at the National Wildlife Federation. “Corpus is certainly a very acute example that everyone is watching, but there are other parts of the state dealing with water scarcity.” 

However, this year, all eyes are on Corpus. City Council rejected the first desalination plant contract last fall, but is currently in the stage of considering a new contract in the same location. That decision could arrive as soon as this summer, pending final environmental research and a city council vote. 

In the meantime, residents are preparing for tighter restrictions this summer. 

“You know, it’s on us to be aware of what’s happening, the choice that our city or water utility is making around water supply decisions,” Walker said. “Going forward in a water-constrained era, communities will need to be making the decisions about where the next iteration of water comes from.” 

An industrial debate

Monna Lytle’s neighbors have been moving away, one after another since long before anyone mentioned a water emergency in Corpus Christi. They cleaned out their homes in the city’s Hillcrest neighborhood, packed up their lives and settled across town. Eventually, their houses were bulldozed and debris removed, leaving behind empty, grassy lots to make room for the city’s booming oil and gas industry. 

Lytle stayed. 

She remained unswayed by a city buyout, which promised a fresh start away from the growing industrial corridor reshaping Hillcrest’s historically Black and Brown community in the city’s northeast end. Today, over a decade later, Lytle is still fighting for her family home. This time, she is taking on a desalination plant just a few blocks from her house. 

“No one is realizing this plant is inside a neighborhood,” said Lytle, 71. “It’s not adjacent, it’s not nearby, they want to put a desalination plant inside a neighborhood." 

While this summer’s water concerns have hit a parched and fevered pitch, this is far from the first time Corpus Christi has fallen into dry times. In 2011, the city recorded one of the worst droughts in history. It shriveled up the water supply and pushed the city to implement severe water restrictions for residents and surrounding communities. 

The dried-up lakes and scorched lawns shocked leadership into looking at the issue of water seriously. This included the possibility of desalination, said Jim Klein, a history professor at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi. Klein was on the city council from 2023 to 2024, where he voiced concerns over industry, desalination plants and finding other solutions to the water crisis. 

How much water does the oil and gas industry use?

“It’s been like a slow train coming and now it’s at the station,” Klein told Straight Arrow. “There's been a standard practice here in Corpus Christi to sell water to anybody who wants it, to kind of treat water as an unlimited resource, and we're finding out now it's not unlimited.”

Corpus Christi normally pumps its water supply from Lake Corpus Christi and Choke Canyon to the west, and Lake Texana and the Colorado River to the east. As of May 3, Lake Corpus Christi is at 8.3% capacity and Choke Canyon is at 7.3% capacity. Lake Texana is at 67.8%, but shrinking with use. 

For years, leadership considered desalination as the best solution for residents and the growing industrial sector. This push accelerated in 2015 after the Obama administration increased exports from the United States in liquified natural gas. Since then, the industry has grown substantially — launching what some consider an “industrial renaissance.” Today, Corpus Christi is the largest liquefied natural gas export in the United States. 

However, not every resident is thrilled about the industrial boom — especially when it comes to water usage. Industrial facilities, such as refineries and petrochemical plants, use about 50 to 60% of Corpus Christi’s total water supply, according to local officials. The city uses about 100 million gallons a day. 

READ MORE: Low snowpack, early melt triggers alarm bells for farmers, drought managers

Klein pointed to the city promising 25 million gallons a day to ExxonMobil in 2017 as an example of an overextension of water demands. 

“The city is going to oversell our water supply and we already did,” Klein said. “That’s why we’re here now because they oversold the supply. If we plan on building a desalination plant, well then Exxon should pay for, not 70%, not 80 — 100%.” 

Klein’s frustrations grew when Corpus Christi City Council approved a voluntary exemption in 2018 that would allow industry to opt into a surcharge rather than restrict their water usage during certain drought stages. The surcharge sets
aside funds every month to aid the city in finding a solution to the water shortages. 

But for some, like Dan Herrington, a Padre Island resident running for a city council spot this November, industry and Corpus Christi are so interconnected that he believes curtailing water supply from facilities could spur citywide consequences. Herrington told Straight Arrow he worries if the city stops providing water to these companies, they could leave town.

“I think we have been very quick to vilify industry when industry literally affects all of us in Corpus,” Herrington said. “Our port is one of the leading LNG exporters in the world so literally the world needs Corpus Christi to have water. We have to solve this problem in a way that makes sense.”

Herrington supports desalination plants, including the one in Hillcrest, for which, he noted, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has already approved permits. 

“We’ve spent so much time arguing and kicking the can down the road, which is exactly what we’ve done with this desalination project,” Herrington said. “If we don’t have enough water, industry is not going to come.” 

Concerns for the harbor

Desalination is out of the question for Claudia Rush, the pastor at Brooks AME Worship Center, the last remaining church in Hillcrest. From its front windows, Rush can see Citgo Refinery. 

While the other community churches have left due to industrial development, Rush does not plan to go anywhere anytime soon. She knows, as much as the residents know, that the church is a gathering place for the community. 

This community includes the Hillcrest Residents Association — an organization that has historically raised alarm bells over industry in the area. On a recent Wednesday morning, Rush met with community advocate Armon Alex and Lytle, who wore a shirt that said, in part, “Pray for Hillcrest. Don’t Prey on Hillcrest.” 

“A good amount of young people are leaving the area because this is all they see around them,” Alex told Rush. “What happens if we further put an additional nail in the coffin if they approve something like desalination?”

Alex is a member of the Corpus Christi City Council’s Watershore and Beach Advisory Committee and despite the TCEQ permits, has advocated for another study looking at the wide-range impact desalination discharge will have on the ecosystem. The facility will pump a highly salinic liquid called brine back into the bay. 

In a statement to Straight Arrow, Corpus Christi public information manager Robert Gonzales said the city "has actively engaged with Hillcrest neighborhood leaders and residents,” and “while the Inner Harbor site has previously received necessary permits, the City Council is actively exploring and negotiating with private-sector partners for additional desalination solutions”

How do cities find new water sources, besides desalination?

“We’ve had scientists and experts, including myself, who have said this is going to be a bad case if we put it back into the bay, which we call the inner harbor.” Alex said. “You could do it safely if there is enough mixing going around, but there aren’t strong enough currents in the inner harbor or Corpus Christi Bay.” 

The final study — called a far field report — should be published by June. 

Desalination isn’t the lone solution to the city’s water crisis, said Alex. Water conservation and pulling from other sources could prove better options, Alex told Straight Arrow. 

Alex is pushing to place the exemption fee program for industry on the election ballot this November. The measure needs 11,000 signatures by July 1 to be approved and they have about 5,000 as of late April. From there, Alex hopes residents will vote to reverse the exemption fee program and drive industry to cut back during drought. 

On this, the city is firm. Gonzales said “the funds, approximately $6 million annually, are restricted for use in developing new, long-term water supply projects” and if removed “the immediate revenue used to fund new water sources would need to be replaced by other funding mechanisms.” 

Klein and Herrington both separately pointed to the Mary Rhodes Pipeline as one possible short-term and long-term solution. The pipeline pulls water from Lake Texana, which fills from the Colorado River, but has been under-utilized, said Klein. As of April, the pipeline provides 70% of the city’s water supply. 

Klein also highlighted evaporation as a concern worth addressing. The reservoirs that Corpus pulls from lose 50% of their capacity in a year due to water evaporating in the heat and sun. Floating solar panels  — a relatively new technology used in California and New Jersey  — can cut evaporation by 50 to 70%. However, the technology is new and didn't get traction at the city, Klein said. 

The city is also considering pulling water from the nearby Evangeline Aquifer, but has received pushback from residents and farmers in Sinton, Texas who are concerned about their own water levels. City leaders are also developing water along the Nueces River with one area already supplying 4.5 million gallons a day of water from eight wells. Another well is expected to produce 17 million gallons per day by May. 

However, no matter what, Alex said, the main issue isn’t necessarily finding new water or conservation strategies. It’s how to direct the water toward residents and small businesses who need it.

“If the solution doesn’t include curtailments of the largest water users in our area, then those solutions are null and void,” Alex said. “You’re only putting tape on the cracks then.” 

And the future of Corpus Christi’s cracks will serve as a national lesson. One way or another.

Round out your reading

• First, it was the schools. Now they’re coming for your cellphone at work.
• Why one of America’s top economic forecasters is worried about a recession.
• AI companies may not be adhering to their own guidelines — with potentially deadly outcomes.
• Data centers are a thorny issue for Democrats. Maine shows us why.
• We’re building a new Straight Arrow. Help us shape our future by taking our survey.

Plus, a suicide note allegedly written by Jeffrey Epstein before his death is now suddenly public years later. The newly unsealed document raises fresh questions about what investigators knew — and when.

And Mount Everest climbing season is finally underway after weeks of delays. But hundreds of climbers now have to pass beneath a massive new danger.

These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Thursday, May 7, 2026.

Iran reviews Trump’s peace proposal that would reopen Strait of Hormuz to shipping traffic

Iran is expected to respond Thursday to the latest U.S. proposal to end the war. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump warned Tehran of even heavier military strikes if talks collapse.

The U.S. put forward a one-page agreement that would formally end the fighting and open a 30-day window to negotiate bigger issues, including Iran’s nuclear program and control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump said the plan would reopen the Strait to global shipping, including Iranian traffic, after weeks of disruption and U.S. enforcement operations in the region.

But even as talks continue, Iran has tightened its grip on the waterway. Tehran announced this week a new governing body that it said will oversee traffic through the strait.

Iran has also denied accusations that it attacked a South Korean cargo ship earlier this week after an explosion and fire broke out onboard in the Strait of Hormuz.

And on Wednesday, Tehran claimed it shot down an American reconnaissance drone over the Strait, even as the White House said the ceasefire remains.

Judge releases Jeffrey Epstein suicide note

Editor’s Note: This story contains descriptions of suicide. If you or someone you know is in crisis, help is available. Visit the National Crisis Line website or call or text 988 for immediate support.

A federal judge has released a note allegedly written by Jeffrey Epstein before his death inside a Manhattan jail. His former cellmate allegedly discovered the note after Epstein’s first suspected suicide attempt, less than two weeks before he died.

In the letter, Epstein claimed authorities had investigated him for months and “found nothing.” He also wrote, “It is a treat to be able to choose one’s time to say goodbye.”

The document was unsealed after The New York Times asked a federal judge to release records connected to Epstein’s former cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione.

Tartaglione told investigators he found the note inside a book after Epstein was discovered on the floor of their cell in July 2019, with a strip of bedsheet around his neck.

Eleven days later, guards found Epstein dead in his cell in what authorities ruled a suicide. At the time, he was being housed alone despite the earlier incident.

The note had never been publicly released and was not included in prior government reports or in the Justice Department’s recent release of thousands of Epstein-related files.

Lutnick gave evasive and dishonest answers in Epstein questioning: Democrats

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick faces growing political pressure Thursday after a closed-door interview with House investigators about his ties to Epstein.

Lutnick spent hours with the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday, answering questions about his past relationship with Epstein, including a 2012 visit to Epstein’s private island years after Lutnick said he had cut ties with him.

Democrats leaving the meeting blasted Lutnick’s testimony, accusing him of being evasive and dishonest.

“Howard Lutnick should resign,” Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., said. “That was absolutely mind-boggling, what we just heard in the room. He was evasive, nervous. He was dishonest. He would not admit to lying, which he clearly did."

Lutnick has not been accused of any wrongdoing connected to Epstein’s crimes. But lawmakers pressed him over shifting public explanations about their relationship and why he visited the island with his family.

According to members inside the room, Lutnick called the decision “inexplicable” and struggled to explain why he went.

“He's lost all credibility,” Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif. said. “And really, it's a shame that the American people don't get to see what he did there. Total lack of truth and lack of honesty."

Committee Chair James Comer defended the process and said a transcript of the interview will be released publicly.

The testimony is part of a broader congressional investigation into Epstein’s network and the handling of federal files connected to the case, with more high-profile interviews expected in the coming weeks.

Tennessee Republicans redraw districts, carving up Memphis and positioning GOP for nine-seat sweep

Tennessee Republicans have moved quickly to redraw the state’s congressional map after last week’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling on voting rights. And the proposal has already triggered protests and accusations of voter suppression.

The new map would carve Shelby County, including Memphis, into three separate districts, likely giving Republicans a clean sweep of all nine congressional seats and eliminating one Democratic seat.

State House Speaker Cameron Sexton defended the move on X, writing: “The Supreme Court has opined that redistricting, like the judicial system, should be color-blind.”

He added Tennessee is joining other states in redrawing maps based on partisan politics.

Democrats and voting rights groups have condemned the effort as a political power grab targeting Black voters. Protesters flooded the state capitol this week, and police removed several demonstrators from hearings on Wednesday.

"They will eliminate our representative if this goes through. They're trying to push through a white nationalist agenda on our city, and we are not going to have it," protester Bryon Forester said.

The push comes after the Supreme Court weakened part of the Voting Rights Act in April, opening the door for Republican-led states across the South to redraw congressional lines ahead of the midterms.

Tennessee lawmakers are likely to vote on and pass the new map Thursday.

Fulton County loses ballot fight as judge refuses request to return seized 2020 election records

A federal judge has ruled the Justice Department can keep more than 600 boxes of 2020 election ballots seized from Fulton County, Georgia.

The decision is a setback for Fulton County officials, who argued the FBI’s seizure of the ballots earlier this year was illegal. They wanted the materials returned.

The judge did take issue with parts of the FBI’s search warrant, calling some of the government’s filings “defective” and “troubling.” But he also ruled the county failed to clear the high legal threshold needed to force the federal government to return the original ballots while the investigation continues.

The Justice Department said it is looking into possible irregularities in Fulton County’s 2020 election. Georgia’s results were counted three times — including a full hand recount — and each review confirmed Joe Biden’s win in the state.

Fulton County leaders said they strongly disagree with the ruling and are now considering their next legal steps.

Everest climbers face massive ice threat suspended above summit route

Climbing season is about to get underway on Mount Everest, and if hiking to about 29,000 is not daunting enough, there’s a major new danger hanging over part of the route to the summit.

An enormous, unstable block of ice hangs above a section of the trail that climbers and guides use to reach the top of the world.

About 400 climbers have been waiting at Everest Base Camp — more than 17,000 feet above sea level — as guides monitor the ice, which has developed multiple cracks and could collapse without warning.

The delay has now stretched close to two weeks, but officials said the climb will move forward.

Sherpa guides have already installed the fixed ropes and aluminum ladders needed to cross the Khumbu Icefall,  one of the most dangerous sections of the mountain.

Climbers have been told to move through the area as quickly and carefully as possible, with only one person allowed on each ladder at a time to limit vibrations around the massive ice block.

More from Straight Arrow:

Millennial dads lapping their fathers on diaper duty and doctor visits

Millennial fathers are becoming far more involved in childcare compared to older generations. Scholars told Straight Arrow that it’s all a product of society.

An analysis in macroeconomics publication Home Economics found that millennial dads are outpacing older generations in time spent on childcare, according to numbers sourced from the American Time Use Survey. The rise comes as groups like Pints and Ponytails become popularized and parents advocate for better subsidized childcare and parent-friendly leave policies. 

The analysis also comes at a time when parents report spending more money on childcare than on other necessities. 

“It’s no longer the norm that fathers are out of the household and mothers do the childcare, but it’s more balanced,” Aziz Sunderji, strategist at Home Economics, told Straight Arrow on Wednesday. “It’s a huge change from where it was 50 years ago.”

Read the full story now>

Google employees were ecstatic and even more overjoyed when the company released new guidelines stating that its AI would not be used for “weapons or other technologies whose principal purpose or implementation is to cause or directly facilitate injury to people.”

But things have changed in the last few years. Palantir, a company that has faced multiple controversies regarding its technology and ethics, took over Project Maven shortly after Google pulled out. Then, early last year, Google removed its pledge not to build AI systems for weapons and expanded its partnership with the Department of Defense. The partnership has led to new disputes with employees, including a unionization attempt by employees in the U.K. working on Google’s DeepMind project. 

Google’s return to the Pentagon has reignited a debate employees thought was over: can ethical tech companies do more good by refusing military work or by staying inside? The answer is more important now that Palantir, which has so far outlasted internal debate, spent years running the program Google abandoned.

The case for staying

Diane Greene is the former CEO of Google Cloud and was with the company when the Maven controversy began. She called it a massive misunderstanding and said that employees were angry over something that wasn’t happening. 

Greene said the project was using AI to analyze non-real-time drone footage for landmine detection, disaster recovery and object identification. The Pentagon had explicitly prohibited fully automated offensive work, Greene said. But that didn’t stop Google employees from spreading rumors. 

She said employees began circulating rumors that Google was allowing the military to use its AI to target and fire weapons autonomously. The uproar led Google to leave the project and Palantir to step in. 

“Under the contractors that followed us, the Maven program expanded to include the offensive targeting capabilities that had been explicitly excluded from Google’s contract,” Greene wrote in an op-ed with The San Francisco Standard. “The original misperception hardened into conventional wisdom.”

She said that most people in the tech industry are concerned about AI weapons and mass surveillance, but leaving the table instead of pushing for change is the wrong choice. 

“Refusing to engage doesn’t change the outcome. It removes you from it,” Greene wrote. “And the people who decide to engage might operate with fewer principles and constraints than you would.”

Microsoft President Brad Smith echoed these sentiments in a blog post regarding a similar 2019 protest at his company. Smith argued that if an ethical firm abandons a project over principled objections, it simply creates a vacuum for another company to fill — one that might not share those same ethical concerns.

“To withdraw from this market is to reduce our opportunity to engage in the public debate about how new technologies can best be used in a responsible way,” Smith wrote. “We are not going to withdraw from the future. In the most positive way possible, we are going to work to help shape it."

The case against staying

Anthropic, the makers of the AI chatbot Claude, found out the hard way that standing up for ethical AI use in the military didn’t work with the Defense Department. Instead of compromising on a plan, the DOD fired them, blacklisted them, costing them hundreds of millions, and then called them “woke” — all while the military continued to use the company’s AI. 

CEO Dario Amodei said the government retaliated against his company’s push. Anthropic has launched two lawsuits against the government but lost an appeal to temporarily prevent the blacklisting.

In the recent dispute between Google and its employees, the contract with the military that employees oppose includes language on ethical use. But the language is more like a gentle push rather than a legal chokehold. 

The contract states that, “The parties agree that the AI System is not intended for, and should not be used for, domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weapons (including target selection) without appropriate human oversight and control.” But the policy is nonbinding, and Google says that it has no right to control or prevent the “lawful” governmental use of its technology. This is similar to what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during his attacks against Anthropic. 

What Google employees are asking for now

Google employees are again pushing the company toward a more ethical approach to AI: no military use of its AI, restoration of the previous AI weapons pledge, establishment of an independent ethics oversight body, and an individual's right to refuse morally objectionable projects.

These demands aren’t your typical unionization demands. There is no mention of pay or conditions — it’s all about ethics and who controls the direction of technology. If their conditions aren’t met, workers have threatened to continue quietly abstaining from work that might improve the company’s AI to avoid detection from Google's higher-ups. 

“We want to see AI benefit humanity; not to see it being used in inhumane or extremely harmful ways,” employees wrote to Google CEO Sundar Pichai. “Making the wrong call right now would cause irreparable damage to Google’s reputation, business, and role in the world.”

As Google’s internal fight continues, it’s easy to see how difficult the road ahead is for the employees. Anthropic was the only AI company to hold its ground on its ethics, and now it’s the only major AI company not at the negotiating table with the U.S. military. If retaliation is what responsible engagement produces, the workers might be asking for something that the market has already decided against.

Round out your reading

• First, it was the schools. Now they’re coming for your cellphone at work.
• Why one of America’s top economic forecasters is worried about a recession.
• AI companies may not be adhering to their own guidelines — with potentially deadly outcomes.
• Data centers are a thorny issue for Democrats. Maine shows us why.
• We’re building a new Straight Arrow. Help us shape our future by taking our survey.

An analysis in macroeconomics publication Home Economics found that millennial dads are outpacing older generations in time spent on childcare, according to numbers sourced from the American Time Use Survey. The rise comes as groups like Pints and Ponytails become popularized and parents advocate for better subsidized childcare and parent-friendly leave policies. 

The analysis also comes at a time when parents report spending more money on childcare than on other necessities. 

“It’s no longer the norm that fathers are out of the household and mothers do the childcare, but it’s more balanced,” Aziz Sunderji, strategist at Home Economics, told Straight Arrow on Wednesday. “It’s a huge change from where it was 50 years ago.”

For fathers at the age of 30, millennials reported spending 80 minutes on childcare. The time decreased as it traversed generations. The biggest gap came between Gen X and Baby Boomers, with the latter spending just over 40 minutes and the former nearly 80 minutes. Fathers from the Silent Generation spent about 20 minutes on childcare at that age. 

Sunderji said the data accounts for gay men and single fathers.

The reported time spent still doesn’t match up to women. While millennial fathers spent 80 hours at the age of 30, it was below the amount that Baby Boomer mothers spent on childcare. 

“They’re doing 40 minutes less of work time, they’re typically commuting for less time if they’re not at the office,” Sunderji said. “Other ways they’re saving time is they’re sleeping less. When I see that dads are sleeping less, I relate to that.”

He added that compared to men without children, Millennial dads are spending less time watching television or doing leisure activities. They’re spending more time on childcare, domestic activities and household duties. 

Sunderji said that women still out-rank men in how much time they spend on childcare and are typically doing high-stress activities like homework, taking kids to appointments and such. Dads are more involved in sports and engaging with their children’s hobbies than women. 

“It’s a change in identity and expectations that you’re supposed to be involved in your child’s lives,” he said. 

Societal changes affect parents 

The increase in time that millennial men spent with their children didn’t happen out of nowhere. Instead, things shifted as people began to look at children as “projects that need to be managed,” University of California-Irvine Sociology Professor Nina Bandelj told Straight Arrow. 

The project isn’t about disregarding a child as a person, but about people adopting the understanding that children need multiple forms of care for sustainable development. Bandelj said that’s a combination of organizing activities, taking them to sports, supervising playtime, leisure time and teaching them responsibilities. 

“What mostly contributed to why fathers are getting more involved, too, is that we celebrate involved fatherhood,” she said. 

That’s evident on social media, where an array of accounts show men attending haircare sessions, opening up about the mental load of fatherhood and advocating for paternity leave. 

For Kevin Seldon, he’s been the one in his family to be more expressive with his emotions than his wife. It’s a common theme he’s learned from talking to other fathers and learning the yearning they have to teach their children emotional control. Seldon is the founder of the "Dad I’d Like to Friend" podcast and the national support group Dads Supporting Dads.

Men who are emotional and affectionate with their kids in the same fashion as women are, are still judged. It happened when Tom Brady kissed his son back in 2018. 

“There's so much shame and questions put on dads,” Seldon said. “They're considered sketchy whenever they're showing affection with their kids, which is absurd.”

Bandelj said social media celebrating fatherhood influences more men to feel supported in being more involved in their children’s lives. 

“There's a change in understanding of the role of women and men in society more broadly, and involved fatherhood is something to aspire to want to be involved in because it means a lot to oneself,” she said.

Pandemic changes parenthood

The COVID-19 pandemic served as a big driver of how parents changed their approach to raising their children. All who spoke to Straight Arrow said it catalyzed a shift in family life, with parents spending less time in the office and more time at home and with their kids. 

“In 2024, you see a big jump in the time dads spend with their kids,” Sunderji said. 

He noted that a similar shift happened between 1990 and 2000, but not to the degree seen during the pandemic. A spike didn’t play out for women, who already spent more time on childcare than men.

Still, Sunderji said the pandemic forced people to reevaluate how they spent and live their lives, which trickled down to families. 

Seldon was more frank. 

“On your deathbed, is your job going to hold your hand?” he said. “Is your boss going to be there holding your hand? Are you going to wish you worked longer? No, you’re gonna want your family there. You’re going to want your partner there.”

Parenthood changes with gender

How parents raise their children is often tied to traditional family stereotypes. That’s evolved over time, Bandelj added, as more fathers opt to be more expressive with their emotions and show them openly in parenthood. 

Meanwhile, women have increasingly taken a more aggressive approach to their careers to request raises and seek out promotions.

“We have been more embracing of emotionally expressive, masculinity, involved fatherhood, male roles,” she said. “That's something that our society has embraced.”

But she cautioned that with these changes, there’s still a lag in how parents are supported, overall. The current level of support in terms of paid leave, childcare costs and wages is going to drive parents to greater stress, which can break families.

The phrase many people use to say that parenthood is an “unpaid job you can’t quit” is something that should be examined. Bandelj said that if people look at it that way, then there needs to be changes to support families.

“It's not sustainable,” Bandelj said. “It can't keep going. It's really bringing families to the breaking point.”

Round out your reading

• First, it was the schools. Now they’re coming for your cellphone at work.
• Why one of America’s top economic forecasters is worried about a recession.
• AI companies may not be adhering to their own guidelines — with potentially deadly outcomes.
• Data centers are a thorny issue for Democrats. Maine shows us why.
• We’re building a new Straight Arrow. Help us shape our future by taking our survey.

During an interview on Monday on the Salem News Channel, Trump accused the first American pope of wanting Iran to have nuclear weapons.

“I think he’s endangering a lot of Catholics, and a lot of people, but I guess if it’s up to the pope, he thinks it’s just fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.

It’s not the first time Trump has made comments like that about the pontiff. Last month, Trump said Leo is not “doing a very good job” and that “he’s a very liberal person,” accusing him of “catering to the radical left.”

Those comments were in response to the pope condemning Trump’s threat to “wipe out” an entire civilization in Iran and urging Americans to contact their Congress members and object.

In a lengthy social media post on April 12, Trump said, “I’m not a big fan of Pope Leo. He’s a very liberal person and he’s a man that doesn’t believe in stopping crime. He is a man that doesn’t think that we should be toying with a country that wants a nuclear weapon so they can blow up the world. I’m not a fan of Pope Leo.”

Pope Leo responds

While Pope Leo did not directly respond to Trump’s latest comments, he did tactfully push back.

“If anyone wants to criticize me for proclaiming the Gospel, let them do so truthfully,” the pope said in comments transcribed from Italian by Vatican correspondent Michael Haynes. “The Church has spoken out against all nuclear weapons for years, so there is no doubt about that.”

Rubio to meet with pope

The harsh exchanges come days before Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to meet with the pope at the Vatican on Thursday. The meeting is an attempt for the U.S. and the Vatican to “better understand each other, and … if there are differences, certainly to talk through that,” according to Brian Burch, the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See.

Unbiased. Straight Facts.^TM

White evangelical Protestants, the most pro-Trump religious bloc of Americans, viewed Trump’s posting a photo depicting himself as Jesus negatively by a 9:10 ratio, according to a Washington Post poll.

“I don’t accept the idea that somehow there’s some deep rift,” Burch told reporters on Tuesday.

Ahead of his visit, Rubio said he expected to have a “frank” meeting with Leo, but that the purpose of the trip is not about smoothing over relations between the Trump administration and the Vatican.

“The trip is really not tied to anything other than the fact that it would be normal for us to engage, and other secretaries of state have done that in the past,” Rubio said at a press conference Tuesday.

Rubio said two areas he hopes to focus on are the distribution of humanitarian aid in Cuba and addressing “the challenges that are being faced by Christians in Africa.”

Americans are critical of Trump admin’s religion-related messages

A new poll shows that while Americans have a positive view of Pope Leo, they don’t of how the Trump administration has handled religion-related messaging.

Eighty-seven percent of Americans say they have a negative view of a now-deleted social media post Trump shared last month, appearing to depict himself as Jesus. That includes his own party – with 80% of those who voted for Trump in 2024 and 79% of Republicans viewing it negatively.

Americans also aren’t too keen on a recent prayer by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in which he prayed for “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy” at the Pentagon. Sixty-nine percent said they disliked that prayer.

Round out your reading

• First, it was the schools. Now they’re coming for your cellphone at work.
• Why one of America’s top economic forecasters is worried about a recession.
• AI companies may not be adhering to their own guidelines — with potentially deadly outcomes.
• Data centers are a thorny issue for Democrats. Maine shows us why.
• We’re building a new Straight Arrow. Help us shape our future by taking our survey.

Plus, primary results deliver a split signal ahead of November. Trump reshapes the GOP in Indiana while Democrats lock in key ground elsewhere.

And the cruise ship hantavirus outbreak takes another turn. Passengers remain stranded, as officials now clash over where the ship can even dock.

These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Wednesday, May 6, 2026.

Trump pauses Project Freedom allowing time for broader peace negotiations

President Donald Trump has paused his plan to have the U.S. military escort cargo ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

In a social media post, Trump said Pakistan and other mediators made the request, calling it a temporary step as negotiators work toward a broader peace deal. He said the escort plan, known as “Project Freedom,” will be “paused for a short period of time.”

And there may be a reason why.

White House officials told Axios that the U.S. is close to a one-page agreement with Iran — a memorandum of understanding that could end the war and set the stage for broader nuclear talks.

Sources said it would include a pause on Iran's nuclear program, sanctions relief and a path to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. However, nothing is final.

For now, Trump said the U.S. will maintain a full blockade of Iranian ships and ports. While issuing a warning Tuesday at the White House, the president confirmed that “great progress” was being made toward a final agreement.

"They should do the smart thing, you know, they should do the smart thing,” Trump said. “Because we don't want to go in and kill people. No, I don't want to, I don't want to. It's too tough. Great people, I know the people, I have so many Iranian friends from New York and from other places over the years, they're great people. I don't want to, I don't want to kill those people."

Iran has framed the move very differently, with state media calling it a U.S. backdown after what it described as “firm warnings” from Tehran.

This all comes after Iran announced new restrictions for ships moving through the Strait, requiring permits and designated routes, and warning of “decisive action” for any violations.

Indiana primaries deliver wins for Trump as candidates defeat Republicans who broke from the president

Primary results in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan are highlighting a split political landscape:

Trump is flexing his power within the GOP, while Democrats gain key momentum heading into the midterms.

In Indiana, Trump-backed candidates ousted most of the Republican state senators who opposed his redistricting push.

Five of the seven targeted incumbents lost, with one holding on and another race still too close to call.

In Michigan, Democrat Chedrick Greene won a special election, locking in his party’s majority in the state senate.

It's a good sign for Democrats in the battleground states ahead of November's midterms.

And in Ohio, former Sen. Sherrod Brown won the Democratic nomination in a special election, setting up a November showdown with Republican Sen. Jon Husted, who was appointed to the seat last year.

Also in Ohio, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy won his party’s nomination for governor and will face democrat Amy Acton in the general election.

Spain agrees to accept stranded cruise ship, but regional president expresses skepticism

There's a new twist this morning in the cruise ship virus outbreak.

Spain says it will take the ship, but officials in the Canary Islands are now pushing back.

Nearly 150 passengers and crew, including 17 Americans, remain on that ship, the MV Hondius, after a hantavirus cluster killed three people and sickened others.

Health officials have identified seven cases so far, two confirmed and five suspected, including one person still in critical condition.

Spain's central government says the ship can head to the Canary Islands for treatment and a full investigation.

But the region's president is opposing that plan, saying there's not enough information to guarantee public safety.

The World Health Organization says some limited human-to-human transmission may have occurred, but emphasizes the risk to the broader public is low.

Three people are now being medically evacuated. Once that’s complete, the ship is expected to sail to the Canary Islands, where Spanish authorities will take over, conduct a full investigation, and begin disinfecting the vessel.

Officials believe the virus may have originated during excursions earlier in the trip, possibly through contact with infected rodents, but the exact source is still under investigation. The cruise originated in Argentina in March and has been at sea for about seven weeks. 

Earlier, Straight Arrow spoke with public health expert Professor Lawrence Gostin, an internationally recognized scholar at Georgetown University and Johns Hopkins University, who directs the World Health Organization Center on Global Health Law.

Straight Arrow asked him how passengers likely contracted hantavirus:

CRAIG NIGRELLI: Are we looking at person-to-person transfer of this virus? 

LAWRENCE GOSTIN: It's very unlikely there is one strain of Hantavirus that's found in southern South America, in this far southern tip of South America, that is person-to-person transmitted, but it's rare that ship did cruise in that area, but it's an unlikely possibility. The more likely possibility is that it's a rodent-borne disease — mice or rat droppings, urine. Sometimes it aerosolizes in the air, and you can breathe it in. And there are two forms of Hantavirus disease, both very, very serious and potentially lethal. One is a pulmonary form that basically affects your breathing and your lungs, and the other one is a hemorrhagic fever, which primarily affects your kidneys, and both of them are very dangerous, and unless you get very intensive care, can lead to death because there is no known treatment for either form of the disease.

NIGRELLI: Is there a risk for those 140 or so passengers who are still on board?

GOSTIN: Well, they're a considerable risk, but not for that reason. It's very unlikely that, being in close quarters, you'll contract the virus from another person. What's much more likely is, is that many of them have already been exposed to these contaminated rat or mice droppings, and they're going to get very, very sick… Before they get very sick, they're going to need to get strong, supportive care and then ultimately, intensive care. And the ship medics don't have the capacity to do that, so these individuals who are exposed need to be in a place where they can get good, supportive medical care, including intensive care. The ship itself can only provide basic medical care.

WHCD shooting: Suspect faces new charge for allegedly firing on federal officer

The man accused of trying to kill Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner now faces an additional federal charge as new court documents detail exactly what the suspect had with him.

A federal grand jury has indicted Cole Tomas Allen on four counts, including attempted assassination of the president and multiple weapons charges. Prosecutors have now added a new count, alleging that he assaulted a federal officer with a deadly weapon.

Court filings said Allen traveled from California to Washington, D.C., in the days before the April 25 attack, carrying a 12-gauge pump shotgun, a .38-caliber pistol and about 100 rounds of ammunition. Investigators said he used that shotgun to fire at a federal officer identified only by initials in the indictment.

The new charge makes clear prosecutors believe Allen pulled the trigger, but his defense team is challenging whether he intended to kill.

Allen has not entered a plea and is scheduled for arraignment on May 11.

Rolling Stones to release first new album in 18 years this summer

The Rolling Stones announced they will release a new album, “Foreign Tongues,” on July 10. It’s the group’s first new album in 18 years.

Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood are all back with a 14-track record that also features an appearance by the late drummer Charlie Watts, using one of his final recordings.

The lead track “Rough and Twisted” was quietly released last month on limited white-label vinyl.

The album has been described as forward-leaning, blending new production and technology with the classic Stones sound.

More from Straight Arrow:

Have we reached the end of the DIY era?

New home subscription services aim to put your honey-do list on autopilot. By signing up for regularly scheduled services that monitor and maintain important systems, homeowners will save money, hassle and headaches, the reasoning goes, while steady cash flow helps contractors stay in business. Win-win, right?

Maybe, maybe not. Even as companies of all sizes, from national retailer Lowe’s to local contractors, are pitching subscriptions, some contractors who waded in early have tempered their enthusiasm, finding that consumers are wary of hidden costs and conflicts.

Read the full story now>

Both customers and other airlines will feel the impact of the Spirit closure.

However, experts said many of those impacts will not be felt immediately.

What happens to the planes?

According to data from avionics analytics company Cirium, Spirit had 172 planes in its fleet.

Only 95 of those were in service, with another 77 in storage. Most of those stored planes are in Arizona, with Spirit parking them there after taking them out of service to attempt to stay in business.

So, what happens to all these planes?

Most were leased to the airline. Those planes will be immediately returned to the leasing company.

“They will be repainted in the colors of another airline, and fly for that airline,” Jan Brueckner, professor of economics emeritus and University of California, Irvine, told Straight Arrow.

As for the planes Spirit actually owns, they’ll be sold off.

“The planes that Spirit owns will be sold, and there's a good market for used planes, so no problem selling the planes,” Brueckner said.

Life expectancies of planes are typically measured in decades, which means most of the planes, especially the ones that were actively being used, are still good to fly.

Airlines tend to last for roughly 60,000 flight hours or 20,000 pressurization cycles.

An airplane pressurization cycle is the process where conditioned air from the engines or auxiliary systems is pumped into the cabin and regulated during climb, cruise, and descent to maintain a safe, comfortable cabin pressure despite changing outside altitude.

“They will be reused,” Douglas Baird, professor at the University of Chicago and chair of the National Bankruptcy Conference, told Straight Arrow. “Now, by whom is not clear. And, not necessarily in the United States, but these are large capital assets.”

It’s also unclear the status of many of those planes that have been grounded in the southwestern U.S. for an extended period of time.

However, the main reason they’re kept in places like Arizona is that the desert climate helps to avoid corrosion.

The facility holding Spirit’s planes is run by AerSale, which sells aftermarket aircraft and parts.

They can also help prepare planes that are heading from one carrier to another.

“It's not as if the assets had been lost,” Baird said. “It just means this particular business that used these assets in a particular way turned out not to succeed in the marketplace.”

This could also be a chance for other airlines to pick up planes for a discount.

“They're popular models,” Brueckner said. “So, it's not like they're a bunch of loser planes by any means. So, there should be ample room for other airlines to sort of exploit the situation and get planes that are maybe a bit cheaper than they would have been otherwise.”

Other infrastructure

Of course, it’s not just planes that Spirit owns. It’s hard to miss that big yellow counterspace at major airports.

Baird said the way bankruptcies are set up may make those spaces fairly valuable.

“It doesn't destroy assets,” he said. “It's a process by which you try to maximize the value of the assets, and that means putting the assets, whatever they are, to their highest value use.”

One thing that is likely to happen is that airports will just replace Spirit’s counter space with another airline.

There are also baggage carts, service vehicles and other operational machines.

“The main capital is airplanes,” Brueckner said. “They're very expensive, and the rest of it is not that important.”

Then there are the tens of thousands of Spirit employees who are now out of a job.

A large majority of them are in Florida. Because of that, CareerSource Broward held a rapid response event to provide those employees with the necessary resources.

The U.S. Department of Transportation also said some other airlines will offer preferential job interviews to those impacted.

Impact on costs

Spirit Airlines was famously a low-cost, no-frills airline. So, how does their demise affect consumer costs?

Most likely, you’re not getting any cheaper plane tickets.

First of all, one of the reasons Spirit was struggling so much in recent months was the surging price of jet fuel due to the U.S. war with Iran.

Then, there’s the fact that Spirit was a lower-cost carrier.

“On routes where Spirit and Frontier and the other ultra-low cost carriers flew, fares tended to be lower,” Brueckner said. “In other words, the major carriers needed to cut fares in order to match the competition.”

Those other carriers will also be more likely to try to fill the gaps created by Spirit’s departure.

JetBlue has already announced some major moves to fill some of that void.

But overall, the cost of flying is up. Spirit Airlines is down. And flyers have one less option to take to the skies.

“People tend to forget that what's happened here is that the U.S. government launched a war that is having negative effects worldwide, and one of the effects is higher jet fuel prices, and so the airlines are getting hammered by this war,” Brueckner said.

Round out your reading

• First, it was the schools. Now they’re coming for your cellphone at work.
• Why one of America’s top economic forecasters is worried about a recession.
• AI companies may not be adhering to their own guidelines — with potentially deadly outcomes.
• Data centers are a thorny issue for Democrats. Maine shows us why.
• We’re building a new Straight Arrow. Help us shape our future by taking our survey.

Video from inside the truck shows the driver singing along to a song on the radio just moments before the Boeing 767 flying in from Venice, Italy, with more than 230 people on board, struck his trailer.

The driver, who works for H&S Bakery in Baltimore, suffered cuts to his hand and arm from flying glass, but is expected to be okay.

The plane also hit a light pole, which fell onto a jeep. No one in the Jeep was hurt. Officials also say no passengers or crew on board the plane were injured.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have classified the incident as an accident due to the damage to the plane, but did not provide further details. They are now investigating what went wrong.

United Airlines says the flight crew has been removed from service pending the outcome of that investigation.

According to the Associated Press, the pilots’ damage report was not recorded because the crew opted to call the tower on the phone after landing instead of broadcasting the details over the radio.

An air traffic control recording posted to ATC give slightly more insight. “They felt something over the threshold and there’s a hole in the side of the airplane,” the controller said.

Round out your reading

• First, it was the schools. Now they’re coming for your cellphone at work.
• Why one of America’s top economic forecasters is worried about a recession.
• AI companies may not be adhering to their own guidelines — with potentially deadly outcomes.
• Data centers are a thorny issue for Democrats. Maine shows us why.
• We’re building a new Straight Arrow. Help us shape our future by taking our survey.

Plus, another shooting near the National Mall puts the Secret Service back in the spotlight.

And a federal judge apologizes in court to the suspect in the White House Correspondents’ Dinner attack. Now attention is on the conditions he’s being held under.

These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Tuesday, May 5, 2026.

US reports attacks as Iran fires ‘warning shots’ in Strait of Hormuz

It’s unclear whether the U.S.-Iran ceasefire is still holding Tuesday after both sides reported new attacks in the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Central Command said American forces sank six Iranian small boats, which they said were targeting civilian vessels.

CENTCOM also reported Iran launched cruise missiles, drones and additional boats at ships under U.S. protection in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has not confirmed those claims, but state media aired video of its Navy firing what it called “warning shots” toward U.S. destroyers.

CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper said the U.S. has cleared a safe shipping lane through the Strait of Hormuz and established what he called a “defensive umbrella” of helicopters and fighter jets to protect commercial traffic.

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates said its air defenses intercepted more than a dozen missiles and multiple drones launched from Iran on Monday. Tehran has neither denied those strikes nor claimed responsibility.

Iran’s foreign minister warned in a post on X that the U.S. and U.A.E. “should be wary of being dragged back into a quagmire.”

Despite the escalation, President Donald Trump and U.S. military leaders have not said whether the ceasefire remains in place. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs are set to brief reporters Tuesday morning, which could clarify where things go from here.

Secret Service agents shoot gunman near the White House

Gunfire broke out near the White House on Monday as Secret Service agents confronted an armed man near the Washington Monument. Officials said an agent spotted a man who appeared to be armed, and when they tried to approach him, he took off and opened fire.

Agents returned fire and hit the suspect. A 15-year-old was also struck during the shooting. 

Investigators believe the gunman fired the shot, and said the teen’s injuries are not life-threatening.

This all unfolded just minutes after Vice President JD Vance’s motorcade passed through the area, while Trump was holding an event at the White House. The Secret Service said there’s no indication the suspect was targeting the White House.

The suspect is now in the hospital as investigators work to determine a motive.

Judge apologizes to assassination suspect Cole Allen, questioning harsh jail conditions

A federal judge apologized in open court to the man accused of trying to assassinate Trump over how he’s been treated in jail.

At a Monday hearing, magistrate judge Zia Faruqui pressed officials about the conditions for Cole Tomas Allen, saying he was deeply troubled by what he heard.

According to The New York Times, Allen was held alone for up to 23 hours a day under conditions the judge described as effectively solitary confinement.

Faruqui didn’t hold back, saying, “I’m obviously very concerned about how we’ve gotten here ... He’s been treated completely differently than anyone I’ve ever seen.” 

Allen is accused of storming the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, armed with guns and knives, charging a security checkpoint and firing a shotgun before the Secret Service was able to stop him.

Prosecutors said new video from the night shows him pacing inside the Washington Hilton, then suddenly rushing toward officers with a weapon. They also said he told investigators he did not expect to survive, which factored into the initial decision to place him on suicide watch.

Some of those restrictions have since been eased, but the judge is now ordering a full accounting of how those conditions were established.

The case has also drawn political reaction, including U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's criticism of the judge's remarks.

She wrote on X, "Welcome to Washington, DC, where U.S. Magistrate Judge Faruqui believes a defendant armed to the teeth and attempting to assassinate the president is entitled to preferential treatment in his confinement."

The 31-year-old remains in federal custody, and if convicted, could face life in prison.

Search intensifies for missing US soldiers in Morocco

New details have emerged in the search for two missing U.S. soldiers in Morocco. 

Defense officials told CBS News a soldier fell into the ocean during an evening hike near coastal cliffs, prompting a second soldier to jump in to save him. Officials said a small group first tried to form a human chain, but when that failed, the second soldier entered the water and a wave hit him.

The two soldiers now missing were both unable to return to shore. A third soldier also jumped in but returned alone.

The search is now in its fourth day, with aircraft, drones, ships and divers scanning the Atlantic coast near the Cap Draa training area.

The soldiers were part of “African Lion,” a large multinational exercise, though officials said the incident was unrelated to training. Officials have not released the names of the missing soldiers.

United jet clips truck on New Jersey Turnpike during landing

A new video shows the moment a United Airlines plane clipped a bakery truck on the New Jersey Turnpike as it was coming in to land at Newark Airport.

Video from inside the truck shows the driver singing along to a song on the radio just moments before a passenger jet carrying more than 230 people struck his trailer.

The driver — who works for H&S Bakery in Baltimore — sustained cuts to his hand and arm from flying glass but is expected to be okay.

The plane also struck a light pole, which fell onto a Jeep. No one in the Jeep was injured.

Officials said no passengers or crew members on board the plane were injured.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have classified the incident as an accident and are now investigating what went wrong. United Airlines said the flight crew has been removed from service pending the outcome of the investigation.

NASA releases 12,000 new Artemis II photos

NASA has released more than 12,000 photos from its Artemis II mission, including close-ups of the moon’s surface, star trails and astronauts looking back at Earth from deep space.

And here’s the kicker: many of them were shot by the crew themselves, using iPhone 17s and Nikon cameras.

The four astronauts traveled nearly 700,000 miles during the 10-day mission, looping around the moon without landing. Along the way, they captured rare views of the moon's far side and a total solar eclipse.

NASA is now looking ahead to Artemis III, a mission targeted for 2027 that would return a crew to the lunar surface.

More from Straight Arrow:

How high corn production hides the financial strain of US farms

Troy Uphoff has learned to better space the rows of corn on his Illinois farm and grows shorter-statured stalks that optimize sunlight and the nutrients in the soil.

“That creates about a 5% yield bump every year,” said Uphoff, whose farm sits near Decatur.

Uphoff developed these techniques with help from researchers, agricultural businesses and other farmers. Such innovations are the reason, experts told Straight Arrow, that the United States grew a record amount of corn last year, even as farmers navigated severe weather and financial headwinds.

In the past several years, American farmers have faced prolonged drought, extreme rain, skyrocketing costs, plummeting revenue and an uneven economy.

And through it all, production keeps growing.

Read the full story now>

A new study from Oregon State University shows that significant use of generative AI tools in STEM fields isn’t just changing how students work but possibly reshaping how they think.

“The most surprising finding was that the ‘AI-savvy’ ones, who you might think do significantly better in STEM careers, are actually spinning themselves deeper into the AI dependence spiral,” Rudrajit Choudhuri, a graduate student who led the study, said to KOIN.

AI/critical thinking study

Researchers found a link between frequent reliance on AI and a decline in critical thinking, reflection, and the want to understand complex material.

That study surveyed roughly 300 students across multiple North American universities. It found that students who regularly use AI tools were more likely to use it for tasks that typically require critical thinking.

The study also found that it regularly became a habit that weakens the mental skills STEM education is meant to build.

The researchers call it “cognitive debt.”

Essentially, it’s a slow erosion of intellectual habits caused by repeated shortcuts. As students rely more on AI, they engage less deeply with material, which in turn makes them more likely to depend on AI again the next time.

“Today we make shopping lists rather than rely on memory, let calculators do our arithmetic and use GPS instead of reading maps,” Anita Sarma, a doctoral advisor who worked on the study, said.

The study found that the students most vulnerable to this cycle are typically the most technically confident.

“The most surprising finding was that the ‘AI-savvy’ ones, who you might think do significantly better in STEM careers, are actually spinning themselves deeper into the AI dependence spiral,” Choudhuri said.

Impact

The implications of this issue also go beyond the classroom.

STEM graduates are usually expected to solve unfamiliar problems, think independently, and adapt to new challenges.

“The types of skills that students are farming out to AI actually put them in a hole when it comes to developing skills that are genuinely needed,” Christopher Sanchez, an associate professor of psychological science who worked on the study, said.

To address this issue, the researchers recommended changes to how these students use AI.

That includes designing assignments that require exploration and creativity, like through storytelling or puzzles.

They also recommended alternating between AI-assisted and independent work, and to push students to critique or debug AI-generated responses rather than accept them at face value.

Their hope is to move AI more into a tool that supports critical thinking instead of replacing it.

That distinction may be the difference between a generation of students who use AI to sharpen their skills — and one that gradually forgets how to think without it.

“If routine reliance on AI changes students’ willingness to engage in effortful thinking, many may enter professional life without having developed the intellectual habits that earlier generations gained through practice,” Margaret Burnett, a distinguished professor of computer science who worked on the study, said.

Round out your reading

• First, it was the schools. Now they’re coming for your cellphone at work.
• Why one of America’s top economic forecasters is worried about a recession.
• AI companies may not be adhering to their own guidelines — with potentially deadly outcomes.
• Data centers are a thorny issue for Democrats. Maine shows us why.
• We’re building a new Straight Arrow. Help us shape our future by taking our survey.

Speculation about turning Spirit into a public company started hours after the airline went dark. Hunter Peterson, a voice actor, floated the idea as a joke, but changed his tune when he saw the public’s response. He started with a plan to get 20% of all Americans over the age of 18 to pledge “the cost of a Spirit fare.”

It has now amassed 124,755 supporters pledging more than $88 million for the plan. Peterson has indicated on his website — LetsBuySpiritAir.com — it is just “a movement, not an investment product.” 

“This started as a joke, and this is rapidly going out of control the best possible way,” he said in a May 3 video. 

Peterson’s website crashed repeatedly, which users joked was reminiscent of Spirit’s operations. 

“Well I tried to pledge but after 2 different verification codes, and 10 minutes the website finally functioned properly,” Instagram user Myndi Simmons commented on Peterson’s May 2 video. “Very spirit airlines coded, I’m in.”

Despite the airline’s constantly low satisfaction ratings compared to the 10 other airlines offering economy seating, people are clamoring to revive the bright yellow jets.

Getting the airline is an unlikely task due to court proceedings and debt, Marc Scriber, senior transportation policy analyst at the Reason Foundation, told Straight Arrow. That’s largely due to the $8.1 billion debt Spirit reported in August 2025.

“What caused Spirit to fold while negotiations on a bailout continued were those creditors decided that Spirit was worth more to them in selling off the fleet than as an airline,” he said. “The financial state of Spirit had deteriorated to such a degree they could see any path forward.” 

Doing it like the Packers

Peterson envisions people having one vote for the board, a nod to the Green Bay Packers' model. 

According to the Packers, the team has been a publicly-owned organization since 1923, with about 5.2 million shares held by 538,967 people.

“Fans have supported the team financially on several occasions, including six stock sales: 1923, 1935, 1950, 1997, 2011, and 2022,” according to the Packers. “To protect against someone taking control of the team, the articles of incorporation prohibit any person from owning more than 200,000 shares.”

It’s a troubled path for an airline. Scriber said owning a sports team is viewed as a prestigious thing among owners who earn little profit from their assets. Green Bay uses the appeal of being community-focused. Scriber said the model isn’t viable for airlines as the markets are vastly different. 

“For the airline industry, it’s extremely competitive, and the margins are low,” Scriber said. “I don’t think there’s enough popular support to run an airline like that, especially one that’s losing so much money.”

Peterson noted in follow-up videos needing guidance on the process, saying that his regular lawyer hasn’t yet weighed in, and he’s seeking advice from aviation lawyers and public relations professionals. 

“I don’t want to own this, but I do want to hire people who have aviation experience,” Peterson said. 

Too broke to be bought

Even if Peterson were to pull off the herculean fundraising task, Scriber said the company agreed Monday morning to liquidate its assets. So, any public purchase would create an airline without aircraft. 

Scriber said that Spirit reported to the bankruptcy court that it would sell off its fleet to satisfy debt. According to court records, the sale consists of 66 leased and 28 Spirit-owned aircraft, 18 engines and other spare parts. That sale, he said, could be for the aircraft or parts. The fate of the company’s new Florida headquarters is still up in the air. 

He noted that other budget carriers could move toward reorganization to avoid a closure as people started opting for the likes of Delta, United and other airlines for their premium, first-class offerings. Already, airlines like JetBlue have announced plans to absorb some of Spirit’s routes to serve more passengers.

“It’s tough out there in the U.S. low-cost carrier market,” Scriber said. “It’s ultimately what consumers want, and if we see declining economic fortunes and people seek the lowest cost above all else, budget carriers will have to adapt, but they can still compete.”

Beyond competition costs, Scriber noted that fuel was a driver in Spirit’s downfall and would affect any airline owner. Spirit said in court documents that it had paid nearly $100 million in fuel between March 1 and April 30. 

Scriber said a way to keep airlines afloat is to revisit federal ownership laws, which currently forbid all non-U.S. citizens from owning more than 25% of an airline. He noted that the law led to Virgin Airlines’ demise in the U.S. 

“If politicians want to make sure the airline industry is in the best footing, they need to take care not to burn them, but to also reduce barriers to entry and competition,” Scriber said. 

By comparison, Canada allows non-Canadian citizens to own up to 49% of an airline. 

In Canada’s format, Scriber said the 49% owner could have higher voting power than the 51% if the remaining is split off among various stakeholders. If that were in place, Virgin wouldn’t have left the U.S. in 2016. 

“Ideally, you would allow straight majority ownership by non-U.S. citizens, that way airlines like RyanAir can open and operate in America, and not see the airline get sold out from under them,” Scriber said. “Ultimately, it’s a global industry with government barriers still in place.”

A company for the people

John Farrell, co-director and energy democracy director with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, told Straight Arrow that there’s always been heightened public attention to airlines. 

“Folks have been arguing to regulate the airlines, and one of the major consequences in deregulation is the concentration in the big airlines,” Farrell said.

He said a public airline would fill in gaps left by airline mergers, mainly in rural communities. But a lack of competition, he said, creates a favorable market for the premium airlines.

“The idea of a public airline is intriguing for filling in the gaps of places that lost service with deregulation,” Farrell said.

Round out your reading

• First, it was the schools. Now they’re coming for your cellphone at work.
• Why one of America’s top economic forecasters is worried about a recession.
• AI companies may not be adhering to their own guidelines — with potentially deadly outcomes.
• Data centers are a thorny issue for Democrats. Maine shows us why.
• We’re building a new Straight Arrow. Help us shape our future by taking our survey.

Sentiment toward AI varies from nation to nation, with studies finding that people in wealthier countries are much less optimistic about the technology than those in developing nations. For example, when asked in an Ipsos poll if they believed AI has more benefits than drawbacks, only 39% of Americans agreed. When they asked people from Mexico the same question, 70% agreed.

Global divisions over AI 

The connection between a nation’s wealth and its people’s sentiment on AI goes beyond North America. In that Ipsos poll, China had the most optimistic response, with 83% of people agreeing that the benefits outweighed the drawbacks. The Netherlands had the least optimistic response at 36%.

The pattern isn’t new or a one-time find — it has shown up in multiple polls as early as 2022.

Globally, people are more pessimistic about AI. According to a Pew Research study of 25 countries, a median of 34% of adults were more concerned than excited about the technology. Only about 16% said they were more excited. 

Why are developing nations more optimistic than wealthy ones?

The most used explanation for the disparity is the “leapfrog” theory. Experts say that AI allows a developing country to skip stages in infrastructure development that wealthy countries had to advance through.

In a 2024 post from The World Bank Group, analysts wrote that AI could transform healthcare, agriculture and financial access in countries where those systems function poorly or aren’t well established.

Analysts at the Center for Global Development said AI could enable workers in poor countries to access skills and tools they previously couldn’t, helping them compete in the global market from which they were previously locked out. 

In an AI report from 2024, Google laid out real-world examples of how developing countries use its AI to address issues. One example was how Brazil used the technology to help optimize traffic in Rio de Janeiro. Google also said African farmers have used its AI tools for early detection of desert locust outbreaks. 

But as people in developing countries get excited about what services or infrastructure AI may provide for their countries, those in wealthier nations are worried about which jobs and industries the technology may eliminate. 

In the U.S., 30% of people worry that AI will make their jobs obsolete. The thought of a jobless economy is so prevalent that even Tesla CEO Elon Musk has suggested a universal high-income program.

While tech CEOs swear up and down that their AI will benefit everyone and usher in an age of abundance, more people believe the only ones who will benefit are the tech CEOs themselves.

“I think there will be immense new wealth created by these technologies, said Yuval Noah Harari, a historian and philosopher who specializes in human history and technology. “I’m less sure that the governments will be able to redistribute this wealth in a fair way on a global level.”

Outlier groups

But some wealthy nations, like South Korea, don't follow the trend and love the idea of AI. 

Experts believe that, because of the country’s history and its reliance on technology in the economy, people are more optimistic about new technology. South Korea is also a global leader in semiconductor technology, without which AI technology would not exist. Some analysts believe that a sense of pride also bolsters positive feelings toward AI among South Koreans. 

AI adoption rates in South Korea dwarf those of other developed countries. In the U.S., only about a quarter of people use AI at work every week. In South Korea, more than half of workers use the technology, according to The Korea Herald. Analysts believe that when workers regularly see the technology working, skepticism tends to fall. 

The rest of the developed world hasn’t had as much time with the technology yet. Until it does, skepticism is likely to persist closest to where AI is built. While AI firms strive to promote the value of their technology, it appears they face the greatest challenge in earning the trust of those in their own backyard.

Round out your reading

• First, it was the schools. Now they’re coming for your cellphone at work.
• Why one of America’s top economic forecasters is worried about a recession.
• AI companies may not be adhering to their own guidelines — with potentially deadly outcomes.
• Data centers are a thorny issue for Democrats. Maine shows us why.
• We’re building a new Straight Arrow. Help us shape our future by taking our survey.

The culprit? Infrasound. The ultra-low-frequency vibration has been found to increase irritation and raise levels of the body’s stress hormone, cortisol. 

Is the hair on the back of your neck standing yet?

Those who have stood in an abandoned facility, a basement, or a confined space have felt that eerie sensation roll over their bodies. Suddenly, everything feels off, you feel the need to look over your shoulder, and sometimes, you even get goosebumps. 

Now, researchers are saying low vibrations that the brain can’t even comprehend, called infrasound, may be the cause of that eerie feeling — not anything paranormal.

In an article in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, researchers studied the effects of the low-frequency sound waves, typically below 20 Hertz, which are beyond the range of typical human hearing. 

The waves are found all over everyday environments, thanks to traffic, ventilation systems and industrial machinery. And while the brain typically can’t detect the vibrations, or just isn’t aware of them, the body is particularly sensitive to them. 

"Many people are exposed to it without knowing it,” said Rodney Schmaltz, a Macewan University professor and senior author of the study. “Our findings suggest that even a brief exposure may shift mood and raise cortisol.”

Cortisol is the stress hormone, known for its role in the body's “fight-or-flight” response. A rise in this hormone can trigger feelings of irritation, stress, and a general sense of eeriness.  

In his Frontier article, Schmaltz noted that when someone visits a reportedly haunted facility, their mood may shift even if they do not see or hear anything out of the ordinary. He says the cause can be attributed to infrasound.

“In an old building, there is a good chance that infrasound is present, particularly in basements where aging pipes and ventilation systems produce low-frequency vibrations,” Schmaltz said. Meaning, while you may attribute the eerie feeling to the location being haunted, it may have been infrasound that made the hair on the back of your neck stand on end. 

This doesn’t mean things can’t be haunted, right?

For those who believe in all things paranormal, don’t fret! The authors of the study noted their findings are based on limited data, and more research is needed to confirm the findings. 

"This study was in many ways a first step towards understanding the effects of infrasound on humans," one researcher noted. "So far, we've only tested a specific frequency. There could be many more frequencies and combinations that have their own differential effects.”

That means, for now, you can keep believing in ghosts and take comfort in the fact that you’re not alone. In fact, as Straight Arrow previously reported, one in four Americans is ready to believe stories of paranormal experiences.

A Gallup poll found Americans believe in ghosts more than other paranormal phenomena like astrology, telepathy and reincarnation.

Round out your reading

• First, it was the schools. Now they’re coming for your cellphone at work.
• Why one of America’s top economic forecasters is worried about a recession.
• AI companies may not be adhering to their own guidelines — with potentially deadly outcomes.
• Data centers are a thorny issue for Democrats. Maine shows us why.
• We’re building a new Straight Arrow. Help us shape our future by taking our survey.

Plus, Spirit Airlines shuts down, stranding passengers and eliminating thousands of jobs. Now the political blame game is underway.

And two U.S. service members vanish during a training exercise in Morocco. The search is underway Monday morning.

These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Friday, May 4, 2026.

Iran warns it will attack US forces in Strait of Hormuz following Trump’s escort threat

Iran has accused the U.S. of breaking the ceasefire after President Donald Trump announced plans to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

Under what the president calls “Project Freedom,” U.S. officials said they’ve established an “enhanced security area” near the Strait and are directing ships to coordinate with Omani authorities as traffic increases.

The Strait of Hormuz runs between Iran and Oman. Iranian officials called the escort plan a direct violation of the ceasefire.

One senior military leader warned, “Any foreign military force ... will be attacked.”

It’s still unclear whether any commercial ships have accepted the American offer.

Meanwhile, Trump said he’s reviewing Iran’s latest peace proposal but signaled he’s unlikely to accept it. In a social media post, he said he “can’t imagine” the deal would be acceptable, adding Iran has “not yet paid a big enough price.”

Separately, the U.S. will return an Iranian ship and its crew after the ship was stopped during last month’s naval standoff. Pakistani officials said the 22 crew members were transferred overnight and that the ship will be returned after repairs.

Spirit Airlines closes, citing surging fuel prices tied to Iran war

As the war with Iran pushes oil prices higher, Spirit Airlines has shut down after 34 years in business. The airline grounded all flights Saturday, leaving thousands of passengers stranded with little warning and no customer support.

About 17,000 employees were also left without jobs.

Spirit said surging fuel costs linked to the war in Iran have made its low-cost model unsustainable.

The Trump administration has pushed back, blaming the Biden administration for blocking a 2023 proposed merger with JetBlue.

"Spirit was in dire straits long before the war with Iran,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. ”Multiple times, they filed for bankruptcy. Their model wasn't working. They couldn't get to fiscal health."

"If the markets are saying there needs to be a merger because there's health issues with one of the airlines or more than one airline, we have to take a look at it and make sure we make the right choices. And in this situation, history has judged the denial of the merger between JetBlue and Spirit through the Biden administration with, I think, a view that it was a massive mistake."

Duffy said Spirit’s collapse does not signal broader trouble for budget airlines, and he does not support a government bailout. The comment follows several low-cost carriers' recent requests for $2.5 billion in federal relief.

Duffy dismissed that request, saying some airlines were looking to cash in “not necessarily based on need, but based on opportunity.”

Passengers who bought tickets before the Spirit shutdown will be issued full refunds.

Joint search underway after two US soldiers go missing in Morocco

Two U.S. service members have vanished during military exercises in Morocco, and a massive search is now underway. U.S. Africa Command said the soldiers went missing near the Cap Draa training area on the Atlantic coast.

A U.S. defense official told The Associated Press the two were on a recreational hike after training had ended for the day and were last seen near ocean cliffs. Officials believe they may have fallen into the water.

No foul play is suspected, according to CBS News.

Search teams from the U.S., Morocco and other partner nations are now combing the area, using helicopters, ships and ground crews.

The exercise, known as African Lion, is the largest annual U.S.-led military drill on the continent, involving more than 7,000 personnel from at least 30 countries. That training has since been paused as military leaders shift resources to the search.

Officials said the investigation remains ongoing.

Rare virus kills three on cruise ship, contact tracing underway

Three people have died following a suspected outbreak of a rare virus on a cruise ship in the Atlantic. Health officials told the Associated Press it’s likely hantavirus — a disease usually linked to rodents, not cruise ships.

The incidents occurred aboard the MV Hondius, which was carrying about 150 passengers on a 7-week voyage from South America to Europe. An elderly couple was among the three people killed, and a fourth patient remains in intensive care.

At least a few others have started to show symptoms, and the World Health Organization has launched an investigation into the potential outbreak.

Hantavirus typically spreads through contact with rodent droppings or urine. While it’s rare, it can turn deadly, causing a severe lung infection.

What’s unusual here: experts said this is not something typically seen on cruise ships, and they’re still trying to determine exactly how it spread. Contact tracing is underway.

Giuliani hospitalized in critical yet stable condition

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, 81, remains in the hospital Monday in “critical but stable condition,” according to his spokesperson.

“Giuliani is a fighter who has faced every challenge in his life with unwavering strength, and he’s fighting with that same level of strength as we speak,” Ted Goodman said on X Saturday.

Goodman did not disclose what led to Giuliani’s admission, but called him a “fighter” and asked for prayers.

As mayor, Giuliani led the city after 9/11, earning him the nickname “America’s mayor.” He later ran for president in 2008 and was Trump’s adviser in the 2016 presidential election before joining his legal team in 2018.

As Trump’s attorney, Giuliani represented him in lawsuits contesting the election results based on debunked claims about election fraud and interference. He was hit with state criminal charges in Arizona over allegations he tried to overturn the 2020 election.

Another case against Giuliani was dropped in Georgia, and he settled with two former election workers who sued for defamation for $148 million. The workers said they had racist and violent threats lobbed at them after the election, when Giuliani claimed they engaged in fraud.

Giuliani was disbarred in Washington, D.C., and New York as a result of these actions.

On Truth Social, the president called him a “true warrior” and “the best mayor” in the city’s history.

A spokesperson for former mayor Eric Adams also praised Giuliani’s leadership, pointing to his years as a federal prosecutor.

On Friday, while hosting his online show, "America's Mayor Live," Giuliani showed symptoms of illness, including a deep cough and a raspy voice. He even acknowledged it during his monologue, saying, "My voice is a little under the weather, so I won’t be able to speak as loudly as I usually do, but I’ll get closer to the microphone."

It's unknown whether these symptoms are related to his hospitalization. There’s still no timeline for his recovery.

Hundreds of beagles rescued from Wisconsin research breeding facility

Over 1,500 beagles have been relocated from a Wisconsin breeding and research center to what rescue organizations hope will be permanent homes.

Big Dog Ranch Rescue began removing hundreds of dogs from Ridglan Farms on Friday, with many more still to be relocated. The facility’s operator agreed to surrender its breeding license after prosecutors dropped felony animal mistreatment charges.

State investigators said the company performed eye procedures on the dogs and failed to meet basic veterinary standards.

The situation escalated last month when animal rights activists showed up in blue mounds and tried to free the dogs themselves. Deputies responded, and clashes followed, with tear gas and rubber bullets used to disperse the crowd.

Now, a deal between Big Dog Ranch and the Center for a Humane Economy is moving the dogs out. About 1,000 will be put up for adoption, with the rest transferred to partner rescue groups.

More from Straight Arrow:

What happens when readers trade shared headlines for private feeds

The paper hits the driveway before you’re fully awake. A dull thud, then the scrape of it sliding across concrete. By the time you reached it, the front page had already been decided. The stories were chosen and whatever happened in the world overnight was arranged for you to unfold at the kitchen table that morning.

As this ritual moved online, the paper became a homepage that’s refreshed constantly, but still holds the same structure. While you rarely read everything, you knew where to start. There was always a sense of what mattered, at least according to someone. 

That starting point is harder to find now, and many readers don’t realize what’s been lost in the process.

Most mornings, the news now arrives in fragments — an email here, another a few minutes later, subject lines that pull your attention and others you ignore. For many Americans, there is no single kitchen-table destination anymore, no shared entry point quietly telling you what leads. In its place is something more personal. More scattered.

Your inbox.

Each morning, millions of readers open emails sent from individuals, rather than institutions — writers and analysts delivering the news directly to your inbox. These newsletters can feel more intimate than the traditional homepage ever did. For many readers, they have even become part of the daily rhythm. But as they take on a larger role, they are also

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State officials said the requirements, which apply to adults covered under Medicaid expansion, phased in starting May 1 and will be fully implemented through mid-2027. The changes stem from a piece of federal legislation, H.R. 1, known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which mandates that states adopt work requirements for able-bodied adults ages 19 to 64 by Jan. 1, 2027.

Under the policy, most expansion enrollees must complete at least 80 hours per month of qualifying activities — such as employment, schooling, job training or volunteering — or meet an income threshold equivalent to working at the federal minimum wage. New applicants must comply immediately, while current enrollees will be evaluated at their next eligibility renewal.

“We want to make sure members know that they will not necessarily need to meet these new requirements as soon as they go into effect,” said Drew Gonshorowski, director of the Division of Medicaid and Long-Term Care in Nebraska. He added the agency will first try to verify compliance using existing data before requesting additional documentation.

State officials said outreach efforts included tens of thousands of mailed notices, texts and emails, along with advertising campaigns, to inform recipients of the changes.

Medicaid expansion covers low-income adults, including parents and individuals without dependent children. Nebraska officials said exemptions will apply to certain groups, including people with disabilities, pregnant individuals and those facing temporary hardships.

Nationally, the policy marks a significant shift in Medicaid eligibility rules and has drawn sharp debate among policymakers and researchers.

An analysis by Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that between 9.9 million and 14.9 million people could be at risk of losing Medicaid coverage by 2034 under the new requirements, largely due to administrative hurdles and reporting rules. The group said many of those affected may already be working or qualify for exemptions but could still lose coverage because of paperwork issues.

Similarly, the Congressional Budget Office projected that Medicaid work requirements included in the law would lead to millions losing coverage, contributing to a broader increase of about 16 million uninsured people by 2034 when combined with other policy changes.

Research cited by policy groups and federal analysts has found that work requirements generally do not increase employment but instead can lead to coverage losses, delays in care and increased medical debt.

Some states have moved forward more quickly on the requirements than federally mandated, including Nebraska. A recent survey by KFF found that most states plan to implement them closer to the 2027 deadline, though a small number are opting for earlier rollouts or stricter verification processes.

The survey also found states are grappling with logistical challenges, including how to verify compliance, define exemptions and update eligibility systems in time.

In Nebraska, officials said most current beneficiaries will not see immediate changes and should continue reporting any updates that could affect eligibility. If the state cannot verify compliance through existing data, individuals will be contacted to provide additional information.

Medicaid eligibility in Nebraska includes a wide range of groups, such as low-income adults, children, pregnant women, seniors and people with disabilities. State officials emphasized that only a subset of expansion enrollees will be subject to the new work rules.

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It’s far from the only place in the nation to cite people for drunk driving without a vehicle, as places look to regulate electric bikes or scooters. In some places, they’ve required riders to follow all motor vehicle laws, as research shows the micromobility devices are sending more and more people to the hospital. 

“Electric scooters fit somewhere between a bicycle and a conventional car,” David Goodwin, University of Washington School of Law graduate, wrote in the school’s 2025 law review. “Electric scooters cannot cause the ‘carnage and slaughter’ associated with conventional DUI but their speed and self-propulsion invokes a greater risk than that of a bicycle.”

His review included a proposed state law that would impose civil penalties rather than criminal ones to not deter ridership. He told Straight Arrow over email that he still believes it is appropriate and modeled after what New York City, Washington, D.C., and California have done.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission found that, out of the 357 fatalities reported to have occurred while riding e-bikes or e-scooters between 2017 and 2023, four were associated with intoxication. For the e-scooter deaths, it said one rider collided with a commuter train, and the other fell from the device while drunk.

Orlando Health, a network of hospitals and medical offices, urged riders to resist the temptation to hop on an e-scooter or bike after a night out at the bar.

“It sounds like a reasonable idea, but it can be extremely dangerous to operate one of these bikes while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. These substances can dampen your response times and, most importantly, impair your judgment.”

DUIs without the cars

Even though the phrase infers that people are driving to face a DUI charge, it’s not always the case across the nation. 

According to the Michigan State Police Crime Dashboard, the offenses happened twice in 2020 and again in 2023 on Mackinac Island. It listed the location as “lake/waterway/beach” and “highway/road/alley/street/sidewalk.” No further information was provided on how the charges transpired. 

In Bald Head Island in North Carolina, which promotes a “no cars, no cares” lifestyle, the police reported having three driving while intoxicated cases for 2025 and 25 open container traffic violations. The department didn’t provide information on where the incidents occurred. 

Alcohol traffic laws are governed by what states consider a “vehicle” to be. They differ and are typically broader than what one would consider a vehicle.

Several states, like California and Kentucky, have made it a crime to ride a horse while drunk, earning riders driving under the influence or operating while intoxicated charges. In one state, North Dakota, lawmakers repealed a state law that made riding a horse or bicycle while drunk a DUI. 

Alcohol was involved in a third of fatal crashes

Medical professionals have studied the injuries associated with micromobility devices as they rose in popularity, with some looking at alcohol factors. 

The devices have more often appeared in cities, where people rent them to get from place to place. Some of the largest operators are Lime, Spin, Uber and Bird for e-scooters; Lime, Bird, Rad Power and Pedego for e-bikes, to name a few. The companies boast the devices as sustainable ways to get around town with rentals located in cities like Nashville, New York City and Scottsdale, Arizona.

Lime discourages its riders from riding while impaired or drinking, adding warnings in Nashville that it’s prohibited. Scottsdale outlines its laws on the practice and has charged two people so far this year for such a crime.

“It is illegal to operate motorized bikes or scooters while under the influence of alcohol,” according to the City of Scottsdale. “It is okay to ride a non-motorized bike while under the influence of alcohol, as long as it is being ridden in a safe manner.”

Impaired riding is a concern among medical professionals, with numerous studies published in various journals pointing to the rise of alcohol use while riding the micromobility devices. 

Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health said in 2024 that electric scooters had the highest prevalence of alcohol use, and laws are lacking to both criminalize the behavior as well as properly track them. They found that 10.2% of all bicycle and 8.5% of all motorcycle rider injuries involved alcohol. 

Rates were higher in fatal crashes, with alcohol being a factor in 27% of bicycle and 42% motorcycle crashes.

“Legislation is lacking on where micromobility devices can be ridden and legislation regulating the riding of these devices while under the influence of alcohol or other recreational drugs is inconsistent and historically difficult to pass,” Kathryn Burford, former postdoctoral scholar at Columbia, said in 2024.

Penalizing drunk rides

Micromobility devices have long lacked federal regulation. U.S. Rep. Dave Min, D-Calif., introduced legislation in March that would set a standard definition of e-bikes and electric scooters. 

His legislation, the Safe SPEEDS Act, would mandate that the CPSC create standards for micromobility devices and regularly publish studies on crashes. The legislation would also establish reporting and data collection standards for first responders.

It doesn’t, however, address impaired riding. 

The bill is in the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

“This bill will ensure federal e-bike standards are clearly defined while also empowering local governments to enhance their safety programs, keeping our communities safe while in transit,” he said in a March 16 release.

However, Goodwin proposed a model statute for Washington state that would penalize micromobility riders for riding drunk or under the influence. His statute only levied fines against riders, while giving law enforcement the option to impound devices that aren’t rentals. 

“An effective policy of deterrence toward intoxicated scootering requires uniform enforcement and proportional penalties,” he said.

Round out your reading

• First, it was the schools. Now they’re coming for your cellphone at work.
• Why one of America’s top economic forecasters is worried about a recession.
• AI companies may not be adhering to their own guidelines — with potentially deadly outcomes.
• Data centers are a thorny issue for Democrats. Maine shows us why.
• We’re building a new Straight Arrow. Help us shape our future by taking our survey.