(SALINAS, Calif.) — The family of a 16-year-old track star is threatening to take legal action after the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) disqualified their daughter and stripped her of her gold medal after she celebrated her win in the state final by spraying her feet with a fire extinguisher – an homage to Olympic champion Maurice Green.
Clara Adams, a North Salinas High School sophomore, said that CIF officials told her that she was disqualified for “unsportsmanlike” behavior after the 400-meter state final and was prevented from standing on the podium to claim her number one spot or competing in the final race.
ABC News reached out to CIF representatives but requests for comment were not returned.
Adante Pointer, an attorney representing Clara Adams, told ABC News that the family is “certainly” planning on taking legal action if the CIF doesn’t reverse its decision.
“That was the championship, she would have been the fastest sprinter in the state of California – she is, she won, but she doesn’t have the title nor the medal,” Pointer said. “She’ll never have that moment.”
According to the CIF code of conduct on sportsmanship, student athletes are in part, not permitted to engage in or allow “taunting, boastful celebrations, or other actions that demean individuals or the sport.”
The Monterey County Board of Supervisors wrote a letter in support of Adams that the county is set to vote on Tuesday afternoon, urging CIF officials to reinstate her immediately.
“Clara’s celebration did not take place on the track itself, not was it directed at any of the competitors, the letter says, calling the punishment “disproportionate.”
Adams spoke out about the incident alongside members of the NAACP and her father, David, who is also her coach, during a press conference on Friday, saying that she was “crushed” by the CIF’s decision.
“I had to watch the girls get on the podium without me,” she said. “I had to watch somebody else get on the number one spot that I was supposed to stand on. And that wasn’t cool at all. That was wrong.”
Adams said that her father handed her the fire extinguisher after her win and instructed her to get off the field before spraying her feet in a nod to Greene, an iconic Olympian sprinter, who famously celebrated his 2004 Olympics win in the 100 meter race by taking off his shoes and having a teammate spray them with a fire extinguisher to put out the figurative fire on his feet.
Pointer said that Adams was “surprised” that she was punished because she was “paying homage to one of her icons.”
Greene, who spoke with ABC affiliate in Salinas, KSBW-TV, said he was happy to see Adams pay homage to him and suggested that she should be reinstated.
“When I heard, cause it happened, and then people just started calling me ‘This girl who just ran the 400 did your celebration’ I was like huh? What?” Greene said. “If it was away from everyone and not interfering with anyone, I would say reinstate her.”
Johnson said Trump is “fully in his authority right now to do what he is doing” to “maintain order” — including deploying 4,000 National Guardsmen and 700 Marines to Los Angeles as demonstrators clash with law enforcement amid the protests.
“President Trump has put his hand on the table and said ‘Not on my watch,’ and we applaud that so we’re standing with him,” Johnson said during a news conference.
Johnson would not weigh in on whether Newsom should be arrested — a suggestion Trump made Monday — but said Newsom should be “tarred and feathered.”
“Look, that’s not my lane. I’m not going to give you legal analysis on whether Gavin Newsom should be arrested, but he ought to be tarred and feathered,” the speaker said.
Newsom fired back in a post on X: “Good to know we’re skipping the arrest and going straight for the 1700’s style forms of punishment. A fitting threat given the @GOP want to bring our country back to the 18th Century.”
The California governor responded to Trump’s arrest comment on Monday, calling it “an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism.”
Johnson accused Newsom of focusing more on rebranding himself than protecting the state and its citizens.
“Do your job, man. That’s what I tell Gavin Newsom, do your job,” Johnson added. “Stop working on your rebranding and be a governor. Stand up for the rule of law. And he’s not doing that.”
Newsom has called the deployments by Trump “a blatant abuse of power” and sued the administration over the move.
Johnson took the opportunity to plug the House-passed tax and immigration bill, where negotiations are underway in the Senate. The immigration woes at the center of the Los Angeles protests can be remedied by the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that supports Trump’s legislative agenda, Johnson said. He called on Democrats to end the “chaos” and “nonsense” and support the bill.
The legislation boosts spending for the military and border security as well as extends the Trump 2017 tax cuts — while making some cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and other assistance programs. It could also add $3 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, according to an analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Other congressional Republicans appear to be in lockstep behind Trump and his decision to deploy National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles.
“… What [Trump’s] doing [is] enforcing the rule of law,” Republican Rep. Ralph Norman said, adding that “Trump’s doing the right things.”
Republican Rep. Ron Estes said he supports Trump’s decision and said he believes “it’s important that we have the rule of law and order in the United States.”
Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer said that he supported Trump’s decision to deploy the Marines, saying he hopes their presence “deters” people from violence and brings “peace.”
“Hopefully their presence will be a deterrent to violence. Obviously, there’s a right to assemble, and there’s a right to peacefully protest — and then there’s what they’re doing. So clearly, the state needs help, and the president’s sending help, hopefully, hopefully it’ll bring some peace,” Cramer said.
Cramer said that Trump, as the president and therefore the authority on federal immigration policy, has a “responsibility” to act in response to the protests.
“The president has a responsibility to the United States, and he has a federal nexus with regard to immigration policy, and he’s exercising it, and I think he’s exercising exactly what he said he’d do and what people elected him to do,” Cramer said.
Republican Sen. John Kennedy backed Trump’s decision to deploy the troops.
“I think he didn’t have a choice,” Kennedy told ABC News of Trump’s move to deploy the National Guard and Marines.
“I think he needs to follow the law, but I think he needs to send in federal troops because it’s clear to me the governor and the mayor were going to do nothing. Zero, zilch, nada. He might have met with the rioters and offered them a cup of hot cocoa and a hug and some enthusiastic encouragement, but in terms of containing the riots, they weren’t going to do anything.”
Several Republican senators were quick to criticize Newsom, too.
Republican Sen. John Cornyn said he thought Newsom “probably would love it” if there were an effort to arrest him.
(WASHINGTON) — Democratic lawmakers will submit a bill in the Senate on Tuesday that would reverse the Pentagon’s new ban on transgender military service members diagnosed with gender dysphoria who now face being forced out if they had not previously self-identified as transgender.
The “Fit to Serve Act” would prohibit the Defense Department from banning transgender service members from serving in the military. If passed, the law would prevent the Defense Department from denying access to healthcare on the basis of gender identity, and it would also prohibit the military from forcing service members to serve in their sex assigned at birth.
It would also make it illegal for the military to discriminate against service members on the basis of gender identity.
The Defense Department’s policy was required by an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on his first day in office that banned transgender individuals from serving in the military. In outlining the policy in a memo issued in late February, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote that ” individuals who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria are incompatible with the high mental and physical standards necessary for military service.”
“We recruit and train the best and bravest to protect our country — losing highly qualified service members, who meet strict standards to join the military, makes us less safe,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who is the lead sponsor of the bill that is being filed in the Senate on Tuesday, which was first announced last month.
“By prohibiting this discrimination on the basis of gender identity, this legislation will help to ensure transgender individuals who are qualified to serve may do so” said Sen. Marie Hirono, D-Hawaii, one of the bill’s co-sponsors.
Under the Pentagon’s new policy, transgender service members had until June 6 to self-identify and begin the process of voluntary separation. With the passing of that deadline, the Pentagon has begun a process of involuntary separation of service members diagnosed with gender dysphoria, which is defined as “psychological distress that results from an incongruence between one’s sex assigned at birth and one’s gender identity.”
Ahead of that deadline, the Pentagon said more than 1,000 service members had self-identified as having been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. It is unclear whether that number increased ahead of the deadline or how officials had reached that estimate.
National Guard and Reserve service members have until July 7 to self-identify for voluntary separation.
The Pentagon’s new ban went into effect in early May shortly after the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration could enforce the ban on transgender people in the military while legal challenges to the ban proceed in lower courts.
Navy Cmdr. Emily Shilling, who is a lead plaintiff in one of the legal challenges, told ABC News that she has chosen to voluntarily separate.
“Yes I am ‘volunteering’ to retire but I do want to make it clear that myself and most others I have spoken to in SPARTA feel it is under duress,” said Shilling who is the president of Sparta Pride, an organization advocating for 2,400 transgender people in the military.
“For me, it’s the only way I believe I can continue to uphold my oath,” said Shilling. “I’m stepping away from active duty service, but not service to my country. My fight is only beginning.”
Defense officials have said that as of last December, about 4,240 current active-duty, Guard and Reserve service members had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
There are more than 2.1 million military service members serving on active-duty, Guard and the Reserves. Advocacy groups have put the actual number of transgender service members as being much higher, at around 15,000.
Since 2014, the total number of diagnoses for gender dysphoria among service members was 5,773, with 1,000 of those having gone through gender-affirming surgery, according to a defense official. The total costs for treatments, hormones and surgeries during that time frame was $52 million, said the official.
With the end of the voluntary separation period, transgender service members now face what could be a lengthy process that could end with their separation from military service.
The process will begin with military commanders being told to identify people in their units who have a diagnosis or history of gender dysphoria or exhibit symptoms consistent with gender dysphoria. Once they have done that, a referral to an annual health checkup will be initiated, beginning what could be a lengthy process that could lead to their removal from the military.
Pentagon officials have said those evaluations will be conducted during regularly scheduled annual physicals meaning it could be months before they take place.
The Pentagon incentivized service members with gender dysphoria to voluntarily separate ahead of the June 6 deadline by offering benefit payment packages that would be more than double what would be received if they were to separate involuntarily. Those who voluntarily separated would not have to risk paying back the recruitment or retention bonuses they may have earned during their military service.
The Democratic senators argue that instead of improving military readiness the implementation of the ban will have the opposite effect.
“This ban undermines our military readiness and national security by removing thousands of talented, experienced service members and signaling to potential recruits that the military does not respect them, their colleagues, their family, or their friends simply because of who they are,” said a description of the Fit to Serve Act. “It also wastes billions of taxpayer dollars invested in training these troops to become leaders to keep all of us safe.”
The bill is co-sponsored in the Senate by Warren, Hirono, Tammy Duckworth (Illinois), Kirsten Gillibrand (New York), Tammy Baldwin (Wisconsin), Ed Markey (Massachusetts), Ron Wyden (Oregon), Jeff Merkley (Oregon),John Fetterman (Pennsylvania), Chris Van Hollen (Maryland), Bernie Sanders (Vermont), Andy Kim (New Jersey), and Cory Booker (New Jersey). Congressmen Adam Smith (Washington) Mark Takano (California), Chrissy Houlahan (Pennsylvania), Sara Jacobs (California), and Eric Sorensen (Illinois) are sponsoring the legislation in the House of Representatives.
“By prohibiting this discrimination on the basis of gender identity, this legislation will help to ensure transgender individuals who are qualified to serve may do so,” Hirono said.
It remains to be seen how much bipartisan support the legislation could gain and whether it will be able to clear Republican majorities in both the Senate and the House.
“If you are willing to risk your life for our country and you can do the job, it shouldn’t matter if you are gay, straight, transgender, Black, white or anything else,” said Duckworth who added that the ban “is disruptive to our military, hurts readiness and not only does nothing to strengthen our national security — it actively makes things worse.”
“The Fit to Serve Act is a declaration that we will not stand by while our courageous troops are under political assault. Transgender service members meet the same rigorous standards, deploy worldwide, put in the same hard work and demonstrate the same dedication as any of their colleagues” said Jennifer Pike Bailey, Government Affairs Director of the Human Rights Campaign, one of the advocacy groups supporting the legislation.
“President Trump and Secretary Hegseth are taking away their jobs, cutting off their health care benefits, and disregarding the immense sacrifices these service members and their families have made. It’s a slap in the face to all who serve and puts our military readiness at risk,” she added.
“At a time when the United States faces growing threats around the world, banning them from the All-Volunteer Force will make Americans less safe,” said Luke Schleusener, CEO of Out in National Security.
“This legislation underscores that the fight to honor the service of thousands of transgender Americans in uniform — and to strengthen America’s national security — is far from over.”
(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration says it will appeal a court order requiring it to allow hundreds of noncitizens who were deported in March to El Salvador to challenge their detentions.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg last week ordered the Trump administration to give the hundreds of men deported to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act the right to challenge their detentions as unlawful.
Lawyers with the Department of Justice filed a notice of appeal Tuesday, signaling plans to challenge a lower court’s decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
The Trump administration touched off a legal battle in March when it invoked the Alien Enemies Act — an 18th century wartime authority used to remove noncitizens with little-to-no due process — to deport two planeloads of alleged migrant gang members to El Salvador by arguing that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is a “hybrid criminal state” that is invading the United States.
An official with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acknowledged that “many” of the men deported on March 15 lack criminal records in the United States — but said that “the lack of specific information about each individual actually highlights the risk they pose” and “demonstrates that they are terrorists with regard to whom we lack a complete profile.”
White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson slammed Boasberg’s decision last week, saying in a statement that Boasberg lacks the authority to intervene in the deportations.
“Judge Boasberg has no authority to intervene with immigration or national security — authority that rests squarely with President Trump and the Executive Branch. His current and previous attempts to prevent President Trump from deporting criminal illegal aliens poses a direct threat to the safety of the American people,” Jackson said, referring to other recent rulings by the judge.
“Fortunately for the American people, Judge Boasberg does not have the last word,” Jackson said.
Boasberg, in last week’s ruling, said that the detainees — regardless of their alleged criminal status — deserve the right to challenge the government’s claims against them.
(WASHINGTON) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is testifying before a House panel on Tuesday, his first time on Capitol Hill since being sworn in five months ago and as questions swirl about the deployment of troops to Los Angeles as part of an immigration crackdown.
Hegseth is appearing before the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee alongside Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, and acting Pentagon Comptroller Bryn Woollacott MacDonnell to discuss the administration’s upcoming 2026 budget request.
During the hearing, Hegseth is widely expected to dodge many of the specifics on the military’s spending blueprint, which has not been released, and instead highlight recent gains in recruiting numbers and new technology initiatives in the Army.
But overshadowing much of his testimony will be the Pentagon’s decision to send some 4,800 troops, including 700 Marines, to Los Angeles following several days of clashes between protesters and law enforcement there. The troops, known as Task Force 51, are being called under a law known as Title 10, which allows the president to send military forces to protect federal property and personnel.
Gen. Eric Smith, commandant of the Marine Corps, is scheduled to testify separately Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
On the eve of Hegseth’s testimony, Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota, the top Democrat on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, accused President Donald Trump of deliberately escalating the situation in Los Angeles by pushing for military reinforcements not requested by California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. She called the decision to send Marines in particular “outrageous.”
“The active duty military has absolutely no legal role in domestic law enforcement. President Trump and Secretary Hegseth should read the Constitution and follow the law,” she said.
The Pentagon has not had a news conference since the deployment of troops to Los Angeles, referring reporters with questions about the mission to Hegseth’s posts on X.
On X, Hegseth said the troops were needed to protect federal immigration officers and detention buildings.
“There is plenty of room for peaceful protest, but ZERO tolerance for attacking federal agents who are doing their job. The National Guard, and Marines if need be, stand with ICE,” Hegseth said in a statement.
U.S. officials said the troops would carry guns and ammunition separately for use only in self-defense and to protect federal property. They would not patrol the streets or help law enforcement arrest protesters, the officials said.
Unclear is whether Trump is preparing to invoke the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law that says the president can call on a militia or the U.S. armed forces if there’s been “any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy” in a state that “opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes the course of justice under those laws.”
On his Truth Social platform on Sunday, Trump referred to the L.A. protesters as “violent, insurrectionist mobs” and “paid insurrectionists.”
When asked if Hegseth had spoken with President Donald Trump on Monday, Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson told ABC News, “the secretary is in regular contact with the president regarding the National Guard presence in Los Angeles.”
Following his testimony, Hegseth is expected to travel with the president to Fort Bragg in North Carolina on Tuesday to participate in activities tied to the Army’s 250th birthday celebration.
Under Hegseth, the military has taken over control of hundreds of miles along the U.S. southern border with Mexico in an effort to tamp down unauthorized entry by migrants. He’s also eliminated programs aimed at increasing diversity among military personnel, slashed the number of general officers and initiated efforts to build a $175 billion U.S. missile defense shield.
At the same time, Hegseth also faces reports of dysfunction and infighting among his personal staff at the Pentagon. Since his Jan. 25 swearing in, Hegseth has fired or sidelined several of his own top political advisers and he’s gone without a chief of staff since April.
Tuesday’s hearing also would be Hegseth’s first appearance since revelations that he relied on a commercial messaging app known as Signal to relay details about a pending military attack to other high-ranking officials and others, including his wife. Hegseth’s use of Signal is now under internal investigation by the Defense Department’s inspector general.
(MADISONVILLVE, La.) — A Louisiana dad has been arrested for second-degree murder after he allegedly left his 1-year-old daughter in a hot car for over nine hours, authorities said.
The incident unfolded after Joseph Boatman “consumed multiple alcoholic beverages” and then went to pick up his 21-month-old daughter from a relative’s house shortly after 2:30 a.m. Sunday, the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office said.
Boatman, 32, allegedly strapped his daughter into her car seat, went inside the Madisonville home and didn’t return to the car, the sheriff’s office said.
More than nine hours later, deputies were sent to the house after a family member found the toddler unresponsive in the car, authorities said.
The temperature in Madisonville climbed to 95 degrees on Sunday; the heat index — what temperature it feels like — reached 105 degrees.
“This is a devastating loss that no family ever wants to face,” Sheriff Randy Smith said in a statement. “When a child is left in a vehicle, especially on a day when the heat index climbs over 100 degrees, the outcome can turn deadly in a matter of minutes. This case involved compromised judgment, and the result was heartbreaking.”
The girl is the fifth child to die in a hot car in the U.S. this year, according to national nonprofit KidsAndCars.org.
On average, 38 children die in hot cars every year in the U.S. About 88% of them are 3 years old or younger, KidsAndCars.org said.
Click here for hot car safety tips to keep in mind this summer.
(NEW YORK) — Voters head to the polls on Tuesday for New Jersey’s primary elections, which will set up the state’s 2025 gubernatorial election — the results of which could be a potential harbinger for the mood of the country ahead of 2026’s critical midterm elections.
The Democratic candidates are sparring over how to best respond to President Donald Trump’s agenda in the Garden State and each hopes to keep the state’s governorship in Democratic hands. The state’s current governor, Democrat Phil Murphy, can’t run again after serving two terms.
There are six candidates in the Democratic primary. Polling has shown that Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot who represents the state’s 11th Congressional District, leads the crowded Democratic field, but the race could still be anyone’s to win.
The other Democratic candidates are Rep. Josh Gottheimer, who represents the state’s 5th District; Newark Mayor Ras Baraka; Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop; New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller; and former state Senate president Steve Sweeney.
Republicans, meanwhile, hope to flip New Jersey’s governorship red in November and also have a crowded primary field. President Donald Trump has endorsed former state assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, who ran for governor in 2021, narrowly losing to Murphy.
“This year’s election for governor is critical for New Jersey’s future. You’ll decide whether New Jersey is a high tax, high crime, sanctuary state,” Trump said during a rally held by telephone last week. “New Jersey is ready to pop out of that blue horror show.”
Ciattarelli faces conservative radio personality Bill Spadea, state Sen. Jon Bramnick, former Englewood Cliffs Mayor Mario Kranjac, and contractor Justin Barbera.
The contest is on track to become the priciest election in New Jersey history, with over $85 million spent on advertising as of last Wednesday, according to a report from media tracking agency AdImpact.
Among Democrats, Gottheimer has the most ad spending supporting him ($22.8 million), followed by Fulop ($17.8 million).
Ciattarelli leads among Republicans with $5.9 million in ad spending or reservations supporting him, dwarfing Spadea’s $2.2 million and Bramnick’s $1.2 million.
About 70% of broadcast ad airings have mentioned Trump, according to AdImpact.
-ABC News’ Emily Chang and Halle Troadec contributed to this report.
(LONDON, PARIS and BELGRADE) — At least nine people are dead after a shooting on Tuesday at a high school in Graz, Austria, the city’s mayor said, adding that the alleged shooter is also dead.
Austrian state police confirmed the death toll, after earlier saying on social media that there had been several fatalities at the school, the BORG Dreierschützengasse.
Several others were seriously injured, police said in an update. The suspect was a former student at the high school, where he attended about three years ago, the mayor’s office said.
“The school shooting in Graz is a national tragedy that has deeply shocked our entire country,” Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said in a statement posted on social media.
He added, “Young people suddenly ripped from the lives they had ahead of them. There are no words for the pain and grief that all of us — all of Austria — are feeling right now.”
Officers responded after gunshots were heard at the school, the Styria State Police said in a message posted on social media, later adding, “The school was evacuated and all persons were brought to a safe meeting point.”
Emergency vehicles, including Cobra tactical vehicles, had been deployed to the site, police said. Video shot near the scene showed a street lined with ambulances and other emergency vehicles.
The city of Graz sits in southern Austria, in the Styria province. It’s the second-largest Austrian city by population, with about 300,000 residents.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — NASA is planning on decommissioning the International Space Station (ISS) by the end of 2030. But before that happens, Axiom Space, a privately funded space infrastructure company based in Houston, wants to build a replacement. The company has begun construction of the world’s first commercial space station, Axiom Station.
But Axiom isn’t waiting for their station to be completed before transporting people into space. The company has been launching teams of private astronauts to the ISS since 2022, allowing them to conduct research, train, and participate in scientific activities. And on Wednesday at 8 a.m., Axiom Space will attempt to send its fourth crew to the ISS as part of its AX-4 mission.
“The AX-4 crew represents the very best of international collaboration, dedication, and human potential. Over the past 10 months, these astronauts have trained with focus and determination, each of them exceeding the required thresholds to ensure mission safety, scientific rigor and operational excellence,” said Allen Flynt, Axiom Space’s chief of mission services, during a pre-launch press conference on Monday.
The four-person crew will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and travel to the ISS aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft launched into orbit by a Falcon 9 rocket. It will be the maiden mission for an updated Dragon capsule.
“This is the first flight for this Dragon capsule, and it’s carrying an international crew—a perfect debut. We’ve upgraded storage, propulsion components and the seat lash design for improved reliability and reuse,” said William Gerstenmaier, SpaceX’s vice president of build and flight reliability.
The mission will be led by Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut and the director of human spaceflight at Axiom. During her career at NASA, Whitson completed three long-duration space flights, spending a total of 665 days in orbit. She also commanded Axiom’s AX-2 mission, adding another 10 days in space to her already impressive total. Whitson now holds the record for the most time spent in space by a woman.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Peggy Whitson back. This will be her fifth trip to space—three with NASA and now two with Axiom,” Dana Weigel, NASA’s manager of the International Space Station Program, said. “She’s made substantial contributions to ISS and now helps lay the foundation for future commercial missions.”
Joining Whitson on the AX-4 mission are astronauts from India, Poland and Hungary. This will be the first time that nationally sponsored astronauts from those countries have visited the ISS. It has also been more than 40 years since those three countries sent someone into space.
Indian Air Force pilot and astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, the mission’s pilot, will be the second person from India to go to space and the first since 1984. Polish engineer Sławosz Uznański, a mission specialist and a European Space Agency project astronaut, will be the second person from his country to head to space and the first since 1978. And Tibor Kapu, a mechanical engineer and mission specialist, will be the second Hungarian astronaut to rocket into space. That country’s last space mission was 45 years ago.
“For India, Poland, and Hungary, this mission marks a return to human spaceflight after more than 40 years, and their first missions to the ISS. It’s a powerful reminder of what we can achieve when we work together across borders, disciplines, and cultures,” Flynt said.
The AX-4 mission will last up to 14 days, during which the crew will conduct about 60 scientific studies and experiments. The company said 31 countries have contributed to the research plan and that the projects will focus on biological, life and material sciences, as well as Earth observation. Axiom said that the work done at the station will help the company advance its goal of building Axiom Station, which would be the world’s first commercial space station.
To lay the foundation for its space station, Axiom plans to attach several of its commercial modules to the ISS while it’s still operational. When the ISS is decommissioned, those modules will detach from the station and become part of the privately run Axiom Station.
Unlike space tourism, which is operated independently of NASA and government support, the Axiom mission is part of NASA’s private astronaut mission program. This private-public partnership provides selected commercial space companies with access to the ISS and technical and logistical support from NASA.
“NASA’s framework for private astronaut missions gives industry responsibility for launch, free flight, and landing,” Weigel said.
“It’s an incredible time for spaceflight. These missions help train teams, build partnerships and shape the future of low Earth orbit,” she added.
(LOS ANGELES) — The Marines and the National Guard personnel deployed amid the protests in to Los Angeles will operate under the same rules of force and will not be engaging crowds unless necessary, according to two U.S. officials.
That means they are tasked with protecting federal buildings and federal personnel only — they will not patrol U.S. streets or try to detain protesters to assist police, the officials said.
While all the troops are carrying weapons, their guns will not have ammunition loaded in the chamber, officials said, but will carry ammunition as part of their regular uniforms that can be used in the rare case of needed self-defense.
They will not use rubber bullets or pepper spray, either, they said.
The officials noted these rules would change if President Donald Trump invokes the Insurrection Act, which he has not done.
The rules of force the personnel are operating under call for them to de-escalate the situation as much as possible.
“The arrival of federal military forces in Los Angeles — absent clear coordination — presents a significant logistical and operational challenge for those of us charged with safeguarding this city,” Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell said in a statement.
“The Los Angeles Police Department, alongside our mutual aid partners, has decades of experience managing large-scale public demonstrations, and we remain confident in our ability to do so professionally and effectively,” he continued. “That said, our top priority is the safety of both the public and the officers on the ground. We are urging open and continuous lines of communication between all agencies to prevent confusion, avoid escalation, and ensure a coordinated, lawful, and orderly response during this critical time.”
Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Edmonds, a former vice commander of the Michigan Air National Guard, told ABC News, “If I were an on-scene commander in my previous life as a [National] Guard officer, I would immediately demand clarification, for my people’s sake. I would be saying, so what, when do we use deadly force?”
Edmonds said it appears the military is “defining the mission as non-law enforcement.”
“But they’re putting them with law enforcement personnel as their ‘protection.’ And I don’t see the distinction there between if I’m engaged in protecting a federal officer [or] federal building, [and if] I’m engaged in enforcing the law.”
The Marines and Guard troops being sent to Los Angeles are being led by Army Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman, who is deputy commander of U.S. Army North, officials said.
In total, there are 4,800 troops operating under Title 10 status: 4100 of them National Guard soldiers and 700 active-duty Marines.
Title 10 of the U.S. Code contains a provision that allows the president to call on federal service members when there “is a rebellion or danger of rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States” or when “the President is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States.”
The deployment of the 700 Marines was to ensure “adequate numbers of forces to provide continuous coverage” of the area, according to U.S. Northern Command.
The deployed force is known as “Task Force 51” and officials insist the troops have been trained in de-escalation, crowd control, and standing rules for the use of force.
