Source: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Note: The expiration time in the watch graphic is amended if the watch is replaced, cancelled or extended.Note: Click for Watch Status Reports. SEL4
URGENT – IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Tornado Watch Number 234 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 135 PM CDT Tue May 6 2025
The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a
* Tornado Watch for portions of Louisiana East Texas
* Effective this Tuesday afternoon and evening from 135 PM until 900 PM CDT.
* Primary threats include… A few tornadoes likely with a couple intense tornadoes possible Scattered damaging winds likely with isolated significant gusts to 75 mph possible Isolated very large hail events to 2 inches in diameter possible
SUMMARY…A line of thunderstorms with embedded supercells will spread eastward over east Texas into Louisiana this afternoon and evening. Main threats will be tornadoes and severe/damaging winds. A strong tornado or two will be possible with any supercell that can persist along/ahead of the ongoing thunderstorms. Isolated large hail may also occur.
The tornado watch area is approximately along and 90 statute miles north and south of a line from 10 miles west southwest of Lufkin TX to 25 miles northeast of Alexandria LA. For a complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU4).
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
REMEMBER…A Tornado Watch means conditions are favorable for tornadoes and severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch area. Persons in these areas should be on the lookout for threatening weather conditions and listen for later statements and possible warnings.
&&
OTHER WATCH INFORMATION…CONTINUE…WW 231…WW 232…WW 233…
AVIATION…Tornadoes and a few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to 2 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 65 knots. A few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 500. Mean storm motion vector 24035.
…Gleason
Note: The Aviation Watch (SAW) product is an approximation to the watch area. The actual watch is depicted by the shaded areas. SAW4 WW 234 TORNADO LA TX 061835Z – 070200Z AXIS..90 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF LINE.. 10WSW LFK/LUFKIN TX/ – 25NE ESF/ALEXANDRIA LA/ ..AVIATION COORDS.. 80NM N/S /10W LFK – 35NE AEX/ HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT..2 INCHES. WIND GUSTS..65 KNOTS. MAX TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.
LAT…LON 32489491 32969200 30359200 29879491
THIS IS AN APPROXIMATION TO THE WATCH AREA. FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE WOUS64 KWNS FOR WOU4.
Watch 234 Status Report Message has not been issued yet.
Note: Click for Complete Product Text.Tornadoes
Probability of 2 or more tornadoes
Mod (60%)
Probability of 1 or more strong (EF2-EF5) tornadoes
Mod (40%)
Wind
Probability of 10 or more severe wind events
Mod (60%)
Probability of 1 or more wind events > 65 knots
Mod (30%)
Hail
Probability of 10 or more severe hail events
Mod (30%)
Probability of 1 or more hailstones > 2 inches
Mod (30%)
Combined Severe Hail/Wind
Probability of 6 or more combined severe hail/wind events
High (80%)
For each watch, probabilities for particular events inside the watch (listed above in each table) are determined by the issuing forecaster. The “Low” category contains probability values ranging from less than 2% to 20% (EF2-EF5 tornadoes), less than 5% to 20% (all other probabilities), “Moderate” from 30% to 60%, and “High” from 70% to greater than 95%. High values are bolded and lighter in color to provide awareness of an increased threat for a particular event.
Source: US House of Representatives – Democratic Caucus
The following text contains opinion that is not, or not necessarily, that of MIL-OSI – May 06, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar and Vice Chair Ted Lieu were joined by Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC) Chair Debbie Dingell and Co-Chair Lori Trahan for a press conference on Republicans running scared because their plan to cut Medicaid and reward their billionaire donors with massive tax giveaways is politically toxic.
CHAIRMAN AGUILAR: Good morning. So grateful to be joined today by DPCC Chair Debbie Dingell and Co-Chair Lori Trahan, and of course, Vice Chair Ted Lieu. Both of those members are on the Energy and Commerce Committee. As we all know, House Republicans are running scared this week because they plan to take away health care for millions of Americans while rewarding billionaires with tax giveaways, and these Members will speak specifically to that.
The most endangered Members on the other side of the aisle have already voted to cut Medicaid by $880 billion and Speaker Johnson is scrambling now to give them cover. And his most extreme Members—by the way, those are the ones that he owes having the gavel to—are going to revolt if Medicaid cuts aren’t as harmful to working families as possible. All of this is taking place against the backdrop of an economy that is in a free fall. We’re heading toward a recession, a supply chain crisis that will result in more price hikes and all of this is because of Donald Trump’s policies. He lied to the American people when he said he’d lower costs on day one. And he lied to them over the weekend when he said that he won’t cut Medicaid. Trump’s lies are going to cost people their jobs, their livelihoods, potentially their homes—and he could care less, because his billionaire friends and family get richer.
House Republicans should use this time, this free week that they have, to vote on policy that matters for everyday Americans. But instead, they should be talking about turning off tariffs that are reckless and dangerous. But instead, we’re talking about Marjorie Taylor Greene’s bill to rename the Gulf of Mexico—a slap in the face to hardworking Americans who want their leaders to bring down the cost of living. The costs that they face each and every day in childcare, in healthcare, in gas, groceries, rent. Those are things that the American public cares about, and those are the things that House Republicans are ignoring each and every day.
With that, I’ll turn it over to Vice Chair Ted Lieu.
VICE CHAIR LIEU: Thank you, Chairman Aguilar. Honored to be here with DPCC Chair Dingell and Co-Chair Trahan. You may have seen recent reports showing that 19 billion passwords were hacked and put online. So my public service announcement for today is: change your password. Unless you’re Pete Hegseth, because you have no concept of operational security. Pete Hegseth texted advanced information on combat operations to random people more than once on a Signal application. And we know from recent reporting that the Signal app that the Trump Administration was using was a modified version done by TeleMessage. We know that at least Mike Waltz was using that. Maybe that’s one reason he was fired by Donald Trump. I urge reporters to ask Pete Hegseth if he also was using the modified Signal application that was hacked.
Now, I’d like to talk about Medicaid. So we know that Republicans voted already through the Budget Resolution to cut $880 billion of Medicaid. Now, they’re talking about imposing red tape requirements. I want you to understand what that means. That means every Medicaid recipient would have to fill out immense amounts of paperwork. They tried to do this in Alabama and Georgia and ended up achieving no cost savings. And Medicaid is so important to America, two-thirds of patients in nursing homes are funded through Medicaid. In addition, people get lifesaving health care through Medicaid. And what happens if people don’t get healthier through Medicaid? Well, guess what, they’re still going to get healthier by walking into the emergency room and getting treated that way, which is even more expensive. If you make cuts to Medicaid, it’s going to close down hospitals, including rural hospitals, so we urge Republicans to vote no on the dramatic Medicaid cuts. And now it’s my great honor to introduce DPCC Chair Debbie Dingell, we came in the freshman class together. She’s done a fantastic job as Chair of the DPCC, and I look forward to her remarks.
DPCC CHAIR DINGELL: Thank you, Ted, and Pete was in our class too. It was a great class. I want to thank Pete and Ted for bringing us together this morning. And as Pete said at the beginning, in addition to my role as DPCC chair, I’m also a member of the Energy and Commerce committee, which is ground zero for the Medicaid cuts that you’re seeing the Republicans talk about. I want to be really clear with you, I’ve spent a lot of time at home and in a lot of town hall meetings and a lot of rallies and in grocery stores and in Union Halls. Donald Trump’s economic policies are making life harder for everyday Americans. Costs are increasing, and every family is feeling the squeeze. And House Republicans are making things worse. Their budget cuts Medicaid by nearly $900 billion. It’s the largest Medicaid cut in history. The impact would be devastating in every corner of this country. And I know, believe me, that Democrats and Republicans are hearing about these cuts from constituents who are terrified about what it means for them. People like Katie, in my district, whose son, Nathan, is six years old. Nathan was born premature and has required more than 15 procedures on his airway to help him breathe. As she told me, some of those procedures have cost $20,000 or more, and without Medicaid, there’s no way that Katie and her family would be able to meet Nathan’s complex medical needs. When I was at Michigan. Just before he visited a doctor, a woman started crying in the elevator with her child in a wheelchair, and said, “What will I do if I can’t bring my child here? If they cut me?” 75 percent of the children at Children’s Hospital in Detroit are on Medicaid, and seniors. And a senior said to me, “Are they going to kick my husband out on the street from a nursing home?” That’s the stories that people are telling us.
Medicaid is a lifeline. It keeps children healthy, it helps parents work, and it cares for seniors in nursing homes. The American people cannot afford Medicaid cuts, especially as the economy is being crashed around them by President Trump. House Democrats are fighting to stop this Republican budget and save Medicaid. We have been active across the country, with hundreds of local events raising the human stories, having people understand these aren’t numbers, it’s human lives. And more importantly, we’re raising more stories in every community, so people know who it’s going to be impacting. And that’s what we’re going to continue to do until this Republican budget is defeated. So with that, I’m going to yield to my DPCC Co-Chair, and fellow Energy and Commerce Committee member, Lori Trahan.
DPCC CO-CHAIR TRAHAN: Thank you, Chair Dingell, and thank you to Chair Aguilar and Vice Chair Lieu for hosting us this morning. Republicans in Congress are locked in a debate this week about everything that you need to know of their priorities. They’re trying to decide how to pay for massive tax breaks for their billionaire donors, and they’ve narrowed it down to two options: Kick millions of Americans off of their health care by slashing Medicaid or take food off the table for working families by gutting nutritional assistance.
And let’s be honest, Donald Trump doesn’t care which one they choose, as long as they send what he calls a big, beautiful bill to the White House. But there’s nothing beautiful about ripping health care away from millions of Americans. Medicaid is a lifeline. It’s prenatal care for moms. It’s nursing home care for seniors. It’s the support for kids with disabilities that they need to thrive in school. Republicans aren’t doing this to fix the economy or to reduce the deficit or to get rid of fraud, waste and abuse. They’re doing it so Elon Musk can buy another private jet. Meanwhile, families are already making impossible choices every day. Do I pay for medicine or do I buy groceries? Do I take my child to the doctor or do I pay my utility bills? And now Republicans want to make those choices even harder.
House Democrats have a message for our colleagues across the aisle: If you’re going to gut Medicaid so your billionaire buddies can get a tax cut that’s bigger than what most teachers make in their lifetimes, we’re going to make it as painful as possible. We’re going to fight back and we’re going to go to your districts and explain what you’re doing, and we’re going to help your constituents vote you out next November. That’s our focus. That’s our fight, and that’s our promise. Thank you.
Video of the full press conference and Q&A can be viewed here.
Source: American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union
WASHINGTON – AFSCME President Lee Saunders released the following statement in opposition to Frank Bisignano’s confirmation to lead the Social Security Administration:
“The Senate just escalated threats to Social Security by confirming Frank Bisignano, another billionaire CEO, to lead the agency. He has spent his career catering to Wall Street elites. Bisignano could have stood up for working families and retirees by opposing efforts to roll back Social Security services, shutdown offices and lay off thousands of workers. Instead, he promises to provide more of the same failed, destructive leadership we have seen so far at Social Security. He describes himself as ‘fundamentally a DOGE person’ – even as Musk’s DOGE has jeopardized Americans’ private data.
“Their playbook is clearly to break Social Security so they can justify further cuts and privatization. AFSCME members won’t be fooled. We are keeping up the fight to protect our freedom to retire with dignity, and we will remember how our leaders voted and whether they stood with us in our battle to stop this hostile takeover of Social Security.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Foreign Affairs Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee Chairman Michael Lawler delivered opening remarks at a subcommittee hearing titled, “Maximum Impact: Assessing the Effectiveness of the Bureau of Counterterrorism and the Path Forward.”
Watch Here
-Remarks-
Good afternoon, and thank you to our witnesses for being here today. From the Houthis in Yemen to al-Shabaab in the Sahel to ISIS in Afghanistan, global terrorism remains a persistent and evolving threat to the safety and security of Americans both at home and abroad. Terrorism endangers lives, destabilizes regions, disrupts commerce, and undermines U.S. interests worldwide.
While countering violent extremism has long required a comprehensive whole-of-government approach, the threat landscape has evolved, yet our counterterrorism strategy has not kept pace. Today, we examine the critical role of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism and the Bureau of Counterterrorism at the U.S. Department of State.
Established by Congress in 1998, the Coordinator for Counterterrorism was created to serve as a central node for U.S. diplomatic efforts to combat terrorism abroad. Now housed within the Bureau of Counterterrorism, the Coordinator leads a team that advances U.S. counterterrorism policy and coordinates with partner nations globally.
The Bureau’s work includes diplomatic engagement, designating terrorist entities, implementing targeted assistance programs, and training foreign law enforcement, border control, and judicial officials to identify, disrupt, and prosecute terrorist actors and networks. These overseas investments provide national security benefits at home.
To succeed in today’s evolving environment, the Bureau must function effectively within the broader interagency framework, coordinating closely with partners such as the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, and various intelligence and law enforcement agencies. A clearly defined mission and delineated authorities are essential to prevent duplication and conflict.
Effective coordination is especially critical when confronting state sponsors of terrorism, particularly Iran. In 2024, Iran exported an estimated 587 million barrels of oil, a 10.75% increase from the previous year. These revenues likely support terrorist proxies, including Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.
I’m especially interested in how the Bureau disrupts financial and trade networks fueling Iran’s terrorism, and whether our security assistance aligns with counterterrorism priorities. The Bureau can assess partner nation capabilities, but it’s unclear how these assessments influence funding decisions. For instance, Morocco and Lebanon face different threats but receive similar foreign military financing.
We should consider whether the Bureau should have a more formal role in prioritizing security assistance when counterterrorism is the primary objective. At a time when adversaries like China and Russia seek to undermine U.S. leadership, it’s critical for Congress to strengthen the authority, mission, and effectiveness of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism.
Through reauthorization, we must ensure every dollar spent and every diplomat deployed supports American safety and security. Under the Trump administration, we now have the opportunity to modernize our counterterrorism approach and chart a stronger path forward.
Our witnesses today bring valuable experience from leading the Bureau and analyzing U.S. security policy. Their testimony will help identify structural challenges and key reforms needed from Congress.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is encouraging construction industry employers and workers, across the nation, to take part in its 12th annual National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction from May 5-9, 2025. This nationwide event spotlights preventing falls, the construction industry’s leading cause of worker deaths.
Throughout the week, OSHA urges employers to pause during the workday to conduct “stand-down” activities, including safety demonstrations, hazard recognition and fall prevention training, and “tool-box” talks about hazards. Employers are also encouraged to have discussions about job-specific hazards, like roofing, ladder use, and working on scaffolds.
Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling will participate in the 2025 Stand-Down and provide remarks during an event at the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda, Maryland, where multiple construction and renovation projects are currently underway.
OSHA will publish a list of free, public events on its website to help employers and workers – both from the construction and other industries – find opportunities to get involved locally.
A cornerstone of OSHA’s Fall Prevention Campaign, the National Safety Stand-Down, was developed in partnership with The Center for Construction Research and Training. The event also coincides with Construction Safety Week and its National Safety Stand-Down Initiative to help prevent falls in construction. Since its launch in 2012, the initiative has helped train more than 10 million workers on fall prevention.
Learn more about OSHA and its national emphasis program to prevent workplace falls.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today awarded incremental funding of $3.5 million to support disaster-relief jobs and continue employment training for Tennessee residents affected by Tropical Storm Helene.
In September 2024, Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm and quickly moved across the Southeast, weakening to a tropical storm that inundated eastern portions of Tennessee with floodwaters. The flooding led to deaths and damaged and destroyed businesses, homes and critical infrastructure.
In October 2024, the department’s Employment and Training Administration responded by awarding a National Dislocated Worker Grant of up to $5 million, with an initial award of $1 million, to assist with cleanup and recovery activities in 12 Tennessee counties affected by the storm.
This Disaster Recovery National Dislocated Worker Grant allows the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development to provide people with temporary jobs focused on cleanup and recovery efforts, as well as provide employment and training services to storm-impacted individuals.
Supported by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, National Dislocated Worker Grants provide a state or local board with funding for direct services and assistance in areas experiencing a major economic dislocation event that leads to workforce needs exceeding available resources.
WASHINGTON –The U.S. Department of Labor today awarded incremental funding of $3.5 million to support disaster-relief jobs and continue employment training for Florida residents affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024.
On Sept. 26, 2024, Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm causing catastrophic damage. The department’s Employment and Training Administration responded by awarding a National Dislocated Worker Grant of up to $5 million, with an initial award of $1 million, to assist with cleanup and recovery activities in 31 Florida counties.
The state faced further devastation after Hurricane Milton made landfall on Oct. 9, 2024, affecting Florida’s Gulf Coast counties along the Florida Peninsula and the Big Bend area.
This Disaster Recovery National Dislocated Worker Grant allows the Florida Department of Commerce to provide people with temporary jobs focused on cleanup and recovery efforts in response to both hurricanes, as well as providing employment and training services for storm survivors.
Supported by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, National Dislocated Worker Grants provide a state or local board with funding for direct services and assistance in areas experiencing a major economic dislocation event that leads to workforce needs exceeding available resources.
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WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs announced today it has expanded its Veterans Legacy Memorial website to add 210,000 additional pages for American Veterans interred and honored in cemeteries and memorials managed by the American Battle Monuments Commission overseas. The collaboration between VA’s National Cemetery Administration and ABMC brings the total number of VLM pages to more than 10 million.
VLM is the nation’s largest online memorial space dedicated to Veterans and Service Members interred in VA national cemeteries, Department of Defense-managed cemeteries, VA grant-funded state/tribal/territory cemeteries, National Park Service cemeteries, and private cemeteries around the world. VLM offers family and friends a way to share lasting memories of a Veteran by uploading written tributes, photos, biographies, documents, and other information. Living Veterans who have been approved for pre-need burial in a VA National Cemetery can tell their own stories on VLM through the “Your Life, Your Story” feature.
“The brave Americans resting in American Battle Monuments Commission cemeteries and whose names are inscribed on ABMC memorials around the world sacrificed their lives to liberate allied countries and to protect our nation’s interests,” said Acting Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs Ronald Walters. “It’s our honor to preserve their legacies.”
“We are proud to be a part of this partnership, which adds new resources to honor our nations veterans from all wars and brings their stories to those who aren’t able to visit our ABMC sites overseas,” said ABMC Acting Secretary Robert Dalessandro.
Learn more about ABMC and visit their cemeteries and memorials via virtual 360 tours online.
In 1934, President Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive order that shifted the management and maintenance of the eight permanent military cemeteries in Europe from the War Department to ABMC. Today, ABMC administers, operates and maintains 26 American cemeteries on foreign soil while providing perpetual care for the gravesites of 30,973 Veterans from World War I, 92,958 from World War II and 750 from the Mexican American War. ABMC also memorializes more than 94,000 Americans who went missing in action or were lost or buried at sea.
Since the VLM website launched in 2019, nearly 200,000 submissions have been made to Veteran profile pages. NCA moderators review all content submitted to VLM before being posted to a Veteran’s page to ensure it conforms to the VLM User Policy.
For information about VA burial benefits, visit one of VA’s 156 National Cemetery locations in-person, online at VA burial benefits and memorial items, or call toll free at 800-827-1000. To plan for you and your family, visit NCA’s pre-need eligibility website.
Reporters and media outlets with questions or comments should contact the Office of Media Relations at vapublicaffairs@va.gov
Veterans with questions about their health care and benefits (including GI Bill). Questions, updates and documents can be submitted online.
Contact us online through Ask VA
Veterans can also use our chatbot to get information about VA benefits and services. The chatbot won’t connect you with a person, but it can show you where to go on VA.gov to find answers to some common questions.
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Turchi’s Years at a Tech Startup Gave Him a Savvy Outlook on Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) Systems Analysis and Innovation
NREL researcher Craig Turchi soaks up the sunshine along the banks of the Gunnison River in Colorado. Turchi is the manager of the Thermal Energy Science and Technologies group in NREL’s Center for Energy Conversion and Storage Systems. His love for nature led him to work in solar technologies after completing his Ph.D. in chemical engineering at North Carolina State University. At NREL, his work has focused on a range of issues in concentrating solar technologies, from systems analysis to reducing water use at concentrating solar power plants in desert environments. Photo from Craig Turchi
Honesty is the best policy, and from his early days at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Craig Turchi embraced that policy in his work as a chemical engineer in concentrating solar power (CSP).
In fact, fresh out of his Ph.D. program and working at his first job, he was not afraid to tell the U.S. Department of Energy the truth about a solar detoxification reactor his team was working on: Based on the reaction rates he had modeled, it was not going to work—at least, not as currently planned.
It was his first CSP project at the laboratory in the early 1990s, when NREL was called the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI). The reactors used sunlight concentrated from parabolic mirrors into fluid-filled tubes to break down contaminants in water, using titanium dioxide as a catalyst. Concentrating the sunlight sped up reaction rates, but for this chemistry, it also reduced the reaction efficiency. Turchi knew the efficiency results meant the cost would not add up. The team pivoted.
“We followed the science,” he said. “You’re initially pursuing things based on hope in many cases, but when the data come in, you have to follow the science.”
This first research result at SERI earned him a reputation as a straight shooter that stayed with him for 35 years as he built a career in CSP and thermal energy science.
“That scientific integrity is something everyone looks up to,” said Guangdong Zhu, CSP subprogram lead at NREL and Thermal and Hybrid Energy Systems group manager. “As researchers, we should focus on simply assessing the results based on scientific justification. For Craig, this comes naturally. His evaluation is never going to be influenced by any other factors.”
Turchi now serves as the Thermal Energy Science and Technologies group manager in NREL’s Energy Conversion and Storage Systems (ECaSS) Center, and he led NREL’s CSP subprogram from 2022 until 2024, when he passed the baton to Zhu. He also serves as the partnership director for the Heliostat Consortium, a U.S. Department of Energy consortium led by NREL and Sandia National Laboratories in partnership with the Australian Solar Thermal Research Institute.
His leadership extends beyond his work at the laboratory. An avid outdoorsman, Turchi is known around NREL for leading paddling trips on Colorado’s and Utah’s scenic rivers. He and his wife, Jeannette, along with their daughter also help run a food bank at their church through Food Bank of the Rockies, where they serve 150–200 people once a month.
“I find that very fulfilling, and it’s a nice counterpoint to writing reports at a computer to go out and physically do something and see the immediate benefit happening in your community,” he said. “I think it’s very important to give back.”
Bringing Small Business Experience to Systems Analysis Research
Turchi returned to NREL in 2008 after working at two small technology companies. Photo by Dennis Schroeder, NREL
Turchi started working at SERI in 1990 but left in 1996 for a position with a startup that did not fully launch. He then joined a small company called ADA Technologies, where he served as a principal investigator and program leader for 10 years.
At ADA, Turchi obtained his first patents. He was particularly proud of a product he created to separate amalgam for dental offices. At the time, when dentists placed or removed silver fillings, which are nominally 50% mercury, tiny bits of the filling would get suctioned out and end up in city sewer systems—where the mercury could eventually be released. His system trapped the amalgam bits at the dental office for recycling, keeping mercury from accumulating to harmful levels in bays and estuaries.
Upon his return to NREL in 2008, he found that his time in the startup world translated well at the laboratory. He had honed his proposal-writing skills when working at ADA. He also brought new experiences when he returned, including an eye for innovation and a keen business sensibility. That outlook, paired with his truth-seeking ethos as an engineer, helped him build a robust research program in CSP systems analysis. The program allowed NREL to fill a niche that had been missing in the industry.
“NREL started doing a lot of systems analysis,” said Mark Mehos, an emeritus NREL researcher who hired Turchi back to NREL in 2008. “And the U.S. Department of Energy really appreciated the robustness of Craig’s analysis. He was very thorough, he was very honest, and he didn’t hold back. If the analysis seemed to show that this was the right path or the wrong path, Craig didn’t have any qualms about sharing that.”
CSP is a flexible technology. It can be used to generate electricity, create thermal energy for long-duration energy storage, or create thermal energy for a range of industrial processes that require heat, such as those used in food processing or desalination. That flexibility means there are a lot of factors to consider when analyzing costs, and making an honest assessment is crucial. As early-career researchers joined Turchi’s team, they learned from his rigorous approach to research and analysis.
“He’s the real CSP guru—Craig keeps things grounded with his practical mindset,” said Judith Vidal, Building Thermal Energy Science group manager. Vidal got her start at NREL as a postdoc for Turchi in CSP. “His advice stuck with me: Always approach things with economic sensibility.”
Vidal’s research emphasis is no longer in CSP, but those lessons still apply.
“Since many of our projects are applied research, you always have to keep cost-effectiveness in mind,” she said. “But I also learned from him that sometimes, simply saying ‘This is too expensive’ pushes you to think differently in the lab—to optimize, to explore new directions. It challenges you. This is how Craig shaped me as a young researcher.”
Craig Turchi received the NREL Chairman’s Award for Outstanding Performance on April 2, 2015. Turchi has won other awards at NREL as well, including one for his strategic guidance on advancing thermal systems research and development in 2015 and one for bringing $10 million in funding to NREL for Generation 3 CSP research in 2018. Photo by Dennis Schroeder, NREL
Applying a New Power Cycle to CSP
In addition to his main body of work in systems analysis and related topics, Turchi was looking for brand-new areas of research when he returned to NREL. A power cycle that was becoming popular in nuclear energy circles, but not solar, caught his attention: the supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) power cycle.
“There was a renaissance in this power cycle development after a study came out that showed it could be valuable at nuclear power plants,” Turchi said. “It’s a type of power cycle development that had been looked at decades ago, and it kind of got stuck on a back shelf. No one really looked at it.”
Turchi saw potential for supercritical CO2 power cycles to replace the steam turbines in traditional CSP systems, potentially unlocking greater efficiencies.
This initial curiosity about supercritical CO2 for CSP has grown into a major path forward for the CSP industry—Generation 3 CSP. In Gen 3 CSP, arrays of mirrors called heliostats concentrate sunlight onto a central receiver to collect and store heat at high temperature (over 700°C). This heat is transferred to supercritical CO2 to generate power in a closed-loop Brayton cycle. Sandia National Laboratories now has a Gen 3 Particle Pilot Plant at its National Solar Thermal Test Facility to study supercritical CO2 as the working fluid in a plant with particle energy storage.
Turchi won two NREL awards for his work on the supercritical CO2 power cycle for CSP. But nowadays, he is more focused on elevating other researchers’ work.
“As you progress in your career, you either remain an expert in some area, or in my experience, you broaden out into what the interesting areas are in your field, and you help others develop,” Turchi said. “I think as a group manager, that’s your role. It’s very rewarding when you see those people succeed.”
Learn more about NREL’s concentrating solar power research.
WASHINGTON D.C. – On April 29, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement joined more than 1,000 service members, law enforcement professionals, government officials, and participants from 26 allied and partner nations gathered in Trinidad and Tobago to officially launch TRADEWINDS 2025—a multinational, multi-domain exercise sponsored by U.S. Southern Command and led by U.S. Army South.
As part of the exercise, ICE Homeland Security Investigations, in collaboration with the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, conducted a technical exchange on firearms trafficking investigations and evidence recovery, further advancing joint capabilities to combat transnational crime. TTPS Deputy Commissioner of Police Suzette Martin formally opened the proceedings in Port of Spain, joined by senior leaders from both nations’ defense and law enforcement communities, including Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force Lt. Col. Dwayne Edwards, U.S. Army Col. Christopher Johnes, and ICE HSI Caribbean Regional Attaché Rafael Quinquilla.
Throughout the weeklong, Caribbean-focused exercise, ICE HSI worked closely with Trinidad and Tobago law enforcement counterparts to build capacity and strengthen operational collaboration. Activities included intelligence briefings on emerging firearms trafficking trends, instruction in advanced investigative techniques, hands-on evidence recovery exercises—including DNA and fingerprint collection—and a counter-human trafficking briefing with a case study.
“Strategic partnerships with TTPS—including recent, high-impact operations with the Transnational Organized Crime Unit, Special Investigations Unit, and Special Evidence Recovery Unit—are essential to disrupting transnational criminal networks,” said ICE HSI Rafael Quinquilla. “ICE HSI deeply values the professionalism and partnership of our Trinidad and Tobago counterparts and looks forward to building on our shared successes as we continue the fight against firearms trafficking, transnational gangs, and organized crime.”
ICE HSI’s support to TRADEWINDS 2025 is part of the ICE HSI-led Operation Hammerhead, a broader sustained initiative to combat firearms trafficking across the Caribbean. Using a comprehensive three-pronged strategy— investigative support, criminal analysis, and capacity building—ICE HSI works to identify, disrupt, and dismantle transnational criminal organizations smuggling firearms from the United States into the region.
“TRADEWINDS 2025 represents the true essence of multinational cooperation,” said U.S. Army South Training and Exercise Director and TRADEWINDS 2025 Exercise Co-lead Col. Christopher Johnes. “By working hand-in-hand with the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force, our Caribbean partners, and allied nations, we are not only building readiness but also reinforcing the bonds of trust and shared commitment to regional security and stability.”
TRADEWINDS 2025 marked the 40th iteration of the exercise and united a diverse array of military, security, and law enforcement professionals from across the region. Conducted on the rugged terrain of the Chaguaramas Peninsula, the exercise provided a realistic and challenging training environment designed to enhance operational interoperability and strengthen enduring international partnerships.
ICE HSI’s expertise in firearms trafficking and transnational crime was a critical contribution to the overall law enforcement component to the exercise.
TRADEWINDS 2025 reaffirmed ICE HSI’s unwavering commitment to supporting law enforcement and government partners worldwide, advancing global security through integrated training, operational synergy, and whole-of-government cooperation.
Learn more about ICE HSI’s law enforcement partnership missions on X, @ICEgov.
TUCSON, AZ – U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer joined Rep. Juan Ciscomani in Tucson yesterday to see Pima Community College’s state-of-the-art workforce development programs in action. Pima Community Chancellor Dr. Jeffrey Nasse, Provost Ian Roark, President and CEO of the Chamber of Southern Arizona Joe Snell, and local business leaders joined the Secretary and Rep. Ciscomani to discuss collaborate efforts to build a stronger workforce pipeline.
Secretary Chavez-DeRemer and Rep. Ciscomani then joined a roundtable discussion with members of the Arizona Builders Alliance. The conversation focused on workforce shortages in the construction industry and policies that reduce unnecessary red tape to empower workers and businesses.
“With strong growth in the construction industry thanks to President Trump’s America First policies, it’s critical the Labor Department continues our mission to upskill American workers by partnering with local leaders to fill these in-demand jobs,” said Secretary Chavez-DeRemer. “I enjoyed learning firsthand how educators and businesses in Tucson have developed pathways to successful, good-paying careers in construction and building trades. Thank you to my friend Congressman Ciscomani for showcasing these achievements and explaining the challenges facing Arizona’s 6th District. I look forward to collaborating on workforce solutions that continue growing our economy.”
“I am incredibly grateful to my good friend, Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer for her leadership, commitment to empowering our workers, support for workforce development efforts, and for taking the time to meet with educators, business leaders, and employees in my district,” said Ciscomani. “Secretary Chavez-DeRemer is a fantastic partner, and I look forward to continuing working with her to deliver on our promise to America’s workforce.”
Following her stop in Tucson, Secretary Chavez-DeRemer delivered a keynote speech today at the American Trucking Association’s mid-year management session. The speech highlighted the importance of job training programs that give truckers the resources needed to succeed and stay safe on the job.
“To every driver, equipment manufacturer, supplier, and motor carrier listening, I know I speak for our whole country when I say thank you,” Secretary Chavez-DeRemer said. “I’m here today to deliver a clear message: President Trump and I are proud to have your back. This administration understands that a strong workforce and a booming economy doesn’t build itself; it takes investment, training, and a belief in the next generation.”
Source: US Department of Health and Human Services – 3
Summary
Company Announcement Date: May 06, 2025 FDA Publish Date: May 06, 2025 Product Type: Food & BeveragesAllergens Reason for Announcement:
Recall Reason Description Undeclared almonds and sesame
Company Name: New England Village Foods Brand Name:
Brand Name(s) New England Village Snacks
Product Description:
Product Description 19th Hole Snack Mix
Company Announcement ““A previous version of this press release was issued on 4/24/25. This press release was updated to include that sesame was not listed in the “contains” statement”.” New England Village Foods of Milford NH is recalling all lots of 5 -ounce and 10 -ounce containers of New England Village Snacks “19th Hole Snack Mix” because they may contain undeclared almonds. Additionally, sesame is not declared in the “Contains” statement. People who have allergies to almonds or sesame run the risk of serious or life- threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products. The recalled “19th Hole Snack Mix” were distributed to small independent grocery markets and convenience stores throughout New England, New York and Pennsylvania. The product comes in 5- ounce and 10- ounce, clear cups and tubs with reclosable lids marked with UPC – 609465693477 (5 oz.) and UPC – 642147152459 (10 oz.) located on the lid of the product printed in black ink. No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this issue. The recall was initiated after a customer discovered that the almond-containing product was distributed in packaging that did not reveal the presence of almonds. Additional review by the FDA revealed that the Contains statement did not include sesame, despite being listed in the ingredient statement. Subsequent investigation indicates the issue was caused by a temporary breakdown in the companies packaging process. Production of the product has been temporarily suspended. Consumers who have purchased the 5 -ounce or 10 -ounce packages of “19th Hole Snack Mix” are urged to return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with any questions or concerns may contact New England Village Foods at 1.603.554.1873 (M-F 7AM to 4PM Eastern) Link to Previous Announcement
Company Contact Information
Consumers: New England Village Foods 1.603.554.1873
Source: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Note: The expiration time in the watch graphic is amended if the watch is replaced, cancelled or extended.Note: Click for Watch Status Reports. SEL5
URGENT – IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Tornado Watch Number 235 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 510 PM CDT Tue May 6 2025
The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a
* Tornado Watch for portions of Northeast into Southeast Louisiana Southwest into Central Mississippi
* Effective this Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning from 510 PM until 100 AM CDT.
* Primary threats include… A couple tornadoes possible Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible Scattered large hail events to 1.5 inches in diameter possible
SUMMARY…Scattered to numerous thunderstorms are forecast to develop and move into the Watch area this evening into the early overnight. A few supercells and line segments will likely focus the severe thunderstorm and tornado risks. A couple of tornadoes are possible with the more intense thunderstorms, as well as damaging gusts and large hail.
The tornado watch area is approximately along and 60 statute miles east and west of a line from 60 miles east northeast of Monroe LA to 75 miles south southwest of Mc Comb MS. For a complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU5).
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
REMEMBER…A Tornado Watch means conditions are favorable for tornadoes and severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch area. Persons in these areas should be on the lookout for threatening weather conditions and listen for later statements and possible warnings.
&&
OTHER WATCH INFORMATION…CONTINUE…WW 233…WW 234…
AVIATION…Tornadoes and a few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to 1.5 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 60 knots. A few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 500. Mean storm motion vector 24035.
…Smith
SEL5
URGENT – IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Tornado Watch Number 235 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 510 PM CDT Tue May 6 2025
The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a
* Tornado Watch for portions of Northeast into Southeast Louisiana Southwest into Central Mississippi
* Effective this Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning from 510 PM until 100 AM CDT.
* Primary threats include… A couple tornadoes possible Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible Scattered large hail events to 1.5 inches in diameter possible
SUMMARY…Scattered to numerous thunderstorms are forecast to develop and move into the Watch area this evening into the early overnight. A few supercells and line segments will likely focus the severe thunderstorm and tornado risks. A couple of tornadoes are possible with the more intense thunderstorms, as well as damaging gusts and large hail.
The tornado watch area is approximately along and 60 statute miles east and west of a line from 60 miles east northeast of Monroe LA to 75 miles south southwest of Mc Comb MS. For a complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU5).
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
REMEMBER…A Tornado Watch means conditions are favorable for tornadoes and severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch area. Persons in these areas should be on the lookout for threatening weather conditions and listen for later statements and possible warnings.
&&
OTHER WATCH INFORMATION…CONTINUE…WW 233…WW 234…
AVIATION…Tornadoes and a few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to 1.5 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 60 knots. A few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 500. Mean storm motion vector 24035.
…Smith
Note: The Aviation Watch (SAW) product is an approximation to the watch area. The actual watch is depicted by the shaded areas. SAW5 WW 235 TORNADO LA MS 062210Z – 070600Z AXIS..60 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF LINE.. 60ENE MLU/MONROE LA/ – 75SSW MCB/MC COMB MS/ ..AVIATION COORDS.. 50NM E/W /52ENE MLU – 26SE BTR/ HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT..1.5 INCHES. WIND GUSTS..60 KNOTS. MAX TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.
LAT…LON 32849004 30178995 30179195 32849211
THIS IS AN APPROXIMATION TO THE WATCH AREA. FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE WOUS64 KWNS FOR WOU5.
Watch 235 Status Report Message has not been issued yet.
Note: Click for Complete Product Text.Tornadoes
Probability of 2 or more tornadoes
Mod (40%)
Probability of 1 or more strong (EF2-EF5) tornadoes
Low (20%)
Wind
Probability of 10 or more severe wind events
Mod (40%)
Probability of 1 or more wind events > 65 knots
Low (20%)
Hail
Probability of 10 or more severe hail events
Mod (40%)
Probability of 1 or more hailstones > 2 inches
Low (20%)
Combined Severe Hail/Wind
Probability of 6 or more combined severe hail/wind events
High (70%)
For each watch, probabilities for particular events inside the watch (listed above in each table) are determined by the issuing forecaster. The “Low” category contains probability values ranging from less than 2% to 20% (EF2-EF5 tornadoes), less than 5% to 20% (all other probabilities), “Moderate” from 30% to 60%, and “High” from 70% to greater than 95%. High values are bolded and lighter in color to provide awareness of an increased threat for a particular event.
Source: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Note: The expiration time in the watch graphic is amended if the watch is replaced, cancelled or extended.Note: Click for Watch Status Reports. SEL6
URGENT – IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 236 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 800 PM CDT Tue May 6 2025
The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a
* Severe Thunderstorm Watch for portions of South Texas Coastal Waters
* Effective this Tuesday night from 800 PM until Midnight CDT.
* Primary threats include… Scattered large hail and isolated very large hail events to 3 inches in diameter possible Isolated damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible
SUMMARY…A few supercells are forecast to develop this evening and pose mainly a threat for large to very large hail.
The severe thunderstorm watch area is approximately along and 55 statute miles east and west of a line from 25 miles north of Beeville TX to 25 miles west southwest of Mcallen TX. For a complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU6).
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
REMEMBER…A Severe Thunderstorm Watch means conditions are favorable for severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch area. Persons in these areas should be on the lookout for threatening weather conditions and listen for later statements and possible warnings. Severe thunderstorms can and occasionally do produce tornadoes.
&&
OTHER WATCH INFORMATION…CONTINUE…WW 234…WW 235…
AVIATION…A few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to 3 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 60 knots. A few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 600. Mean storm motion vector 29030.
…Smith
Note: The Aviation Watch (SAW) product is an approximation to the watch area. The actual watch is depicted by the shaded areas. SAW6 WW 236 SEVERE TSTM TX CW 070100Z – 070500Z AXIS..55 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF LINE.. 25N NIR/BEEVILLE TX/ – 25WSW MFE/MCALLEN TX/ ..AVIATION COORDS.. 50NM E/W /51NNW CRP – 66W BRO/ HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT..3 INCHES. WIND GUSTS..60 KNOTS. MAX TOPS TO 600. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 29030.
LAT…LON 28739676 26049772 26049949 28739858
THIS IS AN APPROXIMATION TO THE WATCH AREA. FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE WOUS64 KWNS FOR WOU6.
Watch 236 Status Report Message has not been issued yet.
Note: Click for Complete Product Text.Tornadoes
Probability of 2 or more tornadoes
Low ( 2 inches
Mod (40%)
Combined Severe Hail/Wind
Probability of 6 or more combined severe hail/wind events
Mod (60%)
For each watch, probabilities for particular events inside the watch (listed above in each table) are determined by the issuing forecaster. The “Low” category contains probability values ranging from less than 2% to 20% (EF2-EF5 tornadoes), less than 5% to 20% (all other probabilities), “Moderate” from 30% to 60%, and “High” from 70% to greater than 95%. High values are bolded and lighter in color to provide awareness of an increased threat for a particular event.
strong>LOS ANGELES – If you received rental assistance from FEMA and require further rental assistance while working toward your permanent housing goals, we encourage you to stay in touch with FEMA. Continued Temporary Housing Assistance (CTHA) may be available for those who qualify. Rental Assistance is available as an initial temporary two-month grant for homeowners and renters to pay for somewhere to live if their primary residence suffered damage from the Los Angeles County wildfires. If you were displaced and need assistance covering housing costs you should contact FEMA to determine your eligibility for this program. If temporary housing is still needed after the first two months of receiving rental assistance, survivors can apply for CTHA based on three months of their actual monthly costs for rent and utilities or the Fair Market Rent, for up to 18 months from the date the disaster was declared, January 8, 2025, as long as they remain eligible. If you received funds for Additional Living Expenses through your insurance, you may be eligible for initial Rental Assistance once those funds are exhausted. To be eligible to apply for CTHA, survivors must meet the following conditions:
Be awarded initial Rental Assistance and show they used this money to pay for temporary housing, Are unable to return to their pre-disaster residence because it is not safe to live in or is no longer available to them, due to the disaster. Demonstrate a continued disaster-caused financial need. Show that they have established a permanent housing plan and that they are working toward meeting that goal.
What are eligible expenses:
CTHA is intended to cover the monthly rent amount (including lot rent, if applicable) Essential utilities (gas, propane, electric, water, oil, trash, sewer due to disaster-caused displacement)
This does not include telephone, cable TV, or internet service for the housing unit.
If you were initially approved for Rental Assistance, an application for CTHA may be mailed to you 15 days after the grant is approved. If you do not receive one, please contact FEMA by calling 800-621-3362. Return the form to FEMA by either:
Uploading it to your FEMA Disaster Assistance account, available online at DisasterAssistance.gov. Mailing the completed form to: FEMA, P.O. Box 10055, Hyattsville, MD 20782-8055. Faxing it to 800-827-8112.
For the latest information about California’s recovery, visit fema.gov/disaster/4856. Follow FEMA Region 9 @FEMARegion9 on X or follow FEMA on social media at: FEMA Blog on fema.gov, @FEMA or @FEMAEspanol on X, FEMA or FEMA Espanol on Facebook, @FEMA on Instagram, and via FEMA YouTube channel. California is committed to supporting residents impacted by the Los Angeles Hurricane-Force Firestorm as they navigate the recovery process. Visit CA.gov/LAFires for up-to-date information on disaster recovery programs, important deadlines, and how to apply for assistance.
NASA’s on-demand streaming service, NASA+, launched a FAST (Free Ad-Supported Television) channel on Prime Video Tuesday, giving viewers another way to watch the agency’s aeronautics, human spaceflight, science, and technology missions unfold on screen. As the agency continues to improve life on Earth and inspire new generations through innovation, exploration, and discovery, NASA+ is dedicated to sharing stories through live launch coverage, original documentaries, family-friendly content, and more. “Streaming NASA+ on multiple platforms allows the agency to more efficiently share its missions, from launching astronauts to the International Space Station, to going behind the scenes with the team that defends Earth against asteroids, to showcasing new, high-definition images of the cosmos,” said Wes Brown, acting associate administrator for the Office of Communications at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “NASA provides an up-close look at how the agency explores the secrets of the universe for the benefit of all by ensuring content is easily accessible and widely available to the public.” In addition to the FAST channel, NASA+ is available to download without a subscription on most major platforms via the NASA App on iOS and Android mobile and tablet devices, as well as streaming media players like Roku, Apple TV, and Fire TV. Users also may stream online at:
Home
-end- Jennifer Dooren / Jessica TaveauHeadquarters, Washington202-358-1600jennifer.m.dooren@nasa.gov / jessica.c.taveau@nasa.gov
The blazar BL Lacertae, a supermassive black hole surrounded by a bright disk and jets oriented toward Earth, provided scientists with a unique opportunity to answer a longstanding question: How are X-rays generated in extreme environments like this? NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) collaborated with radio and optical telescopes to find answers. The results (preprint available here), to be published in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters, show that interactions between fast-moving electrons and particles of light, called photons, must lead to this X-ray emission.
Scientists had two competing possible explanations for the X-rays, one involving protons and one involving electrons. Each of these mechanisms would have a different signature in the polarization of X-ray light. Polarization is a property of light that describes the average direction of the electromagnetic waves that make up light. If the X-rays in a black hole’s jets are highly polarized, that would mean that the X-rays are produced by protons gyrating in the magnetic field of the jet or protons interacting with jet’s photons. If the X-rays have a lower polarization degree, it would suggest that electron-photons interactions lead to X-ray production. IXPE, which launched Dec. 9, 2021, is the only satellite flying today that can make such a polarization measurement. “This was one of the biggest mysteries about supermassive black hole jets” said Iván Agudo, lead author of the study and astronomer at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía – CSIC in Spain. “And IXPE, with the help of a number of supporting ground-based telescopes, finally provided us with the tools to solve it.” Astronomers found that electrons must be the culprits through a process called Compton Scattering. Compton scattering (or the Compton effect) happens when a photon loses or gains energy after interacting with a charged particle, usually an electron. Within jets from supermassive black holes, electrons move near the speed of light. IXPE helped scientists learn that, in the case of a blazar jet, the electrons have enough energy to scatter photons of infrared light up to X-ray wavelengths. BL Lacertae (BL Lac for short) is one of the first blazars ever discovered, originally thought to be a variable star in the Lacerta constellation. IXPE observed BL Lac at the end of November 2023 for seven days along with several ground-based telescopes measuring optical and radio polarization at the same time. While IXPE observed BL Lac in the past, this observation was special. Coincidentally, during the X-ray polarization observations, the optical polarization of BL Lac reached a high number: 47.5%. “This was not only the most polarized BL Lac has been in the past 30 years, this is the most polarized any blazar has ever been observed!” said Ioannis Liodakis, one of the primary authors of the study and astrophysicist at the Institute of Astrophysics – FORTH in Greece. IXPE found the X-rays were far less polarized than the optical light. The team was not able to measure a strong polarization signal and determined that the X-rays cannot be more polarized than 7.6%. This proved that electrons interacting with photons, via the Compton effect, must explain the X-rays.
Steven Ehlert Project Scientist for IXPE at Marshall Space Flight Center
“The fact that optical polarization was so much higher than in the X-rays can only be explained by Compton scattering”, said Steven Ehlert, project scientist for IXPE and astronomer at the Marshall Space Flight Center. “IXPE has managed to solve another black hole mystery” said Enrico Costa, astrophysicist in Rome at the Istituto di Astrofísica e Planetologia Spaziali of the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofísica. Costa is one of the scientists who conceived this experiment and proposed it to NASA 10 years ago, under the leadership of Martin Weisskopf, IXPE’s first principal investigator. “IXPE’s polarized X-ray vision has solved several long lasting mysteries, and this is one of the most important. In some other cases, IXPE results have challenged consolidated opinions and opened new enigmas, but this is how science works and, for sure, IXPE is doing very good science.” What’s next for the blazar research? “One thing we’ll want to do is try to find as many of these as possible,” Ehlert said. “Blazars change quite a bit with time and are full of surprises.” More about IXPE IXPE, which continues to provide unprecedented data enabling groundbreaking discoveries about celestial objects across the universe, is a joint NASA and Italian Space Agency mission with partners and science collaborators in 12 countries. IXPE is led by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. BAE Systems, Inc., headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, manages spacecraft operations together with the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder. Learn more about IXPE’s ongoing mission here: https://www.nasa.gov/ixpe Elizabeth LandauNASA Headquarterselizabeth.r.landau@nasa.gov202-358-0845 Lane FigueroaMarshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.lane.e.figueroa@nasa.gov256.544.0034
Headline: Secretary Noem Remembers Americans Killed by Illegal Aliens Driving Under the Influence
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and President Trump stand with the victims of illegal alien crimes and their families
To watch the video please click here
“Far too many American lives have been lost because of illegal aliens driving drunk, including Mathew Denice, Sarah Root, and so many others,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin
“These Americans killed by drunk-driving illegal aliens should still be with us today, and we feel their absence in our schools and offices, at our dinner tables, and throughout our communities
President Trump and Secretary Noem have reopened the VOICE Office to serve all victims of illegal alien crime and their families
”
The following names are just a handful of Americans whose lives were taken too soon at the hands of illegal aliens driving under the influence
7-year-old Ivory Smith was killed in a crash caused by Joel Enrique Gonzalez Chacin of Venezuela in Texas in 2024
8-year-old Maverick Martzen was killed in a crash caused by Karmit Singh of India in California in 2019
10-year-old Alex “AJ” Wise Jr
was killed in a crash caused by Rogelio Ortiz-Olivas of Mexico in Texas in 2024
18-year-olds Taliyah Crochet and Rylan Oncale were both killed in a crash caused by Axel Flores-Cordova of Honduras in Louisiana in 2024
19-year-olds Anya Varfolomeev and Nicholay Osokin were both killed in a crash caused by Oscar Eduardo Ortega-Anguiano of Mexico in California in 2021
20-year-old Katie Abraham was killed in a hit-and-run crash caused by Julio Cucul Bol of Guatemala in Illinois in 2025
21-year-old Sarah Root was killed in a crash caused by Eswin Mejia of Honduras in Nebraska in 2016
29-year-old Grayson Davis was killed in a crash caused by illegal alien Jorge Peralta in Texas in 2024
44-year-old Police Officer David Lee was killed by Ramon A
Chavez-Rodriguez of Honduras in Missouri in 2024
7-year-old Melissa Powell and her 16-year-old son, Riordan, were killed in a crash caused by Jose Guadalupe Menjivar-Alas of Honduras in Colorado in 2024
70-year-old Robert Boles was killed in a crash caused by illegal alien Jorge Urbina Lopez in Texas in 2025
On April 10, Secretary Noem relaunched the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) office
The VOICE office was shuttered by the previous administration, which left victims of alien crime without access to many key support services and resources
The office was first launched in 2017 by the Trump administration as a dedicated resource for those who have been victimized by crime that has a nexus to immigration
Engineers, technicians, mission planners, and the four astronauts set to fly around the Moon next year on Artemis II, NASA’s first crewed Artemis mission, are rapidly progressing toward launch. At the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, teams are working around the clock to move into integration and final testing of all SLS (Space Launch System) and Orion spacecraft elements. Recently they completed two key milestones – connecting the SLS upper stage with the rest of the assembled rocket and moving Orion from its assembly facility to be fueled for flight. “We’re extremely focused on preparing for Artemis II, and the mission is nearly here,” said Lakiesha Hawkins, assistant deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Moon to Mars Program, who also will chair the mission management team during Artemis II. “This crewed test flight, which will send four humans around the Moon, will inform our future missions to the Moon and Mars.”
On May 1, technicians successfully attached the interim cryogenic propulsion stage to the SLS rocket elements already poised atop mobile launcher 1, including its twin solid rocket boosters and core stage, inside the spaceport’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). This portion of the rocket produces 24,750 pounds of thrust for Orion after the rest of the rocket has completed its job. Teams soon will move into a series of integrated tests to ensure all the rocket’s elements are communicating with each other and the Launch Control Center as expected. The tests include verifying interfaces and ensuring SLS systems work properly with the ground systems. Meanwhile, on May 3, Orion left its metaphorical nest, the Neil Armstrong Operations & Checkout Facility at Kennedy, where it was assembled and underwent initial testing. There the crew module was outfitted with thousands of parts including critical life support systems for flight and integrated with the service module and crew module adapter. Its next stop on the road to the launch pad is the Multi-Payload Processing Facility, where it will be carefully fueled with propellants, high pressure gases, coolant, and other fluids the spacecraft and its crew need to maneuver in space and carry out the mission. After fueling is complete, the four astronauts flying on the mission around the Moon and back over the course of approximately 10 days, will board the spacecraft in their Orion Crew Survival System spacesuits to test all the equipment interfaces they will need to operate during the mission. This will mark the first time NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, will board their actual spacecraft while wearing their spacesuits. After the crewed testing is complete, technicians will move Orion to Kennedy’s Launch Abort System Facility, where the critical escape system will be added. From there, Orion will move to the VAB to be integrated with the fully assembled rocket. NASA also announced its second agreement with an international space agency to fly a CubeSat on the mission. The collaborations provide opportunities for other countries to work alongside NASA to integrate and fly technology and experiments as part of the agency’s Artemis campaign. While engineers at Kennedy integrate and test hardware with their eyes on final preparations for the mission, teams responsible for launching and flying the mission have been busy preparing for a variety of scenarios they could face. The launch team at Kennedy has completed more than 30 simulations across cryogenic propellant loading and terminal countdown scenarios. The crew has been taking part in simulations for mission scenarios, including with teams in mission control. In April, the crew and the flight control team at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston simulated liftoff through a planned manual piloting test together for the first time. The crew also recently conducted long-duration fit checks for their spacesuits and seats, practicing several operations while under various suit pressures.
Teams are heading into a busy summer of mission preparations. While hardware checkouts and integration continue, in coming months the crew, flight controllers, and launch controllers will begin practicing their roles in the mission together as part of integrated simulations. In May, the crew will begin participating pre-launch operations and training for emergency scenarios during launch operations at Kennedy and observe a simulation by the launch control team of the terminal countdown portion of launch. In June, recovery teams will rehearse procedures they would use in the case of a pad or ascent abort off the coast of Florida, with launch and flight control teams supporting. The mission management team, responsible for reviewing mission status and risk assessments for issues that arise and making decisions about them, also will begin practicing their roles in simulations. Later this summer, the Orion stage adapter will arrive at the VAB from NASA’s Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and stacked on top of the rocket.
Through Artemis, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.
A soot-like cloud is revealed in a section of the sky in this May 1, 2025, image from NASA’S SPHEREx space observatory. On May 1, SPHEREx began regular science operations, which consist of taking about 3,600 images per day for the next two years to provide new insights about the origins of the universe, galaxies, and the ingredients for life in the Milky Way. The observatory won’t be the first to map the entire sky, but it will be the first to do so in so many colors. It observes 102 wavelengths, or colors, of infrared light, which are undetectable to the human eye. When SPHEREx takes a picture of the sky, the light is sent to six detectors that each produces a unique image capturing different wavelengths of light. These groups of six images are called an exposure, and SPHEREx takes about 600 exposures per day. When it’s done with one exposure, the whole observatory shifts position — the mirrors and detectors don’t move as they do on some other telescopes. Read more about SPHEREx and the images it will capture. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Headline: FEMA Encourages Eligible Kentucky Disaster Survivors of April Storms To Apply for Programs Before the Assistance Deadline
FEMA Encourages Eligible Kentucky Disaster Survivors of April Storms To Apply for Programs Before the Assistance Deadline
FRANKFORT, Ky
–FEMA is encouraging eligible Kentucky disaster survivors to apply for assistance programs including Child Care, Serious Needs Assistance and Displacement Assistance before the June 25 deadline
Do not miss out on assistance that may be available to you because of a missed deadline
Homeowners and renters in Anderson, Butler, Carroll, Christian, Clark, Franklin, Hardin, Hopkins, Jessamine, McCracken, Mercer, Owen and Woodford counties who suffered loss caused by the April severe storms, straight-line winds, flooding, landslides and mudslides may be eligible for assistance
Serious Needs AssistanceSerious Needs Assistance is money to pay for emergency supplies like water, food, first aid, breast-feeding supplies, infant formula, diapers, personal hygiene items, or fuel for transportation
It is available for 30 days from the date of declaration for Individual Assistance in all disasters
The date of declaration for DR-4864-KY is April 24, 2025, so the deadline for Serious Needs Assistance in Kentucky is May 24
How much Serious Needs Assistance can I get? FEMA gives Serious Needs Assistance as a one-time payment of $770 per household
The award amount is adjusted annually
Child Care AssistanceKentucky survivors of the April storms may be eligible for Child Care Assistance if they did NOT have child care expenses prior to the disaster, but do have child care expenses after, as a result of the disaster, and those expenses are not covered by another source
How Much Child Care Assistance Can I Get?Child Care Assistance may be available for up to eight weeks per child or per household
The maximum amount for child care for Kentuckians is $1,260 per child
Who May Get Child Care Assistance?Kentucky disaster survivors may be eligible for FEMA Child Care Assistance even if they did not have property damage
FEMA may award payment for Child Care Assistance under its Other Needs Assistance program to those with disaster-caused child care expenses following the April storms
Displacement AssistanceFEMA helps survivors who can’t return to their home following a disaster by giving them up-front money to help with immediate housing needs
FEMA may provide a one-time payment of up to two weeks of funds for temporary lodging at a hotel, motel, or the home of friends or family, for displaced applicants who apply during the registration period
How To Apply for FEMA AssistanceThere are four ways to apply for FEMA assistance:Online at DisasterAssistance
gov
Visit any Disaster Recovery Center
To find a center close to you, visit fema
gov/DRC, or text DRC along with your Zip Code to 43362 (Example: “DRC 29169”)
Use the FEMA mobile app
Call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362
It is open 7 a
m
to 10 p
m
Eastern Time
Help is available in many languages
If you use a relay service, such as Video Relay Service (VRS), captioned telephone or other service, give FEMA your number for that service
FEMA works with every household on a case-by-case basis
Again, for disaster survivors in Kentucky counties approved for Individual Assistance for the April storms, the application deadline is June 25
For more information about Kentucky flooding recovery, visit www
Lee esta nota de prensa en español aquí. For the first time, astronomers have probed the physical environment of repeating X-ray outbursts near monster black holes thanks to data from NASA’s NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer) and other missions. Scientists have only recently encountered this class of X-ray flares, called QPEs, or quasi-periodic eruptions. A system astronomers have nicknamed Ansky is the eighth QPE source discovered, and it produces the most energetic outbursts seen to date. Ansky also sets records in terms of timing and duration, with eruptions every 4.5 days or so that last approximately 1.5 days. “These QPEs are mysterious and intensely interesting phenomena,” said Joheen Chakraborty, a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. “One of the most intriguing aspects is their quasi-periodic nature. We’re still developing the methodologies and frameworks we need to understand what causes QPEs, and Ansky’s unusual properties are helping us improve those tools.”
[embedded content] Watch how astronomers used data from NASA’s NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer) to study a mysterious cosmic phenomenon called a quasi-periodic eruption, or QPE.NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Ansky’s name comes from ZTF19acnskyy, the moniker of a visible-light outburst seen in 2019. It was located in a galaxy about 300 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. This event was the first indication that something unusual might be happening. A paper about Ansky, led by Chakraborty, was published Tuesday in The Astrophysical Journal. A leading theory suggests that QPEs occur in systems where a relatively low-mass object passes through the disk of gas surrounding a supermassive black hole that holds hundreds of thousands to billions of times the Sun’s mass. When the lower-mass object punches through the disk, its passage drives out expanding clouds of hot gas that we observe as QPEs in X-rays. Scientists think the eruptions’ quasi-periodicity occurs because the smaller object’s orbit is not perfectly circular and spirals toward the black hole over time. Also, the extreme gravity close to the black hole warps the fabric of space-time, altering the object’s orbits so they don’t close on themselves with each cycle. Scientists’ current understanding suggests the eruptions repeat until the disk disappears or the orbiting object disintegrates, which may take up to a few years.
“Ansky’s extreme properties may be due to the nature of the disk around its supermassive black hole,” said Lorena Hernández-García, an astrophysicist at the Millennium Nucleus on Transversal Research and Technology to Explore Supermassive Black Holes, the Millennium Institute of Astrophysics, and University of Valparaíso in Chile. “In most QPE systems the supermassive black hole likely shreds a passing star, creating a small disk very close to itself. In Ansky’s case, we think the disk is much larger and can involve objects farther away, creating the longer timescales we observe.” Hernández-García, in addition to being a co-author on Chakraborty’s paper, led the study that discovered Ansky’s QPEs, which was published in April in Nature Astronomy and used data from NICER, NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and Chandra X-ray Observatory, as well as ESA’s (European Space Agency’s) XMM-Newton space telescope. NICER’s position on the International Space Station allowed it to observe Ansky about 16 times every day from May to July 2024. The frequency of the observations was critical in detecting the X-ray fluctuations that revealed Ansky produces QPEs. Chakraborty’s team used data from NICER and XMM-Newton to map the rapid evolution of the ejected material driving the observed QPEs in unprecedented detail by studying variations in X-ray intensity during the rise and fall of each eruption. The researchers found that each impact resulted in about a Jupiter’s worth of mass reaching expansion velocities around 15% of the speed of light.
The NICER telescope’s ability to frequently observe Ansky from the space station and its unique measurement capabilities also made it possible for the team to measure the size and temperature of the roughly spherical bubble of debris as it expanded. “All NICER’s Ansky observations used in these papers were collected after the instrument experienced a ‘light leak’ in May 2023,” said Zaven Arzoumanian, the mission’s science lead at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “Even though the leak – which was patched in January – affected the telescope’s observing strategy, NICER was still able to make vital contributions to time domain astronomy, or the study of changes in the cosmos on timescales we can see.” After the repair, NICER continued observing Ansky to explore how the outbursts have evolved over time. A paper about these results, led by Hernández-García and co-authored by Chakraborty, is under review. Observational studies of QPEs like Chakraborty’s will also play a key role in preparing the science community for a new era of multimessenger astronomy, which combines measurements using light, elementary particles, and space-time ripples called gravitational waves to better understand objects and events in the universe. One goal of ESA’s future LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission, in which NASA is a partner, is to study extreme mass-ratio inspirals — or systems where a low-mass object orbits a much more massive one, like Ansky. These systems should emit gravitational waves that are not observable with current facilities. Electromagnetic studies of QPEs will help improve models of those systems ahead of LISA’s anticipated launch in the mid-2030s. “We’re going to keep observing Ansky for as long as we can,” Chakraborty said. “We’re still in the infancy of understanding QPEs. It’s such an exciting time because there’s so much to learn.”
By Jeanette KazmierczakNASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Media Contact:Claire Andreoli301-286-1940claire.andreoli@nasa.govNASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Vulnerabilities: Execution with Unnecessary Privileges
2. RISK EVALUATION
Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow for privilege escalation on the device, easily guessed passwords, or for arbitrary code to be executed on the underlying operating system.
3. TECHNICAL DETAILS
3.1 AFFECTED PRODUCTS
Products using the following versions of BrightSign OS are affected:
BrightSign OS series 4 players: Versions prior to v8.5.53.1
BrightSign OS series 5 players: Versions prior to v9.0.166
3.2 VULNERABILITY OVERVIEW
3.2.1EXECUTION WITH UNNECESSARY PRIVILEGES CWE-250
BrightSign players running BrightSign OS series 4 prior to v8.5.53.1 or series 5 prior to v9.0.166 contain an execution with unnecessary privileges vulnerability, allowing for privilege escalation on the device once code execution has been obtained.
CVE-2025-3925 has been assigned to this vulnerability. A CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 has been calculated; the CVSS vector string is (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).
A CVSS v4 score has also been calculated for CVE-2025-3925. A base score of 8.5 has been calculated; the CVSS vector string is (CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N).
3.3 BACKGROUND
CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE SECTORS: Commercial Facilities, Financial Services, Food and Agriculture, Healthcare and Public Health
COUNTRIES/AREAS DEPLOYED: Worldwide
COMPANY HEADQUARTERS LOCATION: United States
3.4 RESEARCHER
Adam Merrill, a member of the Adversarial Modeling and Penetration Testing (AMPT) team at Sandia National Laboratories, reported this vulnerability to CISA.
4. MITIGATIONS
BrightSign fixed CVE-2025-3925 in v8.5.53.1 (for series 4 players) and v9.0.166 (for series 5 players). Both of these have been released and available on the BrightSign download site.
BrightSign recommends the following security practices:
Change default passwords when the device is initially set up.
Disable the local DWS as described in “High Security settings”.
Disable the SSH/telnet server when not being used – it is not enabled by default.
Devices should be located where an attacker does not have physical access to the device.
SD and USB ports can be disabled if not needed.
For more information, please contact BrightSign via their website.
CISA recommends users take defensive measures to minimize the risk of exploitation of these vulnerabilities, such as:
Minimize network exposure for all control system devices and/or systems, ensuring they are not accessible from the Internet.
Locate control system networks and remote devices behind firewalls and isolating them from business networks.
When remote access is required, use more secure methods, such as virtual private networks (VPNs), recognizing VPNs may have vulnerabilities and should be updated to the most current version available. Also recognize VPN is only as secure as the connected devices.
CISA reminds organizations to perform proper impact analysis and risk assessment prior to deploying defensive measures.
CISA also provides a section for control systems security recommended practices on the ICS webpage on cisa.gov/ics. Several CISA products detailing cyber defense best practices are available for reading and download, including Improving Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity with Defense-in-Depth Strategies.
CISA encourages organizations to implement recommended cybersecurity strategies for proactive defense of ICS assets.
Additional mitigation guidance and recommended practices are publicly available on the ICS webpage at cisa.gov/ics in the technical information paper, ICS-TIP-12-146-01B–Targeted Cyber Intrusion Detection and Mitigation Strategies.
Organizations observing suspected malicious activity should follow established internal procedures and report findings to CISA for tracking and correlation against other incidents.
No known public exploitation specifically targeting this vulnerability has been reported to CISA at this time.
Vulnerability: Improper Access Control for Volatile Memory Containing Boot Code
2. RISK EVALUATION
Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow any user with admin privileges to inject arbitrary shell commands.
3. TECHNICAL DETAILS
3.1 AFFECTED PRODUCTS
The following versions of UG65-868M-EA, an industrial gateway, are affected:
UG65-868M-EA: Firmware versions prior to 60.0.0.46
3.2 VULNERABILITY OVERVIEW
3.2.1Improper Access Control for Volatile Memory Containing Boot Code CWE-1274
An admin user can gain unauthorized write access to the /etc/rc.local file on the device, which is executed on a system boot.
CVE-2025-4043 has been assigned to this vulnerability. A CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.8 has been calculated; the CVSS vector string is (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N).
A CVSS v4 score has also been calculated for CVE-2025-4043. A base score of 6.1 has been calculated; the CVSS vector string is (CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:H/SA:N).
3.3 BACKGROUND
CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE SECTORS: Energy
COUNTRIES/AREAS DEPLOYED: Worldwide
COMPANY HEADQUARTERS LOCATION: China
3.4 RESEARCHER
Joe Lovett of Pen Test Partners reported this vulnerability to CISA.
4. MITIGATIONS
Milesight released the latest firmware Version 60.0.0.46 for the UG65 gateway. Users can download the latest firmware from the Milesight download center.
Please contact Milesight technical support for more information about this issue and for instructions for installing the latest firmware.
CISA recommends users take defensive measures to minimize the risk of exploitation of this vulnerability, such as:
Ensure that principles of least privilege are followed.
Minimize network exposure for all control system devices and/or systems, ensuring they are not accessible from the Internet.
Locate control system networks and remote devices behind firewalls and isolating them from business networks.
When remote access is required, use more secure methods, such as virtual private networks (VPNs), recognizing VPNs may have vulnerabilities and should be updated to the most current version available. Also recognize VPN is only as secure as the connected devices.
CISA reminds organizations to perform proper impact analysis and risk assessment prior to deploying defensive measures.
CISA also provides a section for control systems security recommended practices on the ICS webpage on cisa.gov/ics. Several CISA products detailing cyber defense best practices are available for reading and download, including Improving Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity with Defense-in-Depth Strategies.
CISA encourages organizations to implement recommended cybersecurity strategies for proactive defense of ICS assets.
Additional mitigation guidance and recommended practices are publicly available on the ICS webpage at cisa.gov/ics in the technical information paper, ICS-TIP-12-146-01B–Targeted Cyber Intrusion Detection and Mitigation Strategies.
Organizations observing suspected malicious activity should follow established internal procedures and report findings to CISA for tracking and correlation against other incidents.
No known public exploitation specifically targeting this vulnerability has been reported to CISA at this time.
Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow an attacker to establish an authenticated connection with the hard-coded credentials and perform OS command executions.
3. TECHNICAL DETAILS
3.1 AFFECTED PRODUCTS
The following versions of Optigo Networks ONS NC600 are affected:
ONS NC600: Versions 4.2.1-084 through 4.7.2-330
3.2 VULNERABILITY OVERVIEW
3.2.1USE OF HARD-CODED CREDENTIALS CWE-798
In Optigo Networks ONS NC600 versions 4.2.1-084 through 4.7.2-330, an attacker could connect with the device’s ssh server and utilize the system’s components to perform OS command executions.
CVE-2025-4041 has been assigned to this vulnerability. A CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 has been calculated; the CVSS vector string is (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).
A CVSS v4 score has also been calculated for CVE-2025-4041. A base score of 9.3 has been calculated; the CVSS vector string is (AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N).
Tomer Goldschmidt of Claroty Team82 reported this vulnerability to CISA.
4. MITIGATIONS
Optigo Networks recommends users implement at least one of the following additional mitigations:
Use a dedicated NIC on the BMS computer and exclusively use the computer for connecting to OneView to manage your OT network configuration.
Set up a router firewall with a white list for the devices permitted to access OneView.
Connect to OneView via secure VPN.
CISA recommends users take defensive measures to minimize the risk of exploitation of this vulnerability, such as:
Minimize network exposure for all control system devices and/or systems, ensuring they are not accessible from the internet.
Locate control system networks and remote devices behind firewalls and isolating them from business networks.
When remote access is required, use more secure methods, such as Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), recognizing VPNs may have vulnerabilities and should be updated to the most current version available. Also recognize VPN is only as secure as the connected devices.
CISA reminds organizations to perform proper impact analysis and risk assessment prior to deploying defensive measures.
CISA also provides a section for control systems security recommended practices on the ICS webpage on cisa.gov/ics. Several CISA products detailing cyber defense best practices are available for reading and download, including Improving Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity with Defense-in-Depth Strategies.
CISA encourages organizations to implement recommended cybersecurity strategies for proactive defense of ICS assets.
Additional mitigation guidance and recommended practices are publicly available on the ICS webpage at cisa.gov/ics in the technical information paper, ICS-TIP-12-146-01B–Targeted Cyber Intrusion Detection and Mitigation Strategies.
Organizations observing suspected malicious activity should follow established internal procedures and report findings to CISA for tracking and correlation against other incidents.
CISA also recommends users take the following measures to protect themselves from social engineering attacks:
No known public exploitation specifically targeting this vulnerability has been reported to CISA at this time.
NASA is partnering with commercial industry to expand our knowledge of Earth, our solar system, and beyond. Recently, NASA collaborated with Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) to support data transfer for the agency’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) mission to explore the origins of the universe. “Not only is NASA moving toward commercialization, the agency is making technological advancements to existing systems and saving millions of dollars in the process — all while expanding human knowledge through science and exploration missions,” said Kevin Coggins, associate administrator for NASA’s SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) program. To receive data from missions in space, NASA relies on the Near Space Network and Deep Space Network, a collection of antennas around the globe. In preparation for the recently-launched SPHEREx observatory, NASA needed to upgrade an antenna on the world’s most remote continent: Antarctica.
[embedded content] Transmitted via NASA’s Near Space Network, this video shows SPHEREx scanning a region of the Large Magellanic Cloud. The shifting colors represent different infrared wavelengths detected by the telescope’s two arrays. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s SCaN program took a novel approach by leveraging its established commercial partnership with KSAT. While upgraded KSAT antennas were added to the Near Space Network in 2023, SPHEREx required an additional Antarctic antenna that could link to online data storage. To support SPHEREx’s polar orbit, KSAT upgraded its Troll, Antarctica antenna and incorporated their own cloud storage system. NASA then connected KSAT’s cloud to the NASA cloud, DAPHNE+ (Data Acquisition Process and Handling Environment). As the Near Space Network’s operational cloud services system, DAPHNE+ enables science missions to transmit their data to the network for virtual file storage, processing, and management. “By connecting the Troll antenna to DAPHNE+, we eliminated the need for large, undersea fiberoptic cables by virtually connecting private and government-owned cloud systems, reducing the project’s cost and complexity,” said Matt Vincent, the SPHEREx mission manager for the Near Space Network at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Each day, SPHEREx downlinks a portion of its 20 gigabits of science data through the Troll antenna, which transfers the files across KSAT’s network of relay satellites to the DAPHNE+ cloud. The cloud system combines and centralizes the data from each antenna, allowing access to all of SPHEREx’s health and science data in one convenient place.
With coverage throughout its orbit, SPHEREx transmits its 3D maps of the celestial sky, offering new insight into what happened a fraction of a second after the big bang. “Missions like SPHEREx use the Near Space Network’s combination of commercial and government antennas,” explained Michael Skube, DAPHNE+ manager at NASA Goddard. “And that is the benefit of DAPHNE+ — it enables the network to pull different sources of information into one central location. The DAPHNE+ system treats government and commercial antennas as part of the same network.” The partnership is mutually beneficial. NASA’s Near Space Network maintains a data connection with SPHEREx as it traverses both poles and KSAT benefits from its antennas’ integration into a robust global network – no new cables required. “We were able to find a networking solution with KSAT that did not require us to put additional hardware in Antarctica,” said Vincent. “Now we are operating with the highest data rate we have ever downlinked from that location.”
For NASA, its commercial partners, and other global space agencies, this expansion means more reliable space communications with fewer expenses. Troll’s successful integration into the Near Space Network is a case study for future private and government partnerships. As SPHEREx measures the collective glow of over 450 million galaxies as far as 10 billion light-years away, SCaN continues to innovate how its discoveries safely return to Earth. The SPHEREx mission is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California for the agency’s Astrophysics Division within the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. Data will be processed and archived at IPAC at Caltech. The SPHEREx dataset will be publicly available at the NASA-IPAC Infrared Science Archive. Funding and oversight for DAPHNE+ and the Near Space Network come from the SCaN program office at NASA Headquarters and operate out of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The Troll Satellite Station is owned and operated by Kongsberg Satellite Services and located in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica.
Headline: Georgia Survivors Have Received More Than $549 Million for Helene Recovery
Georgia Survivors Have Received More Than $549 Million for Helene Recovery
As of May 5, more than $549 million in federal assistance and low-interest loans has gone out to Hurricane Helene survivors in GeorgiaEight months after the devastating storm, families and individuals have received money for basic repairs to their homes, rental assistance, sheltering in hotels, funds for replacement of essential personal property, money for serious needs, disaster case management, and other assistance
This assistance has been provided to more than 399,300 households in Georgia
“We are thankful for the partnership and collaboration with FEMA and the SBA,” stated Director Josh Lamb of GEMA/HS, “which has allowed Georgians adversely impacted by Hurricane Helene, to receive over $549 Million in funding to assist in the rebuilding of their lives
“Here are some ways that FEMA, SBA and other federal agencies are working with the state of Georgia and local communities to provide support:FEMA approved more than$364 million in grants to survivors tohelp with housing repair or replacement, rental assistance, personal property loss and other needs
Of that, more than 4,700 families have received over $11
5 million in rental assistance which gives families funds to rent a new home
This program also lets families get additional funds for up to 18 months
he U
S
Small Business Administration approved more than 3,200 in low-interest disaster loans for business and homeowners for more than $187 million
FEMA paid outmore than $26
3 million in flood insurance claims to more than 460 policyholders
Additionally, FEMA paid for emergency hotel/motel stays for more than 840 families
FEMA and the U
S
Army Corps of Engineers is working with the state and communities to monitor debris removal
To date, over 40
1 million cubic yards of debris has been removed from public rights of way
FEMA remains committed to helping Georgians on their road to recovery and continues to work with federal, state and local agencies to find survivors affordable housing options by hosting housing resource fairs to connect families with local services and resources
To date, FEMA has hosted 12 housing resource fairs and helped 1,011 attendees
“We want survivors to know we are here for them and want to see the best outcome, which is moving into safe, sanitary and functioning housing,” stated FEMA Federal Coordinating Officer Kevin Wallace
“We will walk them through their options to ensure they are aware of the resources that are available to fit their need
”As severe storm season continues and hurricane season approaches, FEMA encourages Georgians to prepare by:Getting an insurance check-up
Your insurance policy may not cover floods or wildfires
Talk to your agent to make sure you have the right kind and amount of insurance
You can visit FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program Quoting Tool to find out how much flood insurance may cost and find an insurance agency to purchase a policy
Having several ways to receive alerts
Download the free FEMA app to receive real-time alerts from the National Weather Service for up to five locations nationwide
Sign up for community alerts in your area and make sure your phone can receive Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA)
Gathering Supplies
Your supplies should have items you and your family would need to stay safe and comfortable for several days after disaster
Remember to consider the needs of those you care for, whether they are children, older adults, loved ones who have a disability and pets
Visit Ready
gov and learn about disasters, low and no cost preparedness, lists to build kits and create a free family emergency communications plan
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Moscow, May 7 (Xinhua) — China and Russia effectively shoulder the responsibilities befitting major powers and share the same views on promoting a multipolar world and democratizing international relations, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui said in an interview with Xinhua.
As the diplomat noted, China and Russia are major world powers and permanent members of the UN Security Council. Beijing and Moscow share the same views on promoting a multipolar world and democratizing international relations, and are firm in upholding the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the basic norms of international relations, clearly opposing hegemonism and power politics. The two sides are jointly pursuing the path of promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, supporting each other’s major international initiatives and achieving fruitful results in the application of the principle of multilateralism, Zhang Hanhui added.
The modern world is undergoing changes unseen in a century, the diplomat said. According to him, China and Russia will continue to expand the solidarity of the Global South, promote an equal and orderly multipolar world, as well as an inclusive and beneficial economic globalization. China and Russia will properly fulfill their responsibilities as major powers, hold high the banner of genuine multilateralism, jointly safeguard the international system with the UN as the core, expand and strengthen cooperation within the SCO and BRICS, protect the interests and unite the joint efforts of the Global South, and promote the development of the global governance system in the direction of greater fairness and rationality, the diplomat said.
This year, Beijing and Moscow are working together to ensure the success of the “Year of China” in the SCO, support Brazil in hosting the BRICS summit and the climate conference, and support South Africa in organizing the G20 summit, Zhang Hanhui noted. –0–
Governor Shapiro Announces First PA SITES Grant Awards, Investing $64 Million in 11 Projects Across the Commonwealth, Creating Hundreds of Jobs and Building Shovel-Ready Sites for Businesses
Governor Josh Shapiro and Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) Secretary Rick Siger announced the Commonwealth is investing $64 million in 11 projects through the first round of the PA SITES (Pennsylvania Strategic Investments to Enhance Sites) program to build shovel-ready industrial sites across the Commonwealth in order to attract businesses, investment, and good-paying jobs to Pennsylvania.
Governor Shapiro and Secretary Siger made today’s PA SITES announcement in Bedford, where the Bedford County Development Association (BCDA) is receiving a $2.8 million grant from the program to develop Area 1 and 2 of a 151-acre site into the Bedford County Business Park III. These areas will consist of nine lots ranging in size from 20.9 acres to 1 acre. BCDA will use the funds to make site improvements, including extending water and sewer lines and grading parcels. PA SITES is helping create shovel-ready sites across the Commonwealth in order to spur economic growth for all Pennsylvanians.
Governor Shapiro and his Administration developed PA SITES after soliciting feedback from national site selectors who help companies decide where to relocate and grow. Governor Shapiro worked across the aisle to secure $500 million dollars for site development in his 2024-25 budget, including $400 million for PA SITES. As a result of successful program and Governor Shapiro’s advocacy, Pennsylvania was rated the top state in the Northeast for Regional Economic Competitiveness by Site Selector Magazine.
Speaker list: Jeffrey Crist, Chair, Bedford County Development Association Governor Josh Shapiro Bette Slayton, President and CEO, Bedford County Development Association Secretary Rick Siger, PA Department of Community and Economic Development Mike Stiles, Commissioner & Chair, Bedford County
ADVISORY – PennDOT Secretary Carroll to Hold Virtual REAL ID Update in Advance of Federal Enforcement Starting Tomorrow
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Secretary Mike Carroll will hold a virtual media update on REAL ID, the final in a series of virtual updates held leading up to the start of federal enforcement tomorrow, May 7. The updates will be streamed live on PACast and the PennDOT Facebook page. A PACast with audio and video will also be available after the event.
The media is invited to email questions for the Secretary to address at the briefing. Questions should be emailed to dotcomm@pa.gov by noon on Wednesday, May 7.
WHO: PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll
WHEN: Wednesday, May 7 at 1:00 PM
PUBLIC LIVESTREAMS: pacast.com/live/penndot Facebook.com/PennsylvaniaDepartmentofTransportation