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Bessent
casts blame
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says he was frustrated with the Commerce Department’s delay in placing restrictions on Nvidia chip exports to a company with alleged ties to China. Bessent said on CNBC Friday that his department, along with the departments of State and Defense and the U.S. Trade Representative, were in favor of adding Singapore-based Megaspeed International to an export control list for months but that the Commerce Department was in charge of the matter.
Bessent’s comments were an unusually public rebuke of the Commerce Department, which oversees U.S. government controls over exports of sensitive, high-tech goods.
Van Hollen
launches bid
(AP) -- Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen has emerged as a challenger to New York Sen. Chuck Schumer as the Democratic Party picks a Senate majority leader. Van Hollen launched his bid Thursday, casting himself as a new face that reflects the public’s desire for change after the midterm campaign delivered Democrats control of the Senate and the House.
Van Hollen is a two-term incumbent who previously represented Maryland in the House and in the legislature. Van Hollen became an early face of Democratic resistance to President Donald Trump in the Republican’s second term in the White House.
Starship soars
into orbit
(AP) -- SpaceX has lost out on its attempt to recover its entire Starship back at the Texas launch pad. The first-stage booster was diverted into the Gulf of Mexico shortly after Friday’s liftoff and exploded.
But the spacecraft still soared into orbit, delivering 26 Starlink satellites. If all goes well, Elon Musk’s SpaceX will try to grab the spacecraft back at the pad on Saturday. The test flight, planned to last 22 hours, is the boldest yet for Starship.
The spacecraft will complete 15 laps around Earth before tackling the grand finale.
UK police
launch probe
LONDON (AP) -- London police say they are investigating children’s author and TV personality David Walliams for serious sexual offenses after news outlets reported allegations of misconduct.
The Metropolitan Police said it had received a number of allegations of abuse in the past after a joint investigation by ITV News and the Guardian newspaper.
The allegations are different from those reported by the news outlets, police said. But they will also look into the news stories to see if there is evidence of other crimes.