Trump urges

Netanyahu pardon

JERUSALEM (AP) — President Donald Trump has urged Israel to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a corruption case. Trump called the case a “political, unjustified prosecution” in a letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday.

Herzog acknowledged the letter but said a formal request is needed for a pardon. Trump also mentioned the pardon during a speech last month at Israel’s Knesset, receiving a standing ovation.

Concerns about American influence in Israeli politics are growing. Netanyahu is the only sitting Israeli prime minister to be indicted, facing charges of fraud, breach of trust, and accepting bribes.

Victims ID’d

in UPS crash

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A grandfather and his young granddaughter. An electrician with two young children. A woman standing in line at a scrap metal business. They are among the 14 people who died in the fiery crash of a UPS plane in Louisville last week.

Their names were released Wednesday as Mayor Craig Greenberg laments lives that will “forever be unfinished.” Eight days after the plane plowed into the ground in a massive fireball, the local coroner’s office says it completed the grim tasks of recovering victims’ remains, identifying them and notifying their loved ones.

Greenberg says authorities believe all the victims have been located and identified.

Solar outbursts

trigger auroras

NEW YORK (AP) — Solar storms brought colorful auroras to unexpected places on Tuesday night, and there could be more to come.

Space weather forecasters confirmed that storms reached severe levels, triggering vibrant northern lights in Europe including Hungary and the United Kingdom. In the U.S., the hues were spotted as far south as Kansas, Colorado and Texas.

There were some impacts to GPS communications and the power grid, Shawn Dahl with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a video posted on X.

The uptick in solar activity forced NASA on Wednesday to postpone the launch of Blue Origin’s new rocket carrying Mars orbiters until conditions improve.