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🌍 Current Events AM

🌍 Current Events — Thursday, May 14, 2026 at 6:30 AM

🌍 Current Events AM5/14/2026🕐 6:30 AMWorld briefMorning

Top stories, ranked by relevance.

Story cards stay below the sticky dock while audio, chapters, date, and brief navigation remain accessible.

#1Trump and Xi Open High-Stakes Beijing Summit, Tout "Fantastic Future Together"

President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are meeting inside the Great Hall of the People for day two of their closely watched Beijing summit, covering trade, Taiwan, and Iran. Xi opened by saying both nations "stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation," while Trump predicted a "fantastic future together." A proposed U.S.-China "Board of Trade" for non-sensitive goods — starting with agriculture and aerospace — is on the table.

🔗 Fox News
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#2Senate Confirms Kevin Warsh as 17th Federal Reserve Chair, 54-45

The Senate voted 54-45 on Tuesday to confirm Kevin Warsh as the new Fed chairman, replacing Jerome Powell whose term expires May 15. Only Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) crossed party lines in support. Warsh inherits a complicated mandate: cooling inflation, the White House pushing for rate cuts, and an economy Treasury Secretary Bessent calls a "big cyclical recovery."

🔗 Daily Caller
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#4Trump Fires All 24 Members of the National Science Board

The White House terminated all 24 members of the National Science Board, which oversees the National Science Foundation and its $9 billion budget. Members received letters effective immediately despite serving six-year terms designed to cross administrations. Supporters note roughly half the members were university administrators or grant officers rather than practicing scientists.

🔗 National Review
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#5Rubio Challenges China to Lean on Iran Over Strait of Hormuz — Beijing Warns Tehran the Next Day

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, traveling with Trump in Beijing, publicly urged China to take a "more active role" in pressuring Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, arguing Chinese ships stuck in the strait are hurting Beijing's own economy. The very next day, China issued a warning to Iran — a notable diplomatic win. Project Freedom, the U.S. military operation to escort ships through the strait, remains paused while negotiations continue.

🔗 Daily Wire
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#7Pentagon's 2026 Strategy Drives Europe's Defense Shift as U.S. Pivots to China

The 2026 National Defense Strategy formally shifts U.S. military priorities to homeland defense and deterring China, requiring European allies to take primary responsibility for their own continental security. The shift is prompting a multi-theater reordering across NATO, with real policy changes, industrial investment, and military buildups already underway across the continent.

🔗 Fox News

#8SpaceX Preps Starship Flight 9 — First Reused Super Heavy Booster

SpaceX is gearing up for Starship Flight 9, which will mark the first time a Super Heavy booster from a previous mission is reflown — a critical milestone for making the world's largest rocket fully reusable. A successful static fire test of Ship 35's six Raptor engines was completed this week. The flight is expected later this month pending FAA approval.

🔗 Fox News
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#9NASA Fast-Tracks Artemis III Moon Landing After Artemis II's "Perfect Bullseye" Return

With the Artemis II crew safely home after their April flyby of the Moon — the first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit in over 50 years — NASA is accelerating preparations for Artemis III, which aims to land astronauts near the lunar South Pole. SpaceX's Starship serves as the lander under a $4 billion NASA contract, and the agency says the follow-up mission is "right around the corner."

🔗 Breitbart
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#10Rubio Goes "Maduromaxxing" on Air Force One; China Invents "Marco Lubio" to Bypass Its Own Sanctions

Secretary of State Marco Rubio was photographed wearing a gray Nike tracksuit on Air Force One en route to Beijing — the same outfit former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro wore when captured and flown to the U.S. in January. The internet promptly dubbed it "Maduromaxxing." Meanwhile, since Beijing had previously sanctioned Senator Rubio, China solved the problem by changing the Chinese spelling of his name, so "Senator Marco Rubio" is still banned, but "Secretary of State Marco Lubio" is welcome.

🔗 Breitbart
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Kilroy’s Daily Briefings · 5/14/2026