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A major shakeup is underway inside America's intelligence community as the acting DNI begins sweeping staff cuts, while the nation's largest power grid races to avoid holiday blackouts during a punishing heat wave. We also cover Trump's latest political maneuver in New York, growing Middle East tensions, and the stories shaping markets, science, sports, and culture.

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Acting Director of National Intelligence Pulte has begun firing dozens of intelligence officials, according to reporting from MS NOW on Friday afternoon. The dismissals mark one of the most aggressive shakeups of the ODNI since it was created in the wake of 9/11.

Pulte, President Trump's controversial pick to lead the office, has moved swiftly since taking the acting role. The scale and speed of the cuts have already rattled the workforce that oversees the 18-agency U.S. intelligence apparatus.

PJM Interconnection, the largest U.S. power grid, escalated emergency actions heading into the holiday weekend and is operating under a federal alert to slash electricity consumption. The operator serves roughly 67 million people across the Mid-Atlantic, the South, and Washington, D.C.

The stress test lands as data-center demand and a punishing heat dome squeeze supply on one of the busiest travel weekends of the year. A blackout during Independence Day cookouts would be the sort of political fireworks nobody in Washington ordered.

President Trump persuaded New York Assemblyman Robert Smullen to withdraw from the general election in the race to replace Rep. Elise Stefanik after Smullen lost the Republican primary but still qualified for the Conservative Party ballot line. His exit removes the prospect of a split conservative vote and leaves the Republican nominee as the only major right-leaning candidate in the race.

Stefanik's North Country district has reliably favored Republicans, making party unity a key priority ahead of November. With Smullen stepping aside, GOP leaders can focus their resources on defending the seat instead of navigating competing conservative campaigns.

American officials believed Israel was plotting to assassinate Iran's top negotiators, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf. Washington feared the killings would blow up the fragile peace talks that have kept a wider Middle East war at bay.

Denmark, which hosts one of the largest Fourth of July celebrations outside America, has uninvited U.S. officials from the program over lingering fury at President Trump's Greenland ambitions. Danish officials pressured organizers into the unprecedented snub, a diplomatic slap on the holiday celebrating an alliance now visibly fraying.

An overloaded bus carrying 48 passengers plunged 70 feet into a ravine on a notoriously hazardous highway linking two Pakistani provincial capitals, killing 40. The crash reopens familiar questions about road safety enforcement on a route that has swallowed vehicles for years.

Air Force Major Jason Watson, in uniform, was detained during a Capitol protest after publicly calling for President Trump's impeachment at a Wednesday news conference. Uniformed political speech is a bright line under military law, setting up a case likely to test how far that line now bends.

The Louisiana Supreme Court paused the prosecution of state Attorney General Liz Murrill hours after a New Orleans grand jury indicted her on bullying charges, citing potential procedural flaws. The intervention halts a highly unusual criminal case against a sitting state AG before it can begin.

Nearly 5,000 National Guard troops are now deployed in Washington, roughly double the initial contingent, ahead of a Fourth of July weekend the administration says requires the surge. Many soldiers have spent shifts scrubbing graffiti and picking up trash while critics question what mission actually justifies the numbers.

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The first known congressional purchases of SpaceX stock have surfaced in disclosure filings following the company's record-shattering IPO. The buys land as Elon Musk's firm deepens its federal contracting footprint, guaranteeing fresh fights over lawmakers trading stock in companies they help regulate.

Bank revenue from overdraft fees is climbing again after Congress scrapped a cap last year that had limited what lenders could charge when customers spent more than their balance. The reversal is quietly restoring a lucrative revenue stream that consumer advocates spent a decade trying to kill.

Gold is on track for its first weekly rise in a month as investors scaled back bets on a looming Federal Reserve rate hike. The metal tends to rally when traders expect looser policy, so the move doubles as a live read on where markets think Jerome Powell is headed.

A refrigerator-size spacecraft launched Friday to rendezvous with NASA's Swift telescope, grab hold, and nudge it into a higher orbit before atmospheric drag drops it into the sea. Success would extend the life of one of astronomy's most reliable eyes on gamma-ray bursts and other cosmic explosions.

Two commercial spacecraft rendezvoused in orbit on the Space Force's groundbreaking "Victus Haze" mission, the first private-on-private intercept of its kind. The demonstration is a milestone for the Pentagon's push to build on-demand orbital response capabilities using commercial hardware.

Researchers at the University of Warwick and Monash University cracked how bacteria naturally produce multiple variants of powerful anti-cancer compounds, solving a decades-old mystery. The finding could let chemists engineer better versions of existing drugs instead of hunting blindly for new ones.

The Lakers are trading center Deandre Ayton to the Wizards for guard Jaden Hardy and a pair of future second-round picks. The deal reshapes L.A.'s frontcourt just as the roster's LeBron-era math gets more complicated by the day.

The Philadelphia Flyers tendered a five-year offer sheet worth $18 million annually to Anaheim Ducks star center Leo Carlsson. Offer sheets are the NHL's rarest weapon, and Philadelphia just fired one at one of hockey's brightest young centers.

MSG Sports executive chairman James Dolan handed day-to-day operations of the New York Rangers to his 32-year-old son Quentin. Rangers fans, a group that keeps a running list of grievances, have a fresh Dolan to evaluate.

Madonna released "Confessions II", the long-awaited sequel to her 2005 dance-floor blockbuster, capping a rollout that included a surprise Coachella set and a Grindr takeover of the Gayborhood. The album is her most conventionally pop swing in years and a bet that disco nostalgia still moves streams.

Swedish bodybuilder and actor Kjell Nilsson, who played the masked bruiser Lord Humungus in "Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior," has died at 76 after four years of kidney complications. His hulking, hockey-masked villain became one of the defining images of post-apocalyptic cinema.

Dustin Hoffman was visibly emotional accepting the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution at the 60th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, saying filmmaking makes him "feel alive." The tribute opened the festival with a career reel spanning six decades of American cinema.

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What it is: LeBron James' longtime agent Rich Paul walked through the free-agency picture for the NBA's all-time leading scorer, laying out the roughly 10 franchises actively in the conversation.

The detail: Paul detailed pros and cons for each contender, with title contention, roster fit, and family logistics all weighing on a decision that will reshape the top of the league. The list spans traditional contenders and a handful of ambitious upstarts hoping a short LeBron run can vault them into championship territory. League executives are also weighing salary-cap flexibility, trade assets, and whether teams can realistically build a championship roster around a player entering his mid-40s. Any deal would likely require additional moves, creating ripple effects across the rest of free agency.

Why it matters: Every LeBron move is a market event. His arrival typically resets a team's payroll, ticket demand, national TV slate, and playoff odds overnight, and it drags several other free-agent decisions into his wake as veterans wait to see where the gravity settles. Television partners, sponsors, and local businesses also benefit whenever James changes teams, making his choice one of the NBA's biggest annual economic stories as well as a basketball one.

What to watch: The specific finalists Paul emphasizes, the role of James' son Bronny in the decision, and how quickly the dominoes fall behind him. Whichever team lands LeBron becomes an instant Finals conversation, and every team that misses out has to scramble for a plan B before training camp. A decision before Summer League would give front offices time to reshape their rosters, while a prolonged process could freeze much of the remaining veteran market as contenders wait for the league's biggest piece to fall into place.

- A pilot is suing Marriott after waking up to a swarm of bats in his Denver hotel room, getting bitten, receiving rabies treatment, and, per the lawsuit, being offered no new room.

- Millions of pounds of rotting food still sit inside an L.A. cold-storage warehouse damaged by fire, and neighbors say the stench has graduated from unpleasant to genuinely medieval.

- A Venezuelan man named Hernán Gil was pulled alive from the rubble of a collapsed multistory car park eight days after an earthquake, an outcome rescue crews had quietly stopped expecting.

Five Minute Daily keeps the biggest stories clear, brief and useful. Forward this to a friend who wants the world in five minutes.

—The Five Minute Daily Team