Tulsi Gabbard will resign from her position as the US director of national intelligence in the Trump administration, citing her husband’s recent bone cancer diagnosis.

“His strength and love have sustained me through every challenge,” she wrote in her resignation letter on Friday. “I cannot in good conscience ask him to face this fight alone while I continue in this demanding and time-consuming position.”

President Donald Trump said in a social media post that Gabbard “has done an incredible job, and we will miss her”.

Her resignation is effective 30 June. Aaron Lukas, the principal deputy director, will step in as acting director, Trump said.

Gabbard, a loyal supporter of Trump during his 2024 presidential campaign, was confirmed as one of the most powerful figures in US intelligence-gathering weeks after he returned to the White House in 2025. But this year, she has largely been out of public view even as the US took military action against Iran, put pressure on Cuba, and notably removed Venezuela’s president.

Gabbard is the fourth Cabinet member to depart the Trump administration after Lori Chavez-DeRemer left her position as labor secretary in April. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi both left the administration earlier this year.

In her resignation letter, Gabbard said her husband, Abraham, “faces major challenges in the coming weeks and months.”

Trump posted on social media that Gabbard “rightfully, wants to be with him, bringing him back to good health as they currently fight a tough battle together. I have no doubt he will soon be better than ever.”

During her political career, she had positioned herself as an anti-interventionalist in foreign wars, creating tension after Trump decided to attack Iran. Following US-Israel strikes, she avoided endorsing the decision, carefully evading questions during a congressional hearing in March about whether the administration knew of the conflict’s potential fallout.

She also faced scrutiny during questioning over what Democrats perceived as discrepancies between White House and intelligence community claims about Iran’s nuclear enrichment capabilities.

Last year, Trump appeared to dismiss Gabbard’s declaration before Congress that Iran was not seeking to build a nuclear weapon.

“I don’t care what she said,” Trump told reporters at the time. “I think they were very close to having a weapon.” He has repeatedly cited Iran’s nuclear capability as a reason for the US war with Iran.

Gabbard’s departure comes two months after her top aide, former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent, left the the administration over the war in Iran, urging the president to “reverse course”.

Following Kent’s resignation, Gabbard publicly backed Trump’s decision in Iran, saying that as commander-in-chief, the president was responsible for determining what is and is not an imminent threat.

A military veteran who served with a medical unit in Iraq, Gabbard has had a few political firsts in her career.

She was first elected to the Hawaii Legislature aged 21 in 2002, the youngest person ever elected in the state. She left after one term when her National Guard unit was deployed to Iraq.

Gabbard went on to represent Hawaii in Congress as a Democrat from 2013 until 2021 – becoming the first Hindu to serve in the House.

She ran an unsuccessful bid for president in 2020, positioning herself on an anti-interventionalist foreign policy platform.

In 2022, she left the Democratic Party and initially registered as an independent – accusing her former party of being an “elitist cabal of warmongers” driven by “cowardly wokeness”.

As a contributor on Fox News, she was vocal on topics such as gender and freedom of speech, and became an outspoken supporter of Donald Trump before joining the Republican party.

She endorsed Trump in 2024, campaigned with him and served as a member of his transition team after the election.

Trump nominated her to be director of national intelligence shortly after he won the election. As head of the intelligence community, Gabbard coordinates among multiple intelligence agencies and advises the president.

Under her leadership, the size of the intelligence community has shrunk. When announcing plans to cut the agency’s staff by almost 50% last year, she said the agency had become “bloated and inefficient” over the last two decades.

[BBC]

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has launched the largest and most powerful rocket in history after its highly anticipated test flight was delayed.

The uncrewed Starship V3 rocket blasted off from Texas just after 17:30 (2230 GMT) on Friday, days after Space X revealed plans for a record breaking stock market debut.

Once in space, Starship deployed 20 dummy satellites before making re-entry and about an hour after launch it splashed down in the Indian Ocean, where it exploded as planned. “Congratulations @SpaceX team on an epic first Starship V3 launch & landing!” Musk said. “You scored a goal for humanity.”

The first attempted launch on Thursday was postponed due to a launch-tower malfunction.

The SpaceX team celebrated after the launch, and while the mission achieved most of its major objectives, it did not go exactly to plan.

Both stages of the rocket suffered engine failures but the test flight was largely successful – a result that will likely boost confidence both for investors and for Nasa, which intends to use the Starship vehicle in future missions to the moon.

Nasa Administrator Jared Isaacman congratulated Musk and the SpaceX team.

“One step closer to the Moon… one step closer to Mars,” he posted on X.

It was the 12th flight of a SpaceX rocket, and featured the latest design which stands 124 meters (407 feet) high – more than 40 storeys.

The debut of the Starship V3 comes ahead of SpaceX’s initial public offering (IPO), which is set to be the largest in Wall Street history. It could start next month.

Because of the shares Musk will own in SpaceX, which values itself at $1.25tn, the listing could make him the first-ever trillionaire.

SpaceX not only makes rockets, but has a satellite internet service called Starlink, and owns the controversial artificial intelligence (AI) firm xAI.

[BBC]

Two Indian climbers have died on Mount Everest during a record-breaking period of ascents via Nepal’s southern route, as experts warn of overcrowding on the world’s highest peak.

Nepal is home to eight of the world’s 10 highest peaks and welcomes hundreds of adventurers each spring.

At least five climbers have died during this Everest season, including the two Indians and three Nepalis. A United States and a Czech climber died on Mount Makalu earlier this month.

Nivesh Karki, director at Pioneer Adventures, named the latest victims as Sandeep Are, who he said summited on May 20, and Arun Kumar Tiwari, who reached the peak on May 21.

“They fell ill while descending at high altitude. We are working out how to retrieve the bodies,” Karki told the AFP news agency.

Nepali climber Kami Rita Sherpa, who scaled Everest for a record 32nd time earlier this month, returned to the capital, Kathmandu, on Friday, where he expressed concern about the experience of some climbers.

Pictures posted by climbers show a long line of people climbing up fixed ropes, queueing in the icy, low-oxygen high-altitude zones.

“The expedition this time felt a bit crowded,” said Kami Rita Sherpa, dubbed the “Everest Man”.

“The government should regulate this a bit … They should let in only climbers of quality – there should be a limit,” he told AFP.

On Thursday, a record number of climbers reached the 8,849-metre (29,032-foot) Himalayan peak from the Nepali side, according to tourism officials, who gave a preliminary total of 275 pending final confirmation.

The peak can be tackled from both Nepal and the northern face in Tibet, but Chinese authorities have closed the latter route this year.

The Guinness Book of World Records lists the highest number to climb Everest in a single day as 354, in May 2019.

Nepali tourism officials said the final number will be tallied after the climbs are verified, which require photographs and statements from the climber’s expedition company and guides.

Among the successful climbers on Friday was British guide Kenton Cool, who reached the top for the 20th time – extending his own record for the most ascents of the world’s highest peak by a non-Nepali.

The high number of climbers has rekindled concerns about overcrowding on the mountain – especially if poor weather shortens the climbing window.

The country has issued a record 492 Everest permits for foreigners this season, with a city of tents set up at the foot of the mountain for climbers and support staff.

Approximately 600 people – including guides – have summited Everest since the start of this year’s spring climbing season in April.

[Aljazeera]