Good morning! The weekend edition is 655 words, a 4-minute read.

What’s on tap: 

• Mamdami’s first 100 days

• Magawa, the bombing sniffing rat

• Half marathon wearing 55 T-shirts

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Today’s Big Story

Moon Mission Complete

• The four Artemis II astronauts splashed down safely yesterday in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego, completing NASA's first crewed lunar mission in more than 50 years. The crew set a new distance record — 252,756 miles from Earth — surpassing the previous mark set by the Apollo 13 crew during their emergency return in 1970.

• The mission's end came with a nail-biting six-minute communications blackout as the Orion capsule plunged through Earth's atmosphere at temperatures approaching 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The stakes were especially high because the heat shield had a known flaw from the uncrewed Artemis I test flight in 2022. NASA modified the entry path to reduce heat exposure — and it worked. The crew was helped out of the capsule one by one before being flown by helicopter to a nearby Navy ship.

• The crew — including the first woman, first person of color, and first Canadian on a lunar mission — captured never-before-seen photos of the moon's far side that NASA says will help scientists understand how the moon formed.

Saturday’s Quick Hits

• New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani marks 100 days in office having secured early wins — a childcare funding deal and a surprising peace with Trump — while wrestling with a $5.4 billion budget gap that forced him to drop several campaign pledges. Mamdani’s approval rating sits at 43–48%, below his predecessor's at the same point. (More)

• Consumer prices jumped 0.9% in March, up sharply from February's 0.3% rise, pushing the annual inflation rate to 3.3% — the highest since April 2024. Energy drove the surge, rising 10.9% for the month, with gasoline up 21.2% — accounting for nearly three-quarters of the overall increase. The spike is tied to the war in Iran. Excluding food and energy, prices rose a more modest 0.2%. (More)

• Kamala Harris said Friday she might run for president in 2028, telling a National Action Network conference in New York she's "thinking about it." Harris, who lost to Donald Trump in 2024 after replacing Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket, pointed to her White House experience and said the "status quo is not working." She skipped the 2024 California governor's race, suggesting her sights were set higher. (More)

• Russia and Ukraine agreed to a cease-fire this Orthodox Easter weekend, with fighting paused from Saturday afternoon through Sunday. Both sides claimed credit for proposing the truce, and both expressed doubt it would hold — last Easter, Zelensky accused Russia of nearly 3,000 violations. (More)

• California governor candidate Eric Swalwell lost his major endorsements Friday after a woman accused him of sexually assaulting her twice — in 2019, when she worked for him, and again in 2024. Sen. Adam Schiff and several labor unions pulled their support; Nancy Pelosi called for an investigation outside the campaign. Swalwell denied the allegations and threatened legal action. (More)

Weekly Dose of Positive

• An anonymous donor gave $1 million to help 173 nurses at a Pennsylvania hospital pay off student loans, part of more than $4 million in similar gifts across the health system. (More)

• A 12-year-old, half-blind New Mexico dog fought off a bear raiding her family's chicken coop, surviving deep wounds and surgery to make a full recovery. (More)

• Cambodia unveiled a stone statue of Magawa, a rat who sniffed out more than 100 landmines over a five-year career, making 1.5 million square feet of land safe. (More)

• A Georgia preteen arriving home on her school bus spotted her family's house on fire and screamed a warning, saving her two older brothers who were still inside. (More)

Extra Credit

Runner completes half marathon wearing 55 T-shirts.

See powerful winners of the World Press Photo Contest.

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