Flights temporarily halted at Florida airports after SpaceX loses contact with megarocket
After a failed mission in January, SpaceX on Thursday launched its eighth suborbital flight test of its fully integrated Starship megarocket, a combination of the ship’s upper stage (S34) and the Super Heavy booster (B15), at Starbase in Boca Chica Beach, Texas.
Unfortunately, history repeated itself when Starship’s upper stage made it into space only to start spinning uncontrollably before losing contact and breaking apart, sending debris cascading back to earth early Thursday evening.
One of the goals of the flight was to catch the Super Heavy booster using the chopsticks on the launch tower, which was completed successfully.
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“During Starship’s ascent burn, the vehicle experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly and contact was lost. Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses,” SpaceX said in a statement. “We will review the data from today’s flight test to better understand [the] root cause. As always, success comes from what we learn, and today’s flight will offer additional lessons to improve Starship’s reliability.”
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has not commented following the launch, as of 7:45 p.m.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released a statement noting it is requiring SpaceX to perform a “mishap investigation” into the loss of the Starship.
“During the event, the FAA activated a Debris Response Area and briefly slowed aircraft outside the area where space vehicle debris was falling or stopped aircraft at their departure location,” according to the statement. “Normal operations have resumed.”
A mishap investigation is designed to enhance public safety, determine the root cause of the event, and identify corrective actions to avoid it from happening again, according to the FAA.
“The FAA will be involved in every step of the SpaceX-led mishap investigation process and must approve SpaceX’s final report, including any corrective actions,” according to the statement.
SpaceX announcers who were streaming during the launch said the controllers lost contact with the ship, noting a debris response plan was in effect and air traffic control was “keeping public safe.”
“We fly to learn,” announcers said before the broadcast ended.
The upper stage was supposed to coast in space for about 40 minutes before performing a soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
A ground stop was issued for multiple Florida airports, including Miami International, due to space launch debris, according to the FAA.
As of 7:45 p.m., Miami remained grounded and Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International reported a departure delay due to the debris.
After completing a January investigation into the similar loss of Starship early on its seventh flight test, several hardware and operational changes were made to increase the reliability of the upper stage, according to the company.
During the January test, all but one of Starship’s engines executed controlled shut-down sequences, leading to a loss of communication with the ship.
A pre-coordinated response plan developed by SpaceX, the FAA, and ATO (air traffic control) went into effect, ensuring no significant impacts on people, marine species or water quality.
SpaceX reached out immediately to the government of Turks and Caicos and worked alongside the United Kingdom to coordinate recovery and cleanup efforts.
Thursday’s flight followed the same suborbital trajectory as previous missions, but targeted objectives not reached in the previous test, including Starship’s first payload deployment and multiple reentry experiments geared towards returning the upper stage to the launch site for catch.
During the flight test, Starship was slated to deploy four Starlink simulators, similar in size to next-generation Starlink satellites. They were expected to disappear upon entry. A relight of a single Raptor engine while in space was also planned.
It is unclear if those operations were completed prior to the Ship upper stage losing communication.
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The test also included several experiments focused on ensuring the Starship’s upper stage could return to the launch site.
Some of the experiments included: removing a “significant number” of tiles to stress-test vulnerable areas; multiple metallic tile options to identify which will protect the ship during reentry; non-structural versions of Starship’s catch fittings to test the fittings’ thermal performance; and smoothing and tapering a section of the tile line to address hot spots observed during reentry on the sixth flight test.
The Super Heavy booster featured upgraded avionics, including a more powerful flight computer, improved power and network distribution, and integrated smart batteries.
The company noted “distinct vehicle and pad criteria” needed to be met prior to the return and catch of the Super Heavy booster.
To return, the ship needed healthy systems on the booster and tower, and a final manual command from the mission’s flight director.
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| TSLA | TESLA INC. | 263.45 | -15.65 | -5.61% |
“If this command is not sent prior to the completion of the boostback burn, or if automated health checks show unacceptable conditions with Super Heavy or the tower, the booster will default to a trajectory for a soft splashdown in the Gulf of America,” according to a statement from the company.
“We accept no compromises when it comes to ensuring the safety of the public and our team, and booster return will only take place if conditions are right,” the company wrote.
The returning booster slowed from supersonic speeds, resulting in audible sonic booms in the area around the landing zone.
“Generally, the only impact to those in the surrounding area of a sonic boom is the brief thunder-like noise with variables like weather and distance from the return site determining the magnitude experienced by observers,” according to the company.
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“Developmental testing by definition is unpredictable,” SpaceX wrote. “But by putting flight hardware in a flight environment as frequently as possible, we’re able to quickly learn and execute design changes as we seek to bring Starship online as a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle.”
Trump’s FDA nominee flips question on Democrat, recalls controversial Biden decision
President Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) flipped a question about vaccine processes around on a top Democratic senator during his confirmation hearing on Thursday, advising them to ask former President Joe Biden why he skipped a key step when it came to the COVID-19 booster.
Dr. Marty Makary, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine professor and former Fox News medical contributor, went before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), during which he answered questions regarding vaccines, chronic illness, food safety and abortion.
“So if you are confirmed, will you commit to immediately reschedule that FDA Vaccine Advisory Committee meeting to get the expert views?” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., asked Trump’s FDA pick.
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Her question came in reference to an FDA vaccine meeting that was reportedly postponed at the last minute.
“I would reevaluate which topics deserve a convening of the advisory committee members on [Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee] and which may not require a convening,” Makary replied, noting he was not a part of the decision.
Asked again by Murray, the FDA commissioner nominee said, “Well, you can ask the Biden administration that chose not to convene the committee meeting for the COVID vaccine booster.”
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In 2021, Biden’s administration notably pushed through FDA approval for a COVID-19 booster for everyone over the age of 18. Per a press release at the time, “The FDA did not hold a meeting of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee on these actions as the agency previously convened the committee for extensive discussions regarding the use of booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines and, after review of both Pfizer’s and Moderna’s EUA requests, the FDA concluded that the requests do not raise questions that would benefit from additional discussion by committee members.”
At the time, committee member Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia remarked, “We’re being asked to approve this as a three-dose vaccine for people 16 years of age and older, without any clear evidence if the third dose for a younger person when compared to an elderly person is of value.”
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Fox News Digital asked Murray whether she was similarly concerned by Biden’s decision. The senator said in a statement, “In 2022, I had confidence that our public health agencies were following the latest science and listening to public health experts. I do not have that confidence now.”
“We’re talking about Trump and RFK Jr. canceling a routine meeting that has taken place annually, for at least 30 years, to make recommendations for which influenza strains should be included in the flu vaccines for the upcoming flu season — there has been zero justification for its cancellation or any information about when it would be rescheduled,” she continued. “The flu vaccine is safe, effective, and lifesaving — we need this advisory committee to meet so manufacturers have enough time to prepare the correct vaccines.”
Ahead of the Thursday hearing, Murray and fellow HELP Democratic Sens. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland penned a letter to Makary, telling him, “We intend to use your nomination hearing next week to understand whether you support this ill-informed measure to slow critical public health decision-making.”
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HELP Chairman Bill Cassidy, R-La., also inquired about the postponed meeting, asking Makary, “How will you ensure that advisory committees remain objective, transparent and still benefiting from the necessary expertise of external experts?”
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The nominee told Cassidy, “You have my commitment to review what the committees are doing [and] how they’re being used.”
“As you know, I was critical when that committee was not convened at all during one of the COVID booster guidance decisions by the FDA,” Makary, a former Fox News contributor, noted.
He recalled that FDA leadership “at the time argued that they’re advisory, and we don’t have to convene them. That was repeatedly, throughout the Biden administration.”
Surviving roommates’ haunting text messages from night of Idaho massacre released
FIRST ON FOX: Text messages between two surviving roommates from the home in Moscow, Idaho, where four university students were killed in a home invasion stabbing attack have been revealed publicly for the first time in a newly unsealed court filing.
The roommates, identified in court documents only as DM and BF, appear to have been awake and discussing the possibility of a masked trespasser approximately five minutes after the attack.
DM has previously been identified as the only eyewitness who saw the intruder – a masked man with “bushy eyebrows” – in the six-bedroom house on King Road. Based on her statements to police and audio from a security camera next door, the attacker is believed to have left the house shortly after 4:17 a.m. on Nov. 13, 2022.
The attack left four people dead – Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.
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The filing reveals text messages that DM and BF exchanged between 4:22 and 4:24, as well as texts DM sent to some of the victims before dawn and again around 10:20 a.m. Prior to the texts, DM tried to call BF and three of the victims. None of her calls were answered.
“No one is answering,” DM wrote to BF, according to the filing. “I’m rlly confused rn.”
Read the excerpts from moments after the slayings:
“Kaylee,” DM wrote in another text. “What’s going on?”
DM also appeared to reference the intruder she later told police she encountered when peering out of her bedroom door. She referenced something “like a ski mask almost.”
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Read the excerpts from morning after:
“Like he had soemtbinfover (sic) is for head and little nd mouth”
BF urged her to “run” downstairs. According to other court filings released this week, DM spent the night in BF’s room and an unnamed person called 911 from BF’s phone around noon the next day.
At 10:23 a.m., DM texted both Mogen and Goncalves. “Pls answer,” she wrote. “R u up??” She then called her father around 11:40 a.m.
Timeline of Nov. 13, 2022:
- 4:00 AM: Suspect arrives at house
- Between 4 and 4:17: Time of murders
- 4:19: Roommate calls 3 victims, no one answers
- 4:22 to 4:24: Surviving roommates text each other from inside house
- 4:27: Roommate calls victims again, no one answers
- 4:32: Roommate texts Goncalves ‘Pls answer’
- 10:23: Surviving roommate texts victims, no one answers
- 11:39: Roommate calls her father
- 12:00 PM.: 911 call placed from roommate’s phone
Prosecutors are asking the court to allow them to introduce the texts as evidence.
Read the redacted 911 call transcript
Prosecutors allege that police found a Ka-Bar knife sheath under Mogen’s body that had DNA on it that led them to the suspect, Bryan Kohberger, a 30-year-old former Ph.D. student who was studying criminology at the nearby Washington State University at the time of the crime.
Separately, the court also released a transcript of a frantic 911 call that reveals multiple callers spoke with the dispatcher trying to explain they had found Kernodle unresponsive and someone had seen an intruder the night before.
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Additional filings made public Thursday evening include a list of records that prosecutors plan to introduce as evidence and another defense motion seeking to have the death penalty removed as a potential sentence if there is a conviction – this time arguing that prosecutors have failed to meet discovery deadlines.
“Striking the death penalty is the only remedy that begins to adequately address the prejudice to Mr. Kohberger,” defense attorney Anne Taylor wrote. “Even with a ‘hot documents’ list and detailed expert disclosures— the minimum necessary for this case to proceed to trial—counsel is at a massive disadvantage given the limited resources as compared to the State and the fact that only five months remain before trial.”
The proseuction’s evidence ranges from Kohberger’s banking and shopping records to surveillance video on the night of the crime.
Prosecutors also plan to introduce National Weather Service reports from Nov. 12 and Nov. 13, 2022 – which could potentially challenge Kohberger’s alibi about driving around looking at the moon and stars during the time of the crime.
School official points out what’s ‘really unfair’ about Newsom’s apparent change of heart
California residents and schools have faced recurring instances of transgender athletes competing in girls sports over the last several months, prompting national scrutiny; disruption to academics, athletics and family life; and even lawsuits.
On Thursday, some of those affected California residents watched Gov. Gavin Newsom admit on his new podcast that he believes transgender athletes competing in girls sports is “unfair” yet justify allowing it to happen.
“It’s deeply unfair,” Newsom said of transgender athletes competing with girls. “There’s also a humility and a grace. … These poor people are more likely to commit suicide, have anxiety and depression. And the way that people talk down to vulnerable communities is an issue that I have a hard time with as well.
“So, both things I can hold in my hand. How can we address this issue with the kind of decency that I think, you know, is inherent in you but not always expressed on the issue?”
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Fox News Digital reached out to schools and families affected by California’s trans athlete inclusion policies over the last year for their thoughts on Newsom’s recent comments.
Stone Ridge Christian School in Merced, California, had its girls volleyball team forfeit a playoff game to San Francisco Waldorf in the fall due to the presence of a transgender athlete on Waldorf’s team. It was a decision that ended Stone Ridge Christian’s season because Newsom’s policies forced the girls volleyball team into a situation where it would have to refuse to play to avoid compromising religious beliefs.
“What’s really unfair is Gov. Newsom letting males compete in women’s sports despite admitting that it is unfair. While it is common sense for men and women to compete on their own teams, this is especially concerning as a religious school,” Stone Ridge Christian School Campus Administrator Julie Fagundes told Fox News Digital.
At Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, California, a situation involving a trans athlete on the girls’ cross-country team prompted national scrutiny, a lawsuit by two girls on the team and several students being punished for wearing “Save Girls Sports” T-shirts in protest.
Cynthia Slavin, the mother of one of the girls who filed a lawsuit against the Riverside Unified School District, told Fox News Digital she believes Newsom is “marginalizing” young biological females with his stance.
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“I’m thankful Gavin Newsom said having boys in girls sports is unfair. I’m thankful he too has empathy for all people, but that just is not enough. What’s truly unfair is that he has the power to do something about this issue but doesn’t. Talk is cheap. Take action, do something,” Slavin said.
“By him not taking action or trying to come up with a plan, he is adding to the division and tension in our state. He is adding to the stress and mental issues for not only the ‘marginalized’ group but for my daughter Kaitlyn and all the other girls who are not OK with biological boys invading their spaces. He is helping biological girls become the new marginalized group.”
The neighboring Jurupa Unified School District (JUPD) has been dealing with a recent national controversy involving a trans track and field athlete at Jurupa Valley High School (JUVHS) who has dominated female opponents by staggering margins in the triple jump this season.
Jaspriya Singh, a former JUVHS athlete and sister to a current athlete on the girls cross-country team, laments the situation Newsom has allowed.
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“My sister has trained tirelessly in track and field, dedicating countless hours to improving her performance. When she’s forced to compete against biological males, it creates an unfair playing field that undermines her hard work and opportunities. Female athletes deserve to compete in a space that protects fairness and integrity,” Singh told Fox News Digital.
“This isn’t just about sports. It’s about ensuring girls have the same chances to excel and achieve their dreams without an unfair disadvantage. That’s why it’s so important to fight for policies that keep women’s sports truly for women.”
A JUPD teacher told Fox News Digital on the condition of anonymity that Newsom is not being genuine in his latest comments.
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“As a teacher in Southern California, I don’t believe or trust Gavin Newsom’s sudden change of stance on transgender athletes in girls sports,” the teacher said.
“For years, he has championed policies that force schools to comply with inclusion rules, disregarding the concerns of female athletes, parents and educators. Now, in a conversation with Charlie Kirk, he’s claiming to see the unfairness in this?
“It’s hard to take seriously when his policies still allow and enforce the very thing he’s now questioning. If he truly cared about fairness in sports, he would take real action, not just shift his rhetoric when it’s politically convenient.”
Former JUPD teacher Jessica Tapia, who claims she was fired by the district for her stance on the issue, says the issue is driving good teachers from California schools.
“Still, to this day, it’s hard for me to wrap my mind around what happened to me. We are losing good teachers because of how detrimental gender ideology is, the very teachers who are fighting for truth and the true protection of students,” Tapia told Fox News Digital.
Chino Valley Unified School District board President Sonja Shaw told Fox News Digital her district has dealt with multiple reported incidents of biological males using girls locker rooms, calling Newsom “weak” for allowing it.
“You’ve seen it. You obviously know about it, and you haven’t done anything, and it takes a Charlie Kirk with you to admit it? That’s not what leaders do,” Shaw said.
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“Right now we have a lot of confusion. We have parents thinking their girls are safe until their daughters are met by a boy on the field, in the swimming pool or even in the locker rooms and restroom. So, to sit back and say its unfair but not put any teeth into it, I think is weak. It shows who he is and continues to be.”
Amber French, a Division I Swimmer at California Baptist University, has witnessed multiple incidents of transgender athletes competing against young women in her state and is calling on Newsom to take action about it.
“Every year we have another male playing in female sports and taking away our opportunities. Notice it’s never the other way around. Gavin Newsom acknowledges unfairness yet has done nothing to protect female athletes in California,” French told Fox News Digital.
“It’s time Gov. Newsom actually does something about the unfairness he acknowledges. The same decency he advocates for should be applied one hundred-fold to women, protecting their locker rooms and opportunities.”
The state has so far refused to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order to keep biological males out of girls sports since it was signed Feb. 5, risking a potential loss of federal education funding.
The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education for potential Title IX violations related to the issue.
“The CIF provides students with the opportunity to belong, connect and compete in education-based experiences in compliance with California law [Education Code section 221.5. (f)] which permits students to participate in school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, consistent with the student’s gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the student’s records,” a CIF statement said at the time.
Fox News Digital reached out to the CIF for its reaction to Newsom’s latest comments.
FBI adds former Olympian to infamous fugitive list, offers $10 million reward for capture
The FBI added a former Olympian and a Canadian national to its list of top 10 most wanted fugitives on Thursday.
The U.S. State Department is offering a reward of up to $10 million for the capture of Ryan Wedding, 43. Wedding, who competed in a snowboarding event for Canada in the 2002 winter Olympics, is wanted for allegedly running “a transnational drug trafficking network.”
FBI Los Angeles chief Akil Davis said in a press conference Thursday that Wedding’s alleged trafficking ring “routinely shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California, to Canada and other locations in the United States, and for orchestrating multiple murders and an attempted murder in furtherance of these drug crimes.”
“Wedding went from shredding powder on the slopes at the Olympics to distributing powder cocaine on the streets of U.S. cities and in his native Canada,” Davis said in a statement.
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“The alleged murders of his competitors make Wedding a very dangerous man, and his addition to the list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, coupled with a major reward offer by the State Department, will make the public our partner so that we can catch up with him before he puts anyone else in danger,” he added.
Davis noted that Secretary of State Marco Rubio approved the $10 million reward for Wedding’s capture. The FBI is also offering an additional $50,000 for information leading to his arrest.
Wedding was previously convicted in the U.S. of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, and he was sentenced to prison in 2010, according to federal records.
The FBI says Wedding’s aliases include “El Jefe,” “Giant,” “Public Enemy,” “James Conrad King,” and “Jesse King.” They say he is roughly 6’3″ and 240 pounds.
Federal authorities first issued an arrest warrant for Wedding in September of last year, but he has still not been apprehended.
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Thursday’s announcement comes just after the Justice Department announced the capture of one of Wedding’s alleged accomplices, Andrew Clark, 34. Clark, a Canadian citizen who was living in Mexico, was arrested by Mexican authorities in October 2024 and is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in U.S. District Court in Arizona.
The indictment says Wedding and his associates conspired to deliver shipments of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Los Angeles to Canada using long-haul semi-trucks.
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Wedding is charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances; conspiracy to export cocaine; continuing criminal enterprise; murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime; and attempt to commit murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime.
TV network backtracks on fact-check of Trump statement during address to Congress
CNN backtracked on one of its fact-checks of President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress after claiming he “falsely” asserted federal money was used on transgender experiments with mice.
CNN journalist Deirde McPhillips asserted that Trump “falsely claimed” Tuesday night that the Department of Government Efficiency identified $8 million that was spent on “making mice transgender.”
Instead, she argued that grants were given to projects that applied hormone therapy to monkeys to understand its effects on HIV treatment.
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“Between the 2021 and 2022 fiscal years, the National Institutes of Health awarded a total of $477,121 to three projects that involved administering feminizing hormone therapy to monkeys to understand how it may affect their immune system and make them more susceptible to HIV. Feminizing hormone therapy is a gender-affirming treatment used to block the effects of the male hormone testosterone and promote feminine characteristics among transgender women,” McPhillips wrote in a draft obtained by Wayback Machine.
The fact-check continued, “Transgender women are nearly 50 times more likely to be infected with HIV than other adults, according to one study from 2013 across 15 countries, including the US. It’s not clear where the $8 million figure came from.”
However, an edited version of the fact-check changed the assertion on Wednesday from “falsely claimed” to “needs context,” adding the White House had since put out a list of federal grants involving mice receiving gender-transition treatments.
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“The White House list made clear what Trump, in the speech, did not: The studies were meant to figure out how these treatments might affect the health of humans who take them, not for the purpose of making mice transgender,” the fact-check now reads.
The fact-check also includes a correction reading, “An earlier version of this item incorrectly characterized as false Trump’s claim about federal money being spent for ‘making mice transgender.’ The article has been updated with context about the spending, which was for research studies on the potential human health impacts of treatments used in gender-affirming care.”
Fox News Digital reached out to CNN for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
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DOGE announced on Wednesday that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has since canceled seven grants, some of which included $532,000 to “use a mouse model to investigate the effects of cross-sex testosterone treatment” and another $33,000 to test “feminizing hormone therapy in the male rat.”
How many push-ups you should be able to do based on your age
How many push-ups can you do — and how does that stack up with others your age?
That was the question posed by “FOX & Friends,” which invited viewers to send in their own videos showing their push-up prowess.
In a Thursday morning segment, “FOX & Friends” hosts Lawrence Jones and Brian Kilmeade competed in an on-air push-up challenge of their own, both successfully reaching their age goals.
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“While every body is different, the number of push-ups you can do is often a good indicator of someone’s muscular strength and endurance,” Regis Pagett, founder and owner of R Personal Fitness in New York City, told Fox News Digital.
Based on data from Mayo Clinic, below is a breakdown of how many push-ups men and women should be able to complete based on age.
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People in their 30s should be able to do at least 19 (women) and 21 (men).
People in their 40s should be able to do at least 14 (women) and 16 (men).
People in their 50s should be able to do at least 10 (women) and 12 (men).
People in their 60s (both genders) should be able to do at least 10 push-ups.
Benefits of push-ups
Weight-bearing exercises like push-ups can help increase bone density, which is particularly important as people age, according to Pagett.
“This is a major benefit of exercises with high resistance,” he told Fox News Digital.
“Strength in the upper body and core are two things that translate to everyday life, and the ability to push yourself off of the floor regularly is one that many people take for granted.”
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Push-ups mainly work the pectoral muscles (chest), with the triceps being secondary in the motion, with the core (abdominals) supplying the strength to hold the body straight through the motion, according to Pagett.
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A previous Harvard study showed that the ability for men to do 40 or more push-ups at 50 years old decreases the chance of cardiovascular disease by 96% compared to men who could do 10 or less, Pagett noted.
“The study also found that every push-up done after 10 had a decreased chance of cardiovascular disease,” he added.
Getting started with push-ups
For those looking to work up to doing push-ups, Pagett recommends starting by doing them on the knees.
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Another option is to do “negative push-ups,” in which the person starts from a tall plank position and slowly lowers the body to the floor.
With incline push-ups, the person can use an elevated surface and work their way down to the floor.
“You can also start by incorporating chest press with dumbbells, or adding the chest fly and/or tricep extension into your gym routine,” Pagett suggested.
Trump admin removes student linked to pro-Hamas activities from US, revokes visa
The State Department has revoked the visa of a student who participated in protesting in favor of Hamas, a move in line with President Donald Trump‘s call for canceling visas of students involved in the anti-Israel demonstrations on college campuses.
The State Department confirmed the matter with Fox News, without identifying the student or what university they attended due to “legal constraints.”
“Yesterday evening, we revoked the first visa of an alien who was previously cited for criminal behavior in connection with Hamas-supporting disruptions,” the State Department said. “This individual was a university student. ICE will proceed with removing this person from the country.”
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The State Department reviewed over 100,000 student visas and none were revoked during the Biden administration, despite all the anti-Israel protests and disruptions on college campuses.
Trump has repeatedly called for foreign students attending American universities to have their visas revoked for supporting Hamas and other terror groups.
Upon taking office in January, he signed an executive order to combat antisemitism.
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“To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you,” Trump is quoted in a fact sheet issued by the White House. “I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.”
U.S. college campuses have been a hotbed for anti-Israel protests and disruptions, including vandalism, threats against Jewish students and violence against law enforcement.
“The Biden Administration turned a blind eye to this coordinated assault on public order; it simply refused to protect the civil rights of Jewish Americans, especially students,” the fact sheet states. “According to a December 2024 U.S. House of Representatives Staff Report on anti-Semitism, ‘the failure of our federal government departments and agencies is astounding.'”
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On Thursday, Axios reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is launching an AI-fueled “Catch and Revoke” effort to cancel the visas of foreign students who appear to support designated terror groups.
“Those who support designated terrorist organizations, including Hamas, threaten our national security,” he wrote on X. “The United States has zero tolerance for foreign visitors who support terrorists. Violators of U.S. law — including international students — face visa denial or revocation, and deportation.”