Mortgage interest rates are a little lower today, Monday, June 16, 2025. According to Zillow data, the average 30-year fixed mortgage fell three basis points to 6.70%, while the 15-year fixed interest rate home loan term stepped back two basis points to 5.98%.
This Wednesday, the Federal Reserve will announce its latest decision on short-term interest rates. It is widely expected that the Fed will continue a “wait and see” strategy and leave rates unchanged. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, highly correlated to mortgage rates, fell 1.78% last week on tepid economic news and as Israel and Iran traded missile attacks.
These are the current mortgage refinance rates, according to the latest Zillow data:
30-year fixed: 6.78%
20-year fixed: 6.37%
15-year fixed: 6.04%
5/1 ARM: 7.43%
7/1 ARM: 7.30%
30-year VA: 6.27%
15-year VA: 5.87%
5/1 VA: 7.43%
Again, the numbers provided are national averages rounded to the nearest hundredth. Although it’s not always the case, mortgage refinance rates tend to be a little higher than purchase rates.
You can use the free Yahoo Finance mortgage calculator to play around with how different terms and rates will affect your monthly payment. Our calculator considers factors like property taxes and homeowners insurance when estimating your monthly mortgage payment. This gives you a better idea of your total monthly payment than if you just looked at mortgage principal and interest.
But if you want a quick, simple way to see how today’s rates would impact your monthly mortgage payment, try out the calculator below:
Today’s average 30-year mortgage rate is 6.70%. A 30-year term is the most popular type of mortgage because by spreading out your payments over 360 months, your monthly payment is relatively low.
If you had a $300,000 mortgage with a 30-year term and a 6.70% rate, your monthly payment toward the principal and interest would be about $1,936, and you’d pay $396,900 in interest over the life of your loan — on top of that original $300,000.
The average 15-year mortgage rate is 5.98% today. Several factors must be considered when deciding between a 15-year and 30-year mortgage.
A 15-year mortgage comes with a lower interest rate than a 30-year term. This is great in the long run because you’ll pay off your loan 15 years sooner, and that’s 15 fewer years for interest to compound.
However, your monthly payments will be higher because you’re squeezing the same debt payoff into half the time.
If you get that same $300,000 mortgage but with a 15-year term and a 5.98% rate, your monthly payment would jump up to $2,528 — but you’d only pay $155,099 in interest over the years.
With an adjustable-rate mortgage, your rate is locked in for a set period of time and then increases or decreases periodically. For example, with a 5/1 ARM, your rate stays the same for the first five years, then changes every year.
Adjustable rates usually start lower than fixed rates, but you run the risk that your rate goes up once the introductory rate-lock period is over. But an ARM could be a good fit if you plan to sell the home before your rate-lock period ends — that way, you pay a lower rate without worrying about it rising later.
Lately, ARM rates have occasionally been similar to or higher than fixed rates. Before dedicating yourself to a fixed or adjustable mortgage rate, be sure to shop around for the best lenders and rates. Some will offer more competitive adjustable rates than others.
Mortgage lenders typically give the lowest mortgage rates to people with higher down payments, excellent credit scores, and low debt-to-income ratios. So if you want a lower rate, try saving more, improving your credit score, or paying down some debt before you start shopping for homes.
You can also buy down your interest rate permanently by paying for discount points at closing. A temporary interest rate buydown is also an option — for example, maybe you get a 6.5% rate with a 2-1 buydown. Your rate would start at 4.5% for year one, increase to 5.5% for year two, then settle in at 6.5% for the remainder of your term.
Just consider whether these buydowns are worth the extra money at closing. Ask yourself whether you’ll stay in the home long enough that the amount you save with a lower rate offsets the cost of buying down your rate before making your decision.
Here are interest rates for some of the most popular mortgage terms: According to Zillow data, the national average 30-year fixed rate is 6.70%, the 15-year fixed rate is 5.98%, and the 5/1 ARM rate is 6.85%.
A normal mortgage rate on a 30-year fixed loan is 6.70%. However, keep in mind that’s the national average based on Zillow data. The average might be higher or lower depending on where you live in the U.S.
Mortgage rates probably won’t drop significantly in 2025 — especially over the next several weeks while economists keep an eye on inflation and Middle East unrest.
Google has unveiled its Safety Charter in India, which will expand its AI-led developments for fraud detection and combating scams across the country, the company’s largest market outside the United States.
Digital fraud in India is rising. Fraud related to the Indian government’s instant payment system UPI grew 85% year-over-year to nearly 11 billion Indian rupees ($127 million) last year, per the government’s data. India also saw several instances of digital arrest scams, where fraudsters pose as officials to extort money via video calls and predatory loan apps.
With its Safety Charter, Google aims to address some of these areas. The company has also launched its security engineering center in India, its fourth center after Dublin, Munich, and Malaga.
Announced at the Google for India summit last year, the security engineering center (GSec) will allow Google to partner with the local community, including government, academia and students, and small and medium enterprises to create solutions to solve cybersecurity, privacy, safety, and AI problems, said Google VP of security engineering Heather Adkins in an interview with TechCrunch.
Google has partnered with the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) to raise awareness of cybercrimes, the company said in a blog post. This builds upon the company’s existing work, including the launch of its online fraud identification program, DigiKavach, which debuted in 2023 to restrict the harmful effects of malicious financial apps and predatory loan apps.
With its GSec in India, Google will focus on three key areas, Adkins told TechCrunch: the phenomenon of online scams and fraud and how people are safe online; the cybersecurity of enterprises, government, and critical infrastructure; and building responsible AI.
“These three areas will become part of our safety charter for India, and over the coming years… we want to use the fact that we have engineering capability here to solve for what’s happening in India, close to where the users are,” said Adkins.
Globally, Google is utilizing AI to combat online scams and remove millions of ads and ad accounts. The company aims to deploy AI more extensively in India to combat digital fraud.
Google Messages, which comes preinstalled on many Android devices, uses AI-powered Scam Detection that has helped protect users from over 500 million suspicious messages a month. Similarly, Google piloted its Play Protect in India last year, which it claims has blocked nearly 60 million attempts to install high-risk apps, resulting in the stopping of more than 220,000 unique apps on over 13 million devices. Google Pay, which is one of the top UPI-based payment apps in the country, also displayed 41 million warnings against transactions suspected to be potential scams.
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Adkins, a founding member of Google’s security team who has been part of the internet company for over 23 years, discussed several other topics during an interview with TechCrunch:
Adkins said one thing top of mind is the use and misuse of AI by malicious actors.
“We’re obviously tracking AI very closely, and up until now, we’ve mostly seen the large language models like Gemini used as productivity enhancements. For example, to make phishing scams a bit more effective — especially if the actor and the target have different languages — they can use the benefit of translation to make the scams more believable using deepfakes, images, video, etc.,” said Adkins.
Adkins said Google is conducting extensive testing of its AI models to ensure they understand what they should not do.
“This is important for generated content that might be harmful, but also actions that it might take,” said Akins.
Google is working on frameworks, including the Secure AI Framework, to restrict the abuse of its Gemini models. However, to protect generative AI from being misused and abused by hackers in the future, the company sees the need for a framework to build safety for how multiple agents communicate.
“The industry is moving very, very quickly [by] putting protocols out. It’s almost like the early days of the internet, where everybody’s releasing code in real time, and we’re thinking about safety after the fact,” said Adkins.
Google does not want to introduce merely its own frameworks to limit the scope of generative AI being abused by hackers. Instead, Adkins said the company is working with the research community and developers.
“One of the things you don’t want to do is constrain yourself too much in the early research days,” said Adkins.
On surveillance vendors
Alongside generative AI’s potential for abuse by hackers, Adkins sees commercial surveillance vendors as a significant threat. These can include spyware makers, including NSO Group, which is infamous for its Pegasus spyware, or other small enterprises selling surveillance tools.
“These are companies spun up all over the world, and they develop and make and sell a platform for hacking,” said Adkins. “You might pay $20, you might pay $200,000, just depending on the sophistication of the platform, and it allows you to scale attacking people without any expertise on your own.”
Some of these vendors also sell their tools to spy on people in markets, including India. However, apart from being targeted by surveillance tools, the country has its own unique challenges in part for its size. The country sees not only AI-led deepfakes and voice cloning frauds, but also instances of digital arrests, which Adkins underlines are just regular scams adapted for the digital world.
“You can see how quickly the threat actors themselves are advancing… I love studying cyber in this region because of that. It’s often a hint of what we’re going to see worldwide at some point,” said Adkins.
On multi-factor authentication
Google has long encouraged its users to use more secure authentication methods beyond passwords to protect their online presence. The company switched on multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all user accounts in the past, and also promotes hardware-based security keys, which Adkins mentioned by pointing to its employees actively using their laptops. Passwordless is also becoming a popular tech term, with various meanings.
Nonetheless, expecting people to abandon passwords in a market like India is hard due to its vast demographics and diverse economic landscape.
“We knew for a very long time that passwords were not secure. This concept of a multi-factor authentication was a step forward,” said Adkins, adding that Indians likely favor SMS-based authentication over other MFA options.
The Pittsburgh Steelers and safety DeShon Elliott have agreed to a two-year, $12.5 million extension with $9.21 million guaranteed, a source confirmed to ESPN.
Elliott, 28, was one of the Steelers’ best run defenders last year with 2 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries, 4 tackles for loss and 108 combined tackles.
“Brooklyn and Nicola were under the impression they were being gifted their first dance by Marc Anthony,” a source told E! News in May. Instead, the singer announced, “‘Please welcome to the stage the most beautiful woman in the room—Victoria Beckham.’ Brooklyn wasn’t quite sure what to do and was put in an awkward situation.”
Moreover, the source continued, “Nicola left the room crying. She eventually came back and was able to collect herself to celebrate the rest of her wedding.”
The incident wasn’t so disastrous on the groom’s side of the family as to prevent Davidfrom being a best man at Marc’s wedding in January 2023, when he married fourth wife Nadia Ferreira. But it’s understandable if the bride had a harder time getting over it.
Brooklyn and Nicola “have made good faith efforts over the years” to have a relationship with his family, the source said, but at this time things aren’t good.
Probably apropos of nothing, though possibly not, Brooklyn called Nicola his “whole world” in a May 24 Instagram post, writing, “I always choose you baby x you’re the most amazing person I know xx me and you forever baby.”
It is one of the largest bombardments of the capital since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion
At least 14 people have been killed overnight and dozens more wounded in Russian strikes on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, officials say.
It was one of the largest bombardments of the capital since the beginning of the full-scale invasion more than three years ago.
Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said a total of 440 drones and 32 missiles had been launched at the country.
Meanwhile, Russian air defence units intercepted and destroyed 147 Ukrainian drones overnight, Moscow’s defence ministry said.
The strikes on Kyiv lasted more than nine hours – sending residents fleeing to underground shelters from before midnight until after sunrise.
Officials said a ballistic missile hit a nine-storey apartment building in one district, with a total of 27 districts of the city coming under fire.
“Waking up in utter nightmare: people trapped under rubble and full buildings collapsed,” Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko wrote on X.
Klymenko said rescue teams were still working to free people.
Loud explosions rocked the city, along with the rattle of the machine guns used by mobile Ukrainian air defence units to shoot down drones.
More sirens later in the morning disrupted rescue operations in the city, hampering emergency workers searching the rubble for survivors.
Russia has intensified its air attacks against Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, with a tactic of sending large waves of drones and decoys designed to overwhelm Ukrainian air defences.
Kyiv was hit by a barrage of strikes overnight into Tuesday
President Volodymyr Zelensky called Russia’s most recent wave of strikes “pure terrorism”.
He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of carrying out the large scale strikes “solely because he can afford to continue this war”.
“It is bad when the powerful of this world turn a blind eye to this,” he said, adding: “It is the terrorists who should feel the pain, not normal, peaceful people.”
Drone strikes also hit the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa, killing one person and injuring at least 10 others, Klymenko said.
Zelenksy had been hoping to speak with the US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada on Tuesday but Trump cut short his stay amid the escalating crisis in the Middle East.
The news will come as a blow to Zelensky and his administration, which had been hoping to secure US support at the conference for Ukraine’s strategic and military goals.
US aircraft, warships headed to Middle East amid Israel-Iran conflict
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Monday that he has directed “the deployment of additional capabilities” to the Middle East amid escalating tensions in the region.
“Protecting US forces is our top priority and these deployments are intended to enhance our defensive posture in the region,” Hegseth said in a post on social platform X.
He did not name the additional capabilities, though earlier on Monday, a U.S. official confirmed to NewsNation, The Hill’s sister network, that the U.S. military has moved a large number of refueling tanker aircraft to Europe.
The move is intended to “provide options” to Trump amid the escalating tensions, the official added.
A Defense official also confirmed to The Hill that Hegseth directed the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group be sent to the Middle East “to sustain our defensive posture and safeguard American personnel.”
Multiple outlets have reported that the action was a pre-planned deployment that had been expedited. The vessel is able to hold some 5,000 personnel and more than 60 aircraft, including fighter jets.
U.S. European Command also deployed two destroyers to the eastern Mediterranean Sea on Friday. The vessels can help defend against guided missile strikes.
The shifted U.S. military assets and personnel comes as the conflict between Israel and Iran has entered its fourth day, with both sides intensifying their assaults following Israel’s initial strike on Tehran on Friday.
Israel and Iran have taken part in tit-for-tat attacks, open warfare that Israeli officials have said could last “weeks, not days” and threatens to spark a wider war in the Middle East.
Israel last week moved forward with its strikes after accusing Iran of being on the verge of building a nuclear bomb.
Since then, the two sides have traded large scale missile attacks back and forth in what has become the deadliest confrontation between the countries, with at least 24 people killed in Israel and more than 220 killed in Iran.
Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & National Security newsletter, I’m Ellen Mitchell — your guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) introduced a resolution Monday seeking to prevent the U.S. from getting involved in a military conflict with Iran without congressional approval. The resolution reaffirms existing law, directing the president to end any use of the U.S. armed forces “for hostilities” against Iran “unless explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or specific authorization for use of military force against Iran.” The …
The Trump administration on Monday denied reporting by The Guardian that said new Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals could refuse care to veterans based on factors like marital status and political affiliation due to an executive order by President Trump. The Guardian earlier Monday published a report saying VA hospitals are implementing new rules in response to Trump’s executive order in January, which would …
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday didn’t rule out targeting Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, just hours after reports emerged that President Trump nixed a plan by Israel to take out Khamenei. “It’s not going to escalate the conflict, it’s going to end the conflict,” Netanyahu told ABC News’s Jonathan Karl when asked about the reports that Trump rejected …
President Trump will depart the G7 summit on Monday night, a day earlier than planned, because of the growing conflict in the Middle East.
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In Other News
Branch out with a different read from The Hill:
Suspect in Minnesota lawmaker shootings in custody after two-day manhunt
The man suspected of shooting two Minnesota state lawmakers over the weekend, killing one of them, has been taken into custody after a massive search. Law enforcement apprehended Vance Boelter on Sunday night after a two-day search, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) announced at a press conference shortly …
The Center for Strategic and International Studieswill host its 15th Annual South China Sea Conference with Adm. Stephen “Web” Koehler, commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, at 9 a.m.
A Senate Appropriations subcommittee will hold a hearing on “Proposed budget estimates for FY2026 for military construction and family housing,” at 10:30 a.m.
The Center for Strategic and International Studiesalso will have a virtual discussion of new report: “The Russian Wartime Economy: From Sugar High to Hangover,” at 11 a.m.
Cato Institutewill hold a briefing on “NATO 2025 Summit: Rebalancing the Transatlantic Relationship,” at 12 p.m.
The Association of the U.S. Armywill discuss “Modernizing Army Personnel Management and Readiness,” at 12 p.m.
Atlantic Councilwill have a conversation on “Drone, defense, and diplomacy: Negotiations and the battlefield in Ukraine,” at 1 p.m.
What We’re Reading
News we’ve flagged from other outlets:
Supreme Court ruling gives extra payouts to some combat-wounded vets (Military Times)
US bolsters Trump’s Middle East military options by moving refueling aircraft, officials say (Reuters)
The Army parade was marked by quiet crowds, Trump-linked sponsors. But soldiers kept politics at bay. (Military.com)
President Trump will depart the Group of Seven (G7) summit on Monday night, a day earlier than planned, because of the growing conflict in the Middle … Read more
Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) on Monday released the Senate’s long-awaited version of President Trump’s tax agenda, which would … Read more
Opinions in The Hill
Op-eds related to defense & national security submitted to The Hill:
American Express (AXP) is planning to refresh its and later this year in a move meant to make the more appealing to the company’s fast-growing cohort of Gen Z consumers, Howard Grosfield, Group President, U.S. Consumer Services at American Express, told Yahoo Finance.
He declined to give full details of the refresh but said it was aimed at building loyalty to the cards by adding benefits highly valued by cardmembers.
“You’re going to see us double down on all the wonderful benefits that our card members love on travel, business, and dining,” Grosfield said, adding that the number of Gen Z cardholders grew 40% year over year in the first quarter of 2025.
HIghlights of the refresh include:
New premium airport lounges: American Express plans to open three new Centurion Lounges in Newark, Salt Lake City, and Tokyo in the coming year, bringing the total number of global Centurion Lounges to 32.
Expanded dining benefits: Amex’s 2024 acquisition of reservation platform Tock will add 7,000 new dining experiences to its existing 20,000+ Resy offerings, including a sizable portfolio of wineries. The expansion will give cardholders priority access to more tables in partner establishments.
The company confirmed that a refresh is planned for the but didn’t share details, except to say benefits would remain focused on helping businesses grow.
Gen Z cardholders aren’t balking at the hefty $695 annual fee, American Express has found. Gen Z developed a subscription-based mindset over years of paying fees for music and entertainment platforms, American Express CFO Christophe Le Caillec said at the June 2025 Morgan Stanley U.S. Financials Conference. He believes younger cardmembers due to the experience they get from being Amex customers.
While the future Platinum update is intended to appeal to Gen Z — the oldest of whom are in their late 20s — Grosfield believes there’s a built-in progression through Amex’s product portfolio as Gen Z ages. Grosfield pointed to Amex’s 98% retention rate, adding, “We acquire them once, and we get 20 more years of lifetime to deal with them.”
The company hopes that claiming a share of Gen Z’s wallet early in their adult lives will make these young cardholders more likely to turn to Amex products as their financial needs evolve: “We have various suites of products that we can offer them, including personal loans, pay over time, and installment-like lending … as they expand their income and become more successful … we get to grow with them. That’s a significant increase in the tremendous amount of lifetime value that they can deliver to us.”
Rewards rate
5x points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel® (up to $500,000 per calendar year)
5x points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel
1x points on all other purchases
Benefits
Get up to $200 back in statement credits each year on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection bookings with American Express Travel (requires a minimum two-night stay)
Get up to $199 back per calendar year on your CLEAR Plus membership (subject to auto-renewal) when you use your card (CLEARLanes are available at 100+ airports, stadiums, and entertainment venues)
Enjoy up to $200 in Uber savings annually on rides in the U.S. — that’s $15 in Uber Cash for rides each month, plus a bonus $20 in December (you must have the latest version of the Uber App downloaded and your eligible American Express Platinum Card must be a method of payment in your Uber account; Amex benefit may only be used in United States)
While the has a high annual fee, its many perks and benefits can far offset the yearly cost. We especially like how many of the benefits apply to everyday living, such as using the digital entertainment credit to help cover the costs of your streaming services. However, it’s not always easy to use every available benefit, which could cut into the value you get from this card.
Annual fee
$695
Welcome offer
Earn 150,000 Membership Rewards® Points after spending $20,000 in the first 3 months — plus, earn a $500 statement credit after you spend $2,500 on qualifying flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express Travel® in the first 3 months
Rewards rate
5x Membership Rewards points on flights, prepaid hotels, short-term rentals, and prepaid flight + hotel packages on AmexTravel.com
1.5x points on eligible purchases at U.S. construction material and hardware suppliers; electronic goods retailers; software and cloud system providers; shipping providers; and on purchases of $5,000 or more everywhere else (on up to $2 million of these purchases per calendar year)
1x points for each dollar you spend on eligible purchases
Benefits
Get up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year for incidental fees charged by one qualifying airline to your card
Complimentary access to The American Express Global Lounge Collection, which includes more than 1,400 airport lounges in 140 countries
Earn over $1,000 in annual statement credits on select business purchases, including tech, recruiting, and wireless in the first year of membership. Enrollment required.
The shares some of the personal version’s best features, such as extensive airport lounge access, while providing additional benefits for business owners. The annual fee is high, but you can get more than enough value from the card’s credits and benefits to offset the cost.
Editorial Disclosure: The information in this article has not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. All opinions belong solely to the Yahoo Finance and are not those of any other entity. The details on financial products, including card rates and fees, are accurate as of the publish date. All products or services are presented without warranty. Check the bank’s website for the most current information. This site doesn’t include all currently available offers. Credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.
When Daniel Ek isn’t busy running Spotify or building his new AI-driven health tech enterprise, he’s making massive bets on the future of European warfare, seemingly.
The billionaire, who primarily lives in Stockholm, just led a €600 million investment in Helsing, a four-year-old, Munich-based defense tech company that is now valued at €12 billion, according to the Financial Times. The deal makes it one of Europe’s most valuable privately held companies; it also highlights Europe’s scramble to build its own military muscle as the world grows messier and the U.S. turns inward.
The numbers help tell the story. Helsing raised $450 million just shy of a year ago; now, it’s back with this even bigger round led by Ek’s investment firm Prima Materia. It’s part of a broader defense tech boom that’s seeing money flood into companies like the U.S. giant Anduril, which just raised $2.5 billion led by Founders Fund, and European drone makers Quantum Systems and Tekever. (In recent weeks, they announced €160 million and €70 million, respectively, in rounds that put them both into so-called unicorn territory.)
TechCrunch has reached out to Helsing for more details about how it plans to use the new funding.
As for what, exactly, Helsing does, Wired said last year to think of it as turning modern warfare into something that looks more like a video game, except with very real consequences.
The company’s main product takes massive amounts of data from military sensors, radars, and weapons systems, then uses AI to create intuitive, real-time visualizations of what’s happening on the battlefield. Instead of soldiers making life-or-death decisions based on phone calls and hand-drawn maps, everyone is seeing the same information, whether from a frontline trench or a command center miles away.
But what started as an AI software company has grown much more ambitious. Helsing is now building its own strike drones and aircraft and said it’s working on a fleet of unmanned mini submarines in order to irmprove naval surveillance.
The timing isn’t coincidental. As American investor Eric Slesinger told TechCrunch this spring, “European governments waited way too long to rethink what the arrangement on their own security meant.” The wake-up call came with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which made it clear that Europe couldn’t rely on American protection alone. The U.S. election late last year of President Donald Trump — who is far more interested in advancing American interests — has since put a much finer point on things.
Now European leaders are talking about spending big on defense while achieving strategic autonomy, meaning their ability to handle their own security. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis recently summed up the movement in a separate interview with TechCrunch: “We’re going to spend a lot of money on defense as Europe. The defense landscape is changing, which is no longer just going to be about planes, tanks—this is all going to be much more digitally and AI driven.”
A couple of years ago, that realization was the impetus for the NATO Innovation Fund, the world’s first multi-sovereign venture capital fund backed by 24 NATO allies. But the capital pool is just one of several signs that Europe has grown serious about building its own defense tech ecosystem rather than relying on the U.S. for protection.
Ek, who first invested in Helsing back in 2021, before the outbreak of the Ukraine war, has perhaps seen for a while where thing are heading. As he said in a press release about Monday’s funding: “As Europe rapidly strengthens its defense capabilities in response to evolving geopolitical challenges, there is an urgent need for investments in advanced technologies that ensure its strategic autonomy.”
Other investors in Helsing’s new round include earlier backers Lightspeed Ventures, Accel, Plural, General Catalyst and Saab, and new investors BDT & MSD Partners. The company has now raised €1.37 billion altogether.
OMAHA, Neb. — Arkansas’ Gage Wood pitched the third no-hitter in Men’s College World Series history and first in 65 years Monday, striking out a record 19 and never letting Murray State come close to getting a hit in the Razorbacks’ 3-0 victory.
Wood joined Jim Ehrler of Texas in 1950 and Jim Wixson of Oklahoma State in 1960 as the only pitchers to throw MCWS no-hitters, and his defense was never really challenged as he dominated a Racers team that was making its first Omaha appearance.
The junior right-hander, who set the MCWS record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game, was subdued in the aftermath.
“The only special thing was I didn’t want to go home. That’s it,” he said. “We’re not going home. We get to play tomorrow night. But it’s pretty cool.”
Arkansas (49-14) plays another elimination game Tuesday night against the loser of UCLA-LSU, which was suspended Monday night and will resume Tuesday morning.
Murray State (44-17), only the fourth No. 4 regional seed since 1999 to reach Omaha, went 0-2 in its first appearance.
Wood’s bid for a perfect game ended in the eighth when his 2-2 breaking ball hit Dom Decker in his back foot.
“When I hit the guy in the foot, I knew I screwed up,” said Wood, who got a foul out and consecutive strikeouts to end the inning, then looked skyward and gave a primal scream and did a couple of high steps as he headed to the dugout.
The Arkansas faithful behind the first-base dugout did a brief “Woo Pig Sooie!” chant as Wood warmed up for the ninth.
Wood (4-1) hit pinch hitter Nico Bermeo in the back of his left elbow with a fastball to start the ninth. Bermeo initially was awarded first base, but Arkansas challenged the call, arguing Bermeo moved his elbow into the pitch. The call was overturned and Bermeo was out.
Wood struck out Connor Cunningham and Jonathan Hogart to finish the game. He was mobbed by teammates, with the celebration moving from behind the mound to the area between second and third base.
“Gage was just executing pitch after pitch, getting ahead in the count and elevating his fastball in and out. What a great job,” coach Dave Van Horn said. “The few plays we had to make behind him — maybe nine, eight? — just glad we made all those plays.”
Wood went to three-ball counts just twice, and 83 of his 119 pitches were strikes.
The closest Murray State came to breaking up Wood’s no-hitter was Carson Garner’s hot grounder that pulled first baseman Reese Robinett to his left. Robinett snagged the ball and touched the bag for the last out of the seventh inning.
Wood showed early signs that this could be a special day. He had excellent command of his signature four-seam fastball, breaking ball and changeup. Of his first 20 fastballs, 19 were strikes, and he fanned nine of the first 12 batters he faced — seven in a row from the third to fifth innings.
Wood has gone from closer as a freshman to middle reliever as a sophomore to weekend starter as a junior. He injured his right shoulder throwing a warmup pitch in his Feb. 23 start against Michigan and didn’t return until April 18 against Texas A&M, a total of 54 days.
He threw a career-long six innings and struck out a career-high 13 against Creighton in a June 1 regional game against Creighton, then went 3⅓ innings in a super regional win over Tennessee on June 8.
Wood now joins Ehrler and Wixson in MCWS lore. Ehrler’s no-hitter came in Texas’ 7-0 win over Tufts on June 19, 1950, and Wixson’s came in a 7-0 victory over North Carolina on June 15, 1960.
Asked what he did with the game ball, Wood said, “I gave it to my dad and said happy late Father’s Day.”
The Razorbacks broke open the game after Murray State’s Graham Kelham relieved Isaac Silva to start the seventh. SEC player of the year Wehiwa Aloy doubled in a run, and another scored when right fielder Dustin Mercer tried to make a shoestring catch on Logan Maxwell’s shallow fly and the ball got under his glove.
Silva kept his team close in his six innings, with Charles Davalan’s third-inning RBI single producing the only run against him.
Silva allowed six hits, walked two and struck out seven. He repeatedly got out of trouble, holding the Razorbacks to 2-for-10 hitting with runners in scoring position and stranding two runners in the third, fifth and sixth.
The Modern Familyalum, who portrayed Jesse Tyler-Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet’s on-screen daughter Lily on the Emmy-winning TV show, celebrated Pride month by living her truth and coming out as bisexual.
In a June 16 Instagram video, the 18-year-old lip-synced to an audio clip from a scene of the ABC series that featured herself, Jesse (who portrayed Mitch), Eric (Cam) and Sofía Vergara’s Gloria.
“You are Vietnamese,” Gloria said, to which Lily responds, “No, I’m not. I’m gay, I’m gay.”
Ever the foot-in-the-mouth father, Mitch said, “Honey, no you are not gay. You are just confused. Oh my god, what is wrong with me?”
Atop the video of Aubrey mouthing the scene and smiling along, she wrote, “People keep joking so much abt me being gay when I literally am (I’m bi).”
She extended her announcement to all of her followers celebrating the LGBTQ+ community this month, too, writing in the caption, “Happy pride month to all and to all a goodnight hehehe.”
