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After a 38-year career with the Justice Department, the FBI's top lawyer Dana Boente was asked to resign on Friday. Two sources familiar with the decision to dismiss Boente said it came from high levels of the Justice Department rather than directly from FBI Director Christopher Wray.

His departure comes on the heels of recent criticism by Fox News for his role in the investigation of former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.

A spokesman for the FBI confirmed to NBC News that Boente did in fact resign on Friday.

Fox News has recently criticized Boente's role in the investigation of Flynn, whose criminal charge for lying to the FBI was recently dropped by the Justice Department based in part on the argument that his lies were not material to an underlying investigation.

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Boente also said in a recently leaked memo that material put into the public record about Flynn was not exculpatory for the former national security advisor. The memo undermines the Justice Department's latest position that material about Flynn was mishandled by prosecutors.

Fox Business host Lou Dobbs said on April 27 that, "Shocking new reports suggest F.B.I. General Counsel Dana Boente was acting in coordination with F.B.I. Director Christopher Wray to block the release of that evidence that would have cleared General Flynn."

Wray formally asked for Boente's resignation, but the decision to end his tenure at the FBI came from Attorney General William Barr's Justice Department, which oversees the FBI, according to two sources.

A spokesman for the FBI said Boente announced on Friday his decision to retire, which will take effect June 30.

"Few people have served so well in so many critical, high-level roles at the Department," Wray said in a statement. "Throughout his long and distinguished career as a public servant, Dana has demonstrated a selfless determination to ensure that justice is always served on behalf of our citizens."

In a joint statement on Sunday, Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, both D-Va., said Boente was a dedicated and experienced career civil servant. They said that if Boente was pushed out as retribution for his role in the Flynn investigation, [he] appears to be one more victim of the Attorney Generals disturbing crusade to turn the Department of Justice into another arm of the presidents political campaign.

CORRECTION (May 30, 2020, 6:43 p.m.): An earlier version of this article misstated the target of FISA warrants signed by Dana Boente. The warrants involved President Donald Trumps former campaign advisor Carter Page, not former national security adviser Michael Flynn. The reference to the warrants has been removed.

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FBI's top lawyer, Dana Boente, ousted amid Fox News criticism for role in Flynn investigation - Yahoo News

If the NBA resumes the 2019-20 season by electing to play a handful of games with all teams just to reach 70 games to fulfill regional television deals, Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard knows his next move.

"If we come back and they're just like, 'We're adding a few games to finish the regular season,' and they're throwing us out there for meaningless games and we don't have a true opportunity to get into the playoffs, I'm going to be with my team because I'm a part of the team. But I'm not going to be participating. I'm telling you that right now. And you can put that in there," Lillard told Yahoo Sports on Tuesday morning via phone.

Portland is 29-37 and in the No. 9 spot in the Western Conference, 3.5 games behind the Memphis Grizzlies for the eighth and final playoff seed. The league anticipates restarting the season at some point in late July at ESPN Wide World of Sports at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. The season has been suspended since March 11 after Utah Jazz star Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19.

There are a number of options the league is considering. Will all teams participate? Will there be a postseason play-in tournament? Does the league go right into the playoffs with the current postseason qualifiers? Does it attempt a Nos. 1-16 playoff format and seed by record, regardless of conference?

"If we come back and I don't have an opportunity to make the playoffs, I will show up to work, I'll be at practice and I'll be with my team. I'm going to do all that and then I'm going to be sitting right on that bench during the games," Lillard told Yahoo Sports. "If they come back and say it's something like a tournament, play-in style, between the No. 7 and No. 12 seeds, if we're playing for playoff spots, then I think that's perfect."

Lillard is optimistic about how his team would fare if given a shot to make the postseason.

Blazers star Damian Lillard wants a chance to compete for a playoff spot. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)

Starting center Jusuf Nurkic was scheduled to make his season debut two months ago after recovering from compound fractures of his left tibia and fibula that occurred March 25, 2019. And Zach Collins, the team's promising young starting power forward who's been sidelined since the third game of the season, was also in line for a March return after recovering from left shoulder surgery.

"It would suck not to get in the playoffs because our thing was, we had fought ourselves back into position to get a spot," Lillard told Yahoo Sports. "We had our starting center and starting power forward coming back, so we had a lot to look forward to and for a great reason. Now, they're healthy and have extra time to train and rehab while everybody's rusty. So now, they won't be coming back as the only rusty players. And if everybody's rusty, we can come in here and beat everybody. I do feel like if we do come back and our mind is right, we can beat anyone. It's going to be hard to get going with no fans, you've been off all this time and some people are just ready for summer like, I haven't played in a long time and the season is basically over to me. Do I really care like I cared before?' It's going to be a lot of those factors going on and that presents a lot of room for a team to [overperform]. Like, really mess around and knock some teams off and then, 'Oh, they're in the Western Conference finals.' It's room for that with this situation. So the fact that it's possible and we wouldn't get an opportunity at that, that's weak to me. I ain't getting no younger."

A potential Los Angeles Lakers-Trail Blazers matchup likely would be the most anticipated series of the first round.

"I just feel like that would be the matchup people want to see," Lillard told Yahoo Sports. "And not to say nobody wants to see Memphis, because they're in the eighth and they've been in the eighth spot for a while. They've earned that. You can't take anything away from Memphis. They play hard, they're exciting and they've got a lot of young talent. The Lakers would have their hands full playing against them. Memphis beat the Lakers this year. Memphis would have nothing to lose. I feel like both series could be a little bit hectic for the Lakers, but I think more so us, because of the experience and where we are in our careers. Not too long ago, we played them in L.A. and obviously I had a great game and we won a close one, and in the playoffs, I'm sure they would come up with some type of game plan to not allow that to happen. But I want to compete. That's what we want."

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There was a period when the hiatus began that Lillard believed the season would be canceled, so he did what health experts suggested: Nothing. That lasted about two weeks.

"I wasn't able to get on the court because I was trying to follow the rules," he told Yahoo Sports. "I was looking at the [situation] like people are out here dying and people are getting sick, so I'm not about to go sneak into somebody's gym and it hasn't been cleaned properly. I didn't want to be on that side of the situation."

The last two months, he went back to work diligently but cautiously.

His routine consisted of weight lifting, conditioning on a Peloton, steam-room therapy, running 10-second sprint intervals on an inclined treadmill, and in between certain reps performing core-strengthening exercises, as well as incorporating slides and lunges. The Blazers practice facility opened May 8, and Lillard has been going twice a day, with his first workout starting as early as 6 a.m.

He said he's prepared for the unknown.

"At first, I was like, 'It's over. I don't see us coming back.' And then I just clicked my mind back and thought for the chance that it does come back, I've gotta be ready," Lillard told Yahoo Sports. "I don't want to be that guy that when they call us back, and I'm showing up to the temporary training camp out of shape. I'll be putting myself at risk for injury and reinjure myself. I was just coming off [a groin] injury. So, I tightened up like two months ago.

"Right now, I'm just in a space where I want to come back and play. And if we start playing, I'll be ready to play. But if the league says it's only taking playoff teams, then I'm off to a head start in my summer training. I'll be pissed off because I feel like they basically stopped the season and went straight into the playoffs. We're chasing the team with the toughest schedule in the league and we're in ninth place. That would be weak, but it is what it is."

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Damian Lillard doesnt plan to participate in resumed NBA season if Blazers don't have true opportunity to make playoffs - Yahoo Sports

Andy Cohen's nearly four million followers have noticed that he hasn't been posting photos of his beloved dog, Wacha, recently and there's a sad reason.

The Watch What Happens Live host revealed on Friday he had to rehome Wacha due to occasional aggressive behavior around his toddler. Cohen welcomed son, Benjamin, in February 2019. In an emotional post on Instagram, Cohen said he's been putting off sharing the news as long as possible.

Andy Cohen rehomed beloved dog for son's safety "after an incident a few months ago." (Photo: Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)

"As you may know, Wacha is my first baby, my beautiful rescue puppy. He is my pride and joy. When he came into my life, my world changed," Cohen captioned a video of him and Wacha. "Over the nearly seven years that Ive been blessed to have Wacha in my life, we have worked to address some occasional random signs of aggression. No effort was spared in the attempt to help Wacha feel adjusted."

Cohen continued, "After an incident a few months ago, numerous professionals led me to the conclusion that my home is simply not a good place for him. Keeping him here could be catastrophic for Ben and worse for Wacha."

The Bravo host said Wacha has "a permanent home with his second family" where he's "thriving." The dog is familiar with his new owners as Cohen explained it's where the pup would stay when he'd travel out of town.

"We still see each other, but a piece of my heart is gone," Cohen admitted. "I miss his weight on top of me first thing in the morning. I miss him waiting for me in front of the shower. And I miss the sound of his paws on the floor when I come home. I am not the same person I was when I got him. My dog changed me. He opened me up to love.. to caring and ultimately to having a family."

Cohen said he and Wacha "were meant to come into each others lives exactly when we did." He noted that Wacha's "happy, which gives me peace of mind."

"We did rescue each other," Cohen concluded. "Thank you, Wacha."

According to Wacha's Instagram yes, he still has one he's in Connecticut. Cohen wrote on the below photo last month, "Miss you!"

Cohen defended his dog last year from parent shamers, shortly after his son was born. The television personality had revealed on Instagram that Wacha ripped apart one of Ben's toys, but said people are reading way too much into it.

"Okay, flooded with DMs from people saying Ive got a big problem on my handsWachas jealous of my son," he told his followers. "Wacha didnt know that the Torah toy were talking about a Torah toy belonged to the baby. He just had his eye on a purple f***ing toy and he wanted to rip it apart. Its not that deep. Stand down. Everythings fine in the West Village. ... Sometimes a Torah toy is just a Torah toy everybody, right?"

Cohen hasnt elaborated on what the incident was a few months ago.

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WASHINGTON The Trump White House has been embroiled in a vigorous internal debate over whether to issue an executive order aimed at punishing social media companies for perceived political bias, with opposition to the order coming from some of the most conservative parts of the administration.

White House sources tell Yahoo News that the office of Vice President Mike Pence, National Economic Council Chairman Larry Kudlow and others are making the argument that it will set a bad precedent to signal that the federal government can go after private companies and seek to penalize them for purely political reasons.

Even though the draft of the order that leaked to the public on Thursday would be limited in its impact, the signal it would send is the most significant thing, according to its opponents. The push comes as the coronavirus death toll in the United States has surpassed 100,000.

There is pushback from a lot of people inside the White House, an administration official told Yahoo News, saying there is a lot of frustration among advisers who are often some of the presidents most loyal backers.

The push for the order has come primarily from White House counsel Pat Cipollone, two White House sources said. One source said that Dan Scavino, White House director of social media, is also supportive. Cipollone and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Trump signed the executive order late Thursday afternoon in the Oval Office, saying, Were here today to defend free speech from one of the greatest dangers. When asked by a reporter why he hasnt deleted his Twitter account, Trump replied, If you werent fake, Id do it in a heartbeat.

The concern from opponents of the executive order is that Trumps anger over being fact-checked by Twitter for the first time this week might have led him to make public statements promising retribution that are hard to walk back.

Concerns from conservatives about Trumps threatened order have also been voiced publicly outside the White House. The freedom of the press to do its job, the freedom of companies to make their own statements (and policies) and the freedom of Americans to speak their mind are all protected rights for everyone, wrote Ashley Pratte, a conservative political consultant who is on the board of Republican Women for Progress. Trumps dangerous crusade to use the government to limit or even censor free speech should be called out for what it is: tyrannical.

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A similar executive order was shelved last summer after officials from the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission expressed concerns that it would create a government speech police.

The latest order would start the process of potentially removing protections that tech giants have under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which says they are not liable for the content posted to their platforms. Eliminating that protection would potentially open them up to lawsuits.

There is skepticism about how effective the proposed changes would be without an act of Congress, which is unlikely to come this year as the legislative body deals with the pandemic and as Democrats control the House.

The executive order comes after Twitter added fact-check language to two of Trumps posts earlier this week that claimed mail-in ballots would lead to widespread voter fraud, though there is no evidence this is true.

Get the facts about mail-in ballots, read a message from Twitter below the tweets, linking to a fact-check page populated by links and summaries of news articles debunking the assertion. In a statement, Twitter said Trumps vote-by-mail tweets contain potentially misleading information about voting processes and have been labeled to provide additional context around mail-in ballots.

Well continue to point out incorrect or disputed information about elections globally, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted late Wednesday. This does not make us an arbiter of truth. Our intention is to connect the dots of conflicting statements and show the information in dispute so people can judge for themselves.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took another stance, telling Fox News his platform has a different policy, I think, than Twitter on this. I just believe strongly that Facebook shouldnt be the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online.

Last year, Facebook said it wouldnt remove an ad from the Trump campaign that contained false information about former Vice President Joe Biden and Ukraine. The previous month, Zuckerberg and Trump had a surprise meeting at the White House, which the president referred to as nice.

Facebook announced a change in policy five days later: It would not fact-check or remove content by politicians even if the posts violated the companys rules.

Twitter has previously flagged tweets conveying misinformation about the coronavirus, but it has never before put warnings on tweets for any other reason. As numerous officials push for increased vote-by-mail ahead of Novembers election due to fears that polling places could be dangerous during the pandemic, Trump has insisted the results would be illegitimate, despite the fact that many states already use the method.

However, the company refused to remove posts in which the president suggested an investigation of MSNBC host Joe Scarboroughs role in the death of a young woman who died in his office in 2001. Lori Klausutiss death was ruled an accident, and there is no evidence implicating Scarborough, who was a Florida congressman at the time.

Her husband, Timothy Klausutis, wrote to Dorsey protesting Trumps tweets, saying the president had perverted the memory of his late wife for political gain. Twitter said it was deeply sorry but that it would not remove the posts, and it has not posted a fact check or disclaimer in reply.

The executive order is the latest targeting of Big Tech by Trump. Last year, his Justice Department opened a broad antitrust investigation into the companies and threatened to expand the investigation to any harms caused by online platforms that partially or completely fall outside the antitrust laws.

The initial investigation followed complaints by Trump against Dorsey that his @realDonaldTrump account had been losing Twitter followers.

In March, Politico reported that Attorney General William Barr, widely viewed as a staunch Trump loyalist, was taking personal direction of the antitrust probes of social media companies.

Alexander Nazaryan contributed reporting to this story.

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On Thursday, Dave Matthews returned to Pay It Forward Live, Verizons entertainment series in support of small businesses affected by COVID-19, for a second live-streamed concert following the series kick-off with Matthews on March 26. While he spoke about the importance of mask-wearing and gave shoutouts to some of his favorite small businesses in Charlottesville, Va. (including Bodos Bagels, Market Street Wine Shop and Local Food Hub), he also went off-script to speak out about George Floyd a 46-year-old black man who died on May 25 after white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for at least seven minutes while he was handcuffed and lying face-down on the ground. Floyds shocking killing has sparked national protests (some of which have turned violent, and worsened on Thursday evening) and has re-sparked national conversations about racism and police brutality.

Ive been wondering if I should say something but I just have to get it off my chest, because if I don't, when I was growing up a Quaker, if you are moved to speak, then you have to say something, or else it's going to block everything, Matthews stated at the start of his hour-long home concert.

George Floyd is one name that has been in my mind the last few days, and there are peaceful protests and there's some rioting and there's a lot of angry people, Matthews began. But all of this that's coming right now started, we have to remember, with excessive force, lethal force, against a man who was handcuffed on the ground and had the life crushed out of him. He had someone kneeling on his throat and he was killed in broad daylight, unnecessarily completely unnecessarily, from what I can see, because if youve got someone handcuffed and youve got them on the ground, you don't need to crush them.

Anyway, I know this is not the occasion for it, but I just want to say, that's where it started. That's where it started again. What happens every time some violence unjustifiably is committed in a dismissive fashion against people, and all too often in this country against African-American men it sets the possibility of a good future back. But we have to remember that this anger and this frustration comes from this act of police brutality. This is what starts the anger. This is what breaks windows. This is what breaks property. This is what is frustrating. Whether [or not] it's peaceful, this anger is justified.

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And when I hear young people, young African-American men, talking about this and talking about why they feel threatened, it's because they are. It's because it's justified. One part of a population of a country that claims to be free and believe in freedom, one part of that population should not live in fear of the authorities, no matter who they are. They live in fear because the color of their skin. It is unjustifiable. It is shameful. And that's all I'm going to say. It is shameful.

Matthews got back to the music after saying what was on his mind, but at the end of his Pay It Forward Live concert, which included Dave Matthews Band classics like Satellite, Crush and What Would You Say, he thanked viewers for paying attention during the shows dark moments as well as its lighter or goofier ones. His entire concert can be viewed here for one week.

Matthews was the final headliner for Pay It Forward Live. Other exclusive concerts in the series have included Alicia Keys, OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder, Luke Bryan, Billie Eilish and Finneas, Janelle Mone, Chance the Rapper, and Usher. Details about how Pay It Forward Live will evolve this summer, as Verizon continues to support and provide resources for the small business community, will be announced soon.

Over the course of Pay It Forward Live, viewers have been encouraged to do what they can to support local businesses in their own communities by shopping online, buying a gift card to be used when businesses reopen or ordering a meal. Verizon has donated $10, up to $2.5 million, to support small businesses for each use of the hashtag #PayItForwardLive in addition to its existing pledge of $7.5 million. More information can be found at Verizon.com/PayItForwardLive.

Verizon is the parent company of Yahoo.

For the latest coronavirus news and updates, follow along at https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please reference the CDC and WHOs resource guides.

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Dave Matthews speaks out during live-stream about George Floyd and police brutality: 'It is shameful' - Yahoo Entertainment

Zion Williamson has requested a protective order against an inquiry by his former marketing agent into illegal benefits he allegedly received at Duke, according to Daniel Wallach of The Athletic.

In the filing for the order, Williamsons legal team called the requests from Gina Ford invasive and irrelevant.

The legal back-and-forth is part of dueling lawsuits between Williamson and the marketing agent he reportedly once signed a deal with before backing out.

Ford, the president of Prime Marketing Sports, has alleged Williamson signed a five-year deal for her company to represent him in marketing negotiations days after he declared for the 2019 NBA draft. A month later, an email was reportedly sent to Ford saying the agreement had been canceled after he signed with mega-agency CAA Sports.

The lawsuit against Williamson is seeking $100 million.

Williamsons legal defense has been multi-faceted. He has claimed that Ford fraudulently exaggerated her credentials while pursuing him as a client and pointed to Prime Sports not being certified by the National Basketball Players Association or considered a registered agent in North Carolina or Florida.

The Zion Williamson legal battle remains ugly. (AP Photo/Rusty Costanza)

Where Fords request for Williamsons illegal benefit admission comes in is the stars contention that she failed to include a line in bold letters starting he would lose his college eligibility if he signed, as required by North Carolina law.

By requesting Williamson admit his family members received illegal benefits while he was an amateur, Ford is likely contending that Williamson was well aware his days as an amateur were over. While Williamson had declared for the draft when he signed for her, he still could have supposedly returned to school according to NCAA rules.

Whether or not a judge decides Williamson shouldnt have to face questions about those benefits could play a major part in where the legal battle goes from here.

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One of the coldest regions on Earth has been experiencing a record-breaking heat wave in recent weeks amid growing fears about devastating wildfires and melting permafrost.

Khatanga, a town in Siberias Arctic Circle, registered highs of over 80 degrees Fahrenheit this week, according to Accuweather, far above the 59 degrees F historical average, as the whole of western Siberia basked in unseasonable warmth.

While locals flocked to popular spots to sunbathe, experts sounded alarms about the possible implications for the regions wildfire season this summer, with some blazes already breaking out in recent months.

Fires burned huge areas in the region last year and, at its peak, smoke engulfed an area larger than the whole European Union, the World Meteorological Organization reported.

It is very much possible that this year, we will have another fire catastrophe in Siberia, Anton Beneslavskiy, a wildfire expert with Greenpeace Russia, said.

Catastrophes became the new business as usual for Siberia in the last 20 years, he added.

From January to April, Russia was 11 degrees F warmer than average, according to the climate science nonprofit Berkeley Earth.

Related: NYC to Provide 74K Air Conditioners to Low-Income Seniors

That's not only a new record anomaly for Russia. That's the largest January to April anomaly ever seen in any country's national average, Robert Rohde, Berkeley Earth lead scientist tweeted.

The pace of global warming in Russia is over twice as fast as the global average, Russia's deputy U.N. envoy said last year. But the situation in the Arctic is even more stark with the region warming at over three times the global average.

Much of the Arctic region is covered by permafrost carbon rich soil that should remain frozen throughout the year and rapid warming is causing it to melt, said Thomas Smith, an assistant professor of environmental geography at the London School of Economics.

Permafrost, he said, stores vast amounts of carbon, which means that when it melts, planet-warming greenhouse gasses are emitted.

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That can further drive climate change and global warming, he said.

The second problem is that if the land is thawed out, and if it dries out with these high temperatures, then that soil is actually available to burn as a fuel for a fire, he added.

These fires that emit greenhouse gases can smolder for weeks or months, even when it has rained, Smith said.

The unusual heat has also disrupted a number of natural cycles, according to the Siberian Times, with river ice breaking, blooms coming earlier and insects emerging earlier than normal.

While temperatures in the region have temporarily dropped, the heat is forecast to return next week.

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One of the coldest places on Earth is experiencing a record-breaking heat wave - Yahoo News

Walmart (WMT) joins a growing list of retailers whose stores have been vandalized and looted amidst the George Floyd protests sweeping the U.S.

A Walmart spokesperson told Yahoo Finance that more than a dozen stores across the country have sustained damage from the violence (seen below, as an example). Several hotspots for the store damage include Minnesota and Dallas, says the spokesperson. Walmart operates more than 5,300 stores in the U.S., including 81 in Minnesota where the protests have been the most intense following the death of Floyd at the hands of a police officer.

The conditions on the ground at some stores led Walmart to close several hundred stores about one hour early on Sunday, the spokesperson added, so employees could return home safely. The majority of these stores are slated to reopen on Monday, provided its safe to do so.

Walmart rival Target has also been hit hard by protests and looting, forcing it to take action as well. The discount retailer closed or adjusted hours at 200 stores over the weekend, a spokesperson told Yahoo Finance via email. Target operates 1,900 stores across the U.S, including 73 in Minnesota.

Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and co-anchor of The First Trade at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) Astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken join NASAs exclusive inner circle by catching a ride on a SpaceX rocket and capsule.

Its only the fifth time that NASA has put people aboard a brand new spacecraft line for liftoff. And its the first time the spacecraft belongs to a for-profit company in charge of the launch.

Their destination is the International Space Station, where theyll spend one to four months before guiding their capsule to a splashdown in the Atlantic.

Meet NASAs first commercial crew:

DOUG HURLEY, spacecraft commander:

The retired Marine colonel and former fighter pilot flew on NASAs last space shuttle flight in 2011, closing out a 30-year era. He was tapped in 2015 as one of four NASA astronauts assigned to fly the first commercial crew capsules under development by SpaceX and Boeing. He drew the SpaceX Dragon.

Hurley, 53, served as pilot on both of his shuttle missions, the No. 2 spot. Hes now serving as spacecraft commander, overseeing the most dangerous parts of the Dragons flight: launch, reentry and ocean recovery.

He grew up in Apalachin, New York, and, after earning an engineering degree, devoted his career to the Marines and attended test pilot school. NASA chose him as an astronaut in 2000.

Wife Karen Nyberg, a former space station resident, retired two months ago from NASA. She, too, was a member of the Astronaut Class of 2000. Their son, Jack, is 10.

BOB BEHNKEN, joint operations commander:

The Air Force colonel and former flight test engineer has six spacewalks to his credit and may rack up more during his space station stay. As joint operations commander, he'll oversee the Dragons rendezvous and docking with the International Space Station. Hell also manage many of the activities while the capsule is there, including any possible spacewalks for station maintenance.

While growing up in St. Ann, Missouri, Behnken was mesmerized by photos of Jupiter and Saturn streaming from NASAs Voyager spacecraft. He studied physics and mechanical engineering in college, earning a doctorate in the latter.

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Behnken had risen to chief astronaut after a pair of shuttle flights when, in 2015, he was assigned to one of the first commercial crew flights. He teamed up with Hurley in 2018 on the SpaceX Dragon.

Behnken was also in the Astronaut Class of 2000. And also like Hurley, he married a fellow classmate: astronaut Megan McArthur, who flew on NASAs final mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Their son, Theodore, is 6.

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By Kate Abnett and Arno Schuetze

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union urged the United States on Saturday to reconsider its decision to cut ties with the World Health Organization over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

"In the face of this global threat, now is the time for enhanced cooperation and common solutions. Actions that weaken international results must be avoided," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Josep Borrell, the EU's top diplomat, said in a statement.

"In this context, we urge the U.S. to reconsider its announced decision," they said a day after President Donald Trump announced the move, accusing the U.N. agency of becoming a puppet of China.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas also condemned the move and pledged intensive talks with Washington on the issue.

The decision is "the wrong signal at the wrong time," Maas told German media group Funke. With the number of infections continuing to rise globally, "we cannot tear down the dike in the middle of a storm", he said.

The EU has led calls for a review of the international response to the coronavirus pandemic, including the U.N. agency's performance.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who has defended the agency against fierce criticism by Trump, has promised a review of its performance after the pandemic eases.

Trump last month halted funding for the 194-member organization, then in a May 18 letter gave the WHO 30 days to commit to reforms.

Speaking at the White House on Friday, Trump said Chinese officials pressured the WHO to "mislead the world".

The move to quit the Geneva-based body comes amid growing tensions between Washington and Beijing over the coronavirus outbreak. The virus first emerged in China's Wuhan city late last year.

(Reporting by Kate Abnett and Arno Schuetze; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Mike Harrison)

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EU urges U.S. to reconsider decision to cut ties with WHO - Yahoo News