NASA will launch the $4.3 bln Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on Sunday aboard SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, scheduled for 7:26 a.m. ET from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The 5–10 year mission will be placed on a trajectory to an orbit about 1 million miles from Earth and could begin sky surveys as early as December. The telescope is designed to map how dark matter and dark energy affect distant stars and galaxies and to probe cosmic expansion.

Iraq's prime minister's security adviser Qasim al-Araji told Al Jazeera that Iraq maintains good relations with both Iran and the US and seeks to act as a bridge to broker an agreement safeguarding regional interests. He added Iran has stressed the need to clear extremist groups from Iraqi territory.

TIMIRAOS wrote KEVIN WARSH's remarks eased some market concerns about the Fed's anti-inflation strategy but set up a tougher test in three weeks. Two points in Warsh's speech point toward a possible September hike: he stopped short of calling current financial conditions restrictive, and summer's improvement in inflation did not convince him the trend is improving. Before Friday the Fed's default had been to hold unless data warranted action; former Fed vice chair Cohn said Warsh has flipped that logic — the default is now to raise unless incoming data show no need. Cohn said the decision will hinge on conditions before the September meeting, notably August CPI due Sept. 11; stronger data would weaken the case that inflation is returning to the Fed's 2% target and could prompt a hike, while softer data would argue against raising. A September hike could anger the White House if it comes weeks before the midterms; standing pat could reawaken the doubts Warsh sought to calm.