President Donald Trump said Friday he would order his administration to declassify and release all records related to famed American pilot Amelia Earhart. “Amelia made it almost three quarters around the World before she suddenly, and without notice, vanished, never to be seen again,” Trump wrote in a Friday afternoon social media post. “Her disappearance, almost 90 years ago, has captivated millions.” Earhart’s 1937 disappearance over the Pacific Ocean during her fateful attempt to circumnavigate the globe has long been the subject of conspiracy theories, including uncomfirmed speculation that Earhart’s plane may have landed on a small island in the central Pacific or been captured by Japanese forces. In the post, Trump praised Earhart as “an Aviation Pioneer, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, and achieved many other Aviation ‘firsts.’” Kimberlyn King-Hinds, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands’ delegate to the House of Representatives, asked Trump to have the files declassified in July. In a letter to the president, King-Hinds wrote that Earhart’s story “carries particular weight” in her district and that a number of elderly residents had shared “credible, firsthand accounts of having seen her on the island of Saipan.” “In pursuing clarity for my constituents, I have become aware that the U.S. government may still hold documents or records related to Earhart’s journey and final whereabouts that have not yet been made public,” King-Hinds, a Republican, wrote in the letter. “Should such records exist, their release would contribute meaningfully to our understanding of one of America’s most revered aviators and could finally shed light on the final chapter of her remarkable life.” The announcement comes as the Trump administration faces continued scrutiny over its handling of the federal government’s files connected to disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

EUROPE HEAT WAVE IN PICTURES Europe is sweltering under one of the most intense heat waves ever, with temperatures well above 40 °C across much of the continent. Thibaud Moritz/AFP via Getty Images From scorched plains in Spain to shuttered schools in Paris, the extreme heat has triggered red alerts, wildfires, and widespread disruption. As health officials issue urgent warnings and governments scramble to respond, this blistering start to July raises fresh alarm about the accelerating impact of climate change in Europe. A rare “roll cloud” advances from the horizon toward the beaches of the Atlantic Ocean near Cabo da Roca, southwestern Portugal. | Arthur Carvalho/AFP via Getty Images -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Experts warn that the intense heatwave reflects the mounting impact of climate change. | Julie Sebadelha, Jeff Pachoud, Gabriel Bouys, Milos Bicanski/AFP via Getty Images Emma Raducanu cools off with a towel full of ice during a break between sets in her first-round match against Mimi Xu on day one of the Wimbledon tennis championship. | Mike Hewitt/Getty Images Zoo animals cool off as temperatures reach over 40 °C in Sofia, Bulgaria. | Nikolay Doychinov/AFP via Getty Images  A firefighter extinguishes burning hay bales in Lower Saxony, Germany. / Julian Stratenschulte/picture alliance via Getty Images  A thermometer shows the temperature rising towards 40°C as Belgium faces an intense heatwave, prompting the Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI) to issue an orange alert across the country between July 1-3, warning of potentially dangerous heat levels. | Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu via Getty Images