These are the stories you need to read before you start your day.
Headlines
U.S. Indicts Raul Castro
The U.S. government indicted former Cuban President Raúl Castro with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, destruction of aircraft, and murder, stemming from the 1996 shootdown of two civilian aircraft belonging to the Cuban-American exile group Brothers to the Rescue, which killed four men, including three American citizens. Acting AG Todd Blanche unsealed the indictment in Miami on Wednesday — Cuba’s independence day — in what analysts called a deliberate escalation of the Trump administration’s pressure campaign against Havana. Read More
The Sandy Fire grew to over 2,100 acres and reached 22% containment Thursday, with thousands of residents still under mandatory evacuation orders in Ventura County. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library was evacuated and remains closed, and all Simi Valley schools will remain shuttered through the week. Source
SpaceX filed its long-awaited S-1 registration statement with the SEC on Wednesday, disclosing $18.67 billion in 2025 revenue following its February acquisition of xAI; the company is seeking to list on Nasdaq under the ticker "SPCX," led by Goldman Sachs, with a global roadshow set to begin June 4 and a target listing date of June 12. Read More
Politics
The DOJ’s newly created $1.8 billion fund for Trump allies who claim they were unfairly investigated is drawing fierce backlash. At least one Republican congressman is exploring ways to kill the fund. Jan. 6 Capitol Police officers filed suit to block it, and Acting AG Todd Blanche confirmed that people who assaulted officers could be eligible for compensation. See Details
President Trump publicly targeted the Senate parliamentarian, arguing Republicans must "play hardball" to advance his agenda. Senate Majority Leader John Thune pushed back, calling the pressure "concerning." Source
Trump told reporters he was "an hour away" from deciding whether to resume attacks on Iran before being persuaded to postpone again for a few days as his administration reviewed the revised Iranian peace proposal submitted through Pakistani mediators. A Situation Room meeting on military options is expected Thursday or Friday. Find out More
U.S. News
Vanessa Trump, ex-wife of Donald Trump Jr., publicly disclosed that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer. The family is rallying around her; Ivanka Trump has expressed public support. See Details
A mother convicted of drowning her children at a beach was sentenced Wednesday in a case that drew national attention; the sentence was handed down after a harrowing trial. See Details
The U.S. Surgeon General released a new advisory raising alarm about the health risks of excessive screen time for children and teenagers, urging parents, schools, and tech companies to take action. Read More
Business
Within 24 hours of SpaceX’s prospectus release, CNBC and the Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI is preparing to confidentially file a draft IPO prospectus, with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley advising on the process; the company is targeting a public listing as early as September 2026 at a valuation above $1 trillion. Find out More
NVIDIA reported a staggering $81.6 billion in revenue, 85% year-on-year growth, a Q2 guidance of $91 billion that left Wall Street scrambling to revise models, and a 25x hike in its quarterly dividend — though shares slipped roughly 1.5% in after-hours trading on classic "buy the rumor, sell the news" behavior before stabilizing. U.S. equity futures were pointing broadly higher Thursday morning. Source
Worries around reaccelerating inflation pushed the 30-year Treasury to 5.2% — its highest since 2007 — as war-driven energy costs and tariff pressures kept inflation well above the Fed’s target; the probability of a Fed rate hike before year-end climbed above 50% on prediction markets Thursday for the first time in this cycle. See Details
Market Report
| Symbol | Last Close | % Change | |
| Dow Jones | DJIA | $50,009.35 | 1.31% |
| S&P 500 | SPX | $7,432.97 | 1.08% |
| Nasdaq Composite | IXIC | $26,270.36 | 1.54% |
| Alphabet Inc. | GOOG | $384.90 | 0.00% |
| Tesla, Inc. | TSLA | $417.26 | 3.25% |
| Apple Inc. | AAPL | $302.25 | 1.10% |
| Microsoft Corp. | MSFT | $421.06 | 0.87% |
World News
Russia’s oil exports to China grew 35% in the first quarter of 2026; Putin and Xi signed approximately 40 bilateral agreements during the two-day summit, covering energy, tourism, and education, with Russian energy flowing to China through routes entirely outside the Hormuz corridor, becoming increasingly valuable as global energy prices spike. Read More
The United States began an effort to "guide" stranded ships from the Iran-gripped Strait of Hormuz as it tries to counter economic disruptions that have outlasted the peak of fighting, with no comprehensive peace deal yet in sight; the effort marks the first significant movement of stranded commercial vessels since the blockade began in February. Find out More
Poland’s defense minister urged Ukraine to exercise extreme precision in its drone operations to avoid Russian interference with flight paths, following a series of incidents involving airspace concerns along the NATO border. Source
Entertainment
Prince Harry was notably absent from Meghan Markle’s Geneva speech on online safety at the Lost Screen Memorial in Switzerland, with a source explaining that the Duke of Sussex had "an important reason" for not attending alongside his wife. Source
‘The Late Show’ with Stephen Colbert airs its final show tonight. CBS ended the program due to ongoing financial losses. Source
Blake Lively put on a confident display at a glamorous Fendi event in New York this week as fresh legal developments in her ongoing defamation case continued to make headlines, with Lively seemingly unbothered as she attended the high-fashion soiree. See Details
Sports
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points, and the Thunder forced 21 Spurs turnovers to even the Western Conference Finals at 1-1 with a Game 2 win Wednesday night. Source
The Knicks host the Cavaliers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals tonight at Madison Square Garden; Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson acknowledged his team, which needed back-to-back seven-game series, is running on fumes after the stunning collapse in Game 1, where the Cavs squandered a 22-point lead in the fourth quarter. Source
Off the Wall
A rooftop restaurant in Beverly Hills sparked outrage on social media after a diner posted that the establishment charged a $110 cake-cutting fee during a group dinner. The restaurant has since responded, but the story has taken on a life of its own online. Find out More