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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korva Coleman. The Justice Department has brought charges against Cuba's former president Raul Castro. It's in connection with the deadly 1996 downing of two small civilian planes. The Cuban government rejects the indictment and says this is a pretext for U.S. military action against the country. NPR's Ryan Lucas reports.
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Raul Castro is charged with conspiracy to kill US Nationals, destruction of aircraft and murder. The indictment alleges that Castro authorized the 1996 downing of two small aircraft operated by the Miami based exile group Brothers to the Rescue. Four people were killed, including three Americans. In a statement on X, Cuba's current president called the indictment a political move with no legal foundation, and he accused the Trump administration of trying to create a pretext for military action. The US has been ramping up pressure on Cuba, including a de facto blockade that has cut off fuel shipments to the island. The now the US has brought charges against Castro, which some see as a possible prelude to the sort of US Military operation that captured Venezuela's president in early January. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington.
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President Trump says he's willing to wait a little longer for an agreement with Iran before deciding whether to order fresh military strikes. NPR's Aya Batrawi says earlier this week Trump said he paused new strikes at the request of Mideast allies, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
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They have borne the brunt of Iran's counterattacks in this war, and countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar want to see this war end. But Trump has also been speaking regularly with Israel's prime minister, and just this week they had a tense and contentious call. A person familiar with the matter, not authorized to speak publicly, told NPR Benjamin Netanyahu railed against a deal to end the war and that Trump told him he would continue to pursue a deal that prevents Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon but that Iran needs to show flexibility.
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NPR's E.A. batroy reporting. Big tech company Meta has announced it is cutting 8,000 jobs. NPR's John Ruich reports. It's also shifting another 7,000 positions into jobs that are more directly related to artificial intelligence.
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Meta flagged the job cuts last month, and a company spokesperson said affected employees were notified on Wednesday. The parent company of Facebook and Instagram has been retooling and investing heavily in artificial intelligence. It expects to spend nearly twice as much on capital expenditures this year as it did last year, and much of that will go into its efforts to catch up to rivals in the AI race. The job cuts and reorganization come at a challenging time for meta. Earlier this year, it lost two court cases claiming its platforms have been harmful to children and young people's mental health. And in June, it'll return to court to face school districts suing over claims that social media companies caused a costly mental health and addiction crisis among students. John Ruich, NPR News.
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You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Big tech company IBM says it will work on building a new facility to create certain quantum computer chips. It will create a brand new company to build these. The Wall Street Journal reports the Trump administration is giving $2 billion in grants to nine companies in all, including IBM, and the federal government will get a financial stake in these. Quantum computer chips can produce much faster than regular computer chips, but they need special environments in which to work, such as very cold temperatures. Tonight, comics Stephen Colbert says goodbye to the late night show he's hosted for 11 years. CBS Paramount canceled it, citing financial reasons. But as NPR's Mandalit del Barco reports, fans say it's because of Colbert's continuous criticism of President Trump.
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Stephen Colbert has never stopped roasting Donald Trump, though he never directly blamed the president for getting canceled. But many of his friends and fans have. On the eve of his finale, Colbert invited on some of his famous friends, including Billy Crystal, Amy Sedaris and Robert De Niro. Then he welcomed musical guest Bruce Springsteen.
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You're the first guy in America who's lost his show because we got a president who can't take a joke.
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Springsteen also called out Trump loyalist Larry Ellison and his son David Ellison, who owns CBS Paramount. Then he sang an anti Trump anthem about ice agents who killed protesters. Renee Good and Alex Preddy, who remember
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the names of those who d. Colbert
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ends his show tonight with a surprise guest, Mandalit Del Barco, NPR News.
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