US charges Raúl Castro with murder

The United States has charged Raul Castro, Cuba's former president, with murder over the 1996 downing of two civilian aircraft flown by Cuban exile groups—a move seen as a symbolic escalation in a renewed maximum pressure campaign against the island. The indictment, announced by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in Miami, comes amid a fuel blockade that has triggered nationwide power outages and economic collapse in Cuba. While the U.S. claims the charges are part of a broader strategy to counter perceived threats from Russia and China using Cuba as a strategic foothold, critics argue the move is politically motivated, aimed at rallying Cuban-American voters in Florida ahead of the 2028 election. Meanwhile, SpaceX is on the verge of becoming the first trillion-dollar company to debut on a U.S. stock market, driven by its dominance in rocketry, Starlink satellite internet, and AI ventures like XAI. In Ukraine, the military is achieving unprecedented success in shooting down Russian drones—using a mix of AI, private contractors, and game-like drone interceptors—though deadly attacks continue to claim civilian lives. In the Caribbean, Barbuda’s iconic pink sand beaches are at the center of a legal and cultural battle as wealthy developers challenge communal land rights, threatening a centuries-old way of life.