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Speaking to reporters Wednesday afternoon, after the indictment against Ra\u00fal Castro was announced in Miami, Trump said Americans should not expect any escalation with Cuba<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThere won\u2019t be an escalation. I don\u2019t think there needs to be,\u201d said Trump. \u201cLook, the place is falling apart. They\u2019ve really lost control of Cuba.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.19 EDT<\/p>\n Joseph Gedeon<\/p>\n Progressive Chris Rabb wins closely watched Democratic primary in Pennsylvania: \u2018We are indomitable\u2019<\/p>\n Chris Rabb, an unflinching progressive state representative, declared his campaign for Pennsylvania\u2019s third congressional district was \u201cindomitable\u201d after winning the Democratic primary in a race that became a proxy battle<\/a> over the direction of the Democratic party.<\/p>\n In a significant victory for the party\u2019s left wing, Rabb took roughly 45% of the vote in Tuesday\u2019s contest, comfortably ahead of the early frontrunner, state senator Sharif Street, who garnered under 30%, and surgeon Ala Stanford.<\/p>\n Rabb addressed supporters, in an emotional victory speech, who had powered a grassroots campaign backed by the Philadelphia<\/a> Democratic Socialists of America and the Working Families party. \u201cI have been critiqued along this campaign for being too radical, being too bold,\u201d he told the crowd. \u201cThey ain\u2019t seen nothing yet.\u201d<\/p>\n Framing his win as a populist breakthrough, Rabb called the result \u201ca triumph of the many over the money\u201d before issuing a warning to those who might seek to undermine the movement his campaign had built. \u201cThey\u2019re going to try and tear us apart. We\u2019re not going to let that happen,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are indomitable.\u201d<\/p>\n The district, which includes most of Philadelphia\u2019s urban core, is the bluest in the US: Kamala Harris won 88% of its votes in the 2024 presidential election, as the rest of the country re-elected Donald Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.56 EDT<\/p>\n When asked by an NBC reporter if the announcement of the indictment is partly a pretext to push for regime change in Cuba<\/a>, the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, said: \u201cWe turned in an indictment and that\u2019s what we are here to talk about. If people want to speculate, I don\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.39 EDT<\/p>\n Ashley Moody, a senator from Florida, read out the penalty sheet for Ra\u00fal Castro, as advised by the southern district of Florida, US district court: one count of conspiracy to kill US nationals, two counts for destruction of aircraft and four counts of murder.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.13 EDT<\/p>\n The FBI conducted 16 cases to bring this indictment together, said Christopher Raia, the FBI\u2019s deputy director.<\/p>\n The investigators reopened many cold cases over 30 years.<\/p>\n \u201cTo anyone who spies on our country or who harms our citizens, remember the FBI has a long memory,\u201d said Raia. \u201cWe will come after you.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.59 EDT<\/p>\n \u201cAccording to the indictment, Ra\u00fal Castro, then minister of the Cuban revolutionary armed forces, authorized and oversaw a military command that ended with Cuban fighter jets firing air-to-air missiles at civilian aircraft over international waters,\u201d said Jason Reding Quinones, the US attorney for the southern district of Florida.<\/p>\n Those missiles killed all onboard, and for 30 years those families have waited for accountability, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the first time in almost 70 years that a senior leader in the Cuban regime has been charged in the US for acts of violence resulting in the death of Americans,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.52 EDT<\/p>\n Todd Blanche announces Ra\u00fal Castro indictment<\/p>\n The acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, is speaking at a news conference about the indictment of former Cuban leader Ra\u00fal Castro.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a reason why myself and the leadership are here and not in New York to announce this indictment,\u201d said Blanche from Miami, Florida. \u201cThe community here understands the Cuban regime better than anyone in America. Many families know the cost of oppression.\u201d<\/p>\n Today\u2019s indictment makes a statement that those who lost their lives 30 years ago have not been forgotten, he said.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.27 EDT<\/p>\n US indicts former Cuban president Ra\u00fal Castro as it intensifies pressure<\/p>\n Richard Luscombe<\/p>\n The United States has issued a federal criminal indictment against Ra\u00fal Castro<\/a>, Cuba<\/a>\u2019s former president, on Wednesday, and five others in a significant escalation of the Trump administration\u2019s campaign to oust the country\u2019s six-decade-old communist regime.<\/p>\n The 94-year-old political figurehead was charged in Miami, Florida, with conspiracy to kill US nationals, four counts of murder and two counts of destruction of aircraft, according to court filings obtained by CBS<\/a>.<\/p>\n Other defendants are a fighter pilot who was initially charged in connection with a 1996 incident in which four men were killed by the Cuban military when their aircraft was shot down during a humanitarian mission in the Florida<\/a> straits.<\/p>\n Castro is alleged to have given the order to open fire.<\/p>\n The indictment comes at a time of heightened tension between the US and Cuba, with Donald Trump threatening military action against the Cuban government, and an energy crisis created by a tight US oil embargo causing rolling blackouts and prompting protests<\/a> in the capital.<\/p>\n Miami\u2019s Freedom Tower, where more than half a million Cuban refugees were processed as immigrants between 1962 and 1974 after fleeing Fidel Castro\u2019s 1959 revolution, provided a symbolic backdrop for the announcement.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.35 EDT<\/p>\n Trump also again touted the US naval blockade of Iranian ports as \u201csuccessful\u201d.<\/p>\n double quotation markThey call it the wall of steel, nobody goes through it \u2026 We have ships that tried to go through it \u2026 and they say DO NOT PROCEED FURTHER OR WE WILL SHOOT.<\/p>\n After painting an image of \u201ca young handsome captain\u201d telling ships not to proceed via \u201cthe greatest loudspeaker system\u201d, Trump then impersonated an Iranian man after his ship was hit by US forces, while mispronouncing \u201cIran\u201d, and said the ship turned around. \u201cNobody violates it, nobody,\u201d Trump went on.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear what incident Trump was referring to in these surreal remarks.<\/p>\n While the US Central Command has successfully intercepted and redirected dozens of ships during the blockade, several Iranian-linked and dark fleet vessels have slipped through.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.11 EDT<\/p>\n Trump says US ‘may have to hit Iran harder \u2013 or maybe not’<\/p>\n In further remarks on Iran, Trump told cadets he thought Tehran \u201cso badly\u201d wanted to make a deal, but added:<\/p>\n double quotation markWe will not let Iran have a nuclear weapon. It\u2019s very simple. We will not let that happen.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll see what happens. We hit them very hard. We may have to hit them even harder \u2013 but maybe not.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a012.53 EDT<\/p>\n In the middle of remarks about the US\u2019s purchase of icebreakers from Finland, Donald Trump once again joked about being president for an unconstitutional third term.<\/p>\n For context, Washington signed a $6bn agreement with Finland<\/a> last year to purchase 11 new icebreakers, which can sail through seas covered with ice, reflective of Trump\u2019s focus on the Arctic region<\/a> \u2013 including his preoccupation with Greenland.<\/p>\n He told the crowd at the at the United States Coast Guard Academy:<\/p>\n double quotation markI said, \u2018When\u2019s the first one coming?\u2019, and they said, \u20182028.\u2019 I said, \u2018I\u2019ll be here in 2028\u2019 \u2013 maybe I\u2019ll be here in \u201832 too, I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n There was some whooping from the crowd in response.<\/p>\n Trump has repeatedly joked about running for a third term despite it being prohibited under the US constitution.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, for example, he jested during a White House address to business leaders about leaving office \u201cin eight or nine years from now\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.18 EDT<\/p>\n Trump on Iran: ‘Do we finish it up or do they sign a document?’<\/p>\n Alongside his usual boastful claims that Iran\u2019s navy and air force are \u201cgone\u201d, Donald Trump said the only question now is whether the United States goes back to finish the job or if Iran will sign a document.<\/p>\n double quotation markEverything\u2019s gone. Their navy\u2019s gone. Their air force is gone. Just about everything. The only question is, do we go and finish it up? Are they going to be signing a document? Let\u2019s see what happens.<\/p>\n The president stands behind protective glass as he delivers his remarks. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein\/Reuters<\/p>\n Earlier, the president told reporters he was in no rush<\/a> to bring his war on Iran to an end, and said achieving the mission\u2019s objectives was more important than setting a timeline for its conclusion.<\/p>\n As my colleague Yohannes Lowe reports<\/a>, Trump\u2019s comments come as a durable peace deal seems increasingly elusive and amid warnings that the US is weighing up restarting military attacks.<\/p>\n Analysts say<\/a> both Tehran and Washington want to avoid a new round of hostilities but neither are willing to pay the political price of the concessions necessary to secure a peace agreement.<\/p>\n The White House said in early April<\/a> that Trump\u2019s objectives in Iran were to \u201cobliterate Iran\u2019s ballistic missile arsenal and production capability, annihilate its navy, sever its support for terrorist proxies, and ensure the world\u2019s leading state sponsor of terrorism never acquires a nuclear weapon.\u201d<\/p>\n While there is little doubt that waves of US and Israeli airstrikes have heavily degraded Iran\u2019s military capabilities, many of Trump\u2019s core objectives remain unfulfilled and he is now essentially trying to get back to the status quo of the strait of Hormuz being freely open to international vessels.<\/p>\n A stockpile of highly enriched uranium is also still believed to remain buried following US-Israeli airstrikes last June, Iran still supports proxy militant groups such as Lebanon-based Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen, and Iran reportedly retains much of its prewar missile stockpile despite US-Israeli attacks.<\/p>\n You can follow all our coverage of the war over on the Middle East live blog:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a012.41 EDT<\/p>\n President Trump has arrived at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, where he will be giving the commencement speech in a few minutes. He has spoken at the Academy at least once before.<\/p>\n Donald Trump arrives for the commencement address at the US Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. Photograph: Jessica Hill\/APShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a011.57 EDT<\/p>\n Barney Frank, one of first openly gay members of Congress, dies aged 86<\/p>\n Barney Frank waves during the final session of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina on September 6, 2012. REUTERS\/Jason Reed\/File Photo Photograph: Jason Reed\/Reuters<\/p>\n Barney Frank, the former US representative who made history as one of the first openly gay members of Congress<\/a>, died on Tuesday night. He was 86.<\/p>\n Frank, a Democrat of Massachusetts<\/a> who represented the state in the US House of Representatives from 1981 to 2013, entered hospice care at his home in Maine last month, Politico <\/a>reported. He had been dealing with congestive heart failure.<\/p>\n Born in New Jersey in 1940, was a key figure behind the biggest shake-up of US financial regulations since the Great Depression, as chair of the House financial services committee from 2007 to 2011.<\/p>\n The sweeping Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which Frank co-sponsored, bolstered oversight of the financial sector in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis. Signed into law by Barack Obama in 2010, the law cracked <\/a>down on lending practices and expanded consumer protections.<\/p>\n The former House speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a statement on his death and life\u2019s work:<\/p>\n \u201cDuring his 32 years in the House, Congress and the Country were well-served by Barney Frank\u2019s passion, his persistence and his patriotism. In the wake of the financial crisis, he was a force for reining in an out-of-control financial system: crafting the landmark Dodd-Frank reforms, establishing a consumer financial protection agency and improving transparency in the markets. For many years, we fought side by side to bring down the cost of housing and expand housing opportunities for those living with HIV\/AIDS.<\/p>\n As the first Member to come out as gay publicly, Chairman Frank was a pioneering and powerful voice for the LGBTQ community. All were moved by how he spoke about the discrimination he faced. He channeled that personal experience into passionate leadership to enact the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and to send the bigoted \u2018Don\u2019t Ask, Don\u2019t Tell\u2019 policy to the dustbin of history.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>January 6 police officers sue Trump over $1.8bn fund, alleging \u2018presidential corruption\u2019<\/p>\n Two police officers who clashed with rioters at the US Capitol during the January 6 insurrection in 2021 have sued Donald Trump<\/a> over plans to create a $1.776bn \u201canti-weaponization\u201d fund.<\/p>\n Serving US Capitol police officer Daniel Hodges, is one of two officers who have filed a complaint<\/a> in US district court in Washington DC on Tuesday, seen expressing his outrage over President Donald Trump’s decision to pardon some 1500 participants who attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Photograph: AP<\/p>\n The fund, which critics have argued is essentially a slush fund<\/a>, is set to compensate allies of the US president who he claims were victims of prosecutorial overreach.<\/p>\n It was created as part of an agreement in which Trump and his sons dropped a $10bn long-shot lawsuit against the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS).<\/p>\n Harry Dunn, a retired US Capitol police officer, and Daniel Hodges, a Metropolitan police department officer, filed a complaint<\/a> in US district court in Washington DC on Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the most brazen act of presidential corruption this century, President Donald J. Trump has created a $1.776 billion taxpayer-funded slush fund to finance the insurrectionists and paramilitary groups that commit violence in his name,\u201d the lawsuit says.<\/p>\n Todd Blanche, acting attorney general, and Scott Bessent, treasury secretary, are also named as defendants.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n When Fox News correspondent Jacqui Heinrich asked the president a question, Trump\u2019s response was to tell reporters that her husband Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican congressman, has voted against him.<\/p>\n \u201cHer husband votes against me all the time. Can you imagine? I don\u2019t know what\u2019s with him,\u201d said Trump. \u201cYou better ask what\u2019s with him. He likes voting against Trump. You know what happens with that? It doesn\u2019t work out well.\u201d<\/p>\n Fitzpatrick, a moderate Republican has built his career on a brand of bipartisanship, has served in the House since 2017 and won re\u2011election in 2024. He has broken with Trump and his party on several issue. Last year, he voted against the \u201cone big, beautiful bill\u201d. <\/p>\n Trump has a history of attacking the media<\/a> and of dodging questions by distracting reporters and audiences.<\/p>\n![\"Anna](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Anna_Betts.png\")
Anna Betts<\/p>\n