U.S.

June 3 (UPI) — Almost six months after NASA lost contact with the spacecraft, the agency has declared the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Environment satellite unrecoverable and its mission concluded.

NASA’s Deep Space Network (radio antennas that connect Earth with spacecraft) last received a transmission from the MAVEN satellite on Dec. 6, just before its orbit passed behind Mars. When it emerged, communications did not resume, NASA said. The cause of this lapse was under investigation, but the agency said the satellite was rotating at an usually high rate, leading to drained batteries.

The MAVEN mission was the first successful one dedicated to observing Mars’ atmosphere and its evolution. It orbited the planet for more than 11 years, far longer than its planned one-year lifespan.

NASA hosted a media teleconference Wednesday about the end of the mission and issued a statement.

“The MAVEN mission has truly advanced our understanding of the Martian atmosphere and evolution,” said Shannon Curry, MAVEN principal investigator and a professor at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder. “This dataset has had a tremendous impact onthe field. Our science team is exceptionally proud of all of these amazing discoveries.”

The mission launched in November 2013 on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla., and arrived in Mars orbit 10 months later, Space.com reported.

During its mission, MAVEN provided information about Mars’ atmosphere and how it became the planet it is today, changing from a planet with a more Earth-like atmosphere that could host liquid water on the surface. It discovered new types of auroras across the planet and studied Mars’ dust storms.

MAVEN also played a key role as a communications link to the Curiosity and Persistence rovers on Mars. The Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft remain in operation to play that role.

“The science MAVEN has given us is key to informing what kind of radiation protection and safety measures we must take before sending humans to Mars,” said Louise Prockter, director of the planetary science division at NASA. “The data collected from MAVEN will continue to provide valuable insight into Mars for decades to come.”

June 3 (UPI) — CBS News fired veteran journalist Scott Pelley from 60 Minutes after an argument with its new executive producer two days before.

Pelley, 68, is a former anchor of the CBS Evening News and joined the network in 1989. Pelley is a familiar face on Sunday evenings as a correspondent for 60 Minutes.

On Monday, Pelley took issue with the recent firing of two correspondents and the show’s leadership team. He told his new producer Nick Bilton, a tech journalist hired last week, that CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss was “murdering 60 Minutes.”

“She was brought in to kill it, and she’s been doing exactly that,” The Hill reported Pelley told Bilton.

In a memo to staff Tuesday evening, Bilton said, “We have parted ways with Scott Pelley,” The New York Times reported. The network chose not to comment.

Bilton wrote a formal letter to Pelley explaining his termination, which was shared with The Times. He told Pelley he was “terminated for cause effective immediately.”

“I have been in combat in Afghanistan,” Pelley told The Times in an interview. “I have been in combat in Iraq. I have been in the war zone in Ukraine multiple times, risking my life and the happiness of my family because of my devotion to the broadcast.”

He said he still cares deeply about the show.

The program is CBS News’ most successful show, and its ratings were up 9% over last year. It’s often among the highest-rated weekly broadcasts in the country, according to Nielson.

In the letter from Bilton, he said Pelley “hijacked” the meeting Monday

“Yesterday’s performative display of hostility enacted in front of the staff instead of in a civil, private conversation, demonstrated that you have no interest in contributing to the future success of the show, or approaching my new tenure with a mind open to collaboration and progress,” Bilton wrote. “I am here to deliver first-in-class news programming, not to make headlines about newsroom drama. I am eager to work alongside those who share this goal.”

Pelley, in The Times interview, said the letter “betrays a complete misunderstanding of what we work for and what we live for at 60 Minutes.”

He also told The Times on Tuesday that “incompetence and unprofessionalism in the new management have wreaked havoc” at the network. “The collapse of values at the top has become untenable.”

He alleged that management had pressured him to insert bias into his stories over the past season, though he didn’t give details.

Now the show is down four of its correspondents: Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega were fired last week, and Anderson Cooper left the show in May at the end of the season.

Weiss was hired last year by David Ellison, CBS owner and son of tech mogul Larry Ellison. She was given the order to revamp the news for the digital era. Weiss is an opinion writer with little broadcast experience. Bilton is a tech journalist with no experience in broadcasting.

CBS management had a meeting with Pelley on Tuesday to discuss the situation and find a way to move forward, but it turned contentious, some people with knowledge told The Times. Pelley said in the interview with The Times that Weiss wouldn’t answer his questions about why Simon, Alfonsi and Vega were fired.

Pelley said Weiss’ behavior “was cold and callous and beneath the dignity of CBS News.”

Weiss told staff Wednesday morning that “despite our attempts to engage with Scott Pelley and to find a way back, unfortunately we weren’t able to do so, and so we had to part ways.”

But Pelley said it wasn’t true. “At no point did anyone at the Tuesday meeting suggest that there could be steps taken by either side that would lead to a resolution,” he said.

June 3 (UPI) — A 15-hour standoff at a California bank ended with the suspect shot dead and all hostages freed, police said Wednesday.

The man had barricaded himself inside the Chase Bank building on Chester Avenue and 17th Street in Bakersfield at about 1 p.m. PDT Tuesday. Police were sent to the downtown bank for a bomb threat, and when they arrived they found a man was inside the bank with several hostages, though some were able to escape.

Buildings in the area were evacuated, and police responded with SWAT teams, hostage negotiators and a bomb squad.

Twice on Tuesday evening, hostage negotiators convinced the suspect to release a hostage.

But around 4:20 a.m. Wednesday, the situation “concluded following an officer-involved shooting” by FBI personnel, the Bakersfield Police Department said in a press release. It also said the department was not involved in the use of force.

The FBI Sacramento office said earlier that it was sending help to the scene.

The number of people taken hostage wasn’t immediately clear, but those who remained in the building were unharmed.

“We are aware of the ongoing situation occurring at the building where our branch is located on the ground floor,” a Chase Bank spokesperson told CBS News in a statement. “The branch is currently empty, and we are working with authorities.”

The area around the building was still closed Wednesday morning. Police told the public to avoid the area and allow for extra travel time.

June 3 (UPI) — Spanish hotel operator Meliá Hotels International said Wednesday it will stop managing 15 hotels linked to Cuba’s military-run conglomerate GAESA, expanding the withdrawal of foreign operators from the island just days before new U.S. sanctions take effect.

The decision makes Meliá the fourth international hotel company to reduce or end operations in Cuba in less than a week, following the departures announced by Blue Diamond, Iberostar and Archipelago International under its Aston brand.

Meliá informed Spain’s National Securities Market Commission that its Portuguese subsidiary, Ilha Bela, will immediately terminate management, marketing and brand-use services at hotels associated with entities controlled by GAESA, according to Forbes España.

The company said the economic impact will be limited because many of the affected properties already were closed or only partially open.

In February, the Spanish hotel chain confirmed the temporary closure of several properties due to fuel shortages, transportation problems affecting workers and a sustained decline in tourism demand, CiberCuba reported.

At that time, the company operated 35 hotels on the island and said it was not considering leaving the Cuban market.

The latest move comes two days before the deadline set by President Donald Trump‘s administration for foreign companies to sever commercial ties with Cuba’s military conglomerate or face potential economic sanctions.

GAESA controls a significant portion of the Cuban economy and dominates large segments of the tourism sector through companies such as Gaviota Tourism Group.

On Tuesday, Archipelago International withdrew from several hotels operated under the Aston brand for Gaviota, including properties in Havana, Varadero and Cuba’s northern cays.

Days earlier, Canada’s Blue Diamond announced the end of its operations on the island, while Spain’s Iberostar stopped managing 12 hotels linked to GAESA assets.

None of the companies officially attributed their departure to the U.S. measures.

The withdrawals coincide with a deep crisis in Cuba’s tourism sector. According to data cited by IndexBox, Cuba received 328,608 international visitors between January and April 2026, a 55.8% decline from the same period a year earlier.

The deterioration is also affecting air transportation, as at least 11 airlines have suspended or reduced flights to Cuba this year.

The withdrawal of Meliá and Iberostar has also raised concerns in Spain.

Jaume Bauzà, tourism, culture and sports minister for the Balearic Islands regional government, said Wednesday that authorities are closely monitoring the situation facing the two Mallorca-based companies and offered institutional support.

“We will look after them. This is a commercial matter, but if we can help in any way, we will do so,” Bauzà said, according to Forbes España.

He said he hopes the situation can be resolved “as quickly as possible” for the companies and the Cuban population.

June 1 (UPI) — Florida’s attorney general announced Monday that the state is suing OpenAI and its founder and CEO, Sam Altman, saying the company chose “profits over public safety” in creating a dangerous product in the form of ChatGPT. It is the first state to sue the company over these design and safety concerns.

“The rise of OpenAI is attributable to a web of deceit and the exploitation of users (including Floridians), leveraging their data and safety to boost OpenAI’s market value at unacceptable costs,” the complaint filed by Attorney General James Uthmeier said, NBC News reported.

The lawsuit claims that OpenAI violated Florida’s rules on deceptive business practices and knew that its chatbot could be dangerous to children and others through actions such as providing “harmful information such as tips on eating disorders, self-harm and mass murder,” The New York Times reported. It says OpenAI presents “a great danger of addiction, cognitive decline, suicide, violence and related harms.”

The civil suit is separate from Florida’s ongoing criminal investigation into OpenAI, which Uthmeier openedin April. It includes multiple counts of deceptive and unfair trade practices, negligence, violations of product liability laws, fraudulent misrepresentation and causing a public nuisance.

OpenAI representatives have not yet commented on this lawsuit. Representatives have said in response to past claims that the company designs its systems with safety in mind and that there are “safeguards in placeto help people, especially teens, when conversations turn sensitive.”

“We continue improving ChatGPT’s training to recognize and respond to signs of mental and emotional distress, de-escalate conversations and guide people toward real-world support,” the company said in a prior statement.

The lawsuits also mentions OpenAI’s connections to a mass shooting at Florida State University and killings at the University of South Florida. In both cases, suspects asked ChatGPT for information connected to the attacks.

Reaching the summit is a dream. But staying there? That’s an altogether different challenge.

Maja Stark has a special appreciation for that now, a year after winning the U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills and feeling the hefty weight of expectation that came along with it.

For her, the aftermath of that victory brought heightened anxiety, and searing criticism from outsiders when the Swedish professional’s play took a dip.

“You get comments and stuff saying, ‘What happened? You just won a major; why do you suck all of a sudden?‘” Stark said at the Chevron Championship in April. “That does take some energy and just makes you focus on the wrong things. Then I got even more stressed and anxious.”

Maja Stark plays a shot from a bunker on the 17th hole during the third round of the Chevron Championship on April 25.

(Alex Slitz / Getty Images)

Stark said she sought professional help in the form of a mental coach, sports psychologist and therapist and now believes she’s better able to withstand the scrutiny that comes with winning at the highest tier.

That career-shaping pressure will be on display again this week when the USGA brings the U.S. Women’s Open to Riviera Country Club for the first time, merging the game’s most prestigious women’s championship with a historic venue celebrating its centennial year. The tournament takes place Thursday through Sunday.

Riviera is a theater, sitting low beneath high hillsides that almost serve as balconies. Players have described the course as a stage because it can feel as if you’re being watched even when you’re alone.

“I think there’s something very nostalgic about the facility,” said Jim Richerson, Riviera’s general manager. “The golf course has never had any major renovations or changes. The clubhouse is the exact same footprint today as it was when it was built in the 1920s.”

The U.S. Women’s Open is the oldest of the LPGA Tour’s five majors, and has long served as the standard by which women’s golf measures itself. It’s open to professionals and elite amateurs through a qualifying process, and the tournament is known for identifying the player who can withstand the most pressure under the most demanding conditions.

NBC will televise the championship and although Mike Tirico will not call the event, he knows the significance of holding it at Riviera.

“Without there being a Masters for women’s golf, that tournament really is the crown jewel of the sport,” Tirico said. “It has become the event people dream of winning. … It’s just appropriate that it’s contested at a place like Riviera that for so many generations has come to define a great championship test of golf.”

A look at some of the players to watch:

Nelly Korda

Nelly Korda celebrates after winning the Chevron Championship on April 26.

(David J. Phillip / Associated Press)

The world’s No. 1 player is a major needle mover for women’s golf and is a significant source of ratings when she’s in contention. She had a record five consecutive victories last season and seven overall. Her missing major is the U.S. Women’s Open. She finished in a runner-up spot last year and left Erin Hills firmly believing a win was within reach.

Jeeno Thitikul

Jeeno Thitikul plays a shot from the fairway during the first round of the Queen City Championship on May 14.

(Jeff Dean / Associated Press)

The former World No. 1 is still in pursuit of her first major championship. She’s a big question mark in the field.

Lydia Ko

Lydia Ko hits from the fairway during the second round of the LPGA Honda Thailand on Feb. 22.

(Kittinun Rodsupan / Associated Press)

This Hall of Fame player is the only golfer in modern Olympic history to win a complete set of medals — gold, silver and bronze — across three different Olympic Games. She’s still looking for her first U.S. Women’s Open win.

Charley Hull

Charley Hull hits off the 16th tee during the first round of the Mizuho Americas Open on May 7.

(Seth Wenig / Associated Press)

A colorful character who went viral during the 2024 Open for smoking a cigarette while signing autographs and playing. She was among a cluster who finished second in that tournament. She has three victories on the LPGA Tour but has yet to win a major.

Rose Zhang

Rose Zhang hits from the ninth tee during the final round of the Queen City Championship on May 17.

(Dylan Buell / Getty Images)

Zhang, who has been splitting time between Stanford and the LPGA, amassed a remarkable collection of victories as an amateur and three years ago, became the first player in 72 years to win an LPGA Tour event in her professional debut.

Minjee Lee

Minjee Lee prepares to putt during the third round of the Chevron Championship on April 25.

(Sarah Stier / Getty Images)

Lee, an Australian star, has won three majors including the U.S. Women’s Open in 2022. Her younger brother, Min Woo, won the 2016 U.S. Junior Amateur, making them the first brother-sister tandem to win the USGA’s junior championships.

Yuka Saso

Yuka Saso lines up a putt during the first round of the Mizuho Americas Open on May 7.

(Seth Wenig / Associated Press)

She is the anomaly of anomalies, with zero wins on the LPGA Tour with the exception of two U.S. Women’s Open victories. She won the first of those at 19 years, 11 months and seven days — astoundingly tying her for the youngest player to win the Open with Inbee Park, who was precisely that old when she won in 2008.

Lilia Vu

Lilia Vu watches her shot from the seventh tee during the third round of the Queen City Championship on May 16.

(Dylan Buell / Getty Images)

Vu grew up in Fountain Valley and was a standout at UCLA. She won two majors in 2023 but lately has been battling back problems.

Michelle Wie West

Michelle Wie West of the United States hits from the third tee during the first round of the Mizuho Americas Open on May 7.

(Sarah Stier / Getty Images)

Wie West retired three years ago after the Open at Pebble Beach, but is coming out of retirement to use her last year of exemption to play at Riviera. Her husband, Jonnie West, son of late NBA icon Jerry West, will be caddying for her.

June 2 (Asia Today) — U.S. crude oil exports reached a record high in May as demand from Asian and European refiners surged, market data showed.

U.S. crude exports averaged 5.6 million barrels per day in May, surpassing the previous record of 5.2 million barrels per day set in April, according to data from analytics firm Kpler.

The increase was driven in part by a widening price gap between West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark crude, and Brent crude, the global benchmark.

The spread between WTI and Brent widened to as much as $20.69 a barrel in March, the largest gap in 13 years. In April, the gap averaged $8.86 a barrel, wider than the prewar average of $4.85.

Supply disruptions in the Middle East caused by the war involving Iran also prompted refiners in Asia and Europe to seek more U.S. crude as an alternative.

Asia imported an average of 2.45 million barrels per day, making it the largest destination for U.S. crude for a second consecutive month.

Japan was the biggest Asian buyer, importing 808,000 barrels per day, up 32% from the previous month.

Europe ranked second, importing 2.4 million barrels per day.

Italy led European demand with imports of 335,000 barrels per day. Bulgaria, Croatia, Turkey and Greece also made rare purchases of U.S. crude, according to the data.

Industry analysts expect U.S. crude exports to decline from June. Consulting firm Energy Aspects projected exports would fall to an average of 4.9 million barrels per day in June and 4.6 million barrels per day in July.

Sources and analysts said declining WTI inventories in the United States are expected to encourage domestic storage and reduce export volumes.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260602010000543

June 2 (UPI) — Two supporters of President Donald Trump who were injured during an assassination attempt during Trump’s 2024 campaign rally in Butler, Pa., are suing the federal government for negligence.

James Copenhaver and David Dutch, both of Pennsylvania, attended the rally in July 2024 and were shot by Thomas Crooks, whom authorities say tried to assassinate Trump. Copenhaver was struck twice and received injuries to his abdomen, spine and left arm, his lawsuit says, while Dutch was shot and suffered “severe, serious, permanent and grievous injuries” according to his lawsuit.

Crooks killed one person, attendee Corey Comperatore, in the attack. Trump received a minor wound to his ear. Secret Service members killed Crooks on site.

The two lawsuits say the Secret Service failed to properly secure the rally, leading to their injuries. Copenhaver’s wife, Marianne Copenhaver, is also part of his lawsuit. The plaintiffs are seeking at least $150,000 in damages each, Politico reported.

“The events which led to [Dutch’s] grievous and permanent injuries were shocking and preventable, should not have happened, and the failures, as highlighted herein, exposed President Trump and all Butler Rally attendees … to grave, mortal danger,” Dutch’s lawsuit says. It says the security failures at the rally were “rampant.”

A House of Representatives task force and a Senate committee on homeland security both found that the Secret Service had “significant failures” in security at the event, including failures to act on tips about the shooter before the rally. The Secret Service suspended six agents for their actions.

June 2 (UPI) — Officials have rescheduled the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner for July 24, several weeks after a gunman disrupted the original event.

Weijia Jiang, president of the association and a senior White House correspondent for CBS, said Tuesday that the event will be a “more intimate gathering” with additional security precautions.

“When gunfire interrupted this year’s event, it further clarified the WHCA’s mission to advocate for the freedoms that are protected in the First Amendment,” Jiang wrote in an email to WHCA members. “We will not allow an act of violence to have the last word, especially during a year when we are reflecting on the 250th anniversary of America and everything we stand for.”

The original event April 25 ended when an armed man charged a security checkpoint outside the event at the Washington Hilton, and the president and other officials evacuated. The suspect, Cole Allen, 31, has been charged with attempting to assassinate the president, assaulting a federal law enforcement official with a deadly weapon and other offenses. Allen pleaded not guilty to all charges.

President Donald Trump posted on social media Tuesday that he will attend and speak at the dinner, which he called a ” ‘HOT’ ticket!”

Trump said the dinner will take place at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C., which is the former Trump International Hotel. In the email announcing the rescheduling, Jiang did not mention a site.

“This dinner will not only be an opportunity to carry out our program,” she wrote. “It will be a statement that violence has no place in American life and a free press will not be intimidated into silence. As you have all demonstrated, courage and community can and should rise above.”

The Washington Post reported after the prior event that some critics thought the president should not be so prominently featured.

“Why do I need to pay hundreds of dollars and dress up in a tuxedo to go listen to the president of the United States insult my colleagues?” Steven Herman, executive director of the University of Mississippi’s Jordan Center for Journalism Advocacy and Innovation, said in the Post. “I think he’s made it pretty clear he is not a champion of free speech or a free press. He only likes press or speech when it reflects positively on him.”

June 2 (UPI) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Senate on Tuesday morning that Iran must reopen the Strait of Hormuz and commit to future talks on its nuclear program before the United States will make concessions.

He testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee before a scheduled afternoon meeting with a House panel on State Department spending. Both sessions were planned so that Rubio could defend the department’s nearly $36 million budget request for the 2027 fiscal year.

Rubio is also President Donald Trump‘s national security adviser.

The Washington Post reported that Rubio’s testimony with lawmakers has been mostly friendly. He served in the Senate for 14 years and in the House for 8, representing Florida.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have expressed frustration with the cost and potential political fallout from the war with Iran.

“This war and the administration’s decision to blockade has now held the entire world economy, and the U.S. economy, hostage to the ability to negotiate an agreement with Iran,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn, The Post reported.

The Strait of Hormuz, which has been closed by Iran since late February, must reopen, Rubio stressed. The strait is a critical waterway for shipping of much of the world’s oil, gas and fertilizer. The closure has caused gas prices to rise, causing anxiety as Republicans fear losing House and Senate seats in November.

Rubio said Trump demands that Iran enter into negotiating “severe and long-term limitations” on its nuclear program, including disposing of enriched uranium, and those talks could take months.

But he said he’s optimistic that Iran is more willing to negotiate on nukes.

“They have agreed to negotiate aspects of their nuclear program that just a month ago, just a year ago, they were refusing to even mention,” The Guardian reported Rubio said. He warned that it’s “not a guarantee that ultimately it will lead to a deal that’s acceptable,” and Iran’s leadership instability has made the negotiations more difficult.

Rubio said Iran had intended to use its conventional weapons capabilities as a “shield” to protect its nuclear program, The Guardian reported.

“What they tried to do is, they were going to try to build a conventional shield and hide behind that conventional shield,” he said, explaining why Trump wanted to start the war.

He also admitted, after questioning by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that another sticking point for Trump was that Iran stop supporting terrorist proxy groups. He said Trump is not willing to ease sanctions just for opening the strait.

Rubio said that Iranian Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei is believed to be alive.

“I would imagine, given what’s happened to multiple leaders in that system, being very public is probably not something that’s recommended for them internally,” he said. “But that said, I think there are indications out there that he is increasingly engaging at some level, although all of his communications have been in writing and through intermediaries.”

Along with Iran, lawmakers were expected to ask Rubio about the president’s comments about Cuba and Taiwan.

If the last few weeks have shown us anything, it’s that the gubernatorial primary is an unexpectedly close race among a trio unlikely leaders: MAGA Republican Steve Hilton, and Democrats Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer.

Though Trump endorsed Hilton, a former Fox News host, a Hilton loss may be just what Trump wants — more fuel to fire up his MAGA base with false claims of rigged elections.

“Whether Hilton finishes first, second, or third, Trump will declare with zero evidence that there is voter fraud.,” Matt Barreto told me. He’s a professor of political science at UCLA and a founder of its Voting Rights Project, meant to promote free and fair elections.

And since California will probably take days or weeks to count all the ballots, a tight race will be fertile ground for those fraudulent fraud claims. President Trump has already started, clearly planning to use our primary to further his push to assert federal control of state-run elections.

“You have a really rigged vote in California,” Trump said last week, when asked about Hilton and Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, another unlikely right-wing contender. “California’s one of the most dishonest states for voting.”

California is not, of course, dishonest in its voting, and Trump has whined about elections for so long that this rhetoric might elicit little more than a shrug from most. But California elections matter at this pivotal moment only months before the midterms. Fraud claims here will further erode trust in our electoral system and could provide Trump with ammunition for interference across the country.

Voter fraud claims may also test a new California law meant to protect real election integrity and trust — a law (Senate Bill 73, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last week) that has received little notice but one that could provide a model of protection for the rest of the U.S. It stops law enforcement agents, including federal agents, from “providing unauthorized access, disruption, modification, or seizure of voter rolls, voter lists, or certified voting technology,” without a court order.

Call it the Sheriff Chad Bianco Act.

Bianco, another MAGA gubernatorial hopeful, seized hundreds of thousands of ballots from a recent election, claiming he was investigating the kind of wrongdoing Trump constantly alleges without proof. State Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana), a former federal prosecutor, said the warrant Bianco obtained from a friendly judge was “woefully deficient.”

So Umberg helped pass the measure to “protect the integrity of California elections” from “rogue law enforcement officials,” he said.

And he’s not just talking about Bianco.

“I am worried about interference in the election by federal authorities,” Umberg said. “I believe Donald Trump when he says, ‘I’m going to interfere in the election.’”

Umberg is so concerned that he has two other bills in the works he hopes will be law by November. One would stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from being present at polling places. The other would make it illegal for anyone running for a third term as president to appear on the California ballot.

The buildup of fraud claims around California elections and the pushback from legislators like Umberg is a background battle that hasn’t received much attention, but one that is real and consequential.

Trump, through demands for voter rolls by the U.S. Department of Justice, the promotion of the SAVE Act, vague threats of ICE or other federal agents at polls, and the placement of election deniers in key federal rolls has gutted safeguards for voting on the national level.

States have been slow to meet the threat, largely waiting for November to see how it plays out. California, to it’s credit, isn’t so complacent.

The strange circumstances of this particular California election may be a test for both sides. Barreto, the UCLA voting expert, said he thinks “Hilton has the highest probability of finishing first on Tuesday with Becerra close by in second, and Steyer in third.”

But that could — and probably would — change as more ballots are counted.

By Thursday, Barreto said, it’s probable (far from certain) that Becerra is in the lead and Hilton is second.

“There will definitely be millions more ballots counted on Wednesday and Thursday and they will be disproportionately Democratic and contribute to both Becerra and Steyer numbers,” he said.

Maybe pushing Steyer into second? Again, a long shot. But possible.

Democrats have been holding on to their ballots until the last minute this year, with a huge number waiting until just the last few days to vote. It’s possible (though unlikely) that by sheer numbers, Democratic voters will propel both Steyer and Becerra toward November.

We do know that Republicans, despite their smaller numbers, have been voting, and trusting the postal service with their ballots this time around at a fairly high rate. That’s despite Trump’s claims that mail-in voting is inherently fraudulent.

So at the same time that we are expecting a big influx of Democratic ballots in coming days, Republicans may be closer to their voting peak, meaning Hilton’s numbers could top out on election night.

If Hilton doesn’t make the top three, after having been in the lead during in-person voting, MAGA will most certainly lose its collective mind.

And Trump will have something just as good as a Republican governor in the Golden State — “proof” we cheated.

June 1 (UPI) — The Trump administration unveiled a new rule Monday adding work requirements to Medicaid eligibility, attracting concern from patient groups and condemnation from Democrats.

Republicans instituted the requirement as part of President Donald Trump‘s massive tax cut and spending bill signed into law in July.

The Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services said in a statement that the Interim Final Rule tying eligibility to an 80-hour-per-month work requirement promotes “economic stability, self-sufficiency and independence.”

“This rule helps Americans build skills and independence through work, education, job training or community service, creating new opportunities for themselves and their families,” CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz said in a statement.

Medicaid is a joint federal-state program helping those with limited income and resources pay their medical bills. The new rule will is the implementation of a Medicaid work requirement provision that Congress put into President Donald Trump’s so-called One Big Beautiful Bill.

Democrats had vocally opposed the measure before the Republican-controlled Congress passed it into law, arguing it would create bureaucratic obstacles to hinder the ability of those who need the coverage.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, said Monday that the rule is “the dark heart of Republican plan to kick millions of working Americans and their children off their health insurance by placing a mountain of paperwork in front of them.”

“When these requirements go into effect at the beginning of next year, it’s going to be a complete train wreck for America, and not just for the Americans caught in the bureaucratic maze Republicans have created: every community will be left with worse healthcare,” he said in a statement.

The provision requires most adults ages 19 through 64 to “demonstrate work requirement activities,” including employment, participating in certain work programs or community service.

Those exempt include people who are pregnant or have recently given birth, parents and caretakers of children or those with disabilities, the disabled or medically frail and American Indians and Alaska Natives, among others.

States generally have until Jan. 1 to implement the new rule, according to a CMS fact sheet.

While Republicans and the White House have described the move as installing safeguards against fraud, medical groups are voicing concern that it will cut patients, including those fighting cancer, from coverage.

American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network President Lisa Lacasse said the requirements mean those with cancer or suffering from sides effects of the disease or treatment would have to prove that they can’t work, a task she said is likely too difficult and time-consuming for them.

The 80-hour requirement may also be too much even for those who are able to work, she said.

“Cancer patients who can still work — and many want to, for example, when they are well enough to work in between chemo rounds — will have to choose between losing their Medicaid coverage, working the required 80 hours per month or giving up working altogether to qualify for an exemption,” she said in a statement.

The social welfare advocacy group Protect Our Care lambasted Republicans for “weaponizing government bureaucracy against the American People” instead of using the government to lower medical costs or make care more accessible.

“They are betting that if they make the process confusing and exhausting enough, millions of people will fall through the cracks and lose the care they depend on to survive,” Protect Our Care President Brad Woodhouse said in a statement.

“Hospitals will suffer, providers will be pushed further to the brink and families across the country will pay the price while Republicans once again put wealthy donors and corporate greed ahead of the health and well-being of everyday Americans.”

June 1 (UPI) — At least seven people, including the suspected shooter, are dead Monday following a series of shootings in an Iowa city that authorities said stemmed from a domestic dispute.

The suspect was identified as Ryan Willis McFarland, 52, of Muscatine, located along the eastern Iowa border with Illinois.

Authorities said he shot six people, all believed to be family members, before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound that was fired after being confronted by police on the Riverfront Trail near a pedestrian bridge.

“Today, I simply do not have the words [for] this act of evil and what it has done to our community,” Muscatine Police Chief Anthony Kies told reporters at a press briefing.

The identities of the victims were not made public, but Kies said they are all believed to be related to McFarland.

The investigation began at about 12:12 p.m. CDT when police received a report of a shooting at 210 Park Avenue. Officers arrived to find four people who had sustained gunshot wounds and were pronounced dead at the scene.

McFarland was identified as a suspect and was then confronted. EMS personnel rendered aid after McFarland shot himself, but he was soon after pronounced dead at the scene, Kies said.

As the investigation progressed, investigators developed information indicating there may be additional victims, leading to the discovery of two men dead from apparent gunshots — one inside a 1509 Mill Street residence and the other inside a 808 Grandview Avenue business.

“Preliminary findings indicate that the shootings stemmed from a domestic-related dispute,” Muscatine Police Department said in a release.

Kies told reporters that the suspect had a criminal record, but would not elaborate. The weapon used in the shooting was also not mentioned.

The investigation is ongoing, authorities said.

According to The Gun Violence Archive, the Muscatine incident is the second mass shooting involving four or more victims in the United States in the last 24 hours. There have also been more than 163 mass shootings in the country so far this year, the organization’s statistics show.

The U.S. military has confirmed the loss of an “MQ-1” drone to Iranian fire this weekend. This has led many to question whether American forces are flying the venerable Predator again, some eight years after the type’s official retirement. It is also very possible, if not likely, that the uncrewed aircraft in question was an MQ-1C Gray Eagle, a related but different design still in active U.S. Army service. Regardless, rebooting U.S. Predator operations might still be an attractive course of action, especially to help plug gaps left by dozens of MQ-9 Reaper losses to Iran and the Houthis in Yemen, but actually doing it may be harder than it seems.

American forces “conducted self-defense strikes on Iranian radar and command and control sites for drones in Goruk, Iran, and Qeshm Island this weekend,” according to a brief press release that U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) issued late yesterday. “The measured and deliberate strikes occurred on Saturday and Sunday in response to aggressive Iranian actions that included the shootdown of a U.S. MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters. U.S. fighter aircraft swiftly responded by eliminating Iranian air defenses, a ground control station, and two one-way attack drones that posed clear threats to ships transiting regional waters.”

There has been a string of tit-for-tat attacks now between the United States and Iran despite an ostensible ceasefire between the two countries. The U.S. military also remains committed to a blockade of Iranian ports, while the regime in Tehran continues to take separate action to throttle routine maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Negotiations between the two sides toward a more definitive end to the conflict are ongoing, as well.

“No American service members were harmed,” yesterday’s release added. “CENTCOM will continue to protect U.S. assets and interests in response to unwarranted Iranian aggression during the ongoing ceasefire.”

What did Iran actually shoot down?

In response to a direct query from TWZ, CENTCOM declined to say whether the “MQ-1” mentioned in the release was a Predator or Gray Eagle. We also reached out to the U.S. Air Force to ask if it had lost a Predator over the weekend, and were directed to contact CENTCOM. We contacted the Army to ask if one of its Gray Eagles was shot down, as well, and were redirected to the Pentagon.

Army aviation units with MQ-1Cs are known to be deployed in the Middle East. In April, the Air Force notably released several pictures of Gray Eagles somewhere in the region, which misidentified them as Predators.

The AP initially reported that the drone Iran shot down was a Predator, but this appears to have been based on CENTCOM’s use of the MQ-1 designation in the press release and not confirmed. The outlet’s story originally said “the U.S. Air Force no longer flies the MQ-1 Predator, the U.S. Army still does,” which was inaccurate, and that passage no longer appears in the piece. While the Gray Eagle is derived from the Predator and has the related MQ-1C designation, it is a distinctly different design more tailored to the Army’s needs. This includes the ability to operate with a smaller logistical footprint and lower crew training requirements.

For its part, Iran has also described what it shot down simply as an “MQ-1,” and has released a video below that it says shows the engagement, as seen through an infrared camera. However, the footage is extremely low resolution, and it is impossible to tell what type of drone it might show. Iranian authorities (as well as the Houthis) routinely release similar, but generally higher-quality clips after claimed shootdowns.

Officially, the Air Force stopped operating the MQ-1 Predator in 2018. As of September 2024, there were 15 MQ-1Bs in storage at the boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, according to data the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) previously released. TWZ has also reached out to the Air Force for an updated inventory of Predators in storage, and to ask whether or not any retired examples have been returned to service.

In addition, TWZ has asked General Atomics, the company behind the Predator and the Gray Eagle, as well as the MQ-9 Reaper, for comment.

Factoring in MQ-9 Reaper losses

Despite not yet having an official confirmation one way or the other, it still seems more likely that what Iran shot down was a Gray Eagle, not a Predator. Still, there remains the potential for the U.S. to have resumed Predator operations, possibly on a contractor-owned and/or operated basis, or that it may be considering doing so in the near future. There is one factor in particular that could be a key driver here now, and that is MQ-9 losses.

At a recent hearing, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach had called the Reaper “perhaps the most valuable player” in the latest conflict with Iran. In early March, we commented on how it appeared MQ-9 strikes were by far the most numerous attacks featured in CENTCOM’s ‘highlight’ reels during the conflict.

However, in May, Air & Space Forces Magazine reported that “nearly 30 MQ-9 Reapers have been lost in the course of those operations,” citing “people familiar with the matter.” On April 9, CBS News said that tally had already risen to “up to 24” Reapers since the fighting began in February, citing unnamed U.S. officials.

This is all on top of the loss of dozens more MQ-9s to Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen in recent years. The Houthis separately claimed to have shot down another U.S. Reaper just this past weekend.

Air Force Lt. Gen. David Tabor, Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Programs, told members of Congress at a hearing on May 13 that the service’s MQ-9 fleet had dwindled to 135 aircraft. This is down from the 165 Reapers the service said were in inventory as of the start of Fiscal Year 2026, according to official budget documents. The size of the fleet had already shrunk from 231 at the start of Fiscal Year 2025.

“We are concerned about how they’ve attrited,” Tabor said at that time, according to Air & Space Forces Magazine. “We’re looking at options to buy back as many of the MQ-9As as we possibly can right now, so there’s a bit of a short-term effort to buy back things immediately, in this fiscal year.”

“We are not divesting the MQ-9,” Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink also said separately on May 20, per the same report from Air & Space Forces Magazine. “We have had some losses in that aircraft, and we’re working to fill those losses, but in parallel, we are looking at what is the follow-on to the MQ-9 aircraft.”

TWZ recently reported in detail on the Air Force’s latest plans, as they are known now, for a successor to the MQ-9. This effort is the latest in a series of abortive Air Force attempts to develop a Reaper replacement that have spanned more than a decade now.

It is also worth noting here that the U.S. Marine Corps has acquired its own much smaller fleet of Reapers in recent years, and plans to operate the type for the foreseeable future. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) also operates Reapers, and has flown Predators, at least in the past.

Last month, Air & Space Forces Magazine reported that General Atomics had “less than 10 new or company-owned MQ-9As to offer to the Air Force,” but that “there are a number of decommissioned Reapers that could be brought back online and refurbished by the company,” citing company spokesperson C. Mark Brinkley.

The Reaper, also more formally known as the MQ-9A, is otherwise out of production. General Atomics has moved on to the MQ-9B, an evolved design with significant differences from its predecessor. Any new Air Force purchases of drones in this family would have to be of the new version.

TWZ has also reached out to the Air Force with questions about Reapers in storage and any efforts to return them to service.

Could Reaper losses prompt a Predator comeback?

The scale of MQ-9 losses, as well as the continued heavy use of those drones, brings us back to the possibility of returning Predators to service, even if this has not happened as of yet. Before their official retirement in 2018, questions had been increasingly raised about the risks of flying Predators in anything but permissive airspace.

For years now, Air Force officials have regularly raised similar questions about the Reaper’s vulnerability, as highlighted by an abrupt attempt to stop buying any more of the drones back in 2020. A self-protection pod has been developed to improve the MQ-9’s survivability, but there is no evidence that it has been fielded on a wide scale despite reported moves to do so in recent years.

More recently, the Air Force has shown a willingness to accept significant MQ-9 losses. Furthermore, many of the missions that Reapers are tasked with today could still be performed, at least to a degree, by Predators with an equivalent level of risk.

The piston-engined Predator is a smaller, shorter-ranged, lighter payload, and lower-performance design overall compared to the turboprop Reaper. At the same time, this would also be mitigated by the geography of the current operating environment in the Middle East vis-a-vis Iran, where the distances between available bases and likely operating areas wouldn’t be too far. This would be especially true for sorties in airspace over and around the Strait of Hormuz. As CENTCOM said, the “MQ-1” shootdown this weekend occurred somewhere over “international waters.”

The U.S. military previously used Predators exactly this way to monitor Iranian activities in and around the Persian Gulf from bases in the region. An Iranian Su-25 Frogfoot ground attack jet notably shot at an MQ-1 flying over that body of water back in 2012. That is just one example of Iranian harassment of U.S. drone operations in that timeframe, which got to be so bad that F-22 Raptors had to be called in to ward off Tehran’s tactical jet crews.

Beyond their continued ability to conduct surveillance and reconnaissance missions, Predators can carry a pair of AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. The Hellfire continues to be a very relevant weapon, including for use against small Iranian boats, including ones capable of firing anti-ship cruise missiles or laying mines. Predators could fire them at missile and drone launchers, road-mobile air defense systems, and other Iranian assets on land, too.

Though the MQ-9 can carry a wider selection of precision-guided munitions, Hellfire has remained a key element of that drone’s arsenal, too, including in recent operations against Iran.

The video below includes a clip of an Iranian Ghadir class diesel-electric midget submarine being struck by what has been confirmed to be an AGM-114 Hellfire missile, likely fired by an MQ-9.

Reapers can carry much more ordnance per sortie than the Predator, but the latter could still provide a useful boost in interdiction capacity even with a smaller payload. There is an argument to be made that interdiction would actually be a better role than surveillance and reconnaissance for any remaining Predators. The older drones could be treated as being more expendable than their Reaper cousins, and more readily sent to hunt targets in higher-risk environments as a result.

There is a question of what kinds of upgrades might be necessary in order to return Predators to active duty, such as new datalinks to connect to more modern networks and ground stations. We also do not know what new training might be required to operate them within the context of currently available infrastructure in the Middle East, or anywhere else.

It’s also worth noting that other branches of the U.S. military beyond the Air Force could support a return of Predators to operational service, as well. The Army was actually originally the main operator of the MQ-1, as you can read more about here.

Back in the late 2010s around the Predator’s retirement, the Air Force confirmed to TWZ that there were active discussions about transferring retired MQ-1s to the Navy, either for use by that service or the U.S. Marine Corps. There is no clear indication the Navy or the Marines operated Predators in the end. At around the same time, the Navy was helping lay the groundwork for what ultimately became the Marines’ MQ-9 fleet.

That being said, as TWZ wrote at the time, the Air Force’s engagement with the Navy underscored how the Predator still offered relevant capability in a variety of operational contexts. We also noted that the steady miniaturization of sensors and other systems could open up new possibilities for the older MQ-1s.

If it is true that there were only 15 MQ-1Bs left in storage as of 2024, there is a separate question of what happened to the many dozens of other Predators the Air Force had in inventory when the type was retired. TWZ had previously raised the additional possibility that Predators could be employed as targets for live-fire training, as well as research and development and test and evaluation activities, or even converted into one way attack munitions.

What we do know is that MQ-9 remains in very high demand in the Middle East, now further driven by operations against Iran that continue to grind on. We also know that the Air Force has sustained what it has itself described as a concerning level of Reaper losses in recent years. It is unclear how many MQ-9s are out there for the service to ‘buy back’ or when its latest plans for a successor to the Reaper might bear fruit.

Even if the U.S. military has not currently put any Predator drones back on active duty, returning even a relatively small fleet of them to service might still be worth considering as a way to meet operational needs and ease pressure on the hard-hit MQ-9 fleet.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

June 1 (UPI) — President Donald Trump is backing off plans for a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund after bipartisan criticism, sources said Monday.

Politico, The New York Times and CNN reported Monday evening that sources familiar with the matter said the Trump administration has told Republican congressional leaders that plans for the fund would be at least paused or dropped. Trump has not yet committed publicly to this change.

Earlier Monday, the Justice Department issued a public statement that it would abide by a federal court ruling putting the fund on hold, although it “disagrees strongly” with the ruling. It was unclear whether this was the halt to the fund communicated later or if a more permanent halt is planned.

The controversy over the fund has caused issues for Republican agendas on immigration enforcement, with Republicans splitting on the issue and Democrats vowing to force votes on amendments related to the fund.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said earlier Monday that Democrats will have amendments ready to stop the fund, which has been criticized as a way to pay Trump allies, including those prosecuted for their actions in the Jan. 6 riot.

“This week, Senate Democrats will launch a coordinated effort to kill the slush fund before one cent goes out the door,” Schumer wrote in a letter to Senate Democrats. “And no matter what Republicans do, we will force them to vote. If Republicans return to reconciliation, we will be ready with amendments to shut the fund down. If they try to bury the issue, we will force them to the Senate floor. If they try to sneak behind appropriations, we will fight them there too.”

Some Republicans have proposed adding restrictions to the fund. As it is written, there are no clear oversight mechanisms and the Justice Department has not provided details on the process of reviewing claims and making payments.

The Senate is facing a $72 billion budget reconciliation package that would fund immigration enforcement efforts through 2029. The Senate recessed for Memorial Day without any action on the package taking place.

June 1 (UPI) — Research shows that a rise in remote work since the COVID-19 pandemic is connected to a rise in unemployment among younger employees, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Monday.

In a blog post, the research authors said they estimate about 64% of the rise in unemployment among recent college graduates has to do with the connection to remote work, which “makes it more difficult for manager sto train and mentor new employees,” they wrote.

“Accordingly, companies may be reluctant to hire less-experienced workers in distributed work arrangements,” the post continued.

The authors said that unemployment among those younger than 29 was an average of 3.1% in 2017-19, compared to an average of 3.7% in 2022-25. Conversely, they wrote, the unemployment rate for more experienced college graduates fell from 1.9% in 2017-19 to 1.8% in 2022-25.

The researchers said they used data on both “remotable” and “non-remotable” jobs, comparing how easily common tasks for a given job can be done remotely. They also used proprietary data from an unnamed Fortune 500 company.

“We show that when people work next to their colleagues, they receive more feedback on their output and more mentorship,” the authors wrote. “When they are separated by even a short distance, that feedback tapers off dramatically. The loss in feedback is more pronounced for younger workers, who miss out on constructive comments that spur their development.”

However, Nicholas Bloom, an economics professor at Stanford University who studies remote work, said that even companies that have remote work often have opportunities for time on site, CNBC reported.

“I don’t think there is any evidence this is slowing employment,” Bloom said. “Indeed, quite the reverse, as it’s easier for people to work and so labor supply looks to be rising.”

June 1 (UPI) — Artificial intelligence company Anthropic confidentially filed Monday for an initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission, joining SpaceX and OpenAI in plans to go public this year.

“This gives us the option to go public after the SEC completes its review,” Anthropic said in a statement, CNBC reported. “The proposed initial public offering will depend on market conditions and other factors.”

That makes three prominent companies with IPO plans in 2026. SpaceX plans to debut next week, while OpenAI is preparing to file. Anthropic’s filing did not give any further information on timing, but it could go public as soon as this fall, The New York Times reported.

Last week, Anthropic passed OpenAI in valuation, reporting $965 billion as opposed to OpenAI’s $852 billion reported in March, CNBC reported. The company, based in San Francisco, is the creator of the Claude chatbot and the Claude Mythos Preview AI model. It has a focus on software coding.

Anthropic’s founders left OpenAI in 2021 to found the new company after concerns about OpenAI’s direction. Anthropic leaders have stressed safety in the use of AI, which caused issues with the U.S. Department of Defense after the company wanted limits on military and intelligence usage of its products.

President Donald Trump then called it a “radical left, woke company” and ordered federal agencies to stop using Anthropic products, while Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, called the company a supply chain risk to national security. Anthropic has sued the Trump administration to reverse the blacklisting, and that lawsuit is ongoing. Meanwhile, the company’s growth in the private sector has accelerated, CNBC reported.

Nope, it’s not AI. It’s just a really big flag with bright lights, draped on Hoover Dam for the next several weeks.

As a display to mark the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence, the states of Nevada and Arizona and the federal Bureau of Reclamation teamed up to hang and illuminate an enormous American flag on the dam on Memorial Day.

The display, scheduled to be in place through July 4, is visible to anyone crossing between Arizona and Nevada on U.S. Route 93, which goes across the top of the dam. The flag is 150 feet tall and 300 feet long, spread on the south-facing side of the dam and lit by 550 LED lights (powered by dam-generated electricity).

A wider view of the illuminated U.S. flag at Hoover Dam.

(Michael Bittle)

It’s a spectacle that comes at a challenging moment for Hoover Dam, as experts warn that Lake Mead’s dwindling water levels could threaten the dam’s ability to generate hydropower. “Slap a flag on it, that’ll fix it,” suggested one of several Reddit commenters who were moved to snarkiness by the flag image.

The dam, a frequent day-trip destination from Las Vegas, stands 35 miles east of the Las Vegas Strip, about 295 miles northeast of Los Angeles. The site features a visitor center and overlook, and guided and self-guided tours.

Installation of the display involved dozens of riggers and two cranes. The flag, which is roughly the dimensions of a football field, has been previously used for celebrations at Indianapolis Colts and Las Vegas Raiders football games.

Within two days after it was hung, gusts of wind up to 50 mph prompted organizers to lower the flag last Wednesday as the National Weather Service declared a wind advisory for the area. Organizers raised the flag again late Friday.

Strong winds are not uncommon in the area. Organizers said weather “may periodically require the flag to be temporarily lowered.” Updates on the flag’s status can be found on the Hoover Dam Facebook page.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority paid for the display. A spokeswoman said the cost, including flag, production, installation costs and six weeks of lighting, will be between $750,000 and $1 million.

The dam, a five-year construction job that was completed in 1936 during the depths of the Great Depression, is often hailed as one of the nation’s most impressive works of infrastructure. Though this is not the first time a flag has been draped on it, organizers have called the display “the most ambitious long-duration installation ever attempted at Hoover Dam.”

June 1 (UPI) — People Inc. issued an $18 billion takeover bid for MGM Resorts, CEO Barry Miller announced Monday.

People Inc., which already owns 26.1% of the outstanding common stock of MGM, offered to acquire all remaining outstanding shares for $48.30 per share. The offer represents a 10.6% premium over MGM Resorts’ closing price Friday and 30% premium to the stock’s volume-weighted average price for 90 days.

“We began investing in MGM nearly six years ago because we believed it represented a rare kind of business: one with real-world assets that [artificial intelligence] cannot easily replicate or disintermediate and exceptional digital growth opportunities,” said Miller, who is also chairman of the board at People Inc.

“We continue to believe the market materially undervalues the power and durability of MGM’s assets. We believe MGM’s management team is superb and that there is a compelling opportunity to support MGM’s next phase of growth and help unlock its full value.”

Diller also sits on the board of directors at MGM.

People Inc., previously known as Dotdash Meredith until a 2025 rebranding, is a digital media company that operates dozens of brands, including People magazine, Investopedia, Serious Eats, Entertainment Weekly and Martha Stewart Living.

June 1 (UPI) — Iran has stopped peace negotiations with the United States as it alleges the terms of its cease-fire agreement have been violated, Iran state media reported Monday.

The Tasnim News Agency cited Israel’s continued military operations in Lebanon as a violation of its cease-fire terms, calling for a cease-fire in Lebanon.

At least 3,422 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel began its operations there on March 2.

The Iranian news agency added that Iran will block the Strait of Hormuz and is looking to “activate” its “resistance front” in other areas.

“The United States and Israel bear responsibility for the consequences of any breach of the truce,” Abbas Araghchi, Iranian foreign minister, wrote on social media.

Despite the cease-fire between the United States and Iran, both sides have continued to exchange fire through the weekend. U.S. Central Command reports striking down two Iranian drones that were threatening ships. The United States has also been enforcing a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, confronting any ships going to and from Iranian ports.

While Iranian news reports Iran is ending peace talks, President Donald Trump claimed early Monday morning that Iran “really wants to make a deal,” in a post on social media.

“Just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end — It always does!” Trump wrote.

The most recent flare-up of hostilities between the U.S. and Iran yet again highlights that while the future of Tehran’s nuclear ambitions remains at the heart of peace negotiations, the status of the Strait of Hormuz is the key flashpoint. On Tuesday, Tehran vowed retaliation a day after U.S. forces struck several targets in southern Iran on and near the Strait. Exacerbating the problems, another vessel was reportedly attacked near the mouth of the vital waterway on Tuesday.

These incidents are complicating work toward a peace deal amid an increasingly fragile ceasefire. After the start of the war on Feb. 28, the strategic chokepoint was closed to most traffic by Iran, which is now letting some vessels through under a new fee system that the U.S. vehemently rejects. The closure is having global economic impacts.

“Undoubtedly, the Islamic Republic of Iran will not leave any act of mischief unanswered and will not hesitate in defending the country’s integrity,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on X in which it labeled the U.S. strikes on Monday “a gross violation of the ceasefire enacted on April 8. 

The ministry offered no specifics about what actions it could take.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei issued a threat against U.S. allies in the region. Countries like Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Oman and Iraq all house U.S. facilities, many of which have already come under attack during Epic Fury and even after the April 8 ceasefire.

“The hand of time does not turn back, and the nations and lands of the region will no longer serve as shields for American bases,” he stated on X. “America will no longer have a safe haven for mischief and the establishment of military bases in the region.”

The statements were among many from Iran decrying the latest kinetic exchange with America. On Monday, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) told us it hit targets being used to endanger its personnel.

U.S. forces “conducted self-defense strikes in southern Iran… to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, CENTCOM’s chief spokesman told TWZ Monday evening. “Targets included missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to emplace mines. U.S. Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire.”

CENTCOM carried out the strikes after Iran deployed mine-laying boats in the Strait of Hormuz and flew attack drones near American ships, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.

The U.S. “observed Iranian forces taking several actions, including launching the drones and activity at missile launch sites,” the newspaper noted.

CENTCOM’s statement followed reports of explosions in the key southern Iranian city of Bandar Abbas, the epicenter of Iranian naval operations around the Strait of Hormuz. It was attacked repeatedly during Operation Epic Fury and again earlier this month after the ceasefire was in place.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) organization reported that the Olympic Life, a Marshal Islands-registered oil tanker, was attacked 60 nautical miles east of Muscat, Oman on Tuesday.

The maritime security firm Ambrey told us the ship was struck by an unknown projectile, which resulted in an explosion on the vessel’s port side along the waterline, creating a discharge of bunker fuel. There were no injuries reported and neither UKMTO nor Ambrey said who launched the projectile.

Brooke Mayo was just 4 when she started playing soccer. She was about 4½ when she started fantasizing about participating in the World Cup.

“I just fell in love with the game,” she said. “Like any soccer player, you dream about the World Cup, you know?”

That dream came true three years ago, though not quite in the way Mayo had imagined. Although she took part in four matches at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, she did so as an assistant referee, not a player, running up and down the field with a flag in her hand, not a ball at her feet.

Yet Mayo made history just the same, joining Tori Penso and Kathryn Nesbitt as the first American officials to work a World Cup final as a trio. More importantly, they performed so well they have been invited to officiate in the men’s World Cup this summer, where they will make more history as just the second all-female crew to work a game in the men’s tournament.

And while Mayo appreciates the barrier breaking, for the three women it’s just another day at the office.

“For us, it’s just business as usual,” she said. “I think there’s still a lot of places in the world that need to see this and that’s why it’s still important. But our colleagues are used to seeing women around.”

Mark Geiger, a two-time World Cup referee who is now general manager of the Professional Referee Organization (PRO), which manages officials for MLS, agrees. After decades of seeing U.S. and Canadian referees given little respect by FIFA — nor by international soccer in general — Geiger says the biggest takeaway from this summer’s tournament isn’t the gender of the domestic officials selected, but rather the number, 11, making it the largest contingent to work a World Cup.

In addition to Mayo, Penso and Nesbitt, the list includes Ismail Elfath, Armando Villarreal, Kyle Atkins, Corey Parker and Drew Fischer, who took part in the 2022 men’s tournament. Nesbitt, Elfath, Parker and Atkins all worked the final of that World Cup four years ago, Elfath as the fourth official, Nesbitt as the reserve assistant referee and Parker and Atkins as video assistant referees.

With Mayo’s team working the 2023 women’s final — alongside Villarreal, who was in the video booth — seven MLS officials have worked the last two World Cup finals and at least one PRO official has been assigned to 19 of the 32 knockout games in the most recent men’s and women’s tournaments.

No other league or country in the world is even close to that.

“Over the past few years I think we’ve shown that the quality of football and the quality of the officiating in the United States and Canada is at a really high level,” said Geiger, who made history of his own in 2014 when he became the first American center referee to work a Round-of-16 match in the men’s World Cup.

“We are in the normal conversation of knockout-stage games, we’re in the normal conversation for Tori to do the final. It’s not out of the realm of possibility.”

Another thing that makes this World Cup special for the PRO officials is that with the U.S., Mexico and Canada sharing host duties, the tournament will be played at home. The only other time the men’s World Cup was played in the U.S., in 1994, Arturo Angeles, a Mexican-born naturalized citizen, was the only American referee selected and he supervised just one group-play game.

“Any World Cup game anywhere is going to be special on some level,” said Fischer, a 45-year-old Canadian who has been a FIFA referee for 11 years. “It’s definitely a special feeling when you get to play host. It’s a little bit of welcoming the world into your backyard.

“There’s a certain hometown pride. So I’m definitely looking forward to that aspect of it.”

Joe Dickerson, U.S. Soccer’s reigning male referee of the year, received the FIFA international badge he needed to work major competitions just three years ago. Yet he will be a replay official in this World Cup, the first one he was eligible to work.

“This kind of happened so fast in the last couple of years,” said Dickerson, who became a professional referee in 2013, then began targeting the World Cup when it was awarded to the U.S., Mexico and Canada in 2018. “To work the biggest sporting event in the world in front of friends and family is really cool. And being a part of the celebration of culture happening in your own country and, as much as we can, celebrate our own culture, is really cool.”

It also makes things much easier on family and friends. When Mayo officiated her first group-stage game in the 2023 tournament in New Zealand, her wife, Falon Catalano, flew in for the match.

Referee Brooke Mayo looks on during a CONCACAF Nations League third place match between Jamaica and Panama in March 2024.

(Julio Cortez / Associated Press)

“I told her like hey, it’s our first World Cup. So she came to that and then went home,” said Mayo, 37, who wasn’t sure she’d get another game.

When she was assigned the England-Australia semifinal in Sydney, she called Catalano back.

“I said ‘this might be the biggest appointment in my entire career, in Australia in front of 75,000 fans. You’ve got to come to this,’” she pleaded.

So Catalano came then went before Mayo found out she would be doing the final. That led to another call. “I said, ‘well, you’ve gotta come back.’”

An exhausted and broke Catalano said no to the expense and fatigue of another 38-hour round trip, but after a group of MLS officials passed the hat to buy the ticket, Catalano surprised Mayo by making the match after all.

Making it to the semifinals — much less the final — was far from guaranteed since the World Cup is a meritocracy for officials as well as for the players. In fact, it’s harder to make the final as an official: There will be 170 officials from 50 countries taking part in this summer’s tournament as opposed to 1,248 players — or one referee for every 13 players.

“A lot of people underestimate how difficult it is for us to get there,” said Dickerson.

Referees are graded after every game and those who don’t measure up in their first match don’t work another one. Those who excel, however, continue to advance — as Mayo did in 2023.

“Just like teams try to kind of hit their stride in a tournament setting, that was similar with us. We just went in there focused on only one game in front of us,” she Mayo, who got her FIFA badge in 2018. “Our goal was to earn another game after that, do everything we can to clean up our communication. We’re like micro-managing ‘how could we have done this better?’

“You are just operating in sync. You’re spending every minute together. You’re together at breakfast. You’re together at training. You’re together at lunch. You’re traveling together. By the end, if they even sigh on the field, I know what that means.”

Mayo, like most officials, came to the game as a player — one good enough to play four years at Tennessee Tech. As a teenager she was moonlighting as a referee, raising enough money to fund a trip to South Africa to watch the 2010 World Cup as a fan.

“But I didn’t take reffing seriously,” she said. “Once I finished playing, I missed that competitive edge. When I realized I could do it in reffing, I was like, ‘Oh, this scratches that itch that I miss.”

Taking part in a World Cup remained a dream, however, and she got to scratch that itch three years ago. Now she’s working the tournament at home, where her family, who live in Colorado, will be just a few hours away should there be any frantic last-minute flights to catch.

Having already worked one World Cup final, anything short of the final this summer could feel like a failure.

“It’s a lot of skill, but it’s also a lot of luck. You have to be in the right place at the right time,” Mayo said. “There’s not that much that separates people at the top.

“We’re up against amazing referees. We’re going to fight for every game, one game at a time, knock it out of the park and hope for the best.”