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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton.
Chapter 2: What criminal charges were announced against Raul Castro?
The Justice Department has announced criminal charges against former Cuban President Raul Castro and others. The charges stem from the 1996 shootdown of two civilian aircraft operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue. NPR's Ryan Lucas reports.
The indictment charges Raul Castro, the brother of Fidel Castro, with murder, conspiracy to murder, and destruction of aircraft. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the charges in Miami.
Today's indictment, while it does not bring back the murdered victims, it makes a statement. The United States government has not forgotten these innocent men who were shot out of the sky.
Chapter 3: How is the new housing bill addressing affordability issues?
The indictment alleges that Castro authorized the shootdown of the two Brothers to the Rescue aircraft by Cuban military jets. Three U.S. citizens and a U.S. national were killed.
Chapter 4: What impact will Meta's job cuts have on its AI strategy?
The 94-year-old Castro is not in U.S. custody. The case against him is seen as part of the Trump administration's pressure campaign against the Cuban government. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington.
Chapter 5: How are Gen Z women changing the home buying landscape?
House Republicans and Democrats passed a bill today banning large corporate investors from buying more homes. As NPR's Stephen Basaja reports, the bill is also meant to address housing affordability.
The main idea in the bill to make housing more affordable is to throw a lot of ideas at the problems. The bill is packed with new block grants, updates to old ones, and deregulation.
Chapter 6: What are the financial challenges faced by school districts due to rising gas prices?
Most of these provisions are meant to encourage home building across the country. This is a modified version of a bill the Senate passed two months ago. Both versions ban corporate landlords with at least 350 houses from buying up any more.
Investors can build new homes to rent out, but the House version of the bill strips out the Senate's requirement that those houses get sold off after seven years. The bill now heads back to the Senate to consider for final passage.
Chapter 7: What is the story behind the retiring cat at the Nebraska Statehouse?
Stephen Basaja, NPR News.
Facebook parent company Meta is cutting about 8,000 employees and shifting another 7,000 into jobs that are more directly related to AI. NPR's John Ruich reports.
Meta flagged the job cuts last month, and a company spokesperson said affected employees were notified on Wednesday. The parent company of Facebook and Instagram has been retooling and investing heavily in artificial intelligence.
It expects to spend nearly twice as much on capital expenditures this year as it did last year, and much of that will go into its efforts to catch up to rivals in the AI race. The job cuts and reorganization come at a challenging time for Meta. Earlier this year, it lost two court cases claiming its platforms have been harmful to children and young people's mental health.
And in June, it'll return to court to face school districts suing over claims that social media companies caused a costly mental health and addiction crisis among students. John Ruich, NPR News.
Single Gen Z women are outpacing the men of their generation when it comes to buying a home. They accounted for 35% of all homebuyers in their generation, while single Gen Z men represented 18%. This is NPR. Tennessee officials will pay $835,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a man who was jailed over a Facebook post he made joking about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Retired police officer Larry Bushart spent 37 days in jail before authorities dropped the felony charge against him. The Perry County Sheriff said the post's alarmed residents. Bushart says he was exercising his free speech rights and never should have been arrested. School districts and their fleets of school buses are being hit by rising gas prices.
NPR's Sequoia Carrillo reports on a new survey looking at just how big the budget hole is.
More than half of surveyed school districts reported that this year's cost of diesel was over their allotted budget, with 14% of those districts reporting costs running more than 20% over budget. The survey, conducted by the School Superintendents Association, looked at the cost of diesel for school bus fleets and how they were filling the gaps in the inflated landscape.
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