By Lauren Kent, CNN

A US special forces soldier involved in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been arrested and charged for allegedly betting on the operation via Polymarket, netting him $400,000 in profits.

Here’s what else you need to know to get up to speed and on with your day.

1⃣ Iran war

With the Iran war approaching the eight-week mark, President Donald Trump declined on Thursday to give a timeline for resolving the conflict, telling reporters in the Oval Office, “Don’t rush me.” Meanwhile, US military officials are developing new plans to target Iran’s capabilities in the Strait of Hormuz in the event the current ceasefire with Iran falls apart, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. Read more

2⃣ Israel-Lebanon ceasefire

A fragile ceasefire in Lebanon has been extended by three weeks after Israeli and Lebanese representatives met at the White House, President Trump said Thursday. However, Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah continued to exchange attacks as the talks were held. The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah is among the key sticking points in US-Iran peace efforts. Read more

3⃣ Epstein files

The Justice Department’s internal watchdog is launching a review into the DOJ’s production of files and documents related to Jeffrey Epstein as controversy continues over the handling of the case of the convicted sex offender. The Inspector General said in a statement that it will focus on the department’s “identification, collection, and production of responsive material,” as well as its “processes for redacting and withholding material.” Read more

4⃣ Meta layoffs

Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, said it plans to lay off roughly 10% of its workforce — about 8,000 people — and close thousands of open roles. The move is the latest in a string of tech industry layoffs fueled in part by artificial intelligence. Meta has also been on an aggressive AI spending spree, shelling out more than $72 billion for data centers and other AI infrastructure in 2025. Read more

5⃣ Georgia wildfires

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has declared a state of emergency for 91 counties in response to ongoing wildfires fueled by an exceptional drought. Extreme drought conditions are covering 71% of the state, marking the highest figure since 2012. Throughout the US, drought has reached record levels this spring, fueling broader wildfire and water shortage concerns. Read more

Breakfast browse

Mega media merger

Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders cleared the way for CNN, HBO and the rest of WBD to join Paramount Skydance later this year. It’s a crucial moment in the struggle for control of one of the world’s biggest media companies.

Hidden travel fees

CNN en Español

Victoria demócrata en Virginia impulsa a republicanos a presionar a Ron DeSantis para rediseñar distritos en Florida. El manejo del caso Epstein, bajo la lupa. Meta anuncia que despedirá al 10 % de su plantilla. Esto es lo que debes saber para comenzar el día. Primero la verdad.

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Un soldado de las fuerzas especiales de EE.UU. involucrado en la captura del presidente de Venezuela Nicolás Maduro fue arrestado y acusado por supuestamente apostar sobre esa operación, obteniendo US$ 400.000 en ganancias.

• En Venezuela, tres salarios mínimos caben en un dólar
• Delcy Rodríguez dice que la Ley de Amnistía “llega a su fin” y los casos pendientes podrán revisarse con otros mecanismos

El organismo de control interno del Departamento de Justicia ha iniciado una investigación sobre la entrega de archivos y documentos relacionados con Jeffrey Epstein, en medio de la controversia —que aún persiste— acerca del manejo del caso del delincuente sexual convicto.

Altos dirigentes republicanos en Washington están intensificando la presión sobre el gobernador de Florida, Ron DeSantis, para que vuelva a trazar el mapa de distritos de la Cámara de Representantes de EE.UU. en su estado, después de que los demócratas en Virginia lograran inclinar potencialmente cuatro escaños a su favor.

Funcionarios militares de EE.UU. están desarrollando nuevos planes para atacar las capacidades de Irán en el estrecho de Ormuz en caso de que el actual alto el fuego con Irán se desmorone, de acuerdo con múltiples fuentes familiarizadas con el asunto.

• ANÁLISIS: ¿Quién cederá primero mientras la guerra con Irán golpea a la economía mundial?
• ANÁLISIS: ¿Qué quiere decir Trump cuando advierte: “No me precipiten” con la guerra en Irán?

La presidenta de México, Claudia Sheinbaum, confirmó el jueves que propondrá al economista Roberto Lazzeri Montaño como nuevo embajador en Estados Unidos, en un año clave para la renegociación del Tratado México, Estados Unidos y Canadá (T-MEC).

• EE.UU. y México sancionan a un grupo personas y empresas que presuntamente proveen precursores químicos al Cartel de Sinaloa

¿Cuál es el pronóstico para Lamine Yamal por su lesión?

A. Vuelve a las canchas en 2028.

B. Se pierde el resto de la temporada, el Mundial y parte de la próxima temporada.

C. Vuelve a la acción en dos semanas.<

By Brad Lendon, CNN senior global military affairs reporter

(CNN) — The US military said a third aircraft carrier had arrived in the Middle East, the highest number of American carriers deployed to the region in more than 20 years, according to analysts.

The announcement on Thursday came around the same time US President Donald Trump declined to give a timeline on when the Iran war could end, telling reporters at the White House: “Don’t rush me.”

US Central Command (CENTCOM), which coordinates American forces throughout the Middle East, announced in a social media post that the third aircraft carrier, the Nimitz-class USS George H.W. Bush, had transited into its area of responsibility.

The Bush, commissioned in 2009, is the newest of 10 Nimitz-class aircraft carriers in the US fleet. Almost 1,000 feet long and displacing more than 100,000 tons, it can carry more than 80 aircraft, is powered by two nuclear reactors and has more than 5,500 sailors and air crew aboard.

Asked about plans for the Bush, a defense official told CNN Thursday that the military does not “discuss force disposition, ship movements, or locations to protect service members and operational security.”

But analysts note the arrival of the Bush sends a message without even firing a shot.

“Just the potential of a third carrier getting involved adds to the pressure facing the (Iranian) regime as peace talks approach,” said Carl Schuster, a retired US Navy captain.

“The message is that Trump may apply more pain if the peace talks don’t advance in the way Trump wants. The political imagery is as, and possibly more important, than the military action,” Schuster added

Multiple sources told CNN this week plans were being developed for new strikes on Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz, in the event the current ceasefire falls apart.

They described potential attacks against small fast attack boats, minelaying vessels and other asymmetric assets that have helped Tehran effectively shut down those key waterways and use them as leverage over the US.

Analyst Peter Layton, a fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute and former Royal Australian Air Force officer, told CNN the Bush’s aircraft could be used in such a campaign.

But he called the carrier’s fighter jets “a very inefficient way” to conduct strikes on asymmetric assets, adding that Air Force A-10 attack jets already in the region are more suited for the job.

Layton and others said the Bush might be coming on to relieve the USS Gerald R Ford, which has been deployed since last June, well past the normal seven or so months US carriers deploy under normal circumstances.

Tracking sites showed the Ford in the Red Sea earlier this week.

“Her crew is due some rest … or their operational efficiency will begin to suffer. So, it is prudent to have a replacement en route,” said Schuster.

The Ford suffered a fire in its laundry spaces in March, and it did not launch sorties until two days after the blaze was extinguished, the chief of US naval operations said.

It later made port calls in the Mediterranean for repairs and crew rest, the Navy said. But it was back on duty as of early this month and moved back into the Red Sea late last week.

Meanwhile, the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln was shown in the Arabian Sea south of Iran, as it has been since the beginning of the war on February 28.

Schuster said ther

By Jonathan Hawkins, CNN

(CNN) — At 29 years old with three world titles and millions of followers on social media, you could forgive most sports stars for easing back a little and enjoying their success.

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu, however, is not interested in resting on any laurels. Instead, this year the former World Superbike star chose to jump on an untried bike in MotoGP and break new ground as the first ever Turkish rider to compete at the pinnacle of two-wheeled motorsport.

Razgatlıoğlu has neither the build nor the demeanor one might expect of a triple World Superbike champion. At a rangy 6-foot-1, he towers over most riders on the MotoGP grid, while his affable, laid-back disposition reflects both an unconventional upbringing and a path to the top that has involved hard work and personal tragedy.

Son of a stunt rider

Born in the ancient Turkish beach resort of Alanya – where legend has it Egyptian queen Cleopatra herself once bathed in the warm Mediterranean waters – Razgatlıoğlu has motorcycling in his genes. His father, Arif Razgatlıoğlu, had national fame of his own as a stunt rider and was known as “One Wheel Arif.”

“In Turkey, he was very famous, everyone knew him, you know, all the young boys, many people, if you were riding a bike, everyone knew my father,” Razgatlıoğlu tells CNN Sports proudly at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas.

Like many of his peers on the grid, Razgatlıoğlu began riding at a very young age. “I’m starting, five years old maybe? But at seven years old, I started stunt riding, riding like a stunt rider. First, I learn riding the bike, then the next, wheelie,” he smiles.

But despite his family heritage in stunt riding, Razgatlıoğlu didn’t take to it like his father. “I started as a stunt rider, (but) at 10 years or 11 years old, I say, ‘You know, I don’t like it – it’s not so fun.’ Yeah, maybe I make a wheelie on a bike, I always enjoy, but I like to race.”

Razgatlıoğlu says his father always supported his decision to forge his own destiny.

“We have many videos, because (my dad) was always, ‘I make a video,’” he recalls. “I think I was maybe 13 years old, maybe 12 years old, we have a video with my father, he says, ‘One day, my son will race in MotoGP.’”

Renting and racing bikes

Bike racing is an expensive pastime, and Razgatlıoğlu’s family had to make sacrifices and be creative to sustain his passion.

“We are not a rich family, but my father always sold bikes, and we were always going to race. In Turkey, we had a shop, a rental shop, and we would give a bike out to rent, then when the bike came back in; we change the fairing, we put on the racing fairing, and in the night, we go to the racetrack,” Razgatlıoğlu laughs.

“And I’m racing the bike, then after we come back home, in the morning, we change the fairing again, and the bike is going out to rent.”

Eventually, Razgatlıoğlu found his way into the Red Bull Rookie’s Cup, a youth competition that has forged a path for many top MotoGP racers. Peter Clifford, director of rider development and media for the Red Bull Rookies Cup, first spotted Razgatlıoğlu on social media.

“He was posting photos of him wheelieing things, you know, he probably was only 11 or 12 at the time, but he obviously had enormous motorcycle skill. And I thought, ‘Well, that’d be fantastic to try and channel those skills in the Rookies Cup.’ So, he applied for the Cup, and actually initially didn’t get in because he’d got zero road racing experience.”

Eventually, the teenager found his way into the Cup via a selection event, but Razgatlıoğlu says he struggled to make an impact, partly because of

By Ray Sanchez, Kyung Lah, CNN

(CNN) — The tightknit and family-friendly city of Lake Elsinore in Riverside County is about 70 miles southeast and a world apart from the glitz and glamour of the Hollywood Hills.

Celeste Rivas Hernandez grew up in Lake Elsinore, where she was a regular at the corner store down the street from her home. Neighbors still recall her strolling around with her backpack and long curly black hair atop her 5-foot-2 frame.

Kayleigh Cortez, a neighbor, remembered the first time she saw Celeste three years ago.

“I’m like, ‘Oh, look at that girl. She had big, beautiful curls. That’s a beautiful little girl,’” Cortez recalled.

The next time Cortez saw Celeste was when her picture appeared in the news after her dismembered and decomposed body was discovered in the trunk of a Tesla owned by the alt-pop singer who goes by the name d4vd. The car was parked on a street in the upscale Hollywood Hills neighborhood where the artist, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, had rented a multimillion-dollar home in the hills under the iconic Hollywood Sign.

Her body was found a day after what would have been her 15th birthday.

“Hollywood will always entice kids,” said Cortez, 36, who has a 14-year-old daughter. “Getting to meet a celebrity or doing something out of the norm is cool for any young teen. Lake Elsinore is small. It’s kind of quiet. It’s not like hustle and bustle.”

About a year after Cortez first saw Celeste on the street, family and friends began to report the girl as missing, starting in early 2024. She and d4vd appeared together in a Twitch livestream that January. Between then and March 2024, he was photographed getting out of a black Tesla near the seventh grader’s home.

Celeste was also photographed backstage at one of his Los Angeles shows in June 2024. She was last seen alive going to d4vd’s home in April 2025.

She was 13 at the time, a teenager seen in widely circulated photos with thick, dark curls that highlight her soft smile.

She loved Hello Kitty, and the missing persons poster in Lake Elsinore said she was last seen wearing Hello Kitty slippers.

“I don’t want her remembered as a rebellious kid or a runaway,” said Cortez, who started and tends to a makeshift memorial outside the home where Celeste lived with her family.

“She was a daughter, a sister, a friend. She was a young girl just trying to figure out life, and she doesn’t get to grow up,” Cortez said. “She doesn’t get to get married or have any children because someone took that away from her.”

Young victim’s life cut short

On Monday, following a monthslong investigation, Burke, 21, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. The Los Angeles District Attorney added “special circumstances” to the charge, which makes the sentence eligible for the death penalty. Prosecutors say he had a sexual relationship with the young girl and killed her after she threatened to expose it. He allegedly engaged in “continuous sexual abuse” of Celeste starting in September 2023 until September 2024, according to a criminal complaint.

Blair Berk, one of d4vd’s attorneys, wrote in a statement on Monday, “The actual evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez and he was not the cause of her death. We will vigorously defend David’s innocence.”

Celeste died of “multiple penetrating injuries,” according to an autopsy report released Wednesday. She had wounds on her chest and abdomen that “may represent sharp force injuries,” the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office said in the