“Russia said it downed hundreds of drones over its territory, including about 60 over the Leningrad region Tuesday night, in a Ukrainian attack as a major economic forum gets underway. Saint Petersburg governor Aleksandr Beglov said three districts were targeted as part of an overnight Ukrainian drone assault that wounded several people and damaged infrastructure facilities. … Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky said ‘long-range strikes’ struck ‘key targets’ including the St Petersburg oil terminal, one of the largest oil transshipment complexes in northwestern Russia. … The attacks came as the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, or SPIEF, a major business event known as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s version of Davos, gets underway in the city on Wednesday.” (06/03/26)
“Bitcoin declined Wednesday to its lowest levels since February as other asset classes continued to lure investors away from cryptocurrencies. The world’s largest cryptocurrency fell to as low as $65,385, dropping 2.3%. That came after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 closed at records on Tuesday. Asian stocks mostly rose with Japan’s Nikkei 225 hitting a record high Wednesday. … Investors may be freeing up liquidity from bitcoin for opportunities in private markets or with initial public offerings such as SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic, QCP said.” (06/03/26)
“President Donald Trump signed a landmark executive order Tuesday that lays the foundation for federal testing of the world’s most powerful AI systems before they are publicly released. The order, signed in private, directs federal agencies — including the Defense Department, the Treasury and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency — to shore up the country’s cybersecurity defenses for critical infrastructure and charts out a mechanism for the federal government to test and vet the most powerful AI systems for safety issues before they are deployed. The testing would rely on voluntary collaboration from America’s leading AI companies, like Anthropic, OpenAI and Google.” (06/02/26)
“Wilting in the summer sun, a line of tourists waits to climb Notre Dame cathedral and meet its gargoyles. Four meters (13 feet) beneath them, a team of archaeologists is digging the other way – straight down and back in time, to Roman Paris 2,000 years ago. … a slice of Notre Dame’s forecourt has become an excavation site – an open pit ringed by barriers and crossed by a wooden walkway, a few steps from the line-up. … Among the hundreds of objects already found: a fourth-century coin stamped with the face of the Emperor Constantine, and shards of medieval pottery painted on the inside with marks no expert has yet deciphered — like a modern Da Vinci Code.” (06/02/26)
“U.S. job openings jumped in April as the labor market looked resilient despite economic uncertainty caused by the Iran war. U.S. employers posted 7.6 million job vacancies in April, the Labor Department reported Tuesday, up from 6.9 million in March and most since May 2024. Economists had forecast just 6.8 million openings. Layoffs fell but so did the number of Americans quitting their jobs – a sign of confidence in their prospects. The American job market has been recovering from a dismal 2025. Last year, companies, nonprofits and government agencies added fewer than 10,000 jobs a month, least outside a recession since 2002. This year has been better — job growth averaged 76,000 a month from January through April.” (06/02/26)
“Anthropic on Tuesday said an additional 150 partners in more than 15 countries will gain access to its powerful Mythos artificial intelligence model, which has proven adept at finding software vulnerabilities. The startup said the expansion of Project Glasswing includes industries that weren’t well represented in the initial launch, such as power, water, healthcare, communications and hardware. New partners will need to meet security requirements before gaining access to the model. … Anthropic’s Mythos expansion comes a day after the AI lab said it would start offering access to the European Union. On Monday, the company also confidentially filed its initial public offering prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission, beating rival OpenAI to the milestone and paving the way for a significant AI share sale.” (06/02/26)
“Millions of commuters, tourists and Londoners were facing travel disruption across the center of the British capital on Tuesday after 1,700 subway drivers went on strike in a dispute over working hours, forcing the transit authority to shutter four of the city’s 11 lines. … The situation was compounded by traffic jams and engineering problems on other — non-underground — parts of the city’s rail infrastructure …. Buses were impacted by much heavier traffic than normal. Transport for London said it expected to run a normal service across the network on Wednesday before another 24-hour strike, scheduled for Thursday.” (06/02/26)
A Belgium-based NGO has called on Indian authorities to arrest an Israeli army reservist on holiday in northern India over his alleged role in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) filed a complaint Saturday with India’s Police Service, foreign affairs ministry and Bureau of Immigration of India to demand ‘the immediate arrest’ of Eitan Gilboa, an Israeli citizen currently holidaying in Himachal Pradesh …. ‘HRF has submitted a detailed investigative report proving that Gilboa, a reservist in the Israeli army, personally carried out and celebrated the systematic demolition of entire residential blocks in Gaza as acts of revenge, constituting war crimes under the Geneva Conventions Act, 1960,’ read the website.” (06/02/26)
“Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin said Tuesday that last week’s rocket explosion spared fuel tanks and some other critical parts of the launch pad. Critical to NASA’s Artemis moon program, the company’s massive New Glenn rocket blew up during an engine-firing test at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. A lightning tower and the transporter-erector used to move and hoist the rocket were destroyed in the blast that sent shock waves across the state. CEO Dave Limp said the methane, hydrogen and oxygen tanks look to be in good shape. The water tank is also fine and the support tower that’s still standing can be repaired in place. A booster and other rocket parts housed nearby were not damaged. Overall, this was ‘a bit of good news,’ Limp said in an X update, adding: ‘We will fly again before the end of this year.'” (06/02/26)
“President Trump named William Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to serve as the acting head of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. In tapping Pulte, Trump turns to an ally who has been behind referring several of his foes for prosecution for alleged mortgage fraud. Pulte would replace Tulsi Gabbard, who resigned last month.” (06/02/26)
