MON SEVEN

C-O-N-G-R-A-T-U-L-A-T-I-O-N-S, Faizan Zaki! The 13-year-old from Allen, Texas,won the 2025 Scripps National Spelling BeeThursday night. Zaki, who hascompeted in the annual contest four times, came in second last year. Here's what else you need to know toGet Up to Speed and On with Your Day. The Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan have declaredstates of emergencydue to a series of wildfires. The blazes, which began on Monday in Saskatchewan, have rapidly expanded in size,prompting the evacuation of more than 18,000 people. The intensifying fires are also beginning to send hazardous smoke toward the US. As of Thursday, just over 160 wildfires were burning across Canada, and about half were uncontrolled. Collectively, they have burned more than 1.56 million acres — 40% above the 10-year average for this point in the year. According to National Resources Canada,above-average fire weather severity is forecastfor almost all of Western Canada in June and July. Israel has accepted a newceasefire proposalwith Hamas from US envoy Steve Witkoff, which includes the release of 10 living hostages and 18 deceased hostages, as well as a 60-day truce. Although Hamas said the latest framework doesn't "respond to any of our people's demands, foremost among which is stopping the war and famine," the militant group offered three counterpoints: 1) Hamas will agree to the release of the hostages and a 60-day ceasefire if the US can assure that negotiations over a permanent ceasefire will continue and the fighting will not resume after the 60 days. 2)Humanitarian assistancewill be carried out through the UN channels. 3) The Israel Defense Forces will agree to pull back to the positions that they held on March 2, before Israel re-launched its military operations. Amid these negotiations, Israelapproved a massive expansion of Jewish settlementsin the occupied West Bank. Peace Now, an Israeli non-governmental organization that tracks settlements, said it was the largest expansion since the signing of the Oslo Accords more than 30 years ago. A federal appeals court on Thursday paused the Court of International Trade's ruling that President Donald Trumpdidn't have the authorityto impose sweeping tariffs using the emergency powers he declared earlier this year. The ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit means Trump can continue to impose tariffs using emergency powers, and adds tothe confusion and uncertaintyabout the future of his economic policy. The case could potentially work its way upto the Supreme Court. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted on X this week that an undocumented migrant from Mexico had been arrested for allegedly sending a letter threatening to kill President Trump. She also included a picture of the man and a copy of the letter. However, investigators now believethe migrant was set up. According to several sources, law enforcement believes Ramon Morales Reyes, 54, didn't write the letter, which was sent to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office and other agencies. Instead, investigators suspect a person who is currently awaiting trial in a robbery and assault case in which Reyes was the victim wrote the letter in an attempt to have him deported. Federal officials who asked for a handwriting sample from Reyes also determined that his handwriting and the threatening letter didn't match. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, continues to evolve. A new strain called NB.1.8.1 has been detected in several states and designateda variant under monitoringby the World Health Organization. Since NB.1.8.1 is a part of the Omicron family, the WHO said that currently approved Covid-19 vaccines should be effective. However, in recent weeks, the Department of Health and Human Services has madesignificant changesto how Covid-19 vaccines are approved and which groups they are recommended for. A new framework could limit Covid-19 vaccines to older Americans and people at higher risk of serious infection. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also said the vaccinewill no longer be recommendedfor pregnant women and healthy children. Kennedy Center exec firedA far-right political activist with a history of anti-gay rhetoric and promoting conspiracy theories about former President Barack Obama said hewas sackedafter only a month on the job following a CNN investigation. Fewer perks, more profitStarbucks plans toeliminate one of its top loyalty perks: the 25-star bonus for customers who bring in a reusable cup for drink orders. The reason for the raspy voiceSinger Miley Cyrus has revealed thatshe has Reinke's edema, a noncancerous vocal cord disorder. A whole new ball gameMajor League Baseball ispurchasing a stakein the Athletes Unlimited Softball League, which will feature four teams — the Bandits, Blaze, Talons and Vaults — playing 24 games each against one another between June 7 and July 23. Just imagine how fun the holidays will beActor/comedian Eddie Murphy's son Eric Murphyrecently wedJasmin Lawrence, actor/comedian Martin Lawrence's daughter. "Yeah, we're in-laws," Murphy said on "The Jennifer Hudson Show." Which airline, that at one time had a policy that "bags fly free," now charges travelers for checked luggage?A. SpiritB. FrontierC. SouthwestD. JetBlue Take me to the quiz! $50,000That's how muchreward moneyauthorities are offering to anyone with information leading to the arrest of a convicted double murderer or an experienced fugitive who broke out of a New Orleans jail. "I found myself surrounded by cumulonimbus clouds and trapped inside. It was terrifying — everything around me was white. Without the compass, I wouldn't have known which direction I was heading. I thought I was flying straight, but in reality, I was spinning." — Chinese paraglider Peng Yujiang,onsurviving an accidental high-altitude flightwithout oxygen. Check your local forecast here>>> Harvard president receives standing ovationDuring the university's commencement ceremony on Thursday, Alan Garberreceived applausewhen he made an indirect reference to the university's pushback against the White House's effort to keep international students from attending the school. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account atCNN.com

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 14 people in the Gaza Strip, hospital officials said Friday, while Hamas was reviewing a new Israeli-approved ceasefire proposal after giving it an initial cool response. President Donald Trump's Mideast envoy had expressed optimism this week aboutbrokering an agreementthat could halt the Israel-Hamas war, allow more aid into Gaza, and return more of the 58 hostages still held by Hamas, around a third of whom are alive. Experts say a nearly three-month Israeli blockade of Gaza —slightly eased in recent days— has pushed the population of roughly 2 million Palestiniansto the brink of famine. Israel's war in Gaza has killed around 54,000 Palestinians, mostlywomen and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally. The war began with Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which left around 1,200 dead. Here's the latest: Families of hostages plead with Netanyahu Families of hostages held in Gaza are pleading with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ensure that any agreement to end the war must include the freedom of all the hostages. There are 58 hostages left in Gaza, of whom Israel believes approximately a third are still alive. Ayelet Samerano, the mother of Yonatan Samerano, whose body is being held in Gaza, was among the family members who met with Netanyahu on Thursday. She said the news that only 10 hostages and several bodies would be released had once again plunged the families into indescribable uncertainty. "It's again a selection, you know, all the families, we are right now standing and thinking, is it going to be my son? Isn't it? What will be after part of them will come, what will be with the rest?" Israel has accepted a new U.S. proposal for a temporary ceasefire with Hamas, the White House said Thursday, while Hamas has had a cooler response. "If they (Hamas) want guarantees, we will give them guarantees that after the last hostages will back to Israel, we will stop the war," Samerano said. "I'm telling you, Netanyahu, say yes. All our countries say yes, the families say yes. All the families, when we are saying, stop the world and give us the hostages back." At least 14 dead in Gaza strikes, medics say Hospital officials and paramedics say Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have killed at least 14 people and wounded others. Officials at Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza said the bodies of 12 people, including three women, were brought Friday from the nearby Jabaliya refugee camp. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the bodies of two people as well as nine others who were wounded were taken to Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City. It said one of the wounded is a doctor who works at the same hospital. Hamas reviewing a new ceasefire proposal Hamas said Friday it was reviewing a new Israeli-approved ceasefire proposal. The White House said Thursday that Israel accepted a new U.S. proposal for a temporary ceasefire with Hamas. Hamas officials, however, gave the draft a cool response, saying that it seeks to perpetuate Israel's policies of killing and starving people in Gaza. Still, the group said it was going to thoroughly review it. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to end the war until all the hostages are released and Hamas is either destroyed or disarmed and sent into exile. Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages for a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal. Netanyahu undergoes a routine colonoscopy Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu underwent a routine colonoscopy on Friday morning in Jerusalem, his office said. The office did not provide further information about whether Netanyahu was moderately sedated or under general anesthesia for the procedure. Netanyahu, 75, underwentsuccessful surgery in Decemberto have his prostate removed. Netanyahu has gone to great lengths to bolster a public image of himself as a healthy, energetic leader, as he manages multiple crises including thewar in Gazaand histrial for alleged corruption, despite a series of recent health setbacks.

(Reuters) -U.S. federal authorities are investigating an effort to impersonate White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The report said Wiles had told associates that some of her cellphone contacts had been hacked, allowing the impersonator to access private phone numbers. The incident affected her personal phone, not her government phone, the report said. The Journal reported that in recent weeks, senators, governors, top U.S. business executives and other figures received messages and calls from a person who claimed to be Wiles, citing the people familiar with the messages. The White House and FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The White House has struggled with information security. A hacker who breached the communications service used by former Trump national security adviser Mike Waltz earlier this month intercepted messages from a broad swathe of American officials, Reuters reported recently. And late last year, a White House official said the U.S. believed that an alleged sweeping Chinese cyber espionage campaign known as Salt Typhoon targeted and recorded telephone calls of "very senior" American political figures. As Wiles is a key Trump lieutenant and a lynchpin of the White House's operation, the content of her personal phone would be of extraordinary interest to a range of foreign intelligence agencies and other hostile actors. Wiles has reportedly been targeted by hackers at least once before, in the final months of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. At the time, hackers alleged by U.S. authorities to be acting on behalf of Iran approached journalists and a political operative with a variety of messages sent to and from Wiles, some of which were eventually published. (Reporting by Costas Pitas and Raphael Satter; Editing by Michael Perry and Sonali Paul)

By Lewis Krauskopf NEW YORK (Reuters) -Key U.S. economic data, developments with federal tax-and-spending legislation and twists and turns on trade all are poised to influence equities in the coming week, with the U.S. market closing in on record highs. The S&P 500 was set for a weekly gain with the benchmark index on Thursday ending about 4% from its February all-time high. Investors at the end of the week were grappling with implications from legal rulings involving efforts to block most of President Donald Trump's tariffs. Trump's trade war has whipsawed global markets for weeks on concerns about economic fallout. The coming week also brings a raft of economic and labor market data, headlined by the monthly U.S. employment report out on Friday. "Now that we're back up here not all that far from the record high, I think the hard data needs to hold in better than the market expects to really advance from here," said Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute. The employment report for May is expected to show an increase of 130,000 jobs, according to a Reuters poll of economists, which would be a step down from growth of 177,000 the prior month. Investors have been eager to learn how Trump's tariffs may be rippling through the economy, especially in the wake of his April 2 "Liberation Day" announcement of sweeping levies on imports. The May data represents a full month of "how businesses have been handling some of the tariff uncertainty and some of the pressures in the market," said Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial. Still, an overly strong employment report, such as growth of over 200,000 jobs, might be viewed warily by the market because it could delay interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, said Eric Kuby, chief investment officer at North Star Investment Management Corp. Investors have reduced bets in recent weeks on the amount of expected Fed easing this year, with about two rate cuts priced in by December, according to LSEG data. Minutes of their latest meeting released this week showed Fed officials acknowledged they could face "difficult tradeoffs" in coming months with rising inflation alongside rising unemployment. Fiscal legislation in Washington will also be in focus. The Senate will start considering a tax-and-spending bill passed earlier this month by the House of Representatives. Trump said this week he plans to negotiate aspects of the "big, beautiful" tax bill, a day after billionaire Elon Musk said the bill detracts from efforts to reduce the U.S. budget deficit. The bill, which will add an estimated $3.8 trillion to the federal government's $36.2 trillion in debt over the next decade, has focused attention on the impact of increasing deficits on the Treasury market. Rising bond yields have pressured stocks in recent weeks. The shifting tariff backdrop also appeared likely to influence asset prices. Equities rebounded in recent weeks after Trump eased his harshest tariffs, but the situation remains in flux as Washington negotiates with trading partners. On Thursday, for instance, stocks rose early the session after a U.S. trade court blocked many of Trump's tariffs, but gains faded during the session. Later, a federal appeals court reinstated the tariffs, further muddying the backdrop. "There's initial excitement and then the reality set in that this is just another step in this process and it really hasn't clarified very much," Kuby said. (Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Alden Bentley and David Gregorio)

(Reuters) -Wall Street futures slipped on Friday, as investors took stock of an appeals court decision to undo a prior ruling that had blocked most of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, heading into the last trading day of a solid month for equities. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are on pace for their best monthly showing since November 2023, while the Dow is also set for a near 4% monthly advance. Stocks have seen immense volatility this month on Trump's on-and-off tariff moves, though the S&P 500 has rebounded from its April low and now sits about 4% lower from its all-time high hit in February. U.S. equities had initially rallied on Thursday when the Court of International Trade ruled late on Wednesday to effectively block most levies imposed since January, but did not address some industry-specific tariffs. However, a federal appeals court on Thursday temporarily reinstated most of the tariffs and ordered the plaintiffs in the cases to respond by June 5 and the administration by June 9. "This week's courtroom drama has added another layer of uncertainty to what was already an unsettling series of events," Richard Hunter, head of markets at interactive investor, said in a morning note. Hopes of more trade deals between the U.S. and major trading partners, along with upbeat earnings and tame inflation data, have been some of the main drivers of gains in equities this month. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that U.S. trade talks with China are "a bit stalled" and getting a deal over the finish line will likely need the direct involvement of President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. At 5:14 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 31 points, or 0.07%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 8.5 points, or 0.14% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 36.5 points, or 0.17%. Most megacap and growth stocks inched lower in premarket trading, with Nvidia off 0.7% after gaining in the last session on reporting robust quarterly revenue growth. Chipmaker Marvell Technology shed 3.9% despite forecasting second-quarter revenue above estimates. Ulta Beauty gained 8.6% after the cosmetics retailer raised its annual profit forecast after beating quarterly results. Zscaler advanced 3.2% as the cloud security firm raised its annual profit and revenue forecasts and named Kevin Rubin as its chief financial officer. Later in the day, the Personal Consumption Expenditure data - the Fed's favored inflation indicator - is scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. ET, which could shed more light on the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate trajectory. Trump called Fed Chair Jerome Powell to the White House late on Thursday for their first face-to-face meeting since he took office in January and told the central bank chief he was making a "mistake" by not lowering interest rates. Traders currently see at least two 25 basis points of cuts by the end of the year, according to data compiled by LSEG. (Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)