The United States Marine Corps on Wednesday celebrated the end of service for the AV-8 Harrier, the vertical takeoff and landing jet that’s been an icon of Marine aviation for 55 years, a favorite of air show spectators and, once, the subject of a controversial Pepsi TV commercial. “As a platform that has continuously forward deployed across the globe, the Harrier will be remembered for its distinguished combat legacy, legendary Vertical/Short Take Off and Landing (V/STOL) capability, and the Marines and sailors that made the community special,” Lt. Col. John B. Cumbie, commanding officer of Marine Attack Squadron 223, said at a “sundown” ceremony for the last US unit to fly the Harrier. About 5,000 people at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in North Carolina watched as the jets showed off the capabilities that made them famous, including the ability to hover, to take off and land vertically.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/04/us/us-marine-corps-harrier-jump-jet-retirement-intl-hnk-ml
French-Iranian artist and activist Marjane Satrapi, whose graphic novel “Persepolis” brought home the struggle of the Iranian people to millions around the world, has died. She was 56. A statement from the Élysée Palace announcing her death Thursday lauded Satrapi’s work, saying her work “captivated a global audience.” “Her passing marks the loss of a leading figure in French culture and an artist deeply committed to freedom, whose work carried a universal message and earned her immense international acclaim,” the Élysée said.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/04/style/marjane-satrapi-persepolis-author-dies-intl
More than a dozen GOP lawmakers defied their own leadership — and President Donald Trump — by voting with Democrats to approve a major bill to deliver billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine while imposing steep sanctions on Russia. The House voted 226 to 195 to approve the package, which cracks down on Russia with new oil and gas sanctions, in its first big pro-Ukraine measure of Trump’s second term. Speaker Mike Johnson has urged his members to oppose the measure, arguing in a closed-door meeting Wednesday that they should give Trump space to negotiate with Russia, according to a person in that meeting.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/04/politics/house-vote-ukraine-russia-bill
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war, in an open letter posted as the Russian leader was speaking to media at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. It comes a day after Ukrainian strikes on the Russian city. “We can all see that Russians are finally becoming less comfortable with this reality — with the fact that the war is bringing more and more negative consequences to Russia,” Zelensky wrote. “They do not like the fact that there is no end in sight to your war.” The Ukrainian leader said Putin “regularly” postpones deadlines to capture Ukrainian regions, specifically Donetsk.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/04/europe/zelensky-putin-meeting-intl-latam