Top 5 US news stories
May 29 2026
Corporate Profits Hit Record Share as Worker Pay Sinks
Credit-Card Delinquencies Hit 15-Year High as Balances Climb
Disney Files Early ABC License Renewals Under FCC Order
Blue Origin Rocket Explodes During Florida Launchpad Test
US and Iran Reach Tentative Deal Awaiting Trump Approval
Corporate Profits Hit Record Share as Worker Pay Sinks
Worker compensation grew 0.8% in the first quarter from the fourth while domestic corporate profits jumped 2.7%, according to Thursday's report on gross domestic product. Labor's share of gross domestic income fell to 51%, the lowest since records began in 1947, while profits' share rose to 12.1%, the highest since 1950. The shift reflects a trend that became pronounced in the 2000s and accelerated after the pandemic, and adjusted for inflation, hourly wages have risen 3% since the end of 2019 while profits have climbed 50%. The divergence has fueled a growing political backlash, with California voters likely to weigh a billionaire tax in November and proposals for taxes on artificial intelligence gaining attention. Pope Leo XIV addressed the dynamic in his encyclical "Magnifica Humanitas," writing that income from capital risks replacing income from labor. President Trump's approval ratings on the economy have fallen even as the stock market sets repeated records.
WSJ
Credit-Card Delinquencies Hit 15-Year High as Balances Climb
The share of credit-card balances at least 90 days delinquent rose to 13.12% in the first quarter, according to data released in May by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. That is the highest level in 15 years and the most since the period following the 2008 financial crisis. America's total credit-card balance reached $1.25 trillion in the first quarter, up from $1.18 trillion a year earlier, the highest first-quarter figure since the New York Fed began tracking the measure in 1999. Average interest rates on cards climbed to 21% in February, up from 14.6% in February 2022, according to a Federal Reserve survey of card-issuing banks.
WSJ
Disney Files Early ABC License Renewals Under FCC Order
Disney on May 28 filed early renewal applications for eight ABC-owned broadcast station licenses, complying under protest with an FCC order issued in late April that demanded renewals years ahead of the usual eight-year cycle. The objection filed by WABC New York described the order as an extraordinary act of coercion aimed at disfavored editorial voices and called it unlawful, arbitrary and unconstitutional. ABC-owned stations in seven other markets filed similar objections. The Trump-aligned FCC has said it is investigating Disney for possible violations of the Communications Act and rules related to diversity, equity and inclusion. The filings come amid broader administration pressure on ABC over late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.
CNBC
Blue Origin Rocket Explodes During Florida Launchpad Test
A rocket built by Jeff Bezos's space company Blue Origin exploded on a launchpad in Florida on Thursday night, around 9 p.m., during a test ahead of an upcoming launch. The company said on social media that it experienced an anomaly during a hotfire test and that all personnel were accounted for. The test was intended to fire the seven engines in the booster stage while the rocket remained held down, but flames climbed the sides of the vehicle before a large explosion engulfed the launchpad. The fireball heavily damaged the pad and surrounding equipment at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, the only launch site Blue Origin has for its 322-foot New Glenn rocket, with repairs expected to take months. The rocket had been set to carry 48 satellites for Amazon's Leo internet constellation, a competitor to SpaceX's Starlink, though the satellites were not on board. Bezos said the cause was not yet known and that the company would rebuild and return to flight.
NYT
Some of the best footage yet of tonight’s explosion involving Blue Origin’s New Glenn, during a Static Fire Test at Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) in Florida. LC-36 appears to have suffered significant damage, with several towers and other structures entirely missing,…
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) May 29, 2026
US and Iran Reach Tentative Deal Awaiting Trump Approval
U.S. and Iranian negotiators announced on May 28 a tentative memorandum of understanding that would extend the current ceasefire by 60 days, reopen the Strait of Hormuz to unrestricted maritime traffic, lift the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports and launch parallel talks on Iran's nuclear program, all pending approval from President Trump, who has not yet signed off. Officials involved described the draft as an initial framework that would pave the way for more substantive negotiations over the nuclear program, U.S. sanctions and a formal end to the war, though they offered differing accounts of some terms. Vice President JD Vance said the timing of any signing remained undetermined, with disputes unresolved over Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium. An Iranian delegation spokesperson claimed that roughly $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets would be released under the deal. The announcement came amid recent brief exchanges of fire between U.S. and Iranian forces and hours before Kuwait reported intercepting hostile missiles and drones. Brent crude fell about 2% to around $91 a barrel and was headed for its largest monthly decline since March 2020, dropping nearly 18% through Thursday.
NYT / RFE/RL / WSJ
MAY 29, 1953: HILLARY AND NORGAY REACH SUMMIT OF MOUNT EVEREST
New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepali Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first known climbers to stand on Everest’s 29,035-foot summit. Their success, achieved as part of a British expedition, was hailed worldwide and heralded as a symbol of postwar optimism.
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