REUTERS/Abed Omar Qusini
Members of the Samaritan sect take part in a traditional pilgrimage marking the holiday of Passover on Mount Gerizim, near the West Bank city of Nablus, April 27, 2016.
1. US Senator Ted Cruz announced he would name former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina as his running mate if he wins the Republican presidential nomination. "This is an individual you can trust to lead this country no matter what might happen," Cruz said at a rally Wednesday.
2. Facebook crushed its Q1 earnings, sending the stock up nearly 9% if after-hours trading.
3. Elon Musk's SpaceX announced that it plans to send a Dragon spacecraft to Mars as soon as 2018. The mission would lay the groundwork eventually landing humans on Mars.
4. Chinese President Xi Jinping said Thursday that China will not allow chaos and war to break out on the Korean peninsula. China is North Korea's sole major ally.
5. Vietnam is being crippled by its worst drought in nearly a century, which could lead to a serious reduction in exports of major goods.
6. The "golden age" of stock market returns is over, according to new research from the McKinsey Global Institute. That means investors will have to save more, retire later, or live less comfortably during retirement.
7. Hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman and a group of Valeant executives got grilled in one of the most brutal US Senate hearings ever. They were answering questions about the company's practice of buying drugs and jacking up their prices.
8. Venezuela announced that millions of officials will now work only Mondays and Tuesdays, taking the rest of the week off in a bid to save electricity.
9. Japan will begin tests to measure the fuel economy of vehicles made by Mitsubishi, who admitted last week to manipulating mileage test data.
10. New York City police brought charges brought against 120 gang members, described as the biggest gang takedown ever in the city.
And finally ...
Here's how much time people spend on Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger every day.