“President Donald Trump has endorsed Republican Steve Hilton for California governor, reordering a crowded, wide-open race to lead the nation’s most populous state. Trump posted late Sunday on his social media platform Truth Social that he has known Hilton for years and called the conservative commentator ‘a truly fine man’ who could turn around a state beset with notoriously high taxes. California, Trump wrote, ‘has gone to hell.’ ‘With Federal help, and a Great Governor, like Steve Hilton, California can be better than ever before!’ Trump added. The endorsement — coming about a month before mail ballots go to voters in advance of the June 2 primary — will help Hilton coalesce conservative support in a race with no clear leader. However, Trump is widely unpopular in heavily Democratic California outside his conservative base and Trump’s backing would become a liability if Hilton faces a Democrat in the November election.” (04/06/26)
“Explosives were found in a border area between Hungary and Serbia near a pipeline that carries Russian gas, and which both depend heavily on. Serbian president Aleksander Vucic said Sunday that the explosives were found in backpacks ‘a few hundred miles from the gas pipeline,’ and that he’d alerted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban that an investigation was being mounted, CNN and The BBC reported. … The purchase and use of Russian oil by Hungary and Serbia, both of whose leaders are allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been controversial in Europe amid Putin’s now four-year-long war to take Ukraine.” [editor’s note: Is there any place in Hungary or Serbia that ISN’T within “a few hundred miles” of the pipeline? – TLK] (04/05/26)
“[US president Donald] Trump appeared to set a new deadline for Iran to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz. ‘Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time,’ he wrote, after issuing a profane message renewing threats to bomb key Iranian infrastructure, including power plants, if Tehran does not comply. Targeting critical civilian infrastructure could be considered a war crime. Trump has declared and then modified deadlines for the opening of the strait multiple times. Senior Iranian officials issued their own threats in response and said the strait will remain blocked until Iran receives payment for war damages. … Two people were killed in the Israeli city of Haifa after a missile struck a seven-story building, with emergency workers still searching for two more missing persons early Monday. … At least 13 people were killed by a US-Israeli attack early Monday on two residential buildings in Baharestan County, a densely populated area southwest of Tehran, according to state media.” (04/06/26)
“A Russian drone attack on Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa killed two women and a toddler, authorities said Monday, while Ukrainian long-range drones targeted Russia’s key Black Sea port for oil exports. The nighttime attack on Odesa heavily damaged an apartment block, killing the women and a 2-year-old child, officials said. Rescuers working under floodlights pulled four people from the rubble. … Krasnodar Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev said that eight people, including two children, were injured in a series of Ukrainian drone attacks on Novorossiisk, one of Russia’s largest Black Sea ports. The attack damaged six apartment buildings and two private houses, he said. Unconfirmed media reports said the drones targeted the Sheskharis oil terminal at the Black Sea port.” (04/06/26)
“Bitcoin jumped 3% to $69,120 on Monday as traders returned from the Easter weekend to a burst of optimism around a potential Iran ceasefire, pushing the largest cryptocurrency to its highest level in over a week and squeezing $196 million in short positions over the past 24 hours. Ether led a bump among major tokens with a 3.7% gain to $2,130, its strongest daily move in the past week. SOL rose 2% to $82, XRP added 2.2% to $1.34, and dogecoin climbed 1.7% to $0.093. The broad rally pushed the total crypto market cap back above $2.5 trillion.” (04/06/26)
“United Parcel Service said on Sunday that it had reached an agreement with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to cap severance offers at 7,500 drivers after a dispute over the company’s plans to cut its workforce. Under the agreement, UPS will offer $150,000 for early retirement. The union has sought to block the package delivery giant’s Driver Choice Program, arguing that it was initiated without negotiations in violation of its 2023 labor contract.” (04/05/26)
“Pope Leo urged global leaders in his Easter message on Sunday to end the conflicts raging across the world and abandon any schemes for power, conquest or domination. The pope, who has emerged as an outspoken critic of the Iran war, lamented in a special message to the thousands gathered in St. Peter’s Square that people ‘are growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it, and becoming indifferent.’ ‘Let those who have weapons lay them down!’ the first U.S. pope exhorted. ‘Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace!’ Leo did not mention any specific conflicts in the message, known as the ‘Urbi et Orbi’ (to the city and the world) blessing. It was unusually brief and direct.” (04/05/26)
“Hundreds of anti-war activists demonstrated in Tel Aviv and dozens in other cities on Saturday, after an interim order by the High Court of Justice ordered police to allow protests on a larger scale than permitted under the IDF Home Front’s regulations, despite the military’s objection that it would not be safe amid the ongoing missile threats from Iran, Hezbollah and the Houthis. Just before 9 p.m., however, police said the main demonstration at Tel Aviv’s Habima Square had exceeded the court’s 600-protester limit, declared the event unlawful, and violently dispersed the crowd, making 17 arrests. … Many of the demonstrators in Tel Aviv’s Habima Square had waved signs demanding an end to the ongoing war with Iran, while others decried a newly passed law enshrining the death penalty for Palestinian terrorists.” (04/05/26)
“The screenwriters[‘] union and Hollywood studios reached a surprise four-year tentative agreement after roughly three weeks of negotiation. The Writers Guild of America West said on X that its negotiating committee unanimously approved a tentative agreement with The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios. The alliance confirmed the deal in a separate statement on its website Saturday. … The contract agreement, a year longer than a typical three-year deal, must be approved by the guild’s board and members before it is ratified.” (04/05/26)
“Gladys Khoza had missed being able to see her family. Not because they couldn’t visit, but because the 84-year-old had vision problems. Now that has changed. Khoza is one of 133 people whose sight was restored during a ‘marathon’ of free cataract surgeries conducted by doctors in South Africa at two hospitals over two weekends last month. ‘Wow!’ a delighted Khoza whispered as a nurse peeled back a bandage a day after her operation, and the world came back into view. ‘Can you see me?’ the nurse asked. ‘Very well,’ Khoza replied, a big grin on her face. Patients in South Africa’s public health service can be on waiting lists for years for the simple 15-20-minute cataract operation. Officials said some of those who were selected from hospital waiting lists for the surgeries had been waiting since 2019 to see properly again.” (04/04/26)
