“A simple and cost-effective blood test might be able to help detect multiple cancers and other diseases, a new study says. The test works by analyzing DNA fragments in a person’s bloodstream and could offer a powerful and affordable approach to screening for cancer and other health problems, researchers reported April 6 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. … The test, called MethylScan, analyzed DNA that cells from every organ naturally shed into the bloodstream. This genetic material carries signals that reflects what is happening in the body.” (04/07/26)
“France’s ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy at an appeals trial Tuesday said he was ‘innocent,’ rejecting charges he had sought Libyan financing for his 2007 election in exchange for helping improve Tripoli’s image after deadly bombings. A lower court in September found the right-wing politician, who was president from 2007 to 2012, guilty of seeking to acquire funding from Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya for the campaign that saw him elected and sentenced him to five years behind bars. The case saw Sarkozy, who has always denied any wrongdoing, become modern France’s first president to have gone to prison. He served 20 days before he was released pending the appeal.” (04/07/26)
“A French high-speed train driver was killed on Tuesday and 16 people were injured when his locomotive slammed into a truck carrying military equipment at a railway crossing in northern France, local authorities said. The driver of the truck was detained, and an aggravated manslaughter investigation was opened, but it is too early to determine the exact cause of the crash, Prosecutor Etienne Thieffry told reporters. Jean Castex, the head of the national railway authority SNCF, said the railroad crossing gates were functioning correctly. The train was traveling at 160 kilometers per hour (100 mph) when it hit the truck, the local prefect said. Rescue crews rushed to the scene after the crash in the town of Bully-les-Mines on a train route leading from Dunkirk to Paris, the regional administration said in a statement, adding that two of those wounded were seriously injured and that more than 200 train passengers were evacuated.” (04/07/26)
“Earlier this year, Amazon threatened to cut US Postal Service deliveries by as much as two thirds. Now, the parties have reached tentative a deal that will see USPS deliveries reduced by 20 percent, The Wall Street Journal reported. While not as drastic as first menaced, the reduced volume will still deal a financial blow to the USPS. … Amazon is the USPS’s largest customer, accounting for 15 percent of its volume and $6 billion in revenue.” (04/06/26)
“Wandering down the unlit corridors of a six-storey building behind the Royal Hill casino, each door opens onto a different world. In one there is a perfect replica of a Vietnamese bank. In another, you’re in an Australian police station. A Chinese police officer’s shirt hangs in one corner. Motivational messages have been painted on the walls. ‘Money Coming From Everywhere,’ read the Chinese characters on one sign. Discarded fake hundred dollar bills are lying all over the floor. This was a massive scam compound, just inside Cambodia in a border town called O Smach. Thousands of people from different countries worked here, under a harsh regime which strictly regimented their lives, defrauding thousands of others across the world of their savings.” (04/07/26)
“United States-Israeli strikes have ‘completely destroyed’ a synagogue in Tehran, according to Iranian media, as the attacks across Iran killed more than a dozen people overnight. ‘According to preliminary information, the Rafi-Nia Synagogue … was completely destroyed in this morning’s attacks,’ the Shargh newspaper reported on Tuesday. … In a video published on Telegram by Iran’s official IRIB News outlet, Homayoun Sameh, a Jewish representative in the country’s Islamic Consultative Assembly, said ‘the Zionist regime showed no mercy to this community during the Jewish holidays and targeted one of our ancient and holy synagogues. Unfortunately, during this attack, the synagogue building was completely destroyed and our Torah scrolls were left under the rubble,’ he said.” (04/07/26)
“The powerful Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah said in a statement on Tuesday that it will release American journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was kidnapped from a Baghdad street corner last week. The group said its decision came ‘in appreciation of the patriotic stances of the outgoing Prime Minister’ Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, without giving more details. It added that ‘this initiative will not be repeated in future.’ Kataib Hezbollah had not previously acknowledged that it was the one responsible for Kittleson’s abduction, although both U.S. and Iraqi officials had pointed fingers at the group. U.S. officials had previously alleged the group was responsible for abducting freelance journalist Shelly Kittleson from a Baghdad street corner on March 31. The Iraqi government has not publicly named the group responsible, and the militia has not claimed the kidnapping.” (04/07/26)
“Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a measure that gave him and other state officials the power to designate groups as ‘terrorist organizations’ and expel students who support them, with rights groups saying the law will chill free speech. The law empowers the state’s chief of domestic security, governor and cabinet to designate any organization they determine engages in extremist acts as a ‘terrorist organization.'” (04/06/26)
“Iran on Monday delivered a 10-point proposal to end the war with the United States and Israel, according to Iranian state media. … Two senior Iranian officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations, said the proposal included a guarantee that Iran would not be attacked again, an end to Israeli strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon and the lifting of all sanctions. In return, Iran would lift its de facto blockade of the key shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran would also impose a fee of roughly $2 million per ship that it would split with Oman, which sits across the strait. Iran would use its share of the proceeds to reconstruct infrastructure destroyed by American and Israeli attacks, rather than demand direct compensation, according to the plan.” (04/07/26)
“The Artemis II astronauts wrapped up their lunar flyby as they continue their journey back to Earth on Tuesday, bringing with them rich celestial observations including little-known lunar craters, a solar eclipse and meteor strikes that scientists hope will open doors. … The Orion capsule will now travel back to Earth in a so-called ‘free-return trajectory,’ a trip that will take about four days.” (04/07/26)
