“The United States Geological Survey reports a preliminary magnitude 3.0 earthquake struck near San Francisco Zoo, CA on Saturday. The quake hit at 4:39 p.m. at a depth of 6.96 kilometers. This was followed by a preliminary magnitude 2.7 earthquake in the same area. That quake hit at 4:41 p.m. at a depth of 6.87 kilometers. There was no initial word on damage or injury resulting from the quake. More information on this earthquake is available on the USGS event page.” (04/26/26)
“Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek on Friday released a preview version of its long-awaited V4 large language model, allowing users to test its new capabilities and features. The release comes more than a year after the Hangzhou-based company introduced its R1 reasoning model, which rocked global tech markets due to its surprising performance and cost efficiency. Similar to DeepSeek’s previous model releases, the latest upgrade is open-source, allowing developers to download the code, run it locally and modify it in most cases. … DeepSeek also said that V4 has been optimized for use with popular agent tools such as Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenClaw.” (04/24/26)
“Tensions in the standoff between the U.S. and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz intensified Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he ordered the U.S. military to ‘shoot and kill’ Iranian small boats in the strait, while Iran pushed back on Trump’s claim there was a leadership rift in the Islamic Republic. … Trump also said Thursday evening that Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah by three weeks after talks at the White House. The standoff between the U.S. and Iran has effectively choked off nearly all exports through the Strait of Hormuz, where 20% of the world’s traded oil passes in peacetime, with no end in sight.” (04/24/26)
“The Trump administration has moved to reclassify marijuana, more than four months after Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the attorney general to move it from schedule I to schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act. The schedule I classification meant marijuana was alongside heroin, LSD, MDMA and synthetic opioids, whereas a schedule III classification put it in the same category as ketamine, anabolic steroids and testosterone. … rescheduling will not immediately legalize marijuana or affect the sentences of those incarcerated for possession.” (04/23/26)
“Ukraine’s drone wing says it has killed at least 12 officers and injured 15 others in a strike on a command post for Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). Unmanned Systems Forces commander Robert ‘Madyar’ Brovdi confirmed the attack yesterday in [the formerly Ukrainian region of] Donetsk, and said Ukrainian forces used FP-2 drones manufactured by the Ukrainian defence company Fire Point. He said the command post hit in the attack is responsible for sabotage operations, building intelligence networks, recruitment, carrying out terrorist attacks and arson, and coordinating Russian proxy forces.” (04/24/26)
“A U.S. Army soldier has been accused of using classified information about the military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to place bets on the prediction market Polymarket, federal officials said Thursday. Gannon Ken Van Dyke, a soldier stationed at Fort Bragg who was involved in the planning of the operation, was charged with using confidential government information for personal gain. He allegedly made more than $400,000 in profits from the wagers. … Van Dyke allegedly created an account on Polymarket on Dec. 26 and placed about $33,000 worth of bets on markets about U.S. operations in Venezuela and Maduro’s ouster between Dec. 27 and Jan. 2. The U.S. launched the operation in Venezuela early on Jan. 3, capturing Maduro and his wife. The U.S. attorney’s office also accused Van Dyke of attempting to conceal his identity as the trades drew widespread scrutiny.” (04/23/26)
“Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon that killed a journalist on Wednesday were a war crime, Lebanon’s prime minister said. A journalists’ union said rescuers were prevented from accessing the destroyed building where the reporter was left trapped beneath rubble. Amal Khalil, 43, a journalist with the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, bled to death in the ruins of a building that was hit in an Israeli drone strike after Israeli forces’ gunfire prevented ambulance crews from reaching her ‘for nearly four hours,’ according to Lebanon’s Union of Journalists.” (04/23/26)
“House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is warning that House Democrats might not back an extension of the government’s warrantless spy powers as long as FBI Director Kash Patel remains atop the agency. Jeffries has long portrayed Patel as a partisan conspiracy theorist who’s unfit to be the nation’s top cop. On Thursday, he escalated those criticisms by suggesting Democrats might be ready to leverage their support for an extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to secure Patel’s removal. … The remarks create what is potentially another barrier in the effort to extend FISA’s spying powers, which expire on April 30. Already, many Democrats — joined by some Republicans — are vowing to oppose the legislation unless it’s amended to include stronger privacy protections for U.S. citizens.” (04/23/26)
“The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits increased slightly last week, pointing to continued labor market stability in April, though economic uncertainty and higher prices stemming from the war with Iran pose downside risks. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 214,000 for the week ended April 18, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 210,000 claims for the latest week. There are no signs yet of widespread layoffs from the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, which has disrupted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and boosted the price of oil and other commodities, including fertilizers, petrochemicals and aluminum.” (04/23/260
“The Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General said in a statement that it will ‘evaluate the DOJ’s processes for identifying, redacting, and releasing records in its possession as required by the’ Epstein Files Transparency Act, which President Trump signed into law last November. The bill required the Justice Department to release all files related to Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell within 30 days of becoming law, a deadline the department failed to meet. … The rolling release and repeated publishing and unpublishing of documents left survivors and members of Congress alike calling for an independent review of the department’s handling of the files. The two lawmakers who led the push to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act, Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna and Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, have also pushed for an independent review.” (04/23/26)
