The Petersburg Post
Top News Stories for Saturday, April 4th 2026
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is asking Congress to boost defense spending to $1.5 trillion, the largest such request in decades and the latest signal of the president's emphasis on U.S. military investments over domestic programs. The 2027 plans for the Pentagon were confirmed in a White House outline of Trump's 2027 budget proposal released Friday. The White House summary says Trump's proposal ...
Source: news.yahoo.com
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
The moon-bound Artemis II astronauts, enjoying spectacular views of Earth as it recedes behind them, took a break to chat with their families Friday before reviewing plans for closely observing the moon from the unique perspective of the lunar far side Monday. Their flight plan for Friday also included rehearsals of basic medical procedures — including chest compressions and methods to clear airway ...
Source: cbsnews.com
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
Iran's missiles set alight a refinery and damaged a desalination plant in Kuwait on Friday as Israeli and U.S. strikes kept hitting Iran. As the war that began Feb. 28 was to enter its sixth week, Israel, Bahrain and Kuwait warned about incoming missile fire, although it was unclear if anything was struck. Activists in Iran reported strikes around Tehran and the central city of Isfahan. Iran's attacks on Gulf ...
Source: news4jax.com
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
About two dozen Democrat-led states have filed a lawsuit against the administration of United States President Donald Trump to block an executive order setting new limits on mail-in ballots. Friday's lawsuit comes as voting rights groups charge that Trump is seeking to make it more difficult to vote before the consequential midterm elections in November. Trump, meanwhile, has argued that his efforts are meant to ...
Source: aljazeera.com
Trump threatens to destroy Iranian infrastructure, saying its government 'knows what has to be done'
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
Donald Trump threatened Iranian bridges and power plants as rhetoric escalated. His words come as a recently constructed bridge near Tehran was destroyed in an airstrike. China, Russia and France vetoed a resolution calling for military action against the country. Significant sections of the B1 Bridge are seen destroyed after an airstrike attributed to the United States and Israel targeted the site near Tehran, in ...
Source: cnbc.com
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
Nonfarm payrolls rose a seasonally adjusted 178,000 in March, a reversal from the 133,000 decline in February and better than the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 59,000. The unemployment rate edged lower to 4.3%, though that was largely from a sharp reduction in the labor force. Wages also rose less than expected, with average hourly earnings up just 0.2% for the month and 3.5% from a year ago. The annual increase ...
Source: cnbc.com
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
For Tiger Woods , another arrest on charges of driving under the influence has put golf on hold . There will be no chance of a return to the Masters next week. No Ryder Cup captaincy in 2027. Golf is being pushed to the side while Woods seeks treatment following his crash a week ago in Florida. Authorities say Woods had pain pills in his pocket and showed signs of impairment following the crash — his fourth ...
Source: apnews.com
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
Proposal, a win for RFK Jr's Maha movement, is a 'first step' toward tackling plastic pollution, advocates say The Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA ) proposed on Thursday to include microplastics and pharmaceuticals on a list of contaminants in drinking water for the first time, a step that could lead to new limits on those substances for water utilities. Lee Zeldin, the EPA administrator, said the agency was ...
Source: theguardian.com
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ousted the Army's top uniformed officer and two other generals, the Pentagon said Thursday without giving a reason for the departures while the United States is waging a war against Iran . Gen. Randy George "will be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army effective immediately," said Sean Parnell, the Pentagon's top ...
Source: wfla.com
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
Judge threw out 10 of Lively's 13 claims against her It Ends With Us director and co-star on Thursday as trial nears Justin Baldoni's lawyers have responded after most of Blake Lively 's claims against the director were dismissed by a federal judge on Thursday. Judge Lewis Liman threw out 10 of the 13 claims that Lively had made against Baldoni and others, including allegations of sexual harassment, conspiracy and ...
Source: theguardian.com
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon is slapping a 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge on third-party sellers using its platform starting later this month amid a spike in fuel prices since the war in Iran started. The temporary charge is effective April 17 for many of the sellers who use Amazon's fulfillment services, the online behemoth confirmed to The Associated Press in an email Thursday. "Elevated costs in fuel and ...
Source: apnews.com
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
Reading time 2 minutes It took just over a month for the war in Iran, which was first sparked by U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Feb. 28, to start hitting consumers back home. Beyond rising gas prices, flyers are now facing higher baggage fees, with two major U.S. airlines raising prices this week. United Airlines confirmed to media outlets on Thursday that it is raising the price of first and second checked bags by ...
Source: gizmodo.com
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli announced that federal officials arrested eight people – including three nurses, a chiropractor, and a psychologist – accused of several health care fraud schemes totaling $50 million from Medicare and other insurance companies throughout Southern California. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the arrests were conducted in coordination with an anti-fraud ...
Source: floridianpress.com
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
HAVANA (AP) — Katia Arias buzzed with hope on Friday morning as she gathered at the gates of a prison on the outskirts of Havana, waiting with other families for their loved ones to be freed in one of the biggest prison releases by the Cuban government in years. When her 20-year-old son Emilio Alejandro Leyva walked out of the doors of the detention facility with dozens of other prisoners, bags and a small ...
Source: apnews.com
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
Follow Earth on Google What if love could happen without even seeing each other? In the mysterious world under the ocean, octopuses show that connection can go far beyond sight. A new study by Harvard biologists reveals a surprising and almost romantic story about how these creatures find their mates using touch and taste combined. Octopuses find mates without seeing Octopuses live mostly alone and meet others only ...
Source: earth.com
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Trump has proposed boosting defense spending to $1.5 trillion in his 2027 budget released Friday, the largest such request in decades, reflecting his emphasis on US military investments over domestic programs. The sizable increase for the Pentagon, some 44 percent, had been telegraphed by the Republican president even before the the US-led war against Iran. The ...
Source: bostonglobe.com
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
Eugene Mirman appears to be in good spirits after being injured in a fiery car crash . The comedian and " Bob's Burgers " actor shared an Instagram update Friday to reassure fans he is "doing relatively alright, all things considered." Mirman was hospitalized for serious injuries on Tuesday after being pulled out of the window of his Lucid Gravity that had caught fire after crashing into the Bedford Toll Plaza in ...
Source: latimes.com
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
Nearly 50% of data center projects delayed as China holds key to power infrastructure. Donald Trump is facing significant hurdles after declaring, in a series of executive orders last year, that rapid construction of AI data centers was among his top priorities to ensure the US wins the AI race against China. Perhaps most likely to frustrate the president, his aggressive tariffs on Chinese imports are reportedly ...
Source: arstechnica.com
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
A juvenile has been arrested in the case of a 12-year-old Reseda girl who died after she was hit in the head with a metal water bottle during an alleged bullying incident at Reseda Charter High School, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The suspect, whose age and gender have not been disclosed, was arrested on suspicion of the murder of Khimberly Zavaleta Chuquipa, according to a department ...
Source: latimes.com
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
A pharmaceutical company has issued a voluntary recall of over 3 million of its over-the-counter eye-drop products after the Food and Drug Administration cited a "lack of assurance of sterility." According to the FDA notice , K.C. Pharmaceuticals, of Pomona, California, manufactures the products for a number of brands sold under names such as "Dry Eye Relief Eye Drops," "Sterile Eye Drops" and "Artificial Tears ...
Source: nbcnews.com
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
OpenAI says program will remain in Los Angeles and will be editorially independent. OpenAI has struck a deal to acquire TBPN, a technology-focused talk show popular in Silicon Valley, making an unexpected move into broadcasting after pledging to abandon "side quests" and focus on its core business. The ChatGPT maker had purchased the 11-person company in a "low hundreds of millions of dollars" deal, according to a ...
Source: arstechnica.com
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
The Justice Department has concluded that a federal law requiring the preservation of presidential records is unconstitutional, which could effectively permit White House lawyers to try to set their own voluntary presidential recordkeeping policy and, potentially, upend decades-old legal precedent established in response to Richard M. Nixon's effort to keep control of records upon his resignation from the Oval ...
Source: abajournal.com
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
Microsoft just shipped the clearest signal yet that it is building an AI empire without OpenAI Six months after renegotiating the contract that once barred it from independently pursuing frontier AI, Microsoft has released three in-house models that directly challenge the partner it spent $13 billion cultivating. MAI-Transcribe-1, MAI-Voice-1, and MAI-Image-2 are now available in Microsoft Foundry, and they do not ...
Source: thenextweb.com
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
Follow Earth on Google Life on Earth has a long and fascinating history, but scientists still uncover surprises that change what we know. A recent fossil discovery in China has revealed that complex animal life began earlier than previously believed. Scientists from Oxford University 's Museum of Natural History, the Department of Earth Sciences, and Yunnan University have uncovered a remarkable fossil site in ...
Source: earth.com
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
Soaring energy prices caused by the US-Israeli war of choice on Iran is driving up global food prices while shrinking the economies of Gulf Arab states targeted in Iranian counterstrikes, according to a pair of reports published this week by United Nations agencies. On Friday, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) published its latest Food Price Index (FFPI), which measures the monthly change in ...
Source: commondreams.org
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
International law experts allege violations in Iran war More than 100 experts on international law have signed an open letter expressing "profound concern" about what they see as serious violations of international law by the US, Israel and Iran in the Middle East war. They say the US-Israeli decision to attack on Iran was a clear breach of the United Nations Charter, which prohibits the use of force outside of ...
Source: bbc.com
Thursday, Apr 2nd, 2026 -
Surging mortgage rates are threatening to wash out the spring homebuying season. The rate on a conventional 30-year home loan rose to 6.46%, its highest level since September 2025, Freddie Mac said Thursday. Borrowing costs have jumped sharply in recent weeks after having dipped below 6% in late February. The Iran war is exerting further upward pressure on rates by stoking inflation concerns and driving up ...
Source: cbsnews.com
Thursday, Apr 2nd, 2026 -
A Colorado appeals panel has tossed out a nine-year prison term for Tina Peters , the first election official found guilty of a felony in connection with 2020 election conspiracy theories, and ordered that she be re-sentenced — declaring that the lower court violated her First Amendment right to free speech and "went beyond relevant considerations for her sentencing." In a 78-page opinion released Thursday, ...
Source: lawandcrime.com
Thursday, Apr 2nd, 2026 -
The Trump administration will impose tariffs of as much as 100% on certain imported medicines, albeit with several major exemptions, a maneuver to pressure drugmakers to manufacture more in the US. The new levy, which President Donald Trump authorized on Thursday, applies to patented drugs made in countries that lack tariff deals with the US by companies that don't have most-favored-nation-pricing agreements with ...
Source: news.bloomberglaw.com
Thursday, Apr 2nd, 2026 -
April 2 (UPI) -- The National Capital Planning Commission voted Thursday to approve President Donald Trump 's plans for a White House ballroom in the now-demolished East Wing. Most of the 12-person commission voted in favor of the plans and there were several "present" votes. The only no came from Phil Mendelson, chair of the Council of the District of Columbia. Before the vote, Mendelson said he felt the ballroom ...
Source: upi.com
Thursday, Apr 2nd, 2026 -
Now open-source under Apache 2.0, Gemma 4 brings offline, multimodal AI to servers, phones, and Raspberry Pi - giving developers total local control over edge and on-premises deployments. Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways Google announced today that its DeepMind AI research division is releasing Gemma 4, its latest generation of open large language models . The ...
Source: zdnet.com
Thursday, Apr 2nd, 2026 -
While no longer in stores, the product may still be in freezers across the country If you have dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets in your freezer, federal officials say you may want to check the packaging. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) on Wednesday issued a public health alert for certain frozen, ready-to-eat chicken nuggets that may contain "unsafe levels of lead." ...
Source: foxbusiness.com