The Petersburg Post
Top News Stories for Friday, April 3rd 2026
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
When members of Congress challenged Pam Bondi over the Epstein files in February, she hurled insults that could have been plucked straight from the president's mouth. "Washed-up lawyer loser!" Bondi's appearance before the House Judiciary Committee was a particularly aggressive display of loyalty. She answered questions about the Epstein files by talking about stock market growth, declining crime and other ...
Source: abc.net.au
Friday, Apr 3rd, 2026 -
April 3 (UPI) -- NASA's Artemis II crew left Earth orbit Thursday evening en route for the moon, marking a milestone not reached in more than 50 years. The Orion spacecraft began a scheduled 5-minute, 50-second burn at 7:49 p.m. EDT, successfully propelling it and its four-person crew out of Earth orbit. "Nominal translunar injection burn complete. The Artemis II crew is officially on the way to the moon," NASA ...
Source: upi.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 -
This story was first published by Digiday sibling ModernRetail Amazon will impose a 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge on merchants' fulfillment fees beginning April 17, as rising fuel costs tied to conflict in the Middle East pressure supply chains. "Elevated costs in fulfillment and logistics have increased the cost of operating across the industry. We have absorbed these increased costs so far," the company wrote ...
Source: digiday.com
Thursday, Apr 2nd, 2026 -
A sketch artist captured the historic moment a humiliated Donald Trump fled the Supreme Court . Trump, 79, became the first sitting president to observe oral arguments on Wednesday as his administration attempted to defend his executive order to seek to restrict birthright citizenship. The administration is using the limitation of birthright citizenship as a way to rein in illegal immigration, one of Trump's ...
Source: thedailybeast.com
Thursday, Apr 2nd, 2026 -
WASHINGTON — With his sweeping election overhaul bill stalled in Congress, President Trump made a new play this week — tapping the power of the presidential pen to crack down on voting by mail across the country. As with the president's previous attempts to reshape the American voting system, many election leaders warned his executive order targeting vote-by-mail is unworkable and potentially ...
Source: bostonglobe.com
Thursday, Apr 2nd, 2026 -
Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. Republican leaders unveiled a plan to end the government shutdown on Wednesday Removed from bookmarks The US Senate is poised to swiftly approve a measure on Thursday aimed at funding the majority of the Department of Homeland Security , though the timeline for the House to follow suit and largely end ...
Source: independent.co.uk
Thursday, Apr 2nd, 2026 -
Newly released bodycam footage shows Woods in sunglasses as he kneels on the side of the road while police are at the scene. Bodycam footage has emerged of Tiger Woods' arrest following his crash in Florida last week. The golf legend was charged with driving under the influence after he attempted to overtake a truck at "high speeds" and rolled the Land Rover he was driving on Friday . Woods pleaded not guilty ...
Source: news.sky.com
Thursday, Apr 2nd, 2026 -
Actions Follow Unprecedented Rollbacks of Environmental Protections Growing concerns that microplastics – tiny plastic particles found in human bodies and the environment – are toxic to human health led the EPA today to identify microplastics as a contaminant of concern in drinking water for the first time. Toxic PFAS and pharmaceuticals were also identified as priority contaminants. Yet, just two weeks ...
Source: commondreams.org
Thursday, Apr 2nd, 2026 -
The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate increased for the fifth consecutive week, rising to 6.46% as the ongoing war in Iran continues to roil financial markets, economists said. The average mortgage rate ticked up 8 basis points to 6.46% this week, according to the latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), released by Freddie Mac Thursday, after last week increasing from 6.22% to 6.38%. Bright MLS ...
Source: rismedia.com
Thursday, Apr 2nd, 2026 -
The U.S. has lifted sanctions against Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, according to an Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) action notice on the U.S. Department of the Treasury website. Her removal from the Treasury Department's OFAC sanctions list ends prohibitions that prevent U.S. companies and investors from doing business with Rodriguez, at the risk of civil or criminal consequences. "We ...
Source: floridianpress.com
Thursday, Apr 2nd, 2026 -
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge in New York tossed out actor Blake Lively's sexual harassment claims Thursday against actor Justin Baldoni over their roles in the movie "It Ends With Us," but he left intact two retaliation claims. The written ruling by Judge Lewis J. Liman in Manhattan came after Lively sued Baldoni last December, alleging sexual harassment among over a dozen claims. Baldoni and production ...
Source: bostonglobe.com
Thursday, Apr 2nd, 2026 -
An appeals court in the state of Colorado has ordered the resentencing of Tina Peters, a former county clerk convicted of involvement in an election meddling scheme in the United States. The court overturned Peters's nine-year prison sentence on Thursday, but not her conviction for helping to tamper with voting machines after the 2020 presidential race . Her case has become a cause celebre for President Donald ...
Source: aljazeera.com
Thursday, Apr 2nd, 2026 -
Apple has expanded the availability of iOS 18.7.7 and iPadOS 18.7.7 to more devices to protect users from the DarkSword exploit kit, a hacking tool used in targeted cyber-attacks. The update allows devices still running iOS 18 to receive security patches without upgrading to the latest operating system. The security fixes included in the update were originally released in 2025, but Apple broadened access on April ...
Source: infosecurity-magazine.com
Thursday, Apr 2nd, 2026 -
The weight-loss drug rivalry heats up as another GLP-1 pill gains FDA approval The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval of Eli Lilly's once-daily pill orforglipron as a weight loss and obesity treatment this week was the fastest approval of a new medication in decades. Clinical trial results showed that the highest doses of the oral medication, which will be marketed as Foundayo, caused people to lose an ...
Source: scientificamerican.com
Thursday, Apr 2nd, 2026 -
United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that could slap long-threatened tariffs of up to 100 percent on some patented drugs if pharmaceutical companies don't reach deals with his administration in the coming months. Under Thursday's executive order, companies that have signed a "most favoured nation" pricing deal and are actively building facilities in the US will have a zero-percent ...
Source: aljazeera.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
Thursday, Apr 2nd, 2026 -
Ted Bundy's rampage of violence spanned at least four years and left dozens of victims behind, including at least 30 women and girls who were killed — and several others who escaped or survived despite serious injuries. Though the serial killer has been dead for nearly 40 years, the tally of his confirmed victims continues to grow as DNA testing has advanced. A Utah sheriff confirmed Wednesday that Bundy was ...
Source: apnews.com
Thursday, Apr 2nd, 2026 -
Google LLC is upping the stakes for open-weights artificial intelligence models with the release of Gemma 4, its most advanced "open" model family so far. Built on the same architectural foundation as Gemini 3, the models are designed to handle complex reasoning tasks and support autonomous AI agents running locally on low-power devices such as workstations and smartphones. With Gemma 4, Google DeepMind researchers ...
Source: siliconangle.com
Thursday, Apr 2nd, 2026 -
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal officials on Thursday arrested eight people they say were involved in various health care fraud schemes totaling $50 million in and around Los Angeles. Five of the cases involved hospice-care centers in cities of Glendale, Artesia, Tarzana and Simi Valley in the Los Angeles area that allegedly billed Medicare for patients that were not terminally ill and did not qualify for hospice ...
Source: apnews.com
Thursday, Apr 2nd, 2026 -
Fake X account posing as his vet sparked global false reports of Jonathan's death while soliciting crypto donations At 194 years old, Jonathan the giant tortoise was a youngster when Queen Victoria ascended to the throne – and has now lived long enough to fall victim to a crypto scam. News outlets including the BBC, Daily Mail and USA Today falsely reported his death after an X account posing as Jonathan's ...
Source: theguardian.com
Thursday, Apr 2nd, 2026 -
The National Capital Planning Commission has given the green light to the US president's plan to build a 90,000sq ft ballroom on the site of the White House's demolished East Wing. Donald Trump's plan to build a ballroom at the White House has been given final approval by a key commission - just days after a judge ordered construction to stop. The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), the agency responsible ...
Source: news.sky.com
Thursday, Apr 2nd, 2026 -
United Airlines is raising its fees for first and second checked bags, becoming the second U.S. airline to up the price this week. United is raising the price by $10 for flights in the U.S., Mexico and Canada and Latin America, the airline said Thursday in a statement, making the price for the first checked bag $45 for those who pay ahead of time and $50 for travelers who check their bag within 24 hours of their ...
Source: cbsnews.com
Thursday, Apr 2nd, 2026 -
A receptor that's used to find prey is also activated by progesterone. Octopuses are one of the most alien creatures on Earth. The lack of bones makes them amazing shapeshifters, most of them can change color like chameleons, and they pump blue copper-based blood through their bodies using three distinct hearts. They rely on a decentralized nervous system, where two-thirds of their neurons reside in their arms, ...
Source: arstechnica.com
Wednesday, Apr 1st, 2026 -
Luigi Mangione's federal and New York state trials over the killing of a UnitedHealth Group Inc. executive Brian Thompson were pushed back Wednesday, with the first case set to start on Sept. 8. New York State Supreme Court Judge Gregory Carro on Wednesday moved Mangione's murder trial to September from June 8. A few hours earlier, US District Judge Margaret Garnett had postponed jury selection in the federal ...
Source: news.bloomberglaw.com