Latest news from the United States of America. Politics, economy, aid to Ukraine, Ukrainian diaspora
Goldman Sachs raised its Brent crude forecast to $90 per barrel for the fourth quarter — $10 higher than expected a month ago. Behind these figures lies simple arithmetic: the more expensive oil is, the less pressure the Kremlin faces to finance the war.
New settings give users real control over updates: no forced restarts and no hard deadline. But the longer the pause — the more vulnerable the system becomes.
Tehran has transmitted a new proposal to Washington through Pakistan: first restore shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and cease fire, with nuclear negotiations to be postponed for later. The problem is that Trump loses his main bargaining chip precisely when he gets what he wants.
# Since the Strait of Hormuz Blockade Began, US Military Has Intercepted 37 Sanctioned Iranian "Shadow Fleet" Vessels. What Lies Behind These Numbers—and Why It Matters More Than It Seems.
Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi left Islamabad before the American delegation managed to depart. Now the diplomatic stalemate between the US and Iran is cemented by mutual "we're not going anywhere" positions.
The U.S. Treasury Secretary has again stated that the waiver allowing purchases of Russian oil at sea will not be extended. However, he said the same thing before the previous extension — and signed it anyway.
Meta and Microsoft are cutting over 20,000 positions simultaneously—not due to losses, but to fund AI spending in the hundreds of billions. This is the first public precedent where Big Tech directly traded specific jobs for GPUs.
Washington struck simultaneously at three channels of Iranian revenue — oil, maritime, and cryptocurrency. But frozen funds and new sanctions don't answer the main question: whether China has reasons to change its behavior.
OpenAI has released GPT-5.5, a model that independently plans, integrates tools, and completes multi-step tasks. It is already available to paid users, but not yet to developers via API. The company attributes this delay to security requirements for large-scale deployment.
A participant in "Absolute Determination" operation earned over $400,000 on a cryptocurrency betting platform by placing bets on events he knew in advance through access to classified intelligence.
Tiberius Aerospace has confirmed flight tests of the Sceptre projectile: the munition survived firing from an M777 howitzer, activated its liquid ramjet engine, and completed stable controlled flight. The range is 150 kilometers, with a unit cost less than 10% of GMLRS.
A warhead for single-use strike drones, developed from scratch in 14 days using 3D printing technology, destroyed a makeshift bunker at a test range in Alabama. The speed of development is no less significant news than the weapon itself.
A plant in Texas started operations after the main contractor Zachry went bankrupt with a $2.4 billion cost overrun — and this is just the first of three technology modules.
The third launch of the heavy-lift New Glenn rocket became the first failure in terms of results — the communications satellite BlueBird 7 ended up in the wrong orbit and will now burn up in the atmosphere. The booster landed perfectly, but the upper stage failed to perform.
The United States has physically seized an Iranian cargo vessel for the first time since the beginning of the maritime blockade: USS Spruance opened fire after six hours of warnings, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz again, and oil prices rose.
A ceasefire between the US and Iran expires on April 22, with no follow-up negotiations scheduled, as Iran has again blocked the Strait of Hormuz. Trump called this "blackmail" and assembled his top command at the White House.
American military forces are preparing to seize Iranian oil tankers in international waters — far beyond the Middle East. This is not mere rhetoric: since December 2025, the US has already confiscated at least three vessels — from the Caribbean Sea to the Indian Ocean.
The Trump administration reinstated permission to purchase Russian oil just two days after publicly promising not to do so. Democratic senators called the decision "shameful" and claimed that Putin is "playing Trump for a fool."
Behind the protocol meeting in Washington is a concrete problem: Ukrainian Railways needs financing to repay eurobonds as early as July 2026, while Naftogaz needs to rebuild destroyed gas facilities.
# Intel Stock Reaches Over 20-Year High. Why the Market Believes in a Company Recently Written Off — And Will It Last? Intel shares have hit their highest point in more than two decades. This dramatic turnaround has surprised many investors who had recently counted the chip giant out of the competitive race. The resurgence raises important questions about what triggered this renewed confidence in the company and whether this rally can be sustained. Market analysts are weighing the factors behind Intel's unexpected recovery against the persistent challenges the corporation continues to face in an increasingly competitive semiconductor industry. The rally reflects changing investor sentiment, but skeptics question whether the fundamental issues that plagued the company have truly been resolved or merely masked by temporary market optimism.
Trump announced that the US will remove Iranian nuclear "dust" for free, while Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 10-day ceasefire. The details of the mechanisms for implementing both agreements remain an open question.
Leonid Radvinsky, a native of Odesa, died of cancer at age 43 — and now his legacy has become the subject of negotiations between OnlyFans and a little-known credit fund, Architect Capital, from San Francisco.
iPhone 18 Pro will receive a new Dark Cherry shade — a dark wine red color that will replace Cosmic Orange from the previous model. In parallel, Apple is preparing its first foldable iPhone Ultra priced at over $2,000 — both devices are expected to launch in fall 2026.
# AI-Driven Memory Shortage Hits Meta VR Headsets, Threatens Samsung, Microsoft, Sony A shortage of RAM caused by the AI data center race has impacted Meta's VR headsets and is now affecting Samsung, Microsoft, and Sony. Consumer electronics prices are expected to continue rising through at least 2026.
The United States has imposed a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz following failed negotiations in Islamabad. However, behind the scenes, Washington is prepared for concessions, according to Politico, because without them there will be no deal.
Google has expanded Personal Intelligence to image generation: now Gemini automatically extracts context from connected services. The problem isn't that it might make a mistake — it's where the line is drawn between "using" and "learning."
Google has finally allowed users to set a Shorts viewing limit to zero minutes — effectively removing the tab from the mobile app. For a platform that profits from keeping users' attention, this is a non-trivial decision.
The Missile Defense Agency has increased funding for the Glide Phase Interceptor program to over $1.3 billion. The missile is designed to intercept hypersonic targets during the glide phase — but the deployment timeline has been postponed for the second time.
Gemini for macOS arrived after ChatGPT and Claude, but came with a feature that competitors don't have by default: real-time access to the active window. The question is at what cost to privacy.
# Scammers Posted Fake Ledger Live on Mac App Store, Stole $9.5 Million in Six Days and Moved Funds Through 150 KuCoin Addresses Fraudsters managed to place a counterfeit Ledger Live application in the Mac App Store, collecting $9.5 million within six days before moving the stolen funds through 150 addresses on the KuCoin exchange. Apple removed the malicious app only after user complaints — and has remained silent about how it passed the company's review process.
GPT-5.4-Cyber is not a new product, but the same model with weakened restrictions for select users. The issue is not about what AI can do, but who gets access to it and how.
Trump Mobile has once again updated the appearance and specifications of the T1 Phone, while thousands of people with $100 deposits wait for the smartphone announced back in June 2025. The gadget with "American values" is almost certainly a rebranded Chinese device.
# Researchers Uncover Coordinated Campaign Targeting Users Through Browser Extensions Security researchers at Socket have discovered a coordinated campaign involving 108 browser extensions across five different developer accounts that were secretly funneling data to a single server. The malicious extensions were stealing Google OAuth tokens, hijacking Telegram sessions, and injecting malicious content into websites. Analysis of the code suggests the operation is linked to Russian-speaking malware-as-a-service (MaaS) infrastructure.
Maine became the first state in the US where lawmakers voted for a complete moratorium on large data centers. However, Governor Janet Mills has not yet signed the bill — and her hesitation reveals a real rift in debates over AI infrastructure.
A company has unveiled Leo, an antenna for commercial aviation with speeds of up to 1 Gbps. This is not merely faster Wi-Fi in the sky, but a bet on reshaping the in-flight connectivity market.
The United States has completely blocked Iranian ports following the collapse of negotiations in Pakistan. The economy, which relies on oil exports, has now been deprived of its main source of hard currency — and this, rather than bombing, could prove to be the real pressure on Tehran.
Washington has abandoned a practice that allowed "hostile" oil to reach the market. Prices, allies, and geopolitics are directly dependent on one decision.
Google has launched a desktop application for Windows with direct access to Gemini. The challenge to Microsoft Copilot turned out uneven: Google's AI assistant sees the screen better than its competitor, but cannot search within its own ecosystem.
# Translation At a TPUSA event at the University of Georgia, the US Vice President turned a question about legal migrants into a monologue about cutting weapons supplies to Kyiv. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is considering stripping legal status from 240,000 Ukrainian refugees.
# U.S. State Department Officially Confirms: Cuban Regime Knew and Facilitated Dispatch of Up to 5,000 Citizens to Fight for Russia The U.S. State Department has officially acknowledged that the Cuban government was aware of and actively facilitated the deployment of up to 5,000 of its citizens to fight for Russia. According to the department's findings, the recruitment scheme operated as follows: Cuban citizens were promised salaries 100 times higher than those available in Cuba. Upon recruitment, their passports were confiscated and they received two weeks of "training" before being sent into combat operations.
JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo posted record quarterly profits — and not despite geopolitical turmoil, but because of it. This is not a paradox, but a business model.
Negotiations in Islamabad concluded without a breakthrough — now Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan are attempting to bring the parties back to the table while the ceasefire still holds.
The U.S. Marine Corps has signed an $86.2 million contract with L3Harris for serial production of the Red Wolf missile for AH-1Z Viper helicopters — the same aircraft Ukraine is considering for procurement. If the deal with Bell Textron transitions from a letter of intent to an actual Foreign Military Sales contract, the Ukrainian Armed Forces would theoretically acquire an attack helicopter with a strike range that no current aircraft in Ukraine's army aviation fleet possesses.
Several Android brands are already testing a dark burgundy shade, following a leak about the iPhone 18 Pro. The precedent with orange showed that the bet was justified — but this time the race started before Apple's official announcement.
Four frame shapes, acetate instead of plastic, proprietary design without fashion industry partners — Apple enters the market where Meta has already sold 7 million pairs.
Negotiations in Islamabad lasted 21 hours but stalled on one issue — for how many years Iran will not enrich uranium. The answer to this question will determine whether the region will have peace after April 21.
After 21 hours of negotiations in Islamabad, the USA and Iran parted ways without a deal. Now mediators are trying to narrow the gap before the ceasefire expires — in parallel with the announced naval blockade.
# USA Reportedly Agrees to Unfreeze $6 Billion in Iranian Funds — But Washington Denies It. Real Stakes in Islamabad Talks Are Much Higher: Who Controls 20% of World Oil and on What Terms.
The White House has presented the "Arches of Independence" project, a monumental structure that the Trump administration calls "the greatest and most beautiful in the world." On April 16, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts will formally review the project.
The United States has signed a $4.7 billion contract with Lockheed Martin to accelerate the production of Patriot interceptors. The annual production rate will increase from 600 to 2,000 missiles, but not immediately—rather gradually over seven years.
# US Vice President Publicly Warns Iran Against Stalling Nuclear Negotiations While Pursuing Separate Diplomatic Track in South Asia The US Vice President publicly cautioned Iran against attempting to delay nuclear negotiations while simultaneously pursuing a separate diplomatic initiative in South Asia.
# Claude Mythos independently discovered thousands of critical vulnerabilities in every major operating system and browser. Anthropic acknowledges this, but claims the model is being withheld for protection — not attack.
OpenAI has launched an intermediate ChatGPT Pro subscription tier at $100 per month — and explicitly stated in the press release that it offers better value than Claude Code. This is more than just a new subscription option; it's a bid to recapture developers who have already switched to Anthropic.
# Trump's Meeting with NATO Secretary General Rutte Ends with Public Tirade Against Alliance on Truth Social — and Private Threats to "Punish" Allies Who Didn't Support Iran War A meeting between Trump and NATO Secretary General Rutte concluded with the former president publicly criticizing the alliance on Truth Social, while also making unpublicized threats to "punish" allies who failed to support a war against Iran. Rutte described the exchange as a "very frank conversation between two good friends."
# Translation As Iran effectively closes the Strait of Hormuz, through which a quarter of the world's maritime oil trade passes, Asian buyers have redirected their tanker fleet toward American ports. April US exports could break records — and this has already pushed WTI above $110 per barrel.
New "Notes" feature in Gemini transforms the chatbot into a long-term memory system with access to up to 300 sources. However, free users will have to wait, and there is currently no mobile app.
Google has finally added video speed control to Photos for Android — a feature that has existed in the company's YouTube for years. iOS and the web version are still in the queue without a release date.
The U.S. Air Force is ordering Boeing to refurbish 550 control units for AGM-86B nuclear cruise missiles to maintain their combat readiness until the arrival of their successor, the AGM-181 LRSO.
Oura's modular battery patent is not a technological breakthrough, but a response to a real problem: most owners of the $350 ring discard the device when the battery degrades after 2-3 years, since replacement is impossible.
Pulitzer Prize winner Nathaniel Poppers points to cryptographer Adam Back as the creator of Bitcoin. Back denies this — but the journalist's arguments prove harder to dismiss than he would like.
Auto-translation and AI photo editor on X look like a convenience feature. But the fine print in the privacy policy tells a different story: every translation potentially goes toward training xAI models.
Against the backdrop of a fragile two-week ceasefire, Trump announced negotiations on tariffs and sanctions via Truth Social — but Iran has already called the American 15-point plan "unacceptable" and has no intention of abandoning uranium enrichment.
American billionaire proposes merging UMG with his shell company and relocating listing to New York. Why this is beneficial for Ackman is clear. Why this would benefit Universal is already a question.
A startup Oumi analysis for The New York Times found that Google's AI Overviews are 91% accurate — a record for precision that also represents an unprecedented scale of errors for search.
# Chief of Staff of the 12th "Azov" Brigade Explains Why Unmanned Ground Vehicles Remain "Workhorses" Rather Than Soldier Replacements Lev Pashko, the Chief of Staff of the 12th "Azov" Brigade, explained at the Ground Truth Symposium in Washington why unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) remain "workhorses" rather than replacements for soldiers. Meanwhile, UGVs have set a record of 45 days of combat duty on the front lines without a single soldier nearby.
# Claude Mythos Preview Discovers Zero-Days in Major Operating Systems and Browsers, Some Existing for 27 Years Anthropic is granting access to only 12 companies as Claude Mythos Preview has discovered zero-day vulnerabilities in every major operating system and browser. Some of these vulnerabilities have existed for 27 years. The restricted distribution is due to the model's capability to write fully functional exploits.
Apple has faced a shortage of A18 Pro chips for its newest MacBook almost immediately after sales began. The company's response is not to slow down, but to accelerate the cycle: it is already known that the successor will feature an A19 Pro and 12GB of memory.
# Artemis II Crew Flies Past Moon, Breaks 1970 Distance Record The Artemis II crew flew past the Moon on April 7, breaking the distance record set in 1970 and becoming the first in history to witness the far side of the satellite with their own eyes. But the most interesting details were left out of the official releases.
# The U.S. Vice President's Visit Five Days Before Hungarian Elections: Both Pre-Electoral Support for Trump's Ally and Fresh Accusations Against Kyiv Without Any Evidence
Americans are massively buying used electric vehicles not out of environmental convictions, but due to simple arithmetic: gasoline prices have exceeded $4 per gallon, while a used EV now costs only $1,300 more than a conventional used car.
Meta is testing built-in noise cancellation for WhatsApp calls. It sounds simple, but it only works one way — and this is fundamental.
Google AI Edge Eloquent transforms voice into clean text directly on the device, without the cloud. This is Google's first serious answer to the premium dictation market, where Whispr Flow and SuperWhisper already dominate.
# Artemis II Crew Surpasses Apollo 13 Distance Record on April 6, 2026 The Artemis II mission crew on April 6, 2026, surpassed the 248,655-mile mark from Earth — breaking the Apollo 13 record that had stood since 1970. However, the record distance is merely one dimension of a mission that tests equipment rather than plants flags.
On May 9 in Newark, Yaroslav Amosov will face Spanish fighter Joel Alvarez as part of UFC 328. For the fighter who left his career in 2022 to defend his native city, this bout is the next step toward a championship belt that he never lost in Bellator.
# Tehran Rejects 45-Day Ceasefire Proposal, Demands Permanent Security Guarantees — Brent Crude Trading at $109 as Diesel Prices in Ukraine Surge 34% Tehran has rejected a proposed 45-day ceasefire, insisting on permanent security guarantees instead. Meanwhile, Brent crude oil is trading at $109 per barrel, with diesel prices in Ukraine surging 34%.
# Mercedes Recalls 3,734 Electric G580 Vehicles Over Wheel Attachment Issue Mercedes is recalling 3,734 electric G580 vehicles priced at $165,000 due to wheel mountings designed for the lighter gasoline-powered G-Class. The company will notify owners of the recall, but notifications will not be sent until May.
# Artemis II Astronauts Film Earth with Smartphone Disconnected from Internet and Without Bluetooth. How an iPhone Ended Up in Space — and Why It Took Months of Testing. Aboard the Orion spacecraft, Artemis II astronauts are filming Earth with a smartphone that cannot connect to the internet and has no Bluetooth capability. How an iPhone made it to space — and why it required months of testing.
Washington and Tehran are discussing a two-phase agreement — first a temporary ceasefire, then an end to the war. However, the Iranian side publicly denies the fact of negotiations.
The rescue operation of an F-15E pilot over Iran cost the United States six of its own destroyed aircraft. This is not a failure — it is the price of operating 2,000 km deep into enemy territory.
An F-15E weapons systems officer hid for more than a day in a mountain gorge in southern Iran — and it was a CIA disinformation operation that prevented Iranian forces from narrowing their search to his actual location.