Stories from United States

Pharmaceutical giant Merck has announced a new partnership with Google Cloud to leverage artificial intelligence initiatives. The collaboration aims to integrate advanced AI capabilities into Merck's operations to enhance research and development. This move follows a broader trend of life sciences companies adopting cloud-based AI to accelerate drug discovery. AI company Anthropic has closed three major agreements involving Google and Amazon. Google has committed up to $40 billion to the company. Amazon has committed $25 billion, while Anthropic has also committed approximately $100 billion in cloud service spending with Amazon. These deals follow recent industry shifts in AI investment and infrastructure requirements.

New prediction market data indicates Donald Trump's RCP approval rating has fallen to approximately 40.3% as of April 22, 2026. He aims to reassert control over key issues that are currently prominent. A recent poll indicates that a majority of Americans believe Democrats would perform better than Donald Trump on economic matters. This is the first time since 2010 that such a majority has been recorded. Trump's previous positioning as a successful businessman is contrasted with the current Iranian conflict, suggesting the opposite of his economic promises is occurring. This figure is a decrease from the 36 percent recorded in early April. The Sao Paulo Stock Exchange closed down 0.51 percent. Donald Trump's approval rating in the United States has reached its lowest level of his term at 34 percent. The report was broadcast on CBN São Paulo.

A federal appeals court has approved a mandate requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every Texas classroom. The ruling could determine if thousands of Texans are permitted to purchase legal cannabis flowers and extracts. The legal fight is currently playing out in the state's judicial system. The legal fight involves member station KUT in Austin. Nathan Bernier reports that prohibiting these sales could impact thousands of small retailers and drive consumers toward illegal markets. The ruling affects products shipped across state lines and located throughout the country. The case involves retailers such as Turp House in South Austin. Texas law distinguishes hemp from marijuana based on low levels of Delta 9 THC. However, hemp contains THCA, which converts to Delta 9 when heated or smoked. The order maintains higher fees on businesses despite the product availability.

The EPA, FBI, CISA, and NSA have issued a joint cybersecurity advisory regarding Iranian-affiliated cyber threats targeting water systems. The advisory highlights vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure and the need for enhanced state and local government defenses. The US Treasury is calling for banks to increase due diligence regarding transactions involving discounted Iranian fruit to avoid being blacklisted. This follows last week's sanctions against the major refiner Hungly Petrochemical. The move includes reported sanctions against approximately 35 entities tied to Iran's shadow banking network. The US has also issued warnings against paying tolls to Iran for passage through the Strait of Hormuz. The advisory aims to mitigate risks to critical infrastructure. The advisory focuses on protecting operational technology from these specific threats.

Internal Amazon emails have surfaced in a new lawsuit alleging the company uses deceptive patterns to raise prices across the internet. A $5 million lawsuit has been filed in the United States regarding the pricing of plant-based milk alternatives. The source noted that while some oat milk production might be cheaper, other alternatives remain significantly more expensive. One resident, Tim Willard, reported that a May 2024 hail storm in northeast Oklahoma caused roof damage with jagged hailstones. The storm was described as being loud enough to interfere with phone conversations. A lawsuit alleges that Safeway, Albertsons, and Haggen violated consumer protection laws through deceptive buy-one-get-one-free promotions. The complaint claims these retailers raised prices on staples like bread, cereal, and fresh produce ahead of sales over the past five years.

At least six billionaires are planning to cut ties with California due to proposed wealth tax threats, with approximately 20 others considering leaving the state. An estimated 200 to 300 billionaires currently reside in California. Similar wealth tax discussions are occurring in New York, following campaign promises made by Mayor Sora Mandani. The tax would apply to total wealth, including assets such as stocks and real estate. The measure has reportedly gathered enough signatures to proceed. Candidates frequently interrupted one another, causing the event to get out of hand quickly. It took 30 minutes before a student waiting to ask a question was finally able to speak. The debate was characterized as disorganized and symbolic of the current gubernatorial race. Five candidates are within seven percentage points of each other in the California gubernatorial race.

Meta has announced plans to develop AI models capable of managing complex workflows, where humans act as directors and reviewers rather than primary executors. The company aims to transition tasks to AI while maintaining human oversight for quality and direction. This move signals a significant shift in how the company integrates generative AI into professional productivity. Workers reported that faces in videos were automatically blurred during data review, but the process was not always successful. This practice is described by the company as being similar to methods used by many other firms. Meta issued a statement following revelations regarding its AI data practices. This process is intended to improve user experience, which Meta noted is a practice used by many other companies.

The Philadelphia 76ers fell to the Boston Celtics in a physical playoff matchup. Tyrese Maxey led the 76ers with 31 points, but the team struggled with rebounding and allowed the Celtics to take control in the fourth quarter. The loss follows a competitive performance in a back-and-forth game. Joel Embiid recorded 33 points and eight assists to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 113-97 victory over the Boston Celtics. The win prevents the 76ers from being eliminated in the NBA playoffs. This performance occurred in Embiid's second game following an emergency appendectomy on April 9. The 76ers have pulled within 3-2 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round playoff series. The Celtics currently hold three victories compared to two for the 76ers in the series. The source noted that a specific player played 26 minutes, scoring 8 points and recording 14 rebounds.

The National Weather Service has issued a fire weather watch for Albuquerque, New Mexico, effective until 8:00 PM MDT on April 23. This alert follows specific meteorological conditions that increase the risk of wildfire spread in the region. Residents are advised to remain vigilant as weather patterns shift. This watch indicates conditions that could lead to extreme fire behavior. Critical fire weather conditions continue to affect parts of the Southwest United States.

A design flaw in the Notion API has been identified, allowing unauthenticated access to public pages and exposing user emails. The vulnerability has reportedly been active since 2022, posing a significant privacy risk to users. Security researchers are currently investigating the scope of the data exposure. A hardcoded API key in ClickUp has silently leaked 959 corporate and government emails over a 15-month period. The vulnerability allowed unauthorized access to sensitive communications across multiple organizations. A misconfiguration in ClickUp's feature flags exposed 893 customer email addresses and one live API token.