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Daily News Update

Saturday, April 25, 2026

Daily News Update — 2026-04-25

Date: 2026-04-25 Cadence: Daily Scope: Weather (Minneapolis/St. Paul), Regional US news, Global news, Tech news

Headline Summary

Russia launches one of its largest drone/missile barrages of the war on Ukraine; the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments on whether judges can review Trump's TPS terminations; Google announces a landmark $40B investment in Anthropic; and DeepSeek drops V4 models claiming frontier-level performance at lower cost. Meanwhile, the US Navy intensifies mine-clearance operations in the Strait of Hormuz, and Minnesota's Senate advances a sweeping bill to limit federal ICE operations in the state.

Weather (Minneapolis/St. Paul)

Minneapolis, MN | 2026-04-25 07:44 CDT ☁️ Current Conditions 🌧️ Light rain, 46°F (7.9°C), feels like 43°F 💨 Wind: 1 mph SE | 💧 Humidity: 78%

St. Paul, MN | 2026-04-25 07:44 CDT 🌧️ Light rain, 47°F (8.5°C), feels like 44°F 💨 Wind: 2 mph NE | 💧 Humidity: 74%

Today's Forecast: Mostly cloudy with a high near 58°F. Slight chance of isolated showers persists through the afternoon. Overnight low around 45°F.

Weekend Outlook: Sunday warms to ~71°F before rain and thunderstorms move in late Sunday night into Monday. Monday could see a widespread soaking (1"+ possible) with southeast gusts 30–35 mph. Secure outdoor furniture and have rain gear ready.

Fire Weather Note: Near-critical fire weather conditions flagged for western Minnesota due to dry air and breezy conditions. Spring burning restrictions expanded in some areas — check MN DNR before any open burns.

Saturday Note: Free admission to all Minnesota state parks and recreation areas today — National Park Week event.

Regional News

Supreme Court to Hear Arguments on TPS Deportation Shield

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments next Wednesday on whether the Trump administration can strip Temporary Protected Status from more than 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians. The administration's key argument: courts have no authority to review TPS decisions at all. If the Court agrees, it could affect 1.3 million immigrants across all 17 TPS-designated countries, as Trump has sought to rescind protections for 13 of them. Lower courts have ruled the administration failed to follow required procedures. (Reuters, retrieved 2026-04-25)

Minnesota Senate Advances Major ICE Oversight Bill

A sweeping DFL-backed bill combining at least nine stand-alone proposals has cleared committee and heads to the Senate floor. Key provisions: ban anyone (including federal agents) from concealing identity with masks in public; restrict federal agents' access to K-12 schools, healthcare facilities, and childcare centers without a judicial warrant; codify the Plyler v. Doe right to K-12 education regardless of immigration status; and create civil remedies for constitutional violations by federal immigration agents. The bill has a better chance in the Senate (one-seat DFL majority) than the 50-50 split House. (MinnPost, retrieved 2026-04-25)

DOJ Paying Out Settlements to Trump Allies

The Justice Department is using high-dollar settlements to undermine cases previously brought against Trump allies during prior administrations, according to a Washington Post investigation. The strategy represents a costly approach to rolling back investigations from the Biden era. (Washington Post, retrieved 2026-04-25)

Texas Cities Under State Pressure Over ICE Policies

Austin won a temporary extension on a state deadline to roll back police limits on cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Gov. Abbott threatened the city could lose ~$2.5 million in public safety grants. Houston's City Council already voted 13-4 this week to amend its ordinance limiting cooperation with ICE. Similar warnings have been issued to Dallas. (KUT Austin, Houston Public Media, retrieved 2026-04-25)

Senate Control Up for Grabs as Political Landscape Shifts

Democrats' once long-shot hopes of winning the Senate are becoming more realistic as a shifting political landscape — driven partly by economic concerns and Trump's approval rating — puts multiple Republican-held seats in play. (Washington Post, retrieved 2026-04-25)

Global News

Russia Launches Massive 660-Drone Barrage on Ukraine

Russian forces launched over 600 drones and 47 missiles across Ukraine overnight, killing at least four and wounding more than 30. Dnipro was hit hard — three killed in a destroyed house, with people potentially still trapped in rubble. British RAF Eurofighter Typhoons were scrambled from Romania after drone fragments were recovered near the NATO border, prompting a local evacuation. Zelensky called for "immediate and decisive action" from partners. (The Independent, retrieved 2026-04-25)

Ukraine Sacks Commander After Emaciated Soldier Photos Spark Outrage

Images shared by the wife of a frontline serviceman showed troops with visible rib cages and extreme weight loss after months in the Kharkiv region with little access to food or water. A military commander was dismissed in response. The photos have ignited a national conversation about conditions for Ukrainian soldiers at the front. (The Independent, retrieved 2026-04-25)

Putin Faces Record Disapproval as Russian Economy Struggles

Russia's Central Bank cut its key rate from 15% to 14.5% — the third cut this year and eighth in 12 months — even as inflation hit 5.7% annually and core inflation rose in Q1. Putin's approval rating has hit a four-year low amid economic contraction and public backlash over the war and an internet ban. Russian influencers have released public appeals criticizing his government. Elevated oil revenues may sustain war funding in the medium term but are unlikely to reverse years of economic deterioration. (Washington Post, Kyiv Post, ISW via World Today News, retrieved 2026-04-25)

US Navy Intensifies Mine-Clearance in Strait of Hormuz

President Trump announced the Navy is clearing Iranian mines from the Strait of Hormuz and ordered operations "tripled up." Pentagon officials privately estimated it could take six months to clear the waterway, where 20% of the world's oil typically transits. Defense Secretary Hegseth did not deny the timeline. Experts warn that even after sweeping, commercial shippers and insurers may not trust the waterway is safe — "you just have to make people believe that you've laid mines" to keep traffic away. Iran has not confirmed laying any mines, only the "likelihood" of them in prewar routes. (AP via KTAR, Navy Times, retrieved 2026-04-25)

EU Considers Mideast Energy Infrastructure to Bypass Conflict Zones

Top EU officials say the bloc is exploring funding for alternative energy infrastructure in the Middle East to bypass conflict-affected routes. The move reflects growing European concern about energy security amid ongoing instability in the region, including the Iran-US conflict and its effects on the Strait of Hormuz. (ABC News, retrieved 2026-04-25)

Tech News

Google to Invest Up to $40 Billion in Anthropic

Google plans to invest up to $40 billion in AI firm Anthropic in a two-phase deal. The first $10 billion commits at a $350 billion valuation, with another $30 billion contingent on Anthropic meeting performance targets. Much of the investment flows back to Google Cloud — Anthropic is a major customer for Google's TPU infrastructure. The deal includes 5 additional gigawatts of Google Cloud capacity over five years. Google also gains early access to Anthropic's unreleased Mythos model, which has restricted distribution due to security concerns (and has already leaked to unauthorized users). Anthropic also recently secured $5B from Amazon and a CoreWeave infrastructure deal, and is reportedly considering an IPO as soon as October. (TechCrunch, gHacks, retrieved 2026-04-25)

DeepSeek Launches V4 Models with Million-Token Context

DeepSeek has released a preview of DeepSeek-V4, including V4-Pro (1.6 trillion parameters, Mixture-of-Experts) and V4-Flash. The models introduce Compressed Sparse Attention (CSA) and Heavily Compressed Attention (HCA) to enable 1-million-token context windows. Independent benchmarks reportedly confirm V4-Pro beats models like Gemini 3.1 Pro on coding, math, and long-context tasks — continuing DeepSeek's pattern of matching or approaching frontier performance at significantly lower cost. NVIDIA has already published integration guides for V4 on Blackwell hardware. (MarkTechPost, NVIDIA Developer Blog, retrieved 2026-04-25)

Microsoft Offers First-Ever Voluntary Buyouts to ~7% of US Workforce

Microsoft is offering voluntary early retirement to approximately 7% of its US workforce (~8,750 employees) — the company's first-ever buyout program. The move comes as Microsoft simultaneously ramps up massive AI infrastructure spending. The buyouts signal the ongoing tension in big tech between investing heavily in AI and managing headcount costs. Meta is also downsizing by about 10%. (KTVZ/CNN, Engadget, retrieved 2026-04-25)

Key Takeaways

  • Escalation in Ukraine: The 660-drone barrage and NATO-border drone fragment recovery mark a significant escalation, with British fighters scrambled for the first time in response to a direct border threat.
  • Constitutional showdown brewing: The Supreme Court's TPS case could establish a precedent on whether the judiciary can review executive immigration decisions at all — with implications for 1.3 million people.
  • AI arms race accelerates: Google's $40B Anthropic bet and DeepSeek's V4 release show the AI infrastructure race intensifying on both the capital and capability fronts. The circular economics (funding competitors who become your cloud customers) are becoming the norm.
  • Strait of Hormuz remains a chokepoint: Even with mine-clearance underway, experts warn that restoring commercial shipping confidence could take far longer than clearing the mines. Energy market disruption continues.
  • Minnesota at the ICE-policy forefront: The state Senate's mega-bill is the most comprehensive state-level pushback against federal immigration enforcement tactics seen so far — a test case for how far blue states can go.

Sources

  1. Reuters, "In Supreme Court fight against deportation shield, Trump says judges have no role," 2026-04-25. Link
  2. MinnPost, "A mega-bill to rein in ICE in Minnesota heads to the Senate floor," 2026-04-25. Link
  3. Washington Post, "The DOJ is paying out Trump allies, undermining former investigations," 2026-04-25. Link
  4. KUT Austin, "Austin pushes deadline to amend ICE policy as state threatens millions," 2026-04-24. Link
  5. Houston Public Media, "Houston City Council revises HPD-ICE policy change after threat from Texas governor," 2026-04-22. Link
  6. Washington Post, "The elections that will determine control of the Senate," 2026-04-25. Link
  7. The Independent, "Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin's forces rain 660 drones and missiles on Kyiv," 2026-04-25. Link
  8. Washington Post, "Another wave of public outcry tests Putin's rule in wartime Russia," 2026-04-25. Link
  9. Kyiv Post, "Putin's Approval Rating Hits Four-Year Low Amid Economic Slump and Internet Ban," 2026-04-25. Link
  10. World Today News / ISW, "Russia's Economy in Crisis: Putin Faces Record Disapproval," 2026-04-25. Link
  11. AP / KTAR, "US says it's hunting for explosive mines in latest push to open the Strait of Hormuz," 2026-04-25. Link
  12. Navy Times, "How the US military could clear mines from the Strait of Hormuz," 2026-04-16. Link
  13. ABC News, "EU considers helping with Mideast energy infrastructure to bypass conflict zones," 2026-04-25. Link
  14. TechCrunch, "Google to invest up to $40B in Anthropic in cash and compute," 2026-04-24. Link
  15. gHacks, "Google Plans to Invest Up to $40 Billion in Anthropic," 2026-04-25. Link
  16. MarkTechPost, "DeepSeek AI Releases DeepSeek-V4: Compressed Sparse Attention and Heavily Compressed Attention Enable One-Million-Token Contexts," 2026-04-24. Link
  17. NVIDIA Developer Blog, "Build with DeepSeek V4 Using NVIDIA Blackwell and GPU-Accelerated Endpoints," 2026-04-24. Link
  18. KTVZ / CNN, "Microsoft to offer voluntary retirement to thousands of US employees for the first time," 2026-04-24. Link
  19. Engadget, "Microsoft is reportedly offering voluntary buyouts to up to 7 percent of its employees," 2026-04-24. Link
  20. Exa.ai / Weather data, Minneapolis and St. Paul current conditions, 2026-04-25.
  21. Hoodline / NWS Twin Cities, "Minneapolis Weather: Sunny Friday, Storms Likely Monday," 2026-04-24. Link

Generated: 4/25/2026, 7:44 AM CDT Sources: Web search (Reuters, Washington Post, MinnPost, AP, The Independent, TechCrunch, gHacks, MarkTechPost, NVIDIA, Engadget, KTVZ, NWS Twin Cities, Exa.ai)