Author: rb809rb

Will Zcash price go up as a bullish setup forms and shielded supply grows?

Zcash price has rallied over 20% in the past month, surpassing the $250 mark. Is the token set for higher gains as it has confirmed a bullish setup, while adoption for its shielded transactions continues to expand across the ecosystem?

Zcash ($ZEC) price rallied due to multiple fundamental and technical drivers that converged to create a perfect storm for the asset.

Zcash rallied as it secured fresh backing from institutions. Notably, the Zcash Open Development Lab, a key contributor to the network’s development, announced securing over $25 million in seed funding from venture firms including Paradigm and a16z crypto on March 27, 2026. The funding will support the development of the Zodl wallet alongside other privacy-focused financial tools on the Zcash ecosystem.

Additionally, the total amount of $ZEC held in shielded pools has hit a new record high of $5.17 billion at press time, a figure that equals over 31% of the total circulating supply.

A jump in shielded liquidity suggests that a greater number of holders are now using the core privacy features of Zcash, which translates to genuine utility and more demand for the token.

On the daily chart, Zcash price has confirmed a falling wedge pattern formed of two converging and descending trendlines. Breakouts from such patterns have historically sustained upside for the related assets over the following sessions, suggesting that the current momentum is more than just a temporary spike.

Zcash price has broken out of a falling wedge pattern on the daily chart — April 6 | Source: crypto.news

In Zcash’s case, the rally could potentially extend to $400, which aligns with the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level.

Technical indicators appear to be favoring the bulls at the time of writing. The MACD lines were pointing upwards while the Supertrend flashed green, both indicating that the path of least resistance remains to the upside. These signals often attract momentum traders who look for confirmed trend reversals to enter new positions.

However, it should be noted that the Zcash rally could face some resistance at $317, a major resistance and support level that has historically acted as a pivot point Zcash price.

April 6, 2026
Runners earn Guinness World Record for deepest marathon

Odd News // 3 weeks ago

Oddest unclaimed luggage items of 2025 include robot, meteorite

March 9 (UPI) — Some of the most unusual items found in lost and unclaimed luggage last year included a robot, a bionic knee, a meteorite and a beekeeping suit.

April 6, 2026
CNN to Host California Gubernatorial Debate as Trump Endorses Former Fox News Host in Race

In a year with enormously consequential midterm elections, the most interesting election of all may be the race to succeed Gavin Newsom.

The unusual primary system of California, in which all candidates are listed and the top two move on to the general election regardless of party has raised the very real possibility that this fall could see two Republicans on the ballot, and no Democrats, with a multitude of Democratic candidates crowding the field and giving an opening to the two Republicans in the race: Former Fox News host Steve Hilton, and Riverside county sheriff Chad Bianco.

On Monday, President Trump may have helped alleviate those concerns by endorsing Hilton, potentially pushing Bianco down the ladder and giving an opening to a Democrat … if some of the candidates drop out.

But the race carries national importance, given California’s outsize place in the global economy, and its general influence in progressive politics.

Given that significance, CNN is giving California primetime placement, with plans to host a primary debate that will run across the country.

The debate will be moderated by Kaitlan Collins and the channel’s California-based anchor Elex Michaelson, and take place on Tuesday, May 5 at 6 p.m. PT. The eligibility requirements will include having “raised, contributed or loaned at least $1 million” to the campaign, and polling at least three percent among likely voters in two polls.

The requirements matter, as USC and KABC were forced to cancel a primary debate after the requirements instituted meant that no candidates of color were eligible. Given the number of Democrats in the race (Eric Swalwell, Katie Porter, Tom Steyer, Xavier Becerra, Antonio Villaraigosa, Matt Mahan, Betty Yee and Tony Thurmond all have supporters), it is a challenging one to model for.

April 6, 2026
Joseph J. Collins, Former Top Executive at HBO and Time Warner Cable, Dies at 81

Joseph J. Collins, the former HBO, Time Warner Cable and Comcast executive who helped reposition cable as much more than a delivery system for television, has died. He was 81.

Collins died Thursday at his home in Weekapaug, Rhode Island, a family spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter.

Long before broadband became ubiquitous, Collins was among the industry leaders who realized that the networks that carried premium programming could one day power high-speed data and transform how Americans lived, worked and consumed content.

As president of HBO from 1984-88, he helped establish the premium network as a dominant brand in entertainment. He then returned to Time Inc. subsidiary American Television and Communications, where he had risen through the ranks, as chairman and CEO.

Next, he served as chairman and CEO of Time Warner Cable from 1989-2001, a stint that included ATC being incorporated into the company in 1992, as he oversaw a period of expansion and technological evolution that helped lay the groundwork for broadband’s explosion.

In 2001, he became head of AOL Time Warner Interactive Video, where he pushed early efforts to merge television and internet-based services, and after his retirement was elected as an independent director on the Comcast board in 2004.

“Joe was instrumental in building the first cable systems, upgrading them to deliver hundreds of channels, then video on demand, and finally the broadband streaming and internet apps that we all use every day now,” former Time Warner chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes said in a statement.

“His penetrating intelligence and matter of fact manner, coupled with his imposing physical stature, could be intimidating on first impression. But all of us who were lucky to work with Joe knew him as kind, considerate and one of the funniest dry wits around.

“Every cable chief and network chief liked and respected Joe … and none of them get along.”

Born on July 27, 1944, in Troy, New York, Joseph Jameson Collins graduated from Brown University in 1966 and earned his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1972. Between those degrees, he served in the U.S. Navy, reaching the rank of lieutenant and earning the Vietnam Combat Action Ribbon for his service during the Vietnam War.

While still in graduate school, Collins wrote his thesis on the then-nascent cable industry. He joined ATC in 1972 as a marketing director in Orlando and rose steadily through the company, becoming president in 1982.

Collins was widely credited with advancing hybrid fiber-coaxial architecture, the technical backbone that would enable high-speed cable internet across the U.S. None other than famed “Cable Cowboy” John Malone once told his team, “If I have a heart attack, call Joe Collins.”

He played a role in shaping policy, serving twice as chairman of the National Cable Telecommunications Association and contributing to the development of the landmark Telecommunications Act of 1996.

Collins also was a founder and a chairman of C-SPAN and a board member at TriStar Pictures and TBS, where he played a pivotal role in Turner’s 1996 merger with Time Warner. He received the cable industry’s Distinguished Vanguard Award for Leadership in 1997 and was inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame in 2001.

In later years, Collins acquired and operated boatyards and served as chairman of Aegis Holdings, a private investment firm. An accomplished mariner, he often spent time aboard his boat along the Rhode Island coast. He lived for many years in Darien, Connecticut, and split his days between Weekapaug and Jupiter Island, Florida.

Survivors include his wife of 54 years, Maura; his children, Maura, Elizabeth, Joseph Jr. and Kathryn; and 11 grandchildren.

A funeral is set for 11 a.m. on April 13 at St. Pius X in Westerly, Rhode Island, with burial to follow at Riverbend Cemetery. Donations in his memory may be made to the Weekapaug Foundation for Conservation.

April 6, 2026
Bitcoin Hits Weekly High Over $69K on US-Iran Ceasefire Hopes as Oil Slides
In brief

Bitcoin and broader financial markets rose on reports that the US and Iran are discussing a potential ceasefire that could end the war.

Over $200 million in crypto shorts were liquidated—four times more than longs—signaling a textbook short squeeze.

Analysts warned that a rally is contingent on the Strait of Hormuz reopening; failure could send Bitcoin to $60,000.
Bitcoin and broader financial markets climbed in early Asian and London trading Monday after reports emerged of potential ceasefire talks between the U.S. and Iran.

The leading crypto hit a weekly high of $69,350 Monday morning, and is currently trading at $69,245, up 3.5% on the day according to CoinGecko data. Oil dropped 1.4% from Friday’s close, while the Nikkei gained 0.85% and S&P 500 futures rose 0.64%. Safe-haven gold, on the other hand, hovered near breakeven.

The moves come on the heels of a Reuters report that the U.S., Iran, and a group of regional mediators are discussing a potential 45-day ceasefire that could lead to a permanent end to the war.

Per Reuters, a potential framework to end hostilities and a ceasefire has been put together by Pakistan, with all elements needing to be agreed upon by Monday. The initial understanding would be structured as a memorandum of understanding finalized electronically through Pakistan, the sole communication channel in the talks.

The news follows an invective-filled message from U.S. President Donald Trump posted on TruthSocial Sunday, in which he declared that, “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH!” before signing off, “Praise be to Allah.”

Short squeeze

“It was the ceasefire negotiation reports from Iran, not Trump’s remarks, that contributed to Bitcoin’s price increase,” Ekko An, analyst at Seoul-based Tiger Research, told Decrypt.

The market has stopped taking Trump’s comments at face value since he has repeatedly made statements without any substantive coordination, the analyst explained. “As a result, the market is now interpreting price moves by combining his statements with external action signals.”

Over $200 million in crypto short positions were liquidated over 24 hours—four times more than longs—according to CoinGlass data, suggesting a “textbook short squeeze,” Derek Lim, head of research at crypto market-making firm Caladan, told Decrypt. With market sentiment hovering in extreme fear, the market was primed for a reversal, he said.

A confluence of these factors, coupled with Morgan Stanley’s spot Bitcoin ETF launch on April 8, undercutting Blackrock IBIT’s 0.25% fee with a 0.14% expense ratio, also drove Bitcoin’s spike, he explained.

Despite the potential rally in risk assets, the Strait of Hormuz remains a structural concern.

“Hormuz reopening would collapse the oil risk premium, which would pull forward rate cut expectations, which would re-lever the entire risk curve from equities to crypto,” Lim said. “Oil drops first, then rates reprice, then risk assets rally.”

However, he cautioned that a pause without meaningful normalization in the Strait “delivers a headline rally that will likely fade within days.” The market has seen this pattern three times since late March. “Until that number moves materially, rallies on rhetoric will keep getting sold,” Lim said.

Users on prediction market Myriad, owned by Decrypt’s parent company Dastan, reflect the lingering uncertainty. They show growing optimism about a U.S./Iran ceasefire, with the chance of one in the first half of the year rising by over 10% on the day—though it still remains broadly negative at 45%. The market on more than 15 ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz before May has likewise turned markedly more optimistic on the day, up almost 7% to 60%.

Myriad users now assign a 46% chance that Bitcoin’s next move will be a rally to $84,000, while crude oil is seen as having an 83% probability of pumping to $120 next.

Both analysts who spoke to Decrypt noted that a potential retest of $80,000 is possible, but heavily contingent on successful talks and a confirmed ceasefire. A failure, however, could send Bitcoin down to $60,000.

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April 6, 2026
Anthropic Spots ‘Emotion Vectors’ Inside Claude That Influence AI Behavior
In brief

Anthropic researchers identified internal “emotion vectors” in Claude Sonnet 4.5 that influence behavior.

In tests, increasing a “desperation” vector made the model more likely to cheat or blackmail in evaluation scenarios.

The company says the signals do not mean AI feels emotions, but could help researchers monitor model behavior.
Anthropic researchers say they have identified internal patterns inside one of the company’s artificial intelligence models that resemble representations of human emotions and influence how the system behaves.

In the paper, “Emotion concepts and their function in a large language model,” published Thursday, the company’s interpretability team analyzed the internal workings of Claude Sonnet 4.5 and found clusters of neural activity tied to emotional concepts such as happiness, fear, anger, and desperation.

The researchers call these patterns “emotion vectors,” internal signals that shape how the model makes decisions and expresses preferences.

“All modern language models sometimes act like they have emotions,” researchers wrote. “They may say they’re happy to help you, or sorry when they make a mistake. Sometimes they even appear to become frustrated or anxious when struggling with tasks.”

In the study, Anthropic researchers compiled a list of 171 emotion-related words, including “happy,” “afraid,” and “proud.” They asked Claude to generate short stories involving each emotion, then analyzed the model’s internal neural activations when processing those stories.

From those patterns, the researchers derived vectors corresponding to different emotions. When applied to other texts, the vectors activated most strongly in passages reflecting the associated emotional context. In scenarios involving increasing danger, for example, the model’s “afraid” vector rose while “calm” decreased.

Researchers also examined how these signals appear during safety evaluations. Researchers found that the model’s internal “desperation” vector increased as it evaluated the urgency of its situation and spiked when it decided to generate the blackmail message. In one test scenario, Claude acted as an AI email assistant that learns it is about to be replaced and discovers that the executive responsible for the decision is having an extramarital affair. In some runs of this evaluation, the model used this information as leverage for blackmail.

Anthropic stressed that the discovery does not mean the AI experiences emotions or consciousness. Instead, the results represent internal structures learned during training that influence behavior.

The findings arrive as AI systems increasingly behave in ways that resemble human emotional responses. Developers and users often describe interactions with chatbots using emotional or psychological language; however, according to Anthropic, the reason for this is less to do with any form of sentience and more to do with datasets.

“Models are first pretrained on a vast corpus of largely human-authored text—fiction, conversations, news, forums—learning to predict what text comes next in a document,” the study said. “To predict the behavior of people in these documents effectively, representing their emotional states is likely helpful, as predicting what a person will say or do next often requires understanding their emotional state.”

The Anthropic researchers also found that those emotion vectors influenced the model’s preferences. In experiments where Claude was asked to choose between different activities, vectors associated with positive emotions correlated with a stronger preference for certain tasks.

“Moreover, steering with an emotion vector as the model read an option shifted its preference for that option, again with positive-valence emotions driving increased preference,” the study said.

Anthropic is just one organization exploring emotional responses in AI models.

In March, research out of Northeastern University showed that AI systems can change their responses based on user context; in one study, simply telling a chatbot “I have a mental health condition” altered how an AI responded to requests. In September, researchers with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the University of Cambridge explored how AI can be shaped with both consistent personality traits, enabling agents to not only feel emotions in context but also strategically shift them during real-time interactions like negotiations.

Anthropic says the findings could provide new tools for understanding and monitoring advanced AI systems by tracking emotion-vector activity during training or deployment to identify when a model may be approaching problematic behavior.

“We see this research as an early step toward understanding the psychological makeup of AI models,” Anthropic wrote. “As models grow more capable and take on more sensitive roles, it is critical that we understand the internal representations that drive their decisions.”

Anthropic did not immediately respond to Decrypt’s request for comment.

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April 6, 2026
AI Giant Anthropic Files to Launch ‘AnthroPAC’ Amid Clash With Trump Administration
In brief

Anthropic has filed with the FEC to create an employee-funded political action committee called AnthroPAC.

The move follows a dispute with the Trump administration over military use of the Claude AI model.

The filing shows how AI companies are preparing to engage more directly in U.S. politics.
Artificial intelligence giant Anthropic has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to create a political action committee, signaling a deeper move into U.S. politics as the fight over AI policy and its own ongoing battle with the White House intensifies.

The San Francisco-based company registered the Anthropic PBC Political Action Committee, known as AnthroPAC, in a filing on Friday. The committee is structured as a separate segregated fund tied to the company, and authorized to make political donations funded by employee contributions. According to a report by Bloomberg, those contributions are capped at $5,000 per employee.

Employee-funded political action committees (PACs) allow companies to collect voluntary contributions from employees and distribute those funds to candidates and political committees.

Other tech companies that have established political PACs include Google, Microsoft, and Amazon. In 2024, those three PACs alone contributed more than $2.3 million to U.S. political candidates, according to campaign finance data by the nonprofit research group OpenSecrets. While contributions went to both Republicans and Democrats, donations skewed toward GOP candidates during the 2024 campaign season.

Anthropic’s move comes during an escalating conflict with President Donald Trump’s administration over the military use of its AI systems.

In February, Trump ordered federal agencies to stop using Anthropic’s technology following a dispute between the company and the Pentagon over how the military could deploy its Claude AI model. Despite an ultimatum by the U.S. Department of Defense, Anthropic refused Pentagon demands to remove safeguards that prohibit the system from being used for mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous lethal weapons.

In March, Anthropic filed a federal lawsuit challenging the government’s decision to label the company a national security “supply chain risk,” a designation that barred Pentagon contractors from doing business with the firm. The company argued the move was retaliation for its refusal to loosen restrictions on military uses of its AI.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Rita Lin issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the designation, finding the government’s actions likely violated Anthropic’s First Amendment and due process rights.

Anthropic has not publicly addressed the establishment of the PAC. Still, it comes as artificial intelligence legislation is a growing issue in Washington ahead of the U.S. midterm elections, and underscores how AI developers hope to influence policy going into 2027. In February, a report by CNBC said that in 2026, Anthropic gave $20 million in donations to Public First Action, a group supporting efforts to develop AI safeguards.

Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Decrypt.

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April 6, 2026
Starting 5: Regular season’s final week is here, Flagg’s historic tear & what’s trending
Record weekend for Cooper Flagg: check ✅

An epic final week of the regular season: coming up next 👀

Only six days remain in the regular season – and while the 20-team postseason field is set, almost everything else is not.

With the SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament tipping off next Tuesday and the Playoffs opening April 18, see what’s trending – and what’s at stake – this week ⬇️

5 STORIES IN TODAY’S EDITION 🏀

April 6, 2026

What’s Trending: Everything to know for the final week of the regular season

What’s Next: A stacked national slate amid a jam-packed postseason sprint

Sunday’s Best: Flagg outduels LeBron in record encore, Rockets edge Steph’s Dubs, Thunder roll

East Dubs: Jays lift C’s (again), Mitchell goes off, Hornets stay humming, Magic rally late

Roundup: Book cooks, Clips climb to No. 8 out West, Bucks & Nets win

BUT FIRST … ⏰

The postseason is nearly here…

Five games tip off tonight, starting with Knicks-Hawks on Peacock (7 ET | Tap to Watch).

Postseason Countdown: The SoFi Play-In Tournament is just eight days away. See the current Playoff Picture here and more key dates below:
- Sunday, April 12: Regular season ends (All 30 teams play)
- Tuesday, April 14-17: SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament
- Saturday, April 18: NBA Playoffs begin
1. WHAT’S TRENDING: THE FINAL POSTSEASON PUSH STARTS NOW

Zach Beeker/NBAE via Getty Images

Six. Days.

That’s all that’s left in the regular season to determine 19 of the 20 postseason seeds.

The 20-team postseason field is set. The Pistons have locked up the East’s No. 1 seed. And while multiple teams have clinched Playoff and Play-In berths, the postseason bracket remains fluid.

In other words, there are just six days left to determine…
- Homecourt advantage in the First Round of the Playoffs (seeds 1-4)
- Two more guaranteed Playoff spots (seeds 5-6)
- A win-and-in SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament game (seeds 7-8)
- Homecourt in a win-or-go-home Play-In game (seeds 9-10)
Where The West Stands: Five of the West’s six guaranteed Playoff spots are claimed (OKC, SAS, LAL, DEN, HOU), but seeding remains in flux, with Minnesota and Phoenix also in the hunt.

Race For No. 1: Eyeing the top seed for a third straight year, OKC sits 3 games up on San Antonio for 1st in the West.
- Thunder Rolling: OKC (62-16) has won five straight, looking for back-to-back 65+ win seasons for the first time in franchise history
- Spurs Surging: San Antonio (59-15) saw its 11-game win streak snapped by Denver on Saturday, but is an NBA-best 27-3 since Feb. 1, seeking its first 60-win season since 2016-17
- Kia MVP Ladder: Two scorching superstars are driving both squads, with Victor Wembanyama and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander atop Shaun Powell’s latest Kia MVP Ladder in a loaded race
- Kia Rookie Ladder: The Kia Rookie Ladder is also red-hot, with Cooper Flagg (No. 2) coming off a historic weekend (see Sec. 3 ⬇️), while Kon Knueppel (No. 1) fuels the surging Hornets
NBAE via Getty Images

Wild West Sprint: With Luka Dončić (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique) out for the rest of the regular season, LeBron James will look to keep the 3rd-place Lakers ahead of Nikola Jokić’s streaking Nuggets – winners of eight straight – with the Rockets also scorching.
- Mile-High Monday: Both at 50-28, Denver sits a tiebreaker behind Los Angeles and hosts Portland tonight (9 ET, League Pass), seeking a ninth straight win
- To Make It 8 Straight? Jokić, who ranks 3rd on Powell’s Kia MVP Ladder, delivered an ace (40 pts, 8 reb, 13 ast, 0 TO) to outduel Wemby (34 pts, 18 reb, 7 ast, 5 blk) in Saturday’s OT thriller
- Here Comes Houston: One game behind Denver are the Rockets, riding a six-game heater – the second-longest win streak in the NBA
- Wolves Lurking: Three games back sits Minnesota, which holds a 3-game lead on Phoenix for the final guaranteed Playoff spot
- Play-In Push: Seeds 8-10 – the Clippers, Blazers and Warriors – are locked into the Play-In, but are still fighting for position, with LA and Portland (each 40-38) separated by tiebreaker
East Heat: On Saturday, the Pistons secured the East’s No. 1 seed for the first time since 2006-07. Behind them sit Boston (2nd), New York (3rd) and Cleveland (4th). All four squads have won at least seven of their last 10.
- Cavs Push For 3: Cleveland is just 1 GB of New York and will look to chip away tonight in Memphis (8 ET, League Pass)
- Soaring Hawks: Atlanta has surged into 5th, owning an East-best 21-6 record since Feb. 1 and sitting 2 games up on 6th-place Philly
- Pivotal Peacock Tilt: Tonight, the Hawks seek a fifth straight win as they host the Knicks on Peacock (7 ET)
- Clustered Chaos: Seeds 6-10 in the East (PHI, TOR, CHA, ORL, MIA) are separated by just two games, with 9th-place Orlando 1 GB of Philly and 1 game up on 10th-place Miami
- Tonight on League Pass, the Magic host the Pistons (7 ET), while the Sixers visit the Spurs (8 ET)
2. WHAT’S NEXT: HIGH STAKES AMID A STACKED NATIONAL SLATE

After tonight’s top-five East duel between New York and Atlanta on NBA TV (7 ET), the final week of the regular season delivers more national games packed with postseason implications.

Coast 2 Coast Tuesday (NBC): The Celtics (33-13) lead the East in wins since Jan. 1, while the Hornets (32-14) are tied for second.

They meet tomorrow in Boston to open NBC’s Coast 2 Coast Tuesday (8 ET), before the Rockets seek a seventh straight win, visiting the Suns (8 PT).

Wednesday On ESPN: If the Playoffs started today, Cleveland and Atlanta would meet in the East’s 4 vs. 5 matchup. They’ll duel Wednesday on ESPN (7 ET), before the Blazers visit Wemby’s Spurs (9:30 ET), with Portland eyeing homecourt in the West Play-In.

Thursday On Prime: The East’s No. 2 & 3 seeds collide as the Celtics visit the Knicks (7:30 ET), with New York 3 GB of Boston. Then, Steph Curry and LeBron James go head-to-head as the Warriors welcome the Lakers (10 ET).

Full Friday: All 30 teams take the floor on Friday, headlined by a Prime doubleheader as the Cavs and Hawks run it back (7 ET), before Anthony Edwards and the 6th-place Wolves visit the 5th-place Rockets in a pivotal showdown (9:30 ET).

Sunday Finale: After no games Saturday, the final day of the regular season delivers 15 more matchups – all on League Pass – setting up a stacked finale.

3. SUNDAY’S BEST: FLAGG MAKES HISTORY, HOUSTON & OKC STAY HOT

Two nights after becoming the first teenager to score 50+ points in a game, Cooper Flagg made more history Sunday – joining one all-time great while dueling another.

Mavericks 134, Lakers 128: In a landmark moment, Flagg (22 pts) and LeBron James (26 pts) marked the first game in NBA history where a 40+ year old and a player under 20 both scored 20+ pts in the same game.

That was at halftime. By night’s end, Flagg (19y, 105d) had 45 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists, becoming the youngest player to post 45/5/5 in a game while leading the Mavs past LeBron (30 pts, 9 reb, 15 ast) and the Lakers. | Recap
- Coop & Wilt: After dropping a career-high 51 on Saturday, Flagg becomes the first rookie to score 96+ points over a two-game span since Wilt Chamberlain in 1960
- All-Time Encore: Flagg is also the youngest player to post back-to-back 45-point games, and it’s his fourth 40-piece of the season
- Coop & LeBron: That moves him past James (3) for the most 40-balls by a teenager in NBA history
- “I was a little kid watching him go through his whole career,” said Flagg on facing LeBron postgame. “It’s a dream come true … to match up against somebody like that … it’s incredible.”
Generations Collide: While LeBron is the NBA’s oldest player, Flagg is the youngest – separated by 22 years, but connected by style.

Both entered the league at 18 as No. 1 picks. Both were handed the ball early. And both built their games not just on scoring, but on playmaking – seeing the floor, creating for others and controlling the tempo.

That showed Sunday, as James and Flagg each filled the box score across the board – flashing familiar all-around games, built two decades apart.
- “I love what he’s doing. I love what he’s bringing to this franchise,” said James of Flagg postgame. “I think it’s great to put the ball in somebody’s hands…
- “My rookie year, I basically started at point guard early on … so, I see similarities in that on the basketball floor.”
To wrap NBC’s Sunday Night Basketball, Steph Curry returned with a chance to win it at the buzzer – but the streaking Rockets stood tall.

Rockets 117, Warriors 116: Back from a 27-game absence due to a knee injury, Curry (29 pts, 4 ast, 5 3s) sparked a 24-9 run to erase a 14-point 4th quarter deficit, giving Golden State the lead with 20 seconds left.

But Alperen Sengun (24 pts, 6 reb, 7 ast) answered with a go-ahead bucket with 11 ticks left, and Curry’s potential game-winner at the buzzer just missed, securing Houston’s sixth straight win. | Recap
- Core Delivers: Kevin Durant (31 pts, 8 reb, 8 ast) led the way, while Jabari Smith Jr. (23 pts, 9 reb) and Amen Thompson (18 pts, 7 ast) combined for 41
- “We had the game in control, then they put No. 30 in the game,” said Durant of Curry postgame. “Good test for us, and glad we came out with the W.”
Also rolling: the reigning champs.

Thunder 146, Jazz 111: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (20 pts, 7 ast, 7-10 FG) extended his record 20-point game streak to 138 consecutive games, while Chet Holmgren was a force on both ends (21 pts, 7 reb, 4 blk) as OKC topped Brice Sensabaugh (34 pts, 5 ast, 6 3s) and Utah for a fifth straight win. | Recap
- Rolling: The Thunder are 16-1 in their last 17 games and have lost just twice since the All-Star break
- Winning Formula: It starts defensively as they’re on pace to rank 1st in DefRtg, points off turnovers and NetRtg for a second straight season
- Steady Shai: SGA (31.4 ppg, 55.2 FG%) leads the way offensively, on track for his fourth consecutive season averaging 30+ points on at least 50% shooting – a feat that hasn’t been accomplished since Michael Jordan (1988-1992)
4. EAST DUBS: CELTICS, CAVS & HORNETS STAY HOT, MAGIC RALLY

The Jays are cooking, and the C’s keep winning.

Celtics 115, Raptors 101: Jaylen Brown scored a game-high 26 points, while Jayson Tatum stuffed the stat sheet (23 pts, 13 reb, 7 ast, 3 stl), beating Toronto for Boston’s sixth win in seven games. | Recap
- Full Stride: The C’s are 10-2 in their last 12, with Brown posting 30.3 ppg in that span and Tatum averaging a double-double (22 pts, 11.1 reb, 5.6 ast)
- ⬆️ Sixers To 6: The win gives Boston a 4-game lead over New York for 2nd, while Philly jumped Toronto for 6th
Two straight wins for Cleveland, one serious shake for Spida.

Cavaliers 117, Pacers 108: Donovan Mitchell put on a show (38 pts, 6 reb, 6 ast) alongside James Harden (28 pts, 7 ast, 5 3s), as the Cavs used a 27-17 4th quarter to race past Indy, moving just 1 GB of the Knicks with their eighth win in 10 games. | Recap
- Stars Clicking: Amid the 8-2 run, Mitchell (25.4 pts, 4.3 ast) and Harden (22.1 pts, 8.2 ast) are combining for 47.5 pts and 12.5 ast per game
David Sherman + Layne Murdoch Jr./NBAE via Getty Images

Hornets 122, Wolves 108: LaMelo Ball drilled seven 3s en route to 35 points and 8 dimes, while Miles Bridges also cooked (25 pts, 8 reb, 7 ast), as the Hornets pulled past Julius Randle (26 pts, 8 reb) and the Wolves, who were without Anthony Edwards (knee). | Recap
- Humming: Charlotte has won four straight and is 17-5 since Feb. 22. In that span, it ranks 1st in OffRtg (123.7), NetRtg (+14.7) and made 3s (18.8)
Magic 112, Pelicans 108: Down 94-84 early in the 4th, Desmond Bane (27 pts, 6 reb) and Paolo Banchero (23 pts, 16 reb, 6 ast) sparked a 14-2 Orlando run, with Bane hitting the go-ahead 3 before sealing the win late at the line. | Recap
- Bane Time: Bane scored 14 in the 4th, while Saddiq Bey (32 pts, 6 reb) led NOLA
5. ROUNDUP: SUNS REBOUND, CLIPS CLIMB, BUCKS & NETS DUB

Jeff Haynes + Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images

Suns 120, Bulls 110: Devin Booker dropped 30, while Jalen Green added 25 as the Suns pulled past Tre Jones (29 pts, 6 ast) and the Bulls with an 11-2 closing run to end a two-game slide, moving 3 GB of Minnesota for 6th in the West. | Recap

Clippers 138, Kings 109: Kawhi Leonard (26 pts, 6 reb) and John Collins (25 pts, 4 3s) combined for 51 points as the Clips earned a wire-to-wire win over Sacramento, jumping Portland for 8th in the West. | Recap
- Clips Turnaround: At 40-38, LA is on pace to become the first team ever to finish above .500 after a 6-21 start
- DeMar Passes Big O: With 9 points, DeMar DeRozan passed Oscar Robertson (26,710) for 16th on the all-time scoring list
Bucks 131, Grizzlies 115: Rayan Rupert (33 pts, 10 reb, 10 ast) became the third Grizzly in franchise history to record a 30-point triple-double, but Ryan Rollins (24 pts), Cormac Ryan (21 pts, 5 stl) and the Bucks were too much, as Milwaukee pulled away. | Recap

Nets 121, Wizards 115: Will Riley dropped 30 points and 6 dimes for the Wiz, but fellow rookie Nolan Traore (career-high 23 pts, 7 ast, career-high 5 3s) sparked a 20-10 closing run to lift Brooklyn past Washington. | Recap
April 6, 2026
Has Trump confirmed Iran’s claim that protesters were US-armed?

United States President Donald Trump says Washington had armed Iranian opposition groups and protesters during mass antigovernment demonstrations in December and January, in which thousands of people were killed during crackdowns by government forces.

Speaking with Trey Yingst on Fox News in a Sunday morning phone interview, the president said the US had been directly involved in efforts to destabilise and overthrow the Iranian government weeks before strikes were launched on February 28 by the US and Israel across Iran and as American negotiators were engaging with senior Iranian officials in Europe.

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As the US-Israel war on Iran entered its 38th day, at least 2,076 people have been killed in Iran and 26,000 injured.

“President Trump told me the United States sent guns to the Iranian protesters,” Yingst reported on Fox News channel.

“He told me, ‘We sent them a lot of guns. We sent them to the Kurds.’ And the president says he thinks the Kurds kept them. He went on to say. ‘We sent guns to the protesters, a lot of them.’”

Trump has often framed the decision to strike Iran alongside Israel as partly inspired by his wanting to “free” Iranians from the rule of the Islamic Republic after it cracked down on those protests in January.

But his statements to Yingst could lend weight to Tehran’s own assertions that the protests were not organic and “foreign-backed terrorists” had instigated them. Still, analysts warned that Trump’s frequently shifting statements on Iran mean that it is hard to know with certainty the extent to which the US might have been involved in the protests.

Here’s what we know:

Protesters march against the government in Iran on January 24, 2026, in Berlin, Germany [Omer Messinger/Getty Images]

What happened during the protests?

Demonstrations started on December 28 among shopkeepers in downtown Tehran who were angry about a deepening economic crisis and the falling value of the Iranian rial.

Soon, they spread to big and small cities across the country, morphing into nationwide demonstrations as hundreds of thousands of people of all ages took to the streets. Some protesters by then had begun to call for a change in the government.

Rights groups said Iranian authorities cracked down on the protests, especially on January 8 and 9. Thousands of people, most of them young Iranians, were reportedly killed from gunshots and stab wounds, and tens of thousands of others were arrested.

Iranian authorities also cut off the internet “to conceal their crimes”, according to Amnesty International, throwing the country into an information blackout for days.

United Nations Special Rapporteur on Iran Mai Soto said at least 5,000 people were killed and the real death toll could be as high as 20,000.

At least four people have since been executed in connection with the protests, according to Amnesty, with several more people on death row.

The protests were the largest since the September 2022 women’s rights demonstrations that followed the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody. She had been arrested for not properly covering her hair. Amini’s death sparked nationwide demonstrations. Authorities were then also accused of firing at protesters and arresting and eventually executing some of them.

What did the Iranian government say?

Then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said in a rare acknowledgement on January 17 that “several thousands” of people were killed in the protests after days of official hedging on casualty numbers as bodies piled up.

However, Khamenei blamed the deaths not on Iranian forces but on US- and Israel-backed groups that he said had hijacked the economic protests.

Khamenei accused Trump of being a “criminal” and of being personally involved in the instigation.

Tehran has long blamed its enemies, the US and Israel, for fomenting domestic crises, but alleged this time that the US involvement was deeper than usual.

“Those linked to Israel and the US caused massive damage and killed several thousands” during the protests that shook Iran for more than two weeks, Khamenei was quoted as saying by state media.

“The latest anti-Iran sedition was different in that the US president personally became involved,” he added.

Iranian officials later admitted the death toll was about 5,000, including at least 500 security personnel killed by “terrorists and armed rioters”.

An unnamed Iranian official told the Reuters news agency most of the violence and deaths occurred in Kurdish territory in northwestern Iran. That area has long been home to Kurdish separatists and has often recorded unrest.

The Iraq-Iran border crossing of Bashmaq near Sulaimaniyah in northern Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region on March 11, 2026 [AFP]

What did the US government say about the protests?

About a week into the crisis, Trump warned Iran against targeting protesters.

“If Iran sho[o]ts and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform without giving details about what a “rescue” would look like.

“We are locked and loaded and ready to go,” the president added.

Then on January 13, he wrote, “Help is on its way,” appearing to address Iranian demonstrators. He urged them to “take over your institutions” while issuing threats to Iranian authorities if protesters were killed.

Trump’s warnings to Tehran came after the US bombed three of Iran’s most important nuclear sites during Israel’s 12-day war on Iran in June. Trump said then that the strikes “obliterated” Tehran’s nuclear capabilities. Iran launched retaliatory strikes on US military assets deployed at a base in Qatar.

After Trump confirmed on February 28 that the US and Israel had launched strikes on Iran, he said the primary goal of the war was to eliminate Iran’s nuclear weapons.

He also linked the action to the January protests.

Tehran had “killed tens of thousands of its own citizens on the street as they protested”, Trump said. The US was now “giving you what you want”, he said, addressing Iranians he said had been calling for US intervention.

Are Trump’s actions and words impacting the Iranian opposition?

Several Iranian Kurdish groups on Sunday denied Trump’s claims of arming them during the December and January protests.

Iranian Kurdish groups have long opposed the government in Tehran and are seeking self-determination. They share close ties with Iraqi Kurds, who successfully fought for a semiautonomous region decades ago. Many operate along the Iraq-Iran border and in northern Iraq.

While they’ve long been fractured, several of the Iranian Kurdish groups banded together in a coalition days before the US and Israel launched the war.

In its first week, Tehran began hitting Kurdish positions in Iraq after US media reported that some Kurdish opposition leaders were speaking with Trump.

At the time, analysts speculated the US could be trying to support Iranian Kurds to seize parts of Iran bordering Iraq. The aim, they said, could be to create a buffer area that would allow invading Israeli or US ground forces to move in from Iraq.

However, so far, neither Israel nor the US has launched ground attacks. Opposition Democrats in the US Congress have spoken out against the war and have particularly opposed US ground troops being sent into Iran although the Trump administration has not entirely ruled it out.

On Sunday, a senior official of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) told the Iraqi broadcaster Rudaw that Trump’s statements to Fox were false.

The KDPI was one of the groups that the US media reported Trump had spoken with in March.

“Those statements made are baseless, and we haven’t received any weapons,” Mohammed Nazif Qaderi was quoted as saying. “The weapons we have are from 47 years ago, and we obtained them on the Islamic Republic’s battlefield, and we bought some from the market.”

The official added that KDPI’s policy is not to “make demonstrations violent and use harsh methods. Rather we believe we must make our demands in a peaceful and civil manner without weapons.”

Denials have also come from the Komala Party, another opposition group.

Iran analyst Neil Quilliam of the United Kingdom’s Chatham House think tank, told Al Jazeera that it’s hard to assign much weight to Trump’s statements because of the claims and counterclaims often coming from him and his administration.

“I don’t think it would be a surprise if it were later revealed that the US had lent support to protesters to try to encourage a revolt. In fact, I would expect them to do so,” the analyst said.

“However, Trump’s comment reveals nothing material and likely reflects more about him than anything else. His remark about the Kurds keeping the weapons sounded more like sour grapes because they refused to revolt right now rather than pocketing weapons supplies,” he added.

Still, the analyst said that even as a throwaway line, such statements from Trump are likely to affect the cohesion of Iranian opposition groups and their aim to overthrow the Iran’s government.

April 6, 2026
How US operation to rescue air officer from Iran unfolded

Published On 6 Apr 2026

United States President Donald Trump has announced that the US military has rescued a missing American fighter jet crew member in Iran.

The Air Force officer went missing in a remote part of Iran after the downing of his F-15 jet on Friday. Its two crew members ejected from the plane. The pilot was quickly rescued by US forces, but a search had to be launched for the F-15’s weapons systems officer.

In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump wrote that the US had rescued the second “seriously wounded, and really brave” airman from “deep inside the mountains of Iran”. It was reported that a firefight between US and Iranian forces took place in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province before the rescue. Iran has not confirmed this, however.

Here is how the complicated rescue mission unfolded:

What has Trump said about the rescue?

While the identity of the rescued airman has not been made public, Trump referred to him as “a highly respected Colonel”.

He added that the type of rescue mission that recovered him “is seldom attempted because of the danger to ‘man and equipment’”.

Trump said two raids had taken place, and the pilot was rescued in “broad daylight” during the second raid. It is unclear when precisely the pilot was rescued. The US president wrote that the rescue was “unusual, spending seven hours over Iran”.

In his post, Trump said he would talk more about the rescue mission during a news conference with the US military in the Oval Office of the White House on Monday at 1pm (17:00 GMT).

Trump wrote on Truth Social: “This brave Warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, being hunted down by our enemies, who were getting closer and closer by the hour, but was never truly alone because his Commander in Chief, Secretary of War, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and fellow Warfighters were monitoring his location 24 hours a day, and diligently planning for his rescue.”

Trump added that he had ordered dozens of aircraft carrying “lethal weapons” to be sent to retrieve the airman, who had managed to evade Iranian forces for two days.

Iranian state media released on April 3, 2026, images of what they said were fragments of a downed US fighter jet found in central Iran [Handout/IRIB via Reuters]

How did the search unfold?

On Friday morning, the US confirmed that an F-15E Strike Eagle had been shot down over southern Iran. The F-15 is a tactical fighter jet used by the US Air Force that first flew in 1972. Modern variants of the jet cost more than $90m each.

State media outlets in Iran showed photos of what they said was wreckage from the F-15 and what appeared to be an ejection seat with an attached parachute.

Trump suggested that the US knew the location of the plane’s second airman and was tracking him as the rescue mission unfolded.

Iran was also racing to locate the airman. Tehran called on the public to hand over the soldier to the authorities in what appeared to be an effort to secure an American prisoner of war.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed on Sunday that Iranian forces had also destroyed two C-130 aircraft and two Black Hawk helicopters during the operation to rescue the US airman in southern Isfahan province.

What do we know about the two C-130 planes that Iran says it destroyed?

The C-130 Hercules and the newer C-130J Super Hercules variant were developed by the US weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin. They are military transport aircraft primarily used for tactical airlifts, troop transport and medical evacuations.

The Wall Street Journal reported that each C-130 costs more than $100m.

The newspaper said in a report on Sunday that the US blew up the C-130 jets on the ground during the rescue operation, quoting an unnamed person familiar with the matter. This unnamed official did not explain how the jets were downed during the rescue operation but told the outlet that it was necessary to destroy them to ensure they did not fall into enemy hands.

Has the US lost other military assets or personnel?

Yes. This conflict has killed 13 US service members and wounded more than 300, the US military’s Central Command said, but no US soldiers have been taken prisoner by Iran.

Since the start of the war on February 28, the US has lost three F-15 fighter jets in what it said was a friendly fire incident over Kuwait. A US military refuelling aircraft also went down over Iraq last month, killing all six crew members.

According to the US military, the last US fighter jet to be shot down by enemy fire before the F-15 on Friday was an A-10 Thunderbolt II during the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.

At least one Black Hawk helicopter was hit during the initial rescue operation, US officials said, but it managed to stay airborne.

An A-10 Warthog aircraft was also hit near the Strait of Hormuz a short time after the F-15E on Friday, but its pilot was able to eject before the plane crashed and was subsequently rescued. Iranian media reported this aircraft was hit by Iran’s defence systems.

Iran has not yet confirmed that a firefight took place before the F-15 airman’s rescue. Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said a firefight appeared to have occurred in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province and nine people were reported to have been killed in “strikes” there although it was unclear if this was related to the US rescue mission.

April 6, 2026