Read Online  |  April 18, 2026  |  E-Paper  | 🎧 Listen

“The brave man carves out his fortune, and every man is the son of his own works.”

— Miguel de Cervantes, “Don Quixote”

Ivan Pentchoukov
National Editor

Good morning, it’s Saturday. Here are today’s top stories:

• The federal government lost up to half a trillion dollars to fraud each year over five years, according to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office.
• President Donald Trump said U.S.-Iran talks will continue over the weekend. Iran on Friday said the Strait of Hormuz was opened to commercial ships, while Trump said the U.S. would maintain its blockade on Iranian ships and ports until a deal is reached on Tehran’s nuclear program. 
• Congress has passed a short-term extension of a key spy power to April 30, giving Republicans more time to negotiate a longer-term renewal. Trump has sought an 18-month extension of Section 702 of FISA, which allows for warrantless surveillance of foreigners located overseas. But some Republicans have pushed back, citing privacy concerns over the fact that Americans’ data incidentally gets swept up in these probes. 
• A Hong Kong court has handed down a one-year prison sentence to a Falun Gong practitioner under the city’s 2024 national security law. The man was accused of criticizing the Chinese communist regime and its forced organ harvesting on social media.
• 🍵 Health: Walkin’ Up Wall Street: 5 Wall Exercises That Pay Dividends for Your Health (Read)

The U.S. Government Accountability Office building in Washington on May 22, 2025. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

The Federal Government Lost Up to $521 Billion Annually to Fraud: GAO

The federal government lost up to half a trillion dollars to fraud each year over a five-year period, according to an April 15 report from the Government Accountability Office.

That’s enough to employ a million people for seven years or purchase a million homes.

Federally funded, state-run programs are major targets, according to April 15 testimony from Robert Westbrooks, former federal inspector general. Westbrooks said problems can occur when states control the disbursement of federal funds because that can reduce accountability and incentives.

Based on data from fiscal years 2018 through 2022, the federal watchdog estimated that the federal government lost between $233 billion and $521 billion annually to fraud.

Here is what is known about the primary sources of financial drain.

Misuse of Pandemic Relief

Fraud risk increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic because the federal government had to distribute about $4.5 trillion in relief funds very quickly, said Seto J. Bagdoyan, director of forensic audits and investigative service.

An estimated $300 billion was lost to fraud in three pandemic relief programs over three years.

Fraud in Unemployment Insurance during the COVID-19 pandemic was estimated between $100 billion and $135 billion, about 11 percent to 15 percent of unemployment benefits paid during the national health emergency, according to the federal watchdog.

Fraud in the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program totaled about $200 billion, according to a 2024 staff report from the House Committee on Small Business. The report found that self-certification policies and a lack of administrative capacity created vulnerabilities that were easily exploited.

Additionally, these three programs disbursed roughly $79 billion in potentially fraudulent payments due to over 1.4 million potentially identity-stolen or invalid Social Security numbers, according to the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee estimate. These applications were approved even though the Social Security numbers were associated with the wrong names or birthdates, or belonged to people who had died.

Agencies could have prevented the theft of billions of dollars by verifying that applicant names matched Social Security numbers or by flagging suspicious IP addresses, according to the pandemic oversight committee. (More)Sponsored by Boston Wellness Labs

Harvard Research: 3 Nutrients That Can Keep Your Brain Sharp as You Age*

Some people stay mentally clear well into old age—and a Boston physician believes he knows why. Dr. George Karanastasis says memory decline isn’t inevitable. It often comes down to specific nutrients most people aren’t getting enough of. His simple protocol has been viewed over 1M times. Find out which nutrients your brain may be missing*.Learn More ➜

IRAN WAR

• Trump said that Iran has agreed to transfer what he described as “nuclear dust.” Iran is believed to have about 970 pounds of enriched uranium buried under nuclear sites heavily damaged by U.S. strikes last year. Iran has not confirmed this agreement. 
• France and the UK convened a high-level international summit to push for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. 

POLITICS

• Despite the midterm season underway, the lines of congressional maps have not been finalized as redistricting battles continue nationwide. Here’s the latest on states redrawing their congressional maps.

LATEST NEWS

• The Supreme Court sided unanimously with oil company Chevron, ruling that a pollution lawsuit in Louisiana should be heard in federal court.
• Dr. Erica Schwartz has been picked by Trump to be the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Find out more about her here. 
• While homeownership remains a top goal for many Americans, a new report from Realtor.com indicates renting is the more affordable option now in all 50 largest U.S. metros.
• Thousands of video gamers have applied for air controller jobs in response to a recent targeted hiring campaign by the Federal Aviation Administration.
• Gatorade is working to remove artificial colors from all its products, and will later in the spring roll out powder sticks without artificial colors.

MORNING READ

Inside the Competitions That Prepare the Army’s Infantry for Future Fights. Our Pentagon reporter, Ryan Morgan, visited Fort Bragg in Georgia for the Army’s Infantry Week, where soldiers gave it their all in contests to test strength, teamwork, and technical proficiency across ground combat disciplines.

WORLD

People sit in the central terminal looking out towards Alaska Airlines planes at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle, Wash., on June 19, 2024. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

• About 20 Chinese scholars were recently denied entry into the United States at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the Chinese regime said in a travel warning.
• The United States and the Philippines are set to build a 4,000-acre industrial hub after Manila became the latest government to sign up to a Washington-led initiative to secure semiconductor supply chains needed for artificial intelligence. 
• The Chinese Communist Party has introduced a new set of so-called national security textbooks for students across the country, embedding political themes such as loyalty to the Party into classrooms.

 

OPINION

• Ditch the Sanitizer and Exercise Your Immune System—by Joel Salatin (Read)
• The Consolidation of Our Food System and How We Push Back—by Mollie Engelhart (Read)
• Let’s Talk About Polling Methodology—by Jeffrey A. Tucker (Read)
• Europe’s Immigration Problem: People, Not Accounting Units—by Theodore Dalrymple (Read)
• The KMT and the Menshevik Parallel—by Stu Cvrk (Read)

A tourist watches the sunset at a beach in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, on April 17, 2026. (Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP via Getty Images)

📸 Day in Photos: Displaced Residents Return Home, Machado Receives Golden Key, and Prisoners Released (Look)

❓ Explainer: Virginia just enacted a raft of gun control laws in the first legislative session of Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s term. (Watch)

💸 Money: 6 Reasons to Pay Off Your Debt (Read)

🎵 Music: Mozart’s Adagio In C For Glass Harmonica (Listen)

🫀 (Sponsored) What your feet reveal about your heart may surprise you. Subtle changes could be early warning signs that most people miss. Discover the connection—and what to look for—before it’s too late. Learn more here.

ARTS & CULTURE

Security guard Jack Crawford (Mark Palmieri) loses his service pistol in the film “Too Much Sleep.” (GJW+)

‘Too Much Sleep’: A Security Guard Loses His Gun 

In crime stories from Hong Kong or Japan, losing a service pistol carries a particular kind of humiliation. The weapon belongs to the badge, the unit, and the chain of command. Somewhere out in the city that gun might surface in the wrong hands. The man who misplaced it ends up tied to whatever follows.

Director David Maquiling’s “Too Much Sleep” sits squarely in that environment. It takes the missing-gun idea and places it in suburbia, letting the situation wander through the peculiar social landscape of a small American town. The result reflects the loose, slightly crooked temperament common to indie filmmaking, where a simple mistake can send a character wandering into encounters that feel half comedic and half uncomfortable.

American independent film tends to treat the same idea from another cultural corner. The 1990s indie scene thrived on small stories built from everyday misfortune, awkward personalities, and the uneven rhythms of ordinary towns. Instead of focusing on formal institutions or strict codes of honor, these films often follow people drifting somewhere outside clear structures and responsibilities.

In “Too Much Sleep,” Jack Crawford (Marc Palmieri) drifts through life as a night security guard in a sleepy New Jersey suburb. His routine stays simple until one bus ride throws everything sideways.

Jack keeps the pistol his father left him wrapped in a paper bag. Somewhere between watching a woman across the aisle and stepping off the bus, the weapon disappears.

The problem gets complicated fast;the gun was never registered, which means calling the police would raise questions he has no good answers for. (More)

“Too Much Sleep” is now available on Gan Jing World. As an exclusive to our subscribers, the film will be available to watch for free until April 19.

🎲 Games

Spot the Difference is our readers’ favorite. Play it here.

Play more games at Epoch Fun ➞

♥️ Support our mission and donate.

🎧 Prefer to listen? Get the Morning Brief podcast.

💬 Feedback? Reply to this email or write to ivanmb@epochtimes.nyc

👋 New to Morning Brief? Subscribe.

💡 Got a news tip? Connect with us confidentially.

▶️ Follow The Epoch Times on Facebook, X, Instagram, or Truth Social

📫 Forward this email to a friend and tell them to subscribe. (Here)

☕ Show us your love with coffee, mugs, stickers, and clothes. Check out the shop.

💼 Own a business? Reach millions of engaged readers by advertising in our newsletters.

Thanks for reading 🙏

Have a wonderful day!

—Ivan Pentchoukov, Madalina Hubert, and Kenzi Li.

Copyright © 2026 The Epoch Times, All rights reserved. 

Our mailing address is: The Epoch Times, 129 West 29th Street, Fl 8, New York, NY 10001 | Contact Us

Our Morning Brief newsletter is one of the best ways to catch up with the news. Manage your email preferences here or unsubscribe from Morning Brief here.

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this advertisement are exclusively those of the advertiser and do not represent our views or positions. This material is promotional in nature and should not be mistaken for news, research or editorial content.