Good morning! The weekend edition is 664 words, a 3-minute read.

What’s on tap: 

• DOJ to allow firing squads

• Volunteers build beds for children

• Richest countries in the world

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Today’s Big Story

DOJ Drops Powell Investigation

• The Justice Department dropped its criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell yesterday. A federal judge had already ruled the probe appeared designed to pressure Powell into cutting interest rates or resigning — and that the government had produced "essentially zero evidence to suspect Chair Powell of a crime."

• The probe centered on cost overruns in a renovation of the Fed's Washington headquarters, which rose from $1.9 billion to $2.5 billion due to asbestos, a sinkhole, and rising materials costs. The project was first approved in 2017 — a year before Powell became Fed chair. The inspector general reviewed it twice and found no wrongdoing.

• The decision clears the path for Trump's Fed chair nominee Kevin Warsh to advance to a Senate confirmation vote. Sen. Thom Tillis had blocked all Fed nominees over what he called a "bogus" investigation.

• The DOJ is redirecting the matter to the inspector general. US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said she would "not hesitate to restart" a criminal investigation if warranted.

Saturday’s Quick Hits

• A US Army Special Forces soldier was charged with using classified information about the January raid that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to win $404,000 on Polymarket, a site where people bet on real-world events. Gannon Ken Van Dyke placed his bets just hours before US forces seized Maduro. Polymarket detected the suspicious activity and alerted federal prosecutors. (More)

• The EU approved a $106 billion loan package for Ukraine after Russia resumed oil deliveries to Hungary and Slovakia through a key pipeline, ending a three-month standoff. Hungary's Viktor Orbán, who just lost a landslide election, had blocked the funds over the pipeline dispute. The EU also approved new sanctions targeting ships illegally carrying Russian oil, banks, and cryptocurrency. (More)

• The Justice Department announced it will expand federal execution methods to include firing squads and electrocution, while restoring the lethal injection protocol used during Trump's first term. Three federal inmates remain on death row after Biden commuted 37 sentences, including Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof. (More)

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he was treated for prostate cancer and has fully recovered. Doctors found a small malignant tumor during a routine checkup, and Netanyahu said it had not spread. He underwent brief treatment while continuing to work. The 76-year-old delayed disclosing the diagnosis for two months, saying he didn't want Iran to use the news as propaganda.

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• Giant octopuses stretching up to 62 feet long may have been among the ocean's fiercest predators during the dinosaur era, according to a new study. Researchers analyzed fossilized jaws from Japan and Canada, finding them far larger than modern giant squid. Heavy jaw wear suggests they crushed shells and bones. (More)

Weekly Dose of Positive

• Six thousand five hundred volunteers built over 10,000 beds in 24 hours at a Charlotte convention center. The finished beds are headed to children across 36 states who don't have one. (More)

• A New Zealand hiker fell down a 180-foot waterfall and survived, and so did her dog Molly, who was found a week later by a crowdfunded helicopter search. (More)

• Brazil lets prisoners shave up to 48 days a year off their sentences by reading books and writing reviews, and participation has grown sevenfold since the program was standardized nationwide in 2021. (More)

• A US nonprofit has built a makeshift "University City" in southern Gaza's Khan Younis, giving up to 600 students daily access to lectures, solar-powered internet, and a rare sense of normal academic life. (More)

Extra Credit

Mariners pitcher catches a line drive hit in his jersey.

St Louis has the highest murder rate in the US.

Norway tops list of richest countries in the world.

The newest traveling trend called “deadzoning.”