Greetings! Happy National Trivia Day to those celebrating.

Let’s get into today’s top stories.

You could be wasting hundreds every year on overpriced insurance. The experts at FinanceBuzz believe they can help. If your rate went up in the last 12 months, check out this new tool from FinanceBuzz to see if you’re overpaying in just a few clicks! They match drivers with companies reporting savings of $600 or more per year when switching!* Plus, once you use it, you’ll always have access to the lowest rates; best yet, it’s free. Answer a few easy questions to see how much you could be saving.

See How Much You Can Save

🇩🇪 Berlin blackout blamed on “politically motivated” arson. German police say fires damaged power cables and cut electricity to about 45K homes, with power restored to some at the time of writing. Investigators say another 2,500 addresses lost power in a separate disruption. Prosecutors arrested 2 men, ages 28 and 32, as alleged suspects. Authorities say the attack targeted a high-voltage cable bridge and forced emergency crews into rapid repairs. Officials have not yet disclosed a clear motive, beyond the “political” label. In a modern capital, one match can still beat a megawatt.

🇮🇷 Iran’s streets roar as nuclear pressure rises. American-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) says protests hit 170 sites across 25 provinces, with unrest gripping Tehran this weekend. HRANA counts about 15 dead and roughly 580 arrests as police disperse crowds. Protesters blame prices, with inflation near 40% and the Iranian rial (IRR) sliding to about 1.4M per $1 (USD). Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has framed the unrest as foreign-backed “riots”. President Donald Trump has threatened to snap back United Nations (UN) sanctions as Iran expands uranium enrichment. When food gets scarce, geopolitics stops sounding abstract.

📜 Monroe Doctrine resurfaces in the Maduro arrest argument. President James Monroe pitched it in 1823, with Secretary of State John Quincy Adams shaping the warning. The core idea was that European powers should stay out of the Western Hemisphere. Over time, leaders used it to justify American interventions, sometimes welcomed, often resented. President Donald Trump is now citing the doctrine after American forces seized Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, according to officials. Scholars note it is a foreign-policy posture, not a statute that replaces Congress. As it turns out, a 200-year-old sentence just became a 2026 talking point.

🌧️ California stays soggy as flooding and high tides persist. Rain kept falling in parts of the state already battered by earlier storms. The National Weather Service (NWS) warned of coastal flooding for the San Francisco Bay Area and central coast. Officials cautioned that saturated ground raises the risk of mudslides and falling debris. High tides amplified water on streets and along low-lying shorelines. Forecasters said more rounds of rain were possible/ Californians are learning sandbags are still best.

🏗️ Data centers boom, and neighborhoods push back hard. Microsoft ($MSFT) is among firms racing to build capacity for artificial intelligence (AI). Residents complain the projects arrive fast, loud, and huge, with benefits that feel thin. In New Albany Township, Ohio, trustee Bryce Gustafson says communities want leverage, not surprises. Critics point to power demand, water use, and diesel backup generators as the real “amenities.” Analyst Maxx Kossof says grid hookups and transmission delays are becoming the bottleneck. The cloud still needs a ZIP code, and that ZIP code votes.

🎬 “Avatar: Fire and Ash” clears $1B, keeps the crown. Director James Cameron’s sci-fi sequel stayed No. 1 for a third weekend. It earned about $40.1M in North America and $83.5M worldwide in the latest frame. The global total hit about $1.019B in roughly 3 weeks. The Walt Disney Company ($DIS) is now cashing the franchise checks via 20th Century Studios. Rivals like “Marty Supreme” and “Wicked: For Good” trailed behind. Spectacle gets you opening night, but stamina buys you history.

Help better understand our audience. Take this 1-minute survey here so we can provide our community with the best content, news, and stories that matter to you most.

Feel free to reply with your feedback. PM reads and responds to every email. :)

That’s all for today!

Much obliged and many thanks for reading and sharing today’s newsletter.

See you tomorrow!