As this year’s Easter holiday kicks off, Americans may need to dash to the store to pick up candy for the egg hunt or other last-minute items for a family meal. Certain retailers will be closed, so it’s best to plan ahead.
See the list below for the supermarkets, retailers and fast-food chains that will be open on Sunday, April 5.
What stores are open on Easter Sunday 2026?
Customers are advised to check local store hours, which may vary based on location.
CVS
Dollar General
Home Depot
Food Lion
Kroger
IKEA
Stop & Shop (pharmacies closed)
Trader Joe’s
Walgreens
Walmart
Whole Foods (stores will close early at either 6 p.m. or 8 p.m., depending on their location)
Restaurant chains open on Easter
Applebee’s (select locations)
Domino’s
Dunkin’
IHOP
McDonald’s
Subway
Taco Bell
What places are closed on Easter Sunday 2026?
ALDI
Costco
HomeGoods
Homesense
JCPenney
Kohl’s
Lowe’s
Nordstrom (a few select locations in California, Florida and New York will remain open)
Macy’s
Marshalls
Michaels
Target
TJ Maxx
Sierra
Trader Joe’s in Portland, Maine
Whole Foods in Portland, Maine
When will the stock market reopen?
The stock market was closed on April 3 due to Good Friday. Trading will resume Monday, April 6.
Will the post office, UPS and FedEx be open on Easter?
The United States Postal Service retail locations will be open and delivery services will continue as normal on Easter Sunday.
FedEx will provide partial services. The delivery company’s retail locations will be open with modified hours, and shipping will be limited to FedEx Custom Critical and FedEx Logistics.
All UPS services will be closed on Sunday due to the holiday.
Tilak Varma’s private residence is located in the Chandrayangutta area of Hyderabad. This is the same neighbourhood where he grew up playing cricket. The house is not just a luxury and modern upgrade, it is also a symbol of transformation, hard work and resilience. Today, the same locality houses his upgraded multi-storey home, a full-circle moment indeed!
ISTANBUL — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed concern that a prolonged U.S.-Israeli war on Iran could further erode America’s support for Ukraine as Washington’s global priorities shift and Kyiv braces for reduced deliveries of critically needed Patriot air defense missiles.
Ukraine desperately needs more U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems to help it counter Russia’s daily barrages, Zelenskyy said, speaking to The Associated Press in an exclusive interview late Saturday in Istanbul.
Russia’s relentless pounding of urban areas behind the front line following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago has killed thousands of civilians. It has also targeted Ukraine’s energy supply to disrupt industrial production of Ukraine’s newly developed drones and missiles, while also denying civilians heat and running water in winter.
“We have to recognize that we are not the priority for today,” Zelenskyy said. “That’s why I am afraid a long (Iran) war will give us less support.”
The latest U.S.-brokered talks between envoys from Moscow and Kyiv ended in February with no sign of a breakthrough. Zelenskyy, who has accused Russia of “trying to drag out negotiations” while it presses on with its invasion, said Ukraine remains in contact with U.S. negotiators about a potential deal to end the war and has continued to press for stronger security guarantees.
But, he said, even those discussions reflect a broader loss of focus from Ukraine.
His most immediate concern, Zelenskyy said, are the Patriots — essential for intercepting Russian ballistic missiles — as Ukraine still lacks an effective alternative.
These U.S. systems were never delivered in sufficient quantities to begin with, Zelenskyy said, and if the Iran war doesn’t end soon, “the package — which is not very big for us — I think will be smaller and smaller day by day.”
“That’s why, of course, we are afraid,” he said.
Zelenskyy had been counting on European partners to help make the Patriot purchases despite tight supply and limited U.S. production capacity.
But the Iran war, now in its sixth week, has sent shock waves through the global economy and pulled in much of the wider Middle East region, further straining these already limited resources, diverting stockpiles and leaving Ukrainian cities more exposed to ballistic strikes.
For Kyiv, a key objective is to weaken Moscow’s economy and make the war prohibitively costly. Surging oil prices driven by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz are undermining that strategy by boosting the Kremlin’s oil revenues and strengthening Moscow’s capacity to sustain its war effort.
In his interview with the AP, Zelenskyy said Russia draws economic benefits from the Mideast war, citing the limited easing of American sanctions on Russian oil.
“Russia gets additional money because of this, so yes, they have benefits,” he said.
Russian officials said Sunday a fire broke out at a major oil refinery in the Nizhny Novgorod region after a drone attack, while another drone damaged a pipeline at the Russian Baltic Sea port of Primorsk, home to a major oil export terminal. No casualties were reported.
Russia could reap a windfall from a surge in oil prices and the U.S. temporary waiver on Russian oil sanctions designed to ease supply shortages as the Iran war continues. Russia is one of the world’s main oil exporters, and Asian nations are increasingly competing for Russian crude oil as an energy crisis mounts.
In response, Ukraine has intensified its long-range drone attacks on Russian oil facilities, which have rattled Moscow.
To keep Ukraine on the international agenda, Zelenskyy has offered to share Ukraine’s hard-earned battlefield expertise with the United States and allies to develop effective countermeasures against Iranian attacks.
Ukraine has met Russia’s evolving use of Iranian-made Shahed drones with growing sophistication, technological ingenuity and low cost.
Moscow significantly modified the original Shahed-136, rebranded as the Geran-2, enhancing its ability to evade air defenses and be mass produced. Ukraine responded with quick innovation of its own, including low-cost interceptor drones designed to track and destroy incoming drones.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine is ready to share with Gulf Arab countries targeted by Iran its experience and technology, including interceptor drones and sea drones, which Ukraine produces — more than are used up — with funding from Americans and its European partners.
In return, these countries could help Ukraine “with anti-ballistic missiles,” Zelenskyy said.
In late March, as the Iran war escalated, Zelenskyy visited Gulf Arab states to promote Ukraine’s singular experience in countering Iranian-made Shahed drones, leading to new defense cooperation agreements.
Zelenskyy has also positioned Ukraine as a potential partner in safeguarding global trade routes, offering assistance in reopening the Strait of Hormuz by sharing Ukraine’s experiences securing maritime corridors in the Black Sea.
Zelenskyy was in Istanbul for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a day after the Turkish leader spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Zelenskyy said they discussed peace talks and a possible meeting of leaders in Istanbul. He also said there could be new defense deals signed between the two countries soon.
Each year as the weather improves, Russia moves its grinding war of attrition up a notch. However, it has been unable to capture Ukrainian cities and has made only incremental gains across rural areas. Russia occupies about 20% of Ukraine, including the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized in 2014.
On the roughly 1,250-kilometer (750-mile) front line stretching across eastern and southern parts of Ukraine, short-handed Ukrainian defenders are getting ready for a new offensive by Russia’s larger army.
The commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Russian troops have in recent days made simultaneous attempts to break through defense lines in several strategic areas.
One thing Zelenskyy says he has insisted on and will continue to do so — a territorial compromise and giving up land will not be on Ukraine’s agenda.
U.S. forces have rescued the second crew member from a fighter jet shot down over Iran, President Donald Trump said early Sunday, bringing a dramatic end to a high‑risk search‑and‑rescue operation that unfolded deep inside Iranian territory.
The airman, part of a two‑person crew aboard an F‑15E Strike Eagle downed on Friday, had been missing for more than a day as U.S. and Iranian forces searched rugged terrain in southwestern Iran. Trump announced the successful recovery in a post on Truth Social, writing “WE GOT HIM!” and saying the servicemember was injured but “SAFE and SOUND.”
The shootdown marked the first confirmed loss of a U.S. manned fighter jet over Iranian territory since the current war began in late February, raising fears of further escalation as fighting intensifies across the region.
What To Know
Iran shot down a U.S. F‑15E Strike Eagle over southwestern Iran on Friday, according to U.S. and Iranian statements
The two‑person crew was separated after the crash; one was rescued quickly, while the second airman remained missing
Trump said U.S. forces recovered the missing crew member early Sunday after a “very dangerous” operation inside Iran
Iranian authorities had publicly urged civilians to help locate the missing American, offering a reward
The incident comes as the U.S.–Israeli war with Iran continues to escalate, with fighting spreading across the region
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The article below is an excerpt from my newsletter: Well Enough with Harry Bullmore. To get my latest thoughts on fitness and wellbeing pop your email address into the box above to get the newsletter direct to your inbox.
Exercise is frequently seen as a battle of willpower. Gym bunnies are synonymous with extreme discipline and motivation, while those who don’t exercise are often labelled lazy or apathetic.
But we are products of our environment. The “super-motivated” 21-year-old bodybuilder might have a pretty breezy schedule and plenty of time to train, whereas the “lazy” parent is juggling childcare, work stresses, and all manner of other commitments.
Now, though my goal is to help people move more and feel better, I can’t force your boss to take work off your plate. Nor can I make your children immaculately well-behaved or your schedule less hectic. But I can give you a few tips from experts to manipulate your environment for better health.
That is the theme of this week’s newsletter.
Dan John is one of my favourite coaches because, for more than four decades, his advice has always been tried, tested and grounded in common sense. But when we last spoke, he gave me a fitness tip I wasn’t expecting: exercise outside.
“When you train outdoors, people start to gravitate towards you,” he told me. “If you go to a park every Saturday at 9 o’clock and invite friends, and your friends invite friends, then pretty soon you’re going to build an intentional community.”
Seeing friends and socialising might provide a bigger pull than exercise. On the flip side, you might simply want to avoid a “Where on earth are you?!” text from an acquaintance on a Saturday morning. Either way, you are held accountable, and a more consistent (read: effective) exercise routine invariably follows.
This doesn’t have to involve a gruelling bootcamp class in the park, either. You could just schedule regular slots for a brisk walk and talk with a friend, or do a quick kettlebell workout with a partner wherever is practical.
John’s bonus tip for making these habits stick is to occasionally go for a (relatively nutritious) bite to eat afterwards.
“By the time everyone has food in their bellies, talk turns to next week and how you can make things better,” he says. “It becomes more normal for people to give a damn about the workouts.”
Another way you can manipulate your environment is by keeping exercise equipment accessible around the house – unroll a yoga mat next to your WFH set-up, or keep resistance bands in the kitchen and work through a few exercises while the kettle, microwave, or oven does its thing.
Even putting the kitchen bin on the other side of the room, or placing a few work essentials away from your desk, will add a surprising amount of movement to your day.
These environmental changes extend to diet too. I recently had a fascinating chat with Dr Thomas Sambrook of the University of East Anglia, who led a study into why we can’t stop snacking.
I will share the full interview with you when it is published. But here’s a taster while you wait. His team found that, even when people felt full, seeing food still stimulated electrical impulses in the part of the brain “that kicks off not only when you see pictures of tasty food, but also when you eat tasty food, win money, or look at racy photographs”.
“The short story is that you can eat a food until you are completely sated on it, but your brain still says ‘yum’ when you see pictures of it,” Dr Sambrook explains.
A subconscious habit is created in which seeing tasty food makes us want to eat. This might have served our ancient ancestors fairly well, but in the modern world, where food (and adverts for it) are everywhere, it can override our body’s natural appetite controls and lead to overeating.
Dr Sambrook uses the example cue of sitting with friends around an open packet of crisps or biscuits – the food is in your hand and then your mouth before you’re even aware of your actions. He provides some interesting solutions.
“It’s all about stimulus control,” he says. “It may seem daft, but if there’s a food advert coming on the television, get up and stretch your legs or put the kettle on.”
Dr Sambrook also suggests swapping your usual packet of crisps or biscuits for rice cakes. You still fulfil the cue-response relationship by eating something from a rustling packet, but what you’re eating is less calorie-dense, and because it doesn’t taste all that great, it can weaken the habit over time.
This could mean keeping pre-cut vegetables at the front of the fridge for snacking, then keeping less nutritious snacks such as crisps, chocolates and biscuits out of sight at the back of the cupboard. Or you might avoid having these snacks in the house – the added friction of needing to leave home to buy a bar of chocolate is a surprisingly strong deterrent.
Now, none of this is to say you need to be puritanical in your fitness efforts. Realistically, regular exercise is hard (given the many benefits, everyone would probably do it if it weren’t), and tasty food offers immense social and cultural value. Almost all things can be enjoyed in moderation.
These tips are simply meant to help you nudge the needle of your health in the right direction rather than overhauling your entire life – moving a little more, eating a few extra nutritious foods, and treating treats as their name suggests: as treats.
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The 2026 World Cup field is set, and many of the usual suspects are in the favorites conversation to win the tournament. Spain tops the odds board at +450, with France and England following at +600. Brazil and reigning champions Argentina round out the top five at +850.
Portugal (11-1), Germany (14-1) and the Netherlands (20-1) make up the next tier, with perennial contenders such as Belgium (35-1) and Colombia (40-1) also close behind. Some relative newcomers to the conversation include Norway (28-1) and Japan (50-1), which opened at 50-1 and 100-1, respectively, at some shops.
Meanwhile, the host nations sit longer with the USA at 65-1, Mexico at 70-1 and Canada at 200-1. The Americans are drawing a lot of outsized attention with U.S. sportsbooks, attracting 6.7% of the tickets and 4.9% of the handle at BetMGM to be one of the sportsbook’s largest liabilities, along with France (17.7% of handle) and England (14.3%).
There’s one very notable absence from the odds board: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive tournament after falling to Bosnia and Herzegovina (250-1) in the UEFA playoff. The Italians had ranked 10th on the board at 30-1 odds before they were eliminated from contention.
Here are all 48 teams’ odds to win their group, qualify from the group stage and advance through the knockout bracket to win the 2026 World Cup.
This image provided by the Canadian Space Agency, Artemis II astronaut Jeremy Hansen of Canada, connects live from the Orion spacecraft and speaks with Canadian media along with astronauts Victor Glover, left, and Reid Wiseman on Saturday, April 4, 2026. (Canadian Space Agency via AP)
A deep clean? Some decluttering? Spring cleaning can be so much more. You can use it for inspiration to do that one thing you’ve been putting off. Whether it’s your skincare or your inbox, you can use the changes in the seasons to make some life changes.
Here, The Independent’s writers share what they’ll be spring cleaning:
The clocks have changed. The winter fug is lifting. And it’s time for a sleep reset. Begone, cosy hibernation; see you later, comforting red wine and sleep patterns that are all over the shop (sometimes, over the endless gloom of winter, I’ve found myself wondering as early as 7.30pm if it might be bedtime).
Based on the advice I’ve heard from sleep experts over the years, but am adept at ignoring, I’ve embraced two major changes: I’m going outside into the sunshine, or at least the daylight, as soon possible after waking, to alert my circadian rhythms to the fact that the day has begun (exposing your eyes to natural light early in the day regulates your body’s “sleep clock” and triggers the sleep hormone, melatonin, making it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep at night).
Sleepy spring: January is long gone (sorry), Easter can be a time to slow down and take stock of how much sleep you’re getting (Getty/iStock)
The other change is no alcohol during the week. I mean, yes, what could be nicer than a glass of wine or two in the evening – especially when it feels like you live in a cave and spring will never come? Well, as it turns out, what’s nicer is sipping only nighttime tea in the hours before bed, then being kidnapped by a slumber so deep and sound, I feel I might be in a fairytale. Dreams are so much more vivid. And I awake almost giddily well-rested.
Other little boosts may well sit firmly in the placebo camp, but who cares? They are working for me and create “sleep sanctuary” vibes: deliciously laundered sheets and pyjamas. Magnesium butter – instantly absorbent – massaged into my feet before bed. A spritz or two of This Works lavender pillow spray.
And, now that I know that I’m actually going to sleep rather than toss and turn fitfully, I’ve started going to bed earlier to enjoy my bed time routine, before reading (on my kindle – not my phone; I’m not an amateur!) something relaxing enough to transport me away to what feels like another land; one which smells faintly of lavender.
My spring cleaning is always about detoxifying. Last year, I tried to get rid of ultra-processed foods from the kitchen cupboards, and the year before, it was alcohol. This year, with all the talk around microplastics and the everyday toxins in our homes, it’s an obvious choice to detoxify my home.
If you take the time to detoxify your kitchen, every meal for the rest of the year will be a clean one (Radhika Sanghani/The Independent)
I’ve never been particularly obsessed with health and wellness, but it’s impossible to ignore the scientific research showing the effects of using plastics in our kitchens (when they heat up, the plastic gets absorbed into our food), and some of the ingredients used in personal care products like phthalates which are endocrine disrupters, and “forever chemicals” showing up in our clothes.
So this spring, I’m going to be getting rid of as many toxins in my home as possible. That means no plastic in the kitchen, no synthetic fragrances (goodbye perfumes), and getting rid of any clothes that contain “forever chemicals”. That part’s easy enough – but it also means slowly rebuying natural alternatives such as organic Soil Association-certified personal care products (being organic means they can’t use any toxins), and purchasing natural clothing.
None of this is cheap, so it will be a slow process. But the plan is to throw away something toxic every time I treat myself to something new and gradually detoxify both my home and myself.
Every April, when the weather is nice and everyone’s outdoors, I sit inside hunched over a laptop, tapping away at my “Financial Spring Cleaning” Excel spreadsheet. “I am…” I announce to the room, “…balancing the books”. Typically, I half-balance the books. It’s still all a bit wobbly, but just about stacks up.
I enter every transaction item by item from my banking app for the last six months. I colour-code them. Green for “fine”, orange for “hmmm”, red for “what were you thinking?!” Purple is also in there, and I can never remember what purple means. I wonder why there are so many £1.99 payments to M&S every week in February (pork pies, it’s always M&S’s price-locked pork pies), or when I picked up an Amazon Prime subscription.
I keep it going for a few months and then forget. Still, it helps me steady the pennies, save a bit of dosh, and bore my wife with optimistic “projections” for dream holidays.
Here’s the thing. I am a beauty slacker. Whereas my friends commit to all kinds of treatments – and increasingly tweakments as midlife hits – I only plunge into serious beauty routines twice a year. Summer for a full-on pedi to show off brown beach feet, and spring for a deep facial to scrub away dull winter skin and enter the season with a new glow.
Since I only manage it once a year, I like to try something new. Last year, I tried a high-tech facial at Skin Laundry, designed for people like me who want results but are scared of anything invasive. The year before, I went for a deep hydration and lymphatic drainage treatment, which left me looking and feeling ‘lifted’ for weeks.
The last 12 months have been all about the “glassy skin” trend – Korean beauty routines and products that promise ultra-smooth, poreless, deeply hydrated, almost reflective skin (hence: glassy). The Beauty Edit in Mayfair seemed like a good place to start. Known for its curated K-beauty brands (Medicube, Joseon) and ethical, natural, hydrating ingredients, their K-Beauty Signature Facial is all about mindful rejuvenation – perfect for a new spring glow.
The luxurious 90-minute treatment was exactly what I needed for a deep pause, I felt rested and my skin looked fresh and polished. While I promised my facialist, I would follow her instructions (SPF, scrubs, rollers, hydration!) to maintain my spring glow-up, I’m sorry to say my box of Vida Glow marine collagen sachets sadly remains unopened. Once a beauty slacker, always a beauty slacker. But I will most certainly be seeing them again next year.
My one-bed flat is fast turning into more of a live-in library. I’ve always been a speedy reader and prolific book buyer, and my job has only enabled these tendencies further, as I’m sometimes sent advance proof copies of new releases. This means that almost every surface in my home has been overrun by stacks of novels and my bargain bookcases are doing their absolute best not to buckle under the weight of years of hardbacks.
I know, woe is me, I have too many books – what an absolute first-world problem. But I also work from home, and having a relatively clear space helps me to focus better, so my Easter goal is to rationalise this sprawling collection.
Read the room: Books are great, but a tidy is needed to make sure it’s a living space, not a dusty library (Getty/iStock)
I’m planning to adopt a pseudo-Marie Kondo approach by picking up each one and asking myself one of two questions. If I’ve already read it, did I like it enough that I might read it again? And if I haven’t read it yet… am I likely to ever do so? It’s not looking good for the 600-page biography of melancholy novelist Richard Yates that I picked up six years ago and have dragged from flat to flat ever since, without so much as flicking through the pages.
If something wasn’t to my taste, but might appeal to a friend, I’ll give them first dibs. If the remaining titles are in good enough condition to sell, they will end up either at the charity shop or on Vinted, although I’ve heard mixed things about how easy it is to shift books on there from my more entrepreneurially minded friends (can I interest anyone in a 600-page biography of Richard Yates?!)
There are also plenty of apps, such as World of Books, WeBuyBooks and Zapper, that let you scan in a barcode and then give you an estimate of how much they’ll pay for them. And then, inevitably, I’ll use all the space I’ve freed up to… store some new books. At least I know I’m incorrigible.
As the cherry tree erupts in pink bubble gum coloured blossom in my garden every April, I have this overwhelming desire to throw everything out – and start afresh. But my philosophy is, “Why not make money doing it?”
With the Iran war traipsing on, petrol prices soaring, out-of-control energy bills, and my mortgage hike, a spring clean with a paycheque feels timely.
I’ve had a Vinted account for ages. But this spring, I’m using it to cull my children’s old clothes – and I will be sifting through the Mini Rodini leggings, even ones with holes, that sell like hot cakes for £10, and piling Zara and H&M tops, sweaters, coats and even fancy dress costumes onto my bed to photograph for the listings.
It often brings up nostalgia: “Oh, those pink Barbie shorts! Argh, that Frozen princess dress!” I’ll feel a tug of sadness when I package up a Liberty print dress and whizz off to my local Evri drop-off.
But when I look at my Vinted balance – and start withdrawing the cash into my bank account, it’s a satisfying feeling. Mainly, though, I’ve created space. I feel uplifted, like I’ve cleared the energy of my two-bed flat, and, with all the old clothes leaving home, I can move forward again.
I am an e-hoarder. I have over 40,000 photos on my phone, keep all of my messages with my ex-boyfriends carefully preserved, and hide any other uncomfortable conversations in my WhatsApp archive (the digital equivalent of under the bed) rather than swiping them into the abyss. That is, until this spring, when I got sick of carrying my cyber-baggage around.
For the first time since my phone – heartwrenchingly – got wiped in 2019, I’ve embarked on a digital spring clean to shake the megabytes off. This hasn’t just helped with infuriating low storage warnings, but freed me from the sometimes thrilling, mainly chilling, (1) archive notification, which signifies someone you shouldn’t be talking to is getting back in touch. You wouldn’t store a bunch of letters from former lovers, ex-friends or even old bosses and landlords in your back pocket. So, there’s truly no need to cart them about digitally, either.
A time for joy: Marie Kondo, the patron saint of the spring clean, and her organisational advice can help with your tidying, even if it’s in cyberspace (Getty)
With the photos, there are tiers to this removal process. 99.99 per cent of screenshots, for example, you fundamentally don’t need – and will never look at. Meanwhile, memories – holiday photos, blurry night out snaps, stupid selfies – are a little harder to part with. First, I ditched all the duplicates (of which there were many). Then, I went through and decided which images I truly loved looking back on (a very sunny Devon trip with my oldest friends from school, for example), and which were actually as satisfying and harmful as picking the scab off a healing wound. If, like me, you’re prone to bouts of nostalgia, those have to go.
As the decluttering messiah Marie Kondo preached in The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, the best question I asked myself here was: “Does it spark joy?” If not, I sent it into the “permanently deleted” black hole and emerged lighter, no longer hauling my past around.
Small problems like water leakage from taps, cracked paintwork, or missing door handles can impact how potential buyers view the property. Fixing these minor problems shows that the house has been properly maintained, as small additions and repairs go a long way in boosting the general appeal.
While renovating the property might entail expensive projects, some cost-friendly renovation efforts can dramatically increase its market value and enhance its appeal.
