Lately when I see a HUGE upsurge on a daily open, or when prices plummet way down it makes me wonder what happened? Was it a news report, or something tragic in a 3rd world country? It makes me want to look at the news and find out what exactly went on at 3:15am last night? (or whenever).

I think that's a valid reaction. Especially when the big news related moves will color the behavior of your instrument for the rest of the day.
For currencies (and often big moves in other instruments), this is my favorite news site: https://www.forexpeacearmy.com/tools/economic-news-calendar
Happy Trading!

Edit to add: Keep an eye on when numbers are different from what's forecast. This is what usually causes the big moves.