5 things to know for April 2: Israel, Trump, Abortion, Finland, Google
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A severe thunderstorm dumped softball-sized hail in parts of the central and eastern US Monday. Forecasts show the storm will intensify today as it rumbles from the Southeast to the Ohio Valley, threatening to unleash another round of dangerous conditions. Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. The US is close to approving the sale of up to 50 American-made F-15 fighter jets to Israel in a deal expected to be worth more than $18 billion. It would amount to the largest US foreign military sale to Israel since the country went to war with Hamas on October 7. The transaction underscores the extent to which the US continues to support Israel, despite the strained relationship between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Meanwhile, Iran has vowed to retaliate after a strike it blamed on Israel killed two of its top commanders and five officials at its consulate in Syria, potentially raising the risk of a wider Middle Eastern conflict. Former President Donald Trump posted a $175 million bond Monday as he appeals the judgment against him in the New York civil fraud case brought by state Attorney General Letitia James. This is a win for Trump’s team as the bond pauses any action that James could take against his properties in response to the judgment until at least September. The bond amount was lowered by several hundred million dollars by a state appeals court last month after Trump’s attorneys argued that covering the full bond on the $464 million verdict against him was not feasible. Also on Monday, shares of Trump’s media company plunged after it disclosed that it lost more than $58 million and generated little revenue in 2023. Trump is the company’s majority shareholder, and his net worth tumbled by more than $1 billion as a result. The Florida Supreme Court has cleared the way for a six-week abortion ban, but voters will consider a constitutional amendment in November that could potentially undo the measure. Monday’s rulings will make Florida one of the most restrictive states in the country to obtain an abortion and set up a presidential-year fight over reproductive rights in the Sunshine State. With the measure poised to appear on the state’s ballot, Florida will join several other states, including Michigan and Ohio, where voters have weighed in directly on reproductive rights since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The initiative will likely boost voter turnout in what is expected to be a close rematch between President Biden and Donald Trump. One 12-year-old child has died and two others have been seriously injured in a school shooting near Finland’s capital Helsinki, Finnish police reported today. A suspect in the incident, also age 12 and a student at the same school, fled on foot but was later caught by police, according to a local broadcaster. Police have not yet “provided details about the nature or severity of the injuries,” nor what type of firearm was used, the broadcaster reported. Finland enjoys a strong tradition of hunting and its gun ownership rates are among the highest in the world, but school shootings are extremely rare.
Former Republican Sen. Ben Sasse announced Tuesday that he’s been diagnosed with “metastasized, stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die.”
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Political opposites are closing 2025 as they did 2024: on each side of America’s Donald Trump divide. But CNN’s “All Over the Map” survey did provide several interesting takeaways. Some may be instructive about the midterm election climate, at least at this beginning stage.
A 2-year-old child is among at least five people who were killed when a Mexican Navy plane carrying medical patients crashed into the waters of Galveston Bay in Texas on Monday afternoon, US Coast Guard officials say.
The Trump administration is suing the local government of Washington, DC, over its gun laws, alleging that restrictions on certain semiautomatic weapons run afoul of Second Amendment rights.
Vince Zampella, one of the creators behind best-selling video games such as “Call of Duty,” has died. He was 55.
President Donald Trump said Monday the US remains in active pursuit of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, more than 24 hours after the chase began, while repeating his threats against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Vice President JD Vance has never looked more like the presumptive 2028 Republican presidential nominee.
A man is facing murder, weapons, and arson charges after authorities say he killed another man with an arrow, then barricaded himself in his home, where several fires were set.
An apparently frustrated federal judge pressed the Trump administration Monday to share what it was going to do next in the fast-moving saga over Kilmar Abrego Garcia days after she found he was being unlawfully held in immigration custody.
The Justice Department’s release of thousands of documents and pictures related to investigations into Jeffrey Epstein on Friday was highly anticipated and provided a glimpse into the life of the late sex offender and his associations with some of the richest and most powerful people in the world.
Jeffrey Epstein survivors are slamming the Justice Department’s partial release of the Epstein files that began last Friday, contending that contrary to what is mandated by law, the department’s disclosures so far have been incomplete and improperly redacted — and challenging for the survivors to navigate as they search for information about their own cases.
President Donald Trump is expected to make an announcement about shipbuilding alongside his Pentagon chief and Navy secretary on Monday, according to a person familiar with the plans.