Start your week smart: Fani Willis, Russian election, Realtor commissions, Pence endorsement, arrest in poisoning
CNN
CNN’s 5 Things brings you all the news you need to start your week smart.
The public absence of Catherine, Princess of Wales, has morphed into an international punchline with amateur detectives combining real concern with outlandish conspiracy. Here’s what else you need to know to Start Your Week Smart. • Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis can stay on and prosecute the Georgia 2020 election interference racketeering case against former President Donald Trump and 14 of his co-defendants, a judge ruled. Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor with whom she engaged in a romantic relationship, resigned from the case.• On the third and final day of voting in Russia’s presidential election, lines at some polling stations grew after supporters of the deceased opposition leader Alexey Navalny called on people to protest the election. A wave of Ukrainian drones also targeted various parts of the country, including Moscow.• The 6% commission, a standard in home purchases, is no more. In a sweeping move expected to reduce the cost of buying and selling a home, the National Association of Realtors announced a settlement with homesellers, agreeing to end landmark antitrust lawsuits by paying $418 million in damages and eliminating rules on commissions.• Former Vice President Mike Pence said he “cannot in good conscience” endorse presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, a stunning repudiation of his former running mate and the president he served with.• Blaise Taylor, an analyst at Texas A&M and son of the associate head coach, was arrested after being indicted in the 2023 deaths of his girlfriend and her unborn child, authorities said. Taylor is a former college football star at Arkansas State. TuesdaySeveral states are holding primary elections, including Arizona, Florida and Illinois. The primary for the special election to fill former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s seat is also on Tuesday. He represented California’s 20th Congressional District and announced last year that he was stepping down. WednesdayThe Fed will announce a decision on interest rates. Federal Reserve officials said the economy is likely to soften this year, allowing the central bank to start cutting rates. The US economy added 275,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate rose to 3.9%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. ThursdayThe owners of a Colorado funeral home accused of improperly storing bodies will be in court for an arraignment hearing. In January, a judge determined there was probable cause for multiple counts against Jon and Carie Hallford, including money laundering, forgery and abuse of a corpse. An investigation began after a foul odor was reported at the funeral home in Penrose.
A second federal judge ruled Thursday that thousands of probationary employees laid off en mass by the Trump administration must be temporarily reinstated to their jobs.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Thursday that she plans to mobilize her massive base of followers to oppose what she described as an “acquiesce” by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to accept the House GOP funding bill.
Johns Hopkins University announced Thursday that it will be cutting more than 2,000 jobs after it lost $800 million in funding from the US Agency for International Development amid the Trump administration’s effort to significantly downsize the federal government.
Facing intense pressure over the threat of a shutdown in less than two days, lawmakers are racing to push through a government funding plan by Friday’s midnight deadline.
Arizona Democratic Rep. Raúl Grijalva has died, according to his congressional office. He was 77.
military options” to ensure unfettered American access to the Panama Canal, one of several new directives outlined in what amounts to a major overhaul of US strategic priorities, according to a new memo that was sent to senior leaders and reviewed by CNN.
The death of a woman who was partially paralyzed in the Columbine High School shooting has been ruled a homicide, raising the death toll of the 1999 attack to 14.
President Donald Trump’s administration asked the Supreme Court in a series of emergency appeals Thursday to allow him to move forward with plans to end birthright citizenship, elevating a fringe legal theory that several lower courts have resoundingly rejected.
A federal judge has ordered half a dozen federal agencies to “immediately” reinstate probationary employees fired last month as part of the Trump administration’s effort to rapidly shrink the federal workforce.
The Trump administration is expected to invoke a sweeping wartime authority to speed up the president’s mass deportation pledge in the coming days, according to four sources familiar with the discussions.
The man said he was locked in an eight-by-nine-foot room and was fed two sandwiches a day with two cups of water for years, according to a police affidavit in Connecticut.
Pete Buttigieg is expected to forgo a run for Michigan’s open US Senate seat in 2026, according to two people familiar with the former transportation secretary’s plans, setting up a potential presidential bid in 2028.
The ambiguity of the president’s warning could pave the way for lawsuits. It also could be damaging, critics say, if it has the effect of stifling freedom of speech, among the nation’s most fundamental and heralded rights.