Start your week smart: Teacher layoffs looming, Trump trial, thousands fleeing Rafah, Eurovision winner, Steve Bannon
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Today is Mother’s Day … but why? Take a trip back in the CNN time machine to learn about the origins of the holiday, and why its creator later regretted starting it. Here’s what else you need to know to Start Your Week Smart. • Schools across the country are announcing teacher and staff layoffs as districts brace for the end of a pandemic aid package that delivered the largest one-time federal investment in K-12 education. The money must be used by the end of September, creating a sharp funding cliff.• One of Donald Trump’s closest White House aides wrapped up her testimony in the former president’s hush money trial, clearing the way for the prosecution’s key witness to take the stand. Michael Cohen, Trump’s former fixer and lawyer, is expected to testify Monday.• At least 300,000 people have fled the southern Gaza city of Rafah ahead of an Israeli ground offensive, the United Nations said. There is growing alarm over the humanitarian situation in Rafah, with food aid running very low. Follow live updates.• Switzerland’s Nemo won a chaotic and politically fraught Eurovision Song Contest, triumphing in a competition overshadowed by controversy and booing over the presence of Israel. Nemo sang a stunning rendition of “The Code,” about the journey toward accepting their non-binary identity.• A federal appeals court upheld the contempt-of-Congress conviction of Steve Bannon, the former adviser to Trump who was found guilty after failing to comply with a subpoena from the House January 6 committee. MondayJury selection is set to begin in the federal corruption trial of Sen. Bob Menendez. The New Jersey Democrat has said he thought he was acting for the “good of the public” when helping Egypt and Qatar, while prosecutors allege Menendez and his wife took hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bribes in a scheme involving the foreign governments to fund their lavish lifestyle. Menendez, the former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will be tried alongside two New Jersey businessmen who are co-defendants. His wife, Nadine, also has been charged but will be tried separately. Menendez and his wife have pleaded not guilty to the charges, as have the other co-defendants. Also on Monday, Donald Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen is expected to begin his testimony in the former president’s criminal hush money trial. Prosecutors said it’s “entirely possible” they will rest their case by the end of the week. Cohen says Trump directed him to pay hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the final days of the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump denies the allegations. TuesdayMaryland, Nebraska and West Virginia will hold primary elections, while voters in North Carolina head to the polls for runoff elections. Under North Carolina state law, a second-place candidate in a primary may request a second primary if no candidate receives more than 30% of the votes cast in that contest.
A Delaware state trooper was killed along with the suspected gunman Tuesday during a shooting at a motor vehicle agency near Wilmington, authorities said.
Wyoming’s lone U.S. representative is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Cynthia Lummis, who isn’t seeking re-election.
A new lawsuit filed in Washington, DC’s federal court Monday challenges the Kennedy Center board of trustees’ move to add President Donald Trump’s name to the cultural institution.
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Some staff at the Department of Veterans Affairs are finding little to be merry about after the agency said it would eliminate tens of thousands of open, unfilled positions across the country as it looks to streamline its staffing.
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.