5 things to know for April 19: Middle East, Trump trial, India elections, TikTok ban, Trader Joe’s recall
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A jet collision was narrowly avoided at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Thursday after two planes were cleared on the same runway. The FAA said it would investigate the incident and analyze audio of the air traffic controllers frantically trying to radio both planes to stop. Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. Israel has carried out a military strike on Iran, a US official told CNN, a move that threatens to further escalate tensions in the Middle East. Israel has not commented and Iran has not identified the source of the attack. Iranian media reported that sites associated with Iran’s nuclear program were secure, and published footage of calm scenes in the areas where explosions were reported. Israel had for days weighed its response to Iran’s unprecedented weekend strikes, most of which were intercepted. Iran launched the attack in retaliation for a suspected Israeli strike on its embassy compound in Syria earlier this month. The full 12-person jury has been seated in former President Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial. The panel, which will eventually decide Trump’s fate in the case, is comprised of seven men and five women. The first of the pool of alternate jurors was also selected Thursday, leaving only five left to be selected today. If jury selection wraps up quickly, the judge will hold a hearing later today where they will discuss what in Trump’s legal history can be used to try to impeach him if he chooses to testify. Meanwhile, prosecutors said Trump violated his gag order seven more times, pointing to posts online and calling the situation “ridiculous.” Polls open today for the first phase of India’s marathon general election, kicking off a vote in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking to win a rare third consecutive term. An estimated 969 million people are eligible to vote in what is considered to be one of the country’s most consequential elections in decades as Modi’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party aims for an outright majority and a mandate to widen its development and Hindu-nationalist policies established during its 10-year rule. Voting will take place in seven phases over the next six weeks in the world’s most populous country. With the House set to vote on foreign aid on Saturday, Republicans have added a hot-button bill to the funding package that could lead to a nationwide TikTok ban. House lawmakers passed a bill in March that aims to remove the platform from US app stores, but it has become bogged down in the Senate. By including it in the aid package, House Republicans hope to force the Senate to a quick vote on a measure supporters say is necessary to protect Americans’ personal data from the Chinese government. Opponents, including TikTok and a range of civil society groups, have argued the bill risks violating TikTok users’ First Amendment rights. The latest version of the TikTok bill sets out a nine-month timeframe for the app’s Chinese parent, ByteDance, to sell the social media company. If it misses the deadline, TikTok would be banned in the US.
GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced Wednesday she will trigger a motion to vacate against House Speaker Mike Johnson next week to force members to put their position on the record – a move that comes after Democrats have said they will vote to kill the effort and ensure Johnson doesn’t lose his job.
Former President Donald Trump will make his foray back onto the campaign trail Wednesday for the first time since his New York criminal hush money trial began in earnest last month. Trump will spend his one allotted weekday out of the courtroom to host rallies in Wisconsin and Michigan, two critical battleground states he won in 2016 and then lost in 2020.
Nearly two years after the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, Americans remain broadly opposed to the ruling, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS. But in the midst of a presidential campaign where the major candidates offer starkly different approaches to the issue, the country is less united over how best to handle abortion laws, the survey finds.
Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Florida on Wednesday just hours after a controversial ban on most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy has gone into effect in the state, as the Biden campaign ratchets up its strategy of blaming former President Donald Trump for abortion restrictions being adopted across the country.