5 things to know for April 23: New Jersey wildfire, Himalayas attack, State Department, Economy, Fertility rate

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The Environmental Protection Agency fired around 280 staffers and reassigned around 175 others — on Earth Day. The employees were tasked with ensuring that federal policies, grants and initiatives protected underserved communities from disproportionately experiencing negative health and environmental impacts from pollution and climate change. Last month, the Trump administration also announced plans to roll back major climate policies that limited pollution from vehicles and power plants. Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. A raging wildfire in southern New Jersey expanded to 8,500 acres on Tuesday. According to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, the blaze started in the Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area of Ocean County yesterday morning. The fire has already burned several businesses and is currently threatening another 1,320 structures. As thick, black clouds filled the sky, worsening air quality, authorities ordered more than 3,000 evacuations. Numerous roads were closed, including a portion of the Garden State Parkway, the state’s main artery. Power outages have also left more than 25,000 customers in the dark. So far, only 10% of the wildfire has been contained. The cause of the blaze is under investigation. The Indian Army corps is searching for the people responsible for a deadly attack on sightseers in the disputed Himalayan region of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday. Gunmen killed at least 26 people and injured a dozen others in the popular tourist destination of Pahalgam, which is located in the mountainous Anantnag district. It was one of the region’s worst assaults on civilians in years. A little-known militant group called The Resistance Front claimed responsibility for the attack, but it did not provide evidence and CNN could not independently verify its claim. By Tuesday night, tourists were scrambling to leave the region, prompting airlines to add extra flights. Outraged residents also took to the streets to protest the shooting and call for an end to terrorism. A reorganization of the State Department will eliminate 132 domestic offices and cut around 700 federal workers. Secretary of State Marco Rubio rolled out the first stage of the effort Tuesday, according to a senior State Department official and documents obtained by CNN. The agency says the changes are necessary to maintain its efficacy and relevance, with a senior official calling the current department organization chart “bloated.” The changes are in addition to the Trump administration’s efforts to dissolve the US Agency for International Development. USAID, which has historically functioned as an independent unit with oversight from Congress and the State Department, fought poverty and hunger around the world until Rubio was appointed its new administrator. Now, nearly all foreign aid has been frozen, thousands of USAID employees are out of work and billions of dollars in contracts have been canceled. Fewer than 900 USAID employees remain on staff. The International Monetary Fund issued a stark warning about President Trump’s unpredictable tariff policy and countermeasures by American trading partners: If the situation persists, US prosperity will suffer — and so will the global economy. In its latest World Economic Outlook report, the IMF forecast that global economic growth will slow to 2.8% in 2025, down from 3.3% last year and significantly below the historical average. The US economy is only expected to grow 1.8% this year, compared with 2.8% in 2024. The IMF isn’t the only one sounding alarm bells. US financial markets are also revealing how the escalating trade war is making America an unsafe place to invest. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 9.1% in the first three weeks of April, the index’s worst performance for any April since 1932.