5 things to know for March 21: Gaza, Campaign cash, Royal family, Interest rates, Microchips
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Nearly half of American adults have high blood pressure, the CDC says, but a few key lifestyle habits can help reduce the odds of being diagnosed with the condition. Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. Negotiations to secure a ceasefire tied to the release of hostages held by Hamas are “getting closer” to a deal, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday. Hamas’ latest set of demands includes the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for 700 to 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the proposal as “ridiculous” and “unrealistic” but said talks would continue. One of the toughest sticking points may be the Hamas demands that after the initial exchange of hostages and prisoners, Israel agrees to a permanent ceasefire and a withdrawal of the Israeli military from Gaza. Israel’s leaders, however, remain firm on carrying out a ground offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians have sought refuge. Former President Donald Trump’s campaign saw an uptick in donations in February but failed to match the accelerating fundraising pace set by President Joe Biden, new filings show. Trump’s campaign and joint fundraising committee together brought in $20.3 million in February and entered this month with a combined $41.9 million cash on hand, a Trump campaign official told CNN. Those amounts trail far behind the $53 million that Biden and Democrats previously announced raising in February and the massive $155 million in available cash that the president’s team said it had amassed with its affiliated committees. Trump’s leadership PAC also spent more on legal expenses than it took in last month — underscoring the steep financial toll of the numerous legal cases the former president faces. Another official photograph involving Catherine, Princess of Wales was digitally manipulated, according to a leading photo agency, sparking a second royal retouching controversy. Getty Images said a photo of Queen Elizabeth with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, taken by Kate and released by Kensington Palace last year, was “digitally enhanced,” and a CNN analysis found signs of alteration in as many as 19 places. Kate previously apologized for editing an image that she shared on Mother’s Day, but did not explain why she altered her photographs, nor why Kensington Palace didn’t disclose the changes to photo agencies. The newly unearthed inconsistencies put Kate at the center of yet more questions. However, some concerns over her health have eased after Kate was spotted at a farm shop with her husband Prince William over the weekend. Stocks closed at all-time highs Wednesday after the Federal Reserve held its key interest rate steady for the fifth consecutive meeting and suggested it still expects to cut rates three times this year. The Fed’s aggressive rate hikes over the past two years have brought down inflation that has crushed many Americans, but Fed Chair Jerome Powell said he doesn’t believe rates should be trimmed just yet. Central bankers are facing the difficult task of balancing the risk of cutting too soon with the risk of cutting too late — both of which come with consequences. Even though inflation is above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target and officials anticipate it will take until 2026 to get there, the central bank is sticking to its earlier prediction of three rate cuts this year. Wall Street is betting that the first rate cut will come in the summer.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric announced a state of catastrophe in two regions in the south of the country early on Sunday as raging wildfires forced at least 20,000 people to evacuate and left at least 16 people dead.
The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers to prepare for deployment to Minnesota, according to defense officials cited by The Washington Post and ABC News, as Minnesota officials have also mobilized the National Guard.
The Democratic Party has a deeply motivated base and a clear advantage on the generic congressional ballot ahead of this fall’s midterms despite dismal impressions of its current leaders in Congress, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS.
American Battleground: Demolition Man – How Trump’s first year back is changing the nation’s capital
On a breezy autumn morning beneath skittering clouds, the demolition crew strikes quicker than almost anyone expected. Working seemingly under the sole command of President Donald J. Trump, who has long fashioned himself the Builder-in-Chief, they take only days to reduce the 123-year-old East Wing of the White House to rubble. No drawn-out debate. No approval by independent preservationists.
What was once a place of worship filled with precious objects packed with meaning now sits in heavy layers of dark soot, burdened by the pungent smell of smoke after someone set fire to Mississippi’s largest and oldest synagogue.
Dos semanas después del derrocamiento de Nicolás Maduro, los ciudadanos venezolanos que viven en diferentes países de la región siguen con atención lo que ocurre en la tierra que los vio nacer. Jimena de la Quintana visitó Gamarra, el emporio comercial más grande de Perú y uno de los más importantes de Latinoamérica, que es fuente de empleo de muchos venezolanos. ¿En qué condiciones regresarían esos migrantes venezolanos a su país? ¿Para ellos es suficiente que Maduro ya no esté en el poder?
The US on Saturday announced it conducted a lethal strike in Syria on an al Qaeda affiliate leader it says had direct ties to an ISIS attacker who killed three Americans in early December.
President Donald Trump has leaned into his presidential clemency powers much more aggressively in his second term –in fact, he’s pardoned one woman twice.
The Pentagon has ordered the military command that oversees new recruits’ enlistment to hold off on initial training for people who are HIV-positive and recently enlisted in the military, CNN has learned, saying that a decision on reinstating a Defense Department ban on their joining the military was “expected in the next few weeks.”
Democrat Abigail Spanberger was sworn into office Saturday as Virginia’s first female governor, amid a cold drizzle outside the state Capitol after centuries of men holding the commonwealth’s top office.
The European Union and the Mercosur bloc of South American countries formally signed a long-sought landmark free trade agreement on Saturday, capping more than a quarter-century of torturous negotiations to strengthen commercial ties in the face of rising protectionism and trade tensions around the world.
Judge restricts federal response to Minnesota protests amid outrage over immigration agents’ tactics
Immigration agents carrying out a sweeping operation in Minnesota can’t deploy certain crowd-control measures against peaceful protesters or arrest them, a federal judge ruled Friday. The order follows widespread outrage over a fatal shooting, reports of US citizens getting detained and Minnesotans getting asked for documents for no clear reason.
Celebrities and laypeople are sharing fond memories from 2016, the era of face “baking” and #ImWithHer, when some of the biggest national dramas pitted Kim Kardashian against Taylor Swift.