Catch up on the day’s stories: AI helping injured soldiers, surging home prices, endless cruise
CNN
CNN’s 5 Things PM brings you the stories you might have missed during your busy day.
👋 Welcome to 5 Things PM! How would you like to spend the rest of your life on a cruise ship? I’m in the “no thanks” camp, but if you’re thinking “sign me up!” then you can visit 425 ports in 147 countries and circumnavigate the globe every three and a half years. One plus: The itinerary is designed so it’s always spring or summer wherever you are. Here’s what else you might have missed during your busy day: 1️⃣ Modern healing: Advancements in artificial intelligence and bionics are allowing injured Ukrainian soldiers to return to action. AI or machine learning can help patients who’ve lost limbs regain movement, and in some cases even gain functions they didn’t originally have. ➕ Privacy experts sound the alarm over Microsoft’s latest AI tool. 2️⃣ Aid for children: A YouTube star known as Ms Rachel decided to raise money for kids in Gaza and other war zones. “We should be ashamed of how children around the world are suffering,” she wrote. Ms Rachel was discouraged by some negative comments but managed to collect $50,000 in a matter of hours. Her “Songs for Littles” video series has millions of fans around the world. 3️⃣ Home prices: Houses are getting increasingly unaffordable in cities like San Diego, Chicago and Detroit. First-time buyers are getting hit especially hard. The one bit of good news is that a rise in prices means that existing homeowners are seeing their wealth grow. 4️⃣ Fish oil supplements: They’re a popular way to ward off cardiovascular disease — especially for people over 60 — but a new study questions their effectiveness. They might actually increase the risk of first-time stroke and atrial fibrillation in healthy people.
Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer is expected to announce Thursday that he is retiring after serving more than four decades in Congress.
A top staffer for longtime DC Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton announced Wednesday he plans to run for her non-voting seat in Congress.
Trump administration officials on Wednesday began outlining a makeshift strategy for taking indefinite control of Venezuela’s oil sales, as they race to maintain stability within the nation after overthrowing its leader.
In the wee hours of Saturday, shortly after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was captured, blindfolded and taken to the United States, video emerged of Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela’s interior minister and one of its most popular talk show hosts, surrounded by a group of armed men in Caracas.
President Donald Trump issued a stark threat to defense contracting companies on Wednesday, saying he would seek to limit stock buybacks and executive salaries unless they improve their delivery of weapons systems to the US military hours before saying he’d decided to substantially increase the defense budget.
Temir Porras, who was ousted President Nicolás Maduro’s chief of staff from 2007-2013, tells CNN’s Isa Soares that he cares about the stability of his country and that the leadership in Venezuela is showing “maturity and balance in the movement they’re making.”
GOP Sen. Thom Tillis strongly criticized White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller’s recent comments suggesting the US should take control of Greenland, calling the remarks “amateurish” and “absurd,” and urging President Donald Trump to fire people who give that kind of advice.
It was as telling a moment as any when it comes to the Republican Party’s relationship with President Donald Trump.
While the Trump administration insists the US will run Venezuela, it’s not that simple. Many of President Nicolás Maduro’s loyalists are still in positions of power. CNN’s Rafael Romo reports.
Four days since US President Donald Trump’s most strident military move yet, the gulf grows between his claim that the United States will “run” Venezuela and the reality of a continued dictatorship on the ground.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday he plans to call a special session in April for the Republican-dominated legislature to draw new congressional districts, joining the redistricting arms race.
As part of its claims of widespread fraud in the federal safety net, the Trump administration is halting $10 billion in funding for several programs in five Democrat-led states.
The Trump administration has outlined a number of demands that Venezuela must agree to order to resume oil production, two senior White House officials told CNN.