Start your week smart: Fani Willis, Russian election, Realtor commissions, Pence endorsement, arrest in poisoning
CNN
CNN’s 5 Things brings you all the news you need to start your week smart.
The public absence of Catherine, Princess of Wales, has morphed into an international punchline with amateur detectives combining real concern with outlandish conspiracy. Here’s what else you need to know to Start Your Week Smart. • Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis can stay on and prosecute the Georgia 2020 election interference racketeering case against former President Donald Trump and 14 of his co-defendants, a judge ruled. Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor with whom she engaged in a romantic relationship, resigned from the case.• On the third and final day of voting in Russia’s presidential election, lines at some polling stations grew after supporters of the deceased opposition leader Alexey Navalny called on people to protest the election. A wave of Ukrainian drones also targeted various parts of the country, including Moscow.• The 6% commission, a standard in home purchases, is no more. In a sweeping move expected to reduce the cost of buying and selling a home, the National Association of Realtors announced a settlement with homesellers, agreeing to end landmark antitrust lawsuits by paying $418 million in damages and eliminating rules on commissions.• Former Vice President Mike Pence said he “cannot in good conscience” endorse presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, a stunning repudiation of his former running mate and the president he served with.• Blaise Taylor, an analyst at Texas A&M and son of the associate head coach, was arrested after being indicted in the 2023 deaths of his girlfriend and her unborn child, authorities said. Taylor is a former college football star at Arkansas State. TuesdaySeveral states are holding primary elections, including Arizona, Florida and Illinois. The primary for the special election to fill former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s seat is also on Tuesday. He represented California’s 20th Congressional District and announced last year that he was stepping down. WednesdayThe Fed will announce a decision on interest rates. Federal Reserve officials said the economy is likely to soften this year, allowing the central bank to start cutting rates. The US economy added 275,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate rose to 3.9%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. ThursdayThe owners of a Colorado funeral home accused of improperly storing bodies will be in court for an arraignment hearing. In January, a judge determined there was probable cause for multiple counts against Jon and Carie Hallford, including money laundering, forgery and abuse of a corpse. An investigation began after a foul odor was reported at the funeral home in Penrose.
For years, President Donald Trump has offered crass and insensitive comments about people who died – especially his foes. That reached a new level on Saturday.
Robert Mueller, the former FBI director who led the historic probe into alleged collusion between Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and the Russian government, has died. He was 81.
Marlon Batres is not OK. The assistant principal says he is in constant fear for his students, staff and even himself after federal agents swarmed the streets.
To hear some prominent MAGA voices tell it, the marathon Senate debate over the “SAVE America Act” is an existential one for the Republican Party. But the urgency to pass the legislation is not felt by Americans more widely.
In the days after winning the Democratic nomination for Senate, Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton spoke to the two women with whom she could make history next year.
This month, terrorist suspects in the alleged bomb-throwing in New York City and the synagogue attack in Michigan visited Phantom Fireworks stores shortly beforehand.
In near-daily briefings with top military officials at the White House, President Donald Trump has reviewed options that include sending American troops into Iran.
With his Atlantic City casinos in duress in the 1990s, Donald Trump saw a potential lifeline in sports betting and aggressively campaigned to legalize it in New Jersey. But when state powerbrokers shut him down, Trump vowed that he’d eventually find a way to win.
Unpaid Transportation Security Administration workers are struggling to stay afloat – and on the job – amid a partial government shutdown that has frustrated travelers inching through security lines that stretch for hours, with wait times only expected to worsen this weekend.
As Havana calls on Cuban exiles to invest in the island, many in the United States are rejecting the offer outright, viewing it as a desperate move by a government under mounting pressure.
After weeks of stalemate — and mounting airport delays nationwide — leaders in both parties are scrambling to work out a deal to reopen the Department of Homeland Security, though it remains unclear if a compromise is in reach.
Trump administration officials are making a desperate push to secure every available barrel of oil amid a worsening energy crisis — even if it means lifting sanctions on the very country that they’re fighting against.
A federal judge on Friday voided various parts of a restrictive press policy rolled out by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last year, ruling that they trampled on the constitutional rights of reporters who seek to cover the US military from within its sprawling headquarters.