April 19 top stories
It is April 19. Here are today’s top stories.
Gap between Caitlin Clark’s WNBA salary and her male counterparts’ draw outrage
College basketball superstar Caitlin Clark is set to soar to new heights in the WNBA – but her rookie contract means she will pocket a fraction of the millions her male counterparts have made on the court.
Clark, the University of Iowa legend who has already made history as NCAA Division I basketball’s overall top scorer, sealed a contract with the Indiana Fever after she was selected as the No.1 overall pick in the WNBA draft Monday.
Clark will pocket $338,056 over four years under her contract with the Indiana Fever. In contrast, last year’s No. 1 NBA draft pick secured a $55 million four-year contract.
WNBA draft picks No. 2-4 players will make the same pay as Clark.
Though Clark is likely to rake in much more through endorsements and sponsorships, outrage simmered on social media over the glaring salary disparity between the WNBA and the NBA. Male athletes also chimed in support of female athletes.
Hoda Kotb, host of NBC’s “TODAY” show, said of the issue Tuesday morning: “They’ve already sold out games. She had the highest ratings, her teams and the Final Four had the highest ratings – higher than the World Series, higher than the NBA.”
15 Kennedy family members endorse Biden for president
Fifteen members of the Kennedy family appeared en masse and in force to endorse President Biden rather than Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.), who is running as a third-party candidate, at a campaign event in Philadelphia on Thursday.
Democrats are actively attacking third-party candidates like Kennedy, over fears he could hurt President Biden’s chances for re-election.
Kerry Kennedy, one of six siblings of the controversial candidate, RFK Jr., on stage at the Biden campaign event, called President Biden “my hero” and said would have pleased her father, the late former U.S. attorney general Robert F. Kennedy and late uncle and president John F. Kennedy. She said: “President Biden has been a champion for all the rights and freedoms that my father and uncle stood for.”
Biden responded saying it was “an incredible honor” to have their support.
RFK Jr. acknowledged his family’s position in a tweet posted before the Biden campaign event – “I hear some of my family will be endorsing President Biden today. I am pleased they are politically active – it’s a family tradition. We are divided in our opinions but united in our love for each other.”
Supreme Court makes it easier to sue employers for job transfers
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday made it easier for workers to bring employment discrimination suits over job transfers based on sex, race, religion or national origin.
The case was brought by Jatonya Clayborn Muldrow who claimed she was transferred out of a job as a plainclothes officer into a worse role at the St. Louis Police Department – she lost her FBI status and the car that came with it, had to put on a uniform and work nights and weekends instead of the Monday-through-Friday workweek she had worked – so that a man could take her place.
Though her pay and rank remained the same and because she didn’t suffer a hit to her pay, lower courts said there was no significant harm to merit remedy from a court.
But on Wednesday the Supreme Court disagreed, saying that you only need to show some kind of harm and laying out a more stringent test for lower courts to use in determining whether a discrimination claim based on altered conditions of employment can proceed to trial.
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Over 100 pro-Palestinian protestors at Columbia University arrested
Police arrested more than 100 people at Columbia University on Thursday at a makeshift encampment set up by pro-Palestinian protestors on the university’s main lawn.
Columbia University President Minouche Shafik warned the students to leave the encampment by 9 p.m. Wednesday.
Next day, Shafik wrote in a statement: “I have determined that the encampment and related disruptions pose a clear and present danger to the substantial functioning of the University. With great regret, we request the NYPD’s help to remove these individuals.”
NYPD officers in riot gear started walking to the location, where they closed the street for seven correctional buses, at around 12:30 p.m. Officers then removed students from the encampment. The vast majority of the 108 students arrested were given summonses for trespassing.
Shafik said all university students participating in the encampment are being suspended, including Isra Hirsi, the daughter of Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar. But students have vowed to stay, no matter the consequences until their demands are met.
See Alex’s latest update on the Iran-Israel conflict.
Israel strikes Iran
Thanks, Callie. Israel launched an airstrike in Iran early morning on Friday local time. There were explosions near an Iranian Air Force base in the center of Iran.
Israel’s airstrike appears to be a response to Iran’s massive drone and missile attack against Israel last weekend.
The Biden administration has warned Israel that an escalation with Iran wouldn’t serve U.S. or Israeli interests.
The U.N. has urged both sides to cease the dangerous cycle of retaliation in the Middle East.
Thanks for that update. That is all the top stories for this week. Hope you have a nice weekend and stay with the light!
Gap between Caitlin Clark’s WNBA salary and her male counterparts’ draw outrage
15 Kennedy family members endorse Biden for president
https://www.axios.com/2024/04/18/kennedy-family-biden-endorsement-rfk-jr
Supreme Court makes it easier to sue employers for job transfers
Over 100 pro-Palestinian protestors at Columbia University arrested
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/18/nyregion/columbia-university-protests-antisemitism.html
Israel strikes Iran
https://www.axios.com/2024/04/19/iran-explosions-attack
https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-iran-gaza-conflict-news-04-19-24/index.html