Monday, April 25 top stories
It is Monday, April 25. Hope your weekend was good. Here are today’s top stories.
U.S. Secretaries of Defense and State visit Zelenskyy
U.S. Defense Sec. Austin and U.S. Sec. of State Blinken visited Ukraine to meet with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Sunday.
Austin said the three had a three-hour meeting. Austin said he views Ukraine as having the right mindset of wanting to win the war against Russia and that the U.S. will do everything possible to provide Ukrainian troops with equipment and support.
Twitter nearing deal on sale to Elon Musk
News reports this morning said Twitter is nearing a deal to sell itself to Elon Musk. A deal could be announced today.
Three weeks ago Musk purchased over 9% of Twitter’s shares and became the company’s largest stockholder. Last week Musk said he’s lined up $46.5 billion of financing to purchase the rest of the shares to own the entire company. Now it may happen.
Musk said three weeks ago that he believes Twitter needs to become a private company so it can be a platform for free speech around the globe. If Twitter sells itself, Musk will reach a new level of power — as he is already the world’s richest man with an estimated net worth of around $273 billion and is the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX.
A big question is on whether Musk would allow Donald Trump back on Twitter if he purchases it.
[UPDATE: This afternoon, Elon Musk bought Twitter in a deal worth $44 billion.]
Man sets himself on fire outside of Supreme Court
On Friday evening, a man set himself on fire outside of the U.S. Supreme Court. The man was airlifted to a hospital but passed away. His name was Wynn Bruce (50) and he was from Boulder, Colorado.
A colleague of his said he was a Buddhist and lit himself on fire on Earth Day as a form of compassion to bring attention to climate crisis.
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Macron wins reelection in France
French President Emmanuel Macron was reelected to a second term on Sunday night. Macron defeated far-right opponent Marine Le Pen for a second time.
Macron won with 58% of the vote and will have another five years as president.
U.S. President Biden tweeted a congratulatory message to Macron and said “France is our oldest ally and a key partner in addressing global challenges” including Ukraine.
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5.1 World’s oldest person passes away at 119
The world’s oldest person, a Japanese named Kane Tanaka, has passed away at the age of 119. She was born in 1903. When she was younger, she ran various businesses, married, and had five children.
Tanaka was recognized by Guinness World Records as the oldest person alive in 2019. Someone asked her at that time what moment was the happiest in her life and she responded, “Now.”
Guinness said they are now investigating who now has the title of the world’s oldest living person.
Supreme Court case on coach’s prayers
The Supreme Court is hearing arguments today on a case about whether it is constitutional for a public school sports coach to pray on the field after games.
The case is about Joseph Kennedy, a former high school football coach in Washington, who was fired in 2015 for refusing to stop kneeling and praying after games. School officials said the coach violated the Constitution’s prohibition against government endorsement of religion.
Kennedy sued over his termination, saying he has constitutional rights of religious liberty and free speech.
Analysts say this case blurs the lines between religious liberty and the government endorsing a religion, and justices must consider Kennedy’s significant influence as a coach versus his ability to express his personal faith.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/person-attempted-set-fire-supreme-court-building-sources/story?id=84253064
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/24/us/politics/climate-activist-self-immolation-supreme-court.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/france-election-2022-emmanuel-macron-victory-marine-le-pen/
https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/25/tech/elon-musk-twitter-sale-agreement/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/24/technology/twitter-board-elon-musk.html
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/10-found-dead-after-japan-tour-boat-with-26-aboard-sinks
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kane-tanaka-worlds-oldest-person-dies-age-119-years-old-japan/
https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/25/asia/worlds-oldest-dies-scli-intl/index.html