10 things you need to know today: April 1, 2016
Leaders discuss North Korea at nuclear summit, Trump and RNC leader talk party unity, and more
- 1. Obama and other leaders discuss North Korea at nuclear summit
- 2. Trump and RNC leader discuss uniting GOP
- 3. Kolkata police open culpable homicide case against collapsed overpass builder
- 4. U.N. tribunal clears Serb ultranationalist on war crime charges
- 5. Anbang drops out of bidding war with Marriott over Starwood
- 6. Tesla takes 115,000 Model 3 orders before unveiling
- 7. New York joins California in push for $15 minimum wage
- 8. South African court tells Jacob Zuma to reimburse state for home repairs
- 9. State Department apologizes for controversial travel advice
- 10. Renowned architect Zaha Hadid dies at 65
1. Obama and other leaders discuss North Korea at nuclear summit
President Obama is meeting with leaders from more than 50 countries in Washington, D.C., for two days of discussions on reducing the threat from nuclear weapons. The fourth such Nuclear Security Summit is not expected to produce a major breakthrough, because Russian President Vladimir Putin stayed away. The U.S., South Korea, and Japan pledged Thursday to step up cooperation to rein in North Korea's nuclear program. Pyongyang fired a missile into the sea on Friday, the latest in a series of provocative moves.
The New York Times The Washington Post
2. Trump and RNC leader discuss uniting GOP
Donald Trump met in Washington on Thursday with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus to discuss convention rules and uniting the GOP. The meeting came days after Trump said the RNC was treating him "very unfairly." Trump, though the GOP frontrunner, could fall short of the 1,237 delegates needed to win the party's presidential nomination at its July convention, and this week he reversed a pledge to support the party's nominee. He said he and Priebus had a "nice meeting."
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3. Kolkata police open culpable homicide case against collapsed overpass builder
Police in India opened a culpable homicide case on Friday against five officials from IVRCL Infrastructure Co., the construction company that was building an overpass that collapsed in a crowded Kolkata neighborhood on Thursday. At least 24 people were killed and more than 80 injured. Rescuers worked through the night. Sixty-seven survivors were pulled from the wreckage, but disaster response officials said Friday there was "no possibility" of finding more survivors.
4. U.N. tribunal clears Serb ultranationalist on war crime charges
A United Nations war crimes tribunal on Thursday acquitted ultranationalist politician Vojislav Seselj on murder and torture charges for his support of Serb paramilitaries in the Balkans in the early 1990s. The three-judge panel said there was not enough evidence directly implicating him in atrocities. The two-to-one ruling could be appealed, but it represents a rare victory for a Serb defendant charged with committing war crimes during the region's conflict.
5. Anbang drops out of bidding war with Marriott over Starwood
China's Anbang Insurance Group Co. unexpectedly dropped its $15 billion bid for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide on Thursday due to "market considerations," clearing the way for rival suitor Marriott International to buy the hotel chain. Marriott upped its offer from $12.2 billion to more than $14 billion during the bidding war. If Anbang had prevailed, it would have been the largest-ever Chinese acquisition of a U.S. company. A Marriott takeover of Starwood, which owns Sheraton, Westin, and other brands, would create the world's biggest hotel chain.
The Associated Press The Wall Street Journal
6. Tesla takes 115,000 Model 3 orders before unveiling
Tesla unveiled its Model 3 on Thursday evening, after would-be customers lined up outside showrooms in the U.S. and Europe to plunk down $1,000 deposits and place orders. The Model 3, priced starting at $35,000, is the electric-car maker's "mass market, affordable car," Tesla CEO Elon Musk said. Previous Tesla vehicles have sold for $69,000 to more than $100,000. Tesla took more than 115,000 orders before the unveiling. The Model 3, which can go 215 miles on a single charge, is scheduled for release in 2017.
7. New York joins California in push for $15 minimum wage
A California bill seeking to raise the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour cleared its biggest legislative hurdle on Thursday, winning approval in the state Assembly. Democrats pushed the bill through in a 48 to 26 vote, with no Republicans voting in favor of it. Opponents said the proposal was rushed through too quickly. Gov. Jerry Brown (D) only unveiled it on Monday. Critics say the wage hikes would cause job losses. Later Thursday, New York lawmakers also agreed to start raising the minimum wage to $15 under a budget deal. The New York deal would bring the minimum wage to $15 in New York City by the end of 2018, with slower increases elsewhere in the state.
Los Angeles Times The New York Times
8. South African court tells Jacob Zuma to reimburse state for home repairs
South Africa's highest court on Thursday ruled that the country's president, Jacob Zuma, violated the constitution by refusing to pay back millions of dollars in government money that he spent upgrading his homestead. The improvements included a helipad, a visitor center, a swimming pool, an amphitheater, and a chicken coop. Zuma said there was nothing wrong with making taxpayers pay because the work was necessary for his safety. The Constitutional Court's 11 justices unanimously disagreed with him.
9. State Department apologizes for controversial travel advice
The State Department issued an apology on Thursday after a swift backlash over a tweet under an official account aiming to warn people about bad spring break vacation practices. The message posted by the State Department's Bureau of Consular affairs, which provides travel advice for Americans going abroad, said: "Not a '10' in the US? Then not a 10 overseas. Beware of being lured into buying expensive drinks or worse — being robbed. #springbreakingbadly" Critics slammed the State Department, calling the tweet sexist and insulting.
10. Renowned architect Zaha Hadid dies at 65
Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid died Thursday of a heart attack at a Miami hospital where she was being treated for bronchitis. She was 65. Hadid's work has been commissioned all over the world, from China and Baku to Rome and London, where she built the 2012 Olympic Aquatics Centre. In 2004, Hadid became the first woman to win the Pritzker Prize, architecture's highest honor. This year she became the first woman to receive the Royal Institute of British Architects Gold Medal.
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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
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