10 things you need to know today: April 28, 2019

(Image credit: SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP/Getty Images)

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1. Police detain suspected San Diego synagogue shooter
2. Trump hosts rally in Wisconsin
3. Crane collapses, kills 4 in Seattle
4. Oliver North announces he will not serve 2nd term as NRA board president
5. Spain heads to the polls for general elections
6. Sri Lanka bans Islamist groups following Easter attacks
7. Ron Chernow delivers keynote address at White House Correspondents' Dinner
8. Iran hints at leaving nuclear weapons treaty
9. Protest leaders, military council reach early stage agreement in Sudan
10. NBA conference semifinals set

published 28 April 2019

1. Police detain suspected San Diego synagogue shooter

Police have detained a San Diego man in connection with a shooting at a synagogue in Poway, California on Saturday. One person was killed as a result of the violence, which is being investigated as a possible hate crime. Three more people were injured, but they are reportedly all in stable condition in area hospitals. Authorities identified the suspect as 19-year-old John Earnest, who alerted police to his own location during the shooting. Reports say a document posted online by someone with the same name contains anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim rhetoric and also claims responsibility for setting fire to a nearby mosque in March. Police are also investigating Earnest for that incident.

President Trump held his third "Make America Great Again" rally of the year in Green Bay, Wisconsin on Saturday evening, urging his supporters to help keep the Trump administration in the White House for a second term. Wisconsin is expected to be a key battleground state in the 2020 general election — the state was the site of tightly contested race in 2016 that ultimately helped vault Trump into the Oval Office. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders joined Trump at the rally, which was held on the same evening as the White House Correspondents' Dinner. During his speech, Trump denounced Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation and bragged about a proposal to send migrants apprehended near the southern border to "sanctuary cities."

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A tower crane fell from the roof of a Seattle building on Saturday, landing on six cars and killing four people, including two workers who were in the crane. Four other people were injured, none of whom suffered life-threatening injuries. The crane was on top of the South Lake Union building and was involved in construction of Seattle's new Google campus. Washington state's Department of Labor and Industries is investigating the cause of the accident, though several witnesses and the National Weather Service reported a storm squall with high-powered winds moving through the area at the time. The incident was the first fatal tower crane collapse in the Seattle area in more than a dozen years.

Oliver North announced on Saturday he will not serve a second term as the board president of the National Rifle Association. In a letter sent to NRA board members Thursday, the organization's chief executive Wayne LaPierre claimed North was trying to extort him into resigning. LaPierre said North told him the NRA's longtime advertising firm, Ackerman McQueen, would send a letter to the board through North that would be "bad" for LaPierre, who said he refused to comply with the threat. North sent his own letter to the board in response, writing that his actions were "for the good of the NRA," but it appears LaPierre ultimately won out. The power struggle reportedly stemmed in part from a dispute between the NRA and Ackerman McQueen.

Spaniards are voting on Sunday in the country's third general election in less than four years. Prime Minister and Socialist Party Leader Pedro Sánchez called for the vote after failing to secure support in Congress for his 2019 budget plan. Spain's political outlook, El País writes, is more fractured than ever and the outcome will likely be determined by how many "political abstainers" decide to cast a ballot. Sánchez is reportedly expected to win re-election, but is also expected to fall short of a majority government. Vox, Spain's rising far-right party, could also play a significant factor as it looks to continue stealing votes from the conservative Popular Party. Key issues discussed during the campaign were national identity, gender equality, and the future of Catalonia.

Using emergency powers, Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena on Saturday banned two Islamist groups in the country, National Tawheed Jamath and Jamathei Millathu Ibrahim, following a series of bombings which targeted worshippers at Easter services last Sunday. The country remains on high alert. Sri Lankan authorities suspect National Tawheed Jamath was behind the attacks, though the group has not claimed responsibility. Less is reportedly known about Jamathei Millathu Ibrahim, but the group is also believed to have played a role in the attacks. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility, but there are no proven links between the groups.

The White House Correspondents' Association broke with tradition this year when they asked a non-comedian to deliver the keynote address at the White House Correspondents' dinner on Saturday evening. Historian Ron Chernow, who wrote the biography that inspired the hit Broadway musical Hamilton, addressed the crowd instead. While the event was reportedly more serious than in years past, The Washington Post described Chernow's speech as "funny" and noted he managed to include "quite a few digs" at President Trump as he explored past administrations' relationships with the press. The president, however, was not in the audience. He instead was in Green Bay, Wisconsin at a rally for Trump supporters.

In response to tightening United States-engineered sanctions, Iran said on Sunday it could leave a treaty against the spread of nuclear weapons. "The Islamic Republic's choices are numerous, and the country's authorities are considering them," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reportedly said. He reportedly listed leaving the Non-Proliferation Treaty, an international agreement meant to halt the the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, as one of those options. Iran has been a party to the treaty since 1970, but tensions between Tehran and Washington have risen steadily since the Trump administration withdrew last year from a separate international nuclear deal with Iran agreed upon in 2015. The White House has also recently announced it will increase sanctions on Iran and designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization.

In a meeting on Saturday, Sudan's military council and the opposition alliance, which staged a series of protests ultimately resulting in the removal of longtime President Omar Al-Bashir from office in April, have agreed to terms on a joint governing council to run the country until the next election. The protest leaders had originally demanded immediate transition to civilian rule, which the military refused to grant during what it considered a transition period. While the agreement is seen as a major breakthrough, there are reportedly still details that must be ironed out and discord remains. The opposition is still staging protests in the country's capital, Khartoum, which turned violent on Saturday, leaving 65 injured.

After the Denver Nuggets defeated the San Antonio Spurs, 90-86, in Game 7 of their first round series in Denver on Saturday, the NBA's conference semifinals are set. The Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers actually played the first game of their series in Toronto on Saturday evening, with the Raptors winning 108-95 behind a dazzling 45-point performance from star Kawhi Leonard. The Eastern conference's top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks will host the Boston Celtics at 1 p.m. on Sunday on ABC in the series opener, while the Houston Rockets travel to Oakland to take on the West's top-seeded Golden State Warriors at 3:30 p.m. also on ABC. Denver will play the Portland Trail Blazers in a series that tips off Monday at 10:30 p.m. on TNT.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.