5 things for April 4: YouTube, tariffs, midterms, oil spill, Martin Luther King Jr.
CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 4/4/2018, 6:23 a.m.
By AJ Willingham, CNN
(CNN) -- It's a somber morning in California, and a somber day around the country: Today is the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Here are some ways you can honor him today, along with everything else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door.
1. YouTube shooting
We're still learning about yesterday afternoon's shooting at the YouTube headquarters near San Francisco. A female shooter opened fire, injuring three people before killing herself with a handgun. The shooter has been identified as 39-year-old Nasim Najafi Aghdam. Police still aren't sure of a motive and say they know "very, very little right now." They say there's no evidence that she knew the victims or that anyone was specifically targeted.
The YouTube headquarters is home to 1,100 employees. After the incident, the tech giant released a statement, saying, "It feels like the entire community of YouTube, and all the employees were victims of this crime."
2. Tariffs
China and the US are escalating their tariff trade-off, and the situation isn't pretty. After China this week enacted tariffs on $3 billion worth of American goods -- in response to President Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum imports -- the US proposed tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods. That includes 1,300 possible imports chosen after a monthslong US investigation into theft of intellectual property and trade secrets. The latest round of tariffs could go into effect next month.
Chinese goods that may be subject to tariffs:
Aerospace and marine equipment: Air combat flying simulators, airplane parts, helicopters, tankers, ferries and fishing boats
Manufacturing: Bookbinding machines, brewery machines, concrete mixers, hand-held blowtorches, milking machines, nuclear reactors, snowplows
Medical supplies: Artificial body parts, artificial teeth, catheters, dental fillings, hearing aids, vaccines for humans and animals
Other: Artillery weapons, cash registers, fire extinguishers, flamethrowers, seismographs
3. Midterm elections
After the Democratic-backed candidate won a seat on Wisconsin's Supreme Court, the state's Republican Gov. Scott Walker fired off a tweet storm warning that the GOP is "at risk of a #BlueWave" in November. Tuesday's victory was the first time a liberal candidate who wasn't an incumbent had won a seat on Wisconsin's seven-member court in 23 years. That, and a major swing in Democrats' favor in a Wisconsin Senate race this year, may be indications of changing political leanings -- after all, Donald Trump and GOP Sen. Ron Johnson won big there in 2016. And it's not just Wisconsin. In Virginia, Oklahoma, Alabama and New Hampshire, seats long held by the GOP have recently flipped to Democrats.
4. Oil spill
Indonesian authorities have declared a state of emergency over an oil spill off the Southeast Asian country's coast. The spill has been spreading for almost a week, wreaking environmental and economic havoc. It's also been blamed for the deaths of four fisherman. Video shows parts of the spill catching fire, and authorities are warning people to keep open flame away. People reportedly were having trouble breathing and experiencing nausea and vomiting since the fires broke out. Indonesian authorities say they aren't sure what caused the spill.
5. Martin Luther King Jr.
On this day in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed on a motel balcony in Memphis. It is a tragic anniversary that conjures up so many questions: 50 years after his death, what does King's legacy mean today? How do his politics speak to our time? What would our country be like if only had he lived?
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TODAY'S NUMBER
10 million
The weight, in pounds, of biowaste (poop) that the mayor of Parrish, Alabama, says has been rotting since January in the rail yard of her small town.
AND FINALLY
Pay no attention to the man on the dumbbells.
All that work, only to get overshadowed by a senior citizen draining free throws.