Today is Monday, April 27, 2020. Let's get caught up.
These non-virus headlines are in the news this morning: South Korea maintains Kim Jong Un health rumors are untrue; Trump sticks with his base in reelection run; and a Tulane hoops star is charged with murder.
Read on for these stories and more.
Top stories
South Korea maintains Kim Jong Un health rumors are untrue
A top South Korean official said his country remains confident there have been no “unusual developments” in North Korea, suggesting that rumors about the possible ill health of leader Kim Jong Un are untrue.
Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul told a closed-door forum in Seoul on Sunday that South Korea has “enough intelligence to confidently say that there are no unusual developments” in rival North Korea that would back up speculation about Kim Jong Un's health, according to his ministry.
People are also reading…
The rumors about Kim’s health began to swirl after he missed the April 15 commemoration of the 108th birthday of his grandfather, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung. Click on the link below for the full story.
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FILE - In this Feb. 28, 2020, file photo President Donald Trump speak at a campaign rally in North Charleston, S.C. Confronting a pandemic that has upended his presidency and threatened his reelection prospects, Trump has focused almost exclusively on tending to his base. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
Trump keeps focus on his base in race for reelection
During times of war and strife, national leaders often aim to unite a broken country and, in the process, broaden their appeal beyond their most loyal supporters. Not President Donald Trump.
Confronting a pandemic that has upended his presidency and threatened his reelection prospects, Trump has focused almost exclusively on tending to his base.
Four years after Trump captured the White House by perfectly threading narrow victories in critical battleground states, he is betting that a relentless focus on his base will yield a repeat performance.
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Tulane's Teshaun Hightower
Tulane basketball player charged with murder in Georgia
A Tulane University basketball player who recently declared for the NBA draft is charged with murder and other counts in a Georgia slaying.
Teshaun Hightower, who led the Green Wave in scoring last season, was booked into jail Saturday on multiple charges, including murder and aggravated assault, Henry County Jail records show.
He was one of six people wanted in connection with an April 8 homicide in Stockbridge, Georgia, Henry County police said in a Facebook post Friday. Police spokesman Capt. Randy Lee told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the victim, Devante Anthony Long, died from gunshot wounds after he was taken to a hospital.
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In other news today ...
- In a trial that starts today, lawyers will argue before a U.S. District Court judge to permanently undo a Florida law that requires felons to first settle their financial debts before regaining the right to vote under Amendment 4.
- Police say a shooting in Baton Rouge has left a police officer dead and a second officer wounded and fighting for his life. Police Chief Murphy Paul says the two were shot while investigating reports of gunfire. A suspect is in custody.
- A man was arrested in connection with a drive-by shooting at the Louisiana estate of “Duck Dynasty” star Willie Robertson. Robertson said the family was “pretty shook up” after one of the eight to 10 bullets he said were fired at the residence went through the bedroom window of a home where his son John Luke Robertson lives with his wife and infant child.
- Josh Groban, Nathan Lane and Jake Gyllenhaal honored composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim on Sunday with an online 90th birthday concert that was stuffed with his songs, but delayed by technical difficulties.
- The NFL Draft ended up being must-see TV as the first significant live sporting event since the coronavirus pandemic ground everything to a halt. The draft averaged a record 8.4 million viewers over all three days, according to the NFL and Nielsen. The previous high was 6.2 million last year.
Click on the links below for full versions of these stories and scroll further for trending stories, something fun and today's history and birthdays.
Trending today
Something fun
The Beatles YouTube page invited fans from across the globe to join a sing-a-long watch party for the band's 1968 movie "The Beatles: Yellow Submarine."
Image of the day
A Somali man protests against the killing Friday night of at least one civilian during the overnight curfew, which is intended to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, on a street in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia Saturday, April 25, 2020. A police officer in Somalia's capital has been arrested in the fatal shooting of at least one civilian while enforcing coronavirus restrictions, a fellow police officer said, sparking protests that continued Saturday with crowds of angry young men burning tires and demanding justice.
On this date
Here's a look back at sports happenings on this date in history, April 27:
