Wade resigned from the Georgia Trump case
Nathan Wade resigned today from his post as special prosecutor in the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump. The move came after an Atlanta judge told Fani Willis, Wade’s boss and former romantic partner, that she and her office could keep the case only if Wade stepped down.
In a pivotal ruling, Judge Scott McAfee said that the romance between Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, and Wade, the lawyer she hired to manage the case, created an “appearance of impropriety,” but he said there was insufficient proof of a conflict of interest and he declined to disqualify her.
With delays mounting, the case against Trump and 14 co-defendants, which is related to efforts to undo Trump’s election loss in Georgia in 2020, is unlikely to come to trial before the November election. Willis emerges from weeks of embarrassing hearings and headlines with a bruised reputation that could color the views of a future jury, making convictions more difficult.
Another Trump trial: A New York judge delayed Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan until at least mid-April, postponing the only one of his four criminal cases that appeared set to begin.
A powerful realtor group agreed to slash commissions
American homeowners could see a significant drop in the cost of selling their homes after a real estate group agreed to eliminate a bedrock of the industry: the standard 6 percent sales commission.
The National Association of Realtors agreed to settle a series of lawsuits by paying $418 million in damages and by eliminating its rules on commissions. The deal, which still needs a federal court’s approval, would end a multitude of legal claims from home sellers who argued that the rules forced them to pay excessive fees.
Real estate agents will now most likely be forced to lower their commissions to compete for business. Housing experts said the deal could cause one of the most significant jolts in the U.S. housing market in 100 years.
Russians began voting to re-elect Putin
The presidential election in Russia, which began today and lasts through Sunday, features the trappings of a horse race but Vladimir Putin is assured of being declared the landslide victor.
“The goal is to bestow a new degree of public legitimacy on Putin for his fifth term,” said Anton Troianovski, our Moscow bureau chief. “And, very importantly, to portray Putin’s invasion of Ukraine as having overwhelming public support.”
On the ground, many Russians accept the Kremlin’s triumphant narrative, even as Putin has become a pariah in much of the West and the Russian army suffers staggering losses in Ukraine.
Violence hits another aid convoy in Gaza
Another convoy bringing aid to northern Gaza resulted in disaster yesterday when Palestinians were killed and wounded in an attack surrounding the trucks, according to Gazan health officials and the Israeli military.
The Gazan Health Ministry said that at least 20 people had been killed and more than 100 injured, and accused Israeli forces of carrying out a “targeted” attack. The Israeli military blamed Palestinian gunmen. It was not immediately possible to verify either group’s accounts.
Late last month, hundreds of people were killed or injured amid a stampede and Israeli gunfire when a convoy of trucks tried to deliver aid in Gaza City.
Will clouds obscure your eclipse?
April 8 will be the last opportunity to see a total solar eclipse in the U.S. or Canada until 2044. But if clouds fill the sky as the moon passes between the sun and the earth, your chance to see the spectacle could be lost.
While it’s still too early to know what the weather will be in your area that day, we have some tools to help you get ready. If you know where you’ll be, enter it into our forecast tool to see maps of the average cloud cover in the past. If you’re not sure where to catch the eclipse, here are some ideas to get you started.
A ‘masterfully absurd’ podcast
“Valley Heat,” a deliriously deadpan fictional podcast about the Rancho Equestrian District of Burbank, Calif., delights in ludicrous lore and nonsense. Our comedy critic Jason Zinoman writes that the “masterfully absurd podcast” evokes the dry humor of Mike Judge and the silly song parodies of “Flight of the Conchords,” but it “remains under the radar, probably for the same reason it’s such an exciting find.”
1,000 five-letter words, and counting
Wordle published its 1,000th puzzle today. To some, it feels as if there have been more because the daily brain teaser has “become such a deeply ingrained habit that I can’t remember what I did before,” as my colleague, Dodai Stewart, wrote.
She offers her review of the day’s puzzle (spoiler alert) and some advice to those having trouble. We also have a list of the best tips for a strong Wordle strategy. If you haven’t played yet, give it a shot.
Have a G-R-E-A-T weekend.
Thanks for reading. Matthew will be back on Monday. — Justin
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