5 things to know for May 6: Campus protests, Gaza, Severe weather, Starliner, House Speaker

CNN

By Alexandra Banner, CNN

(CNN) — Why do brown eggs cost more than white eggs? Contrary to popular belief, there is no difference in eggs’ nutritional value based on the color of their shell. Rather, brown eggs carry a premium because it costs more to keep hens well-fed to produce the brown variety.

Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day.

1. Campus protests

Graduation ceremonies took place at colleges and universities over the weekend as administrators grappled with pro-Palestinian protests. At the University of Michigan, banners with opposing messages flew overhead and protesters were removed during the school’s main graduation ceremony on Saturday. At the University of Southern California, which had canceled its main graduation event, police on Sunday cleared out another protest encampment. Meanwhile, some students at Princeton University launched a hunger strike, saying they would refrain from all food and drink — except water — until their demands were met. So far, no schools have agreed to fully divest from companies doing business in Israel, a demand student protesters have commonly rallied for across the country.

2. Gaza

Israel’s military has told people in eastern Rafah to “evacuate immediately,” a day after the country’s defense minister told troops in Gaza to expect “intense action” in the city “in the near future.” Residents and displaced people in eastern Rafah are in a state of panic after the Israeli military issued the evacuation order, according to reporters in the region. Aid agencies have been warning Israel against launching a full-scale ground invasion of Rafah, saying “any ground operation would mean more suffering and death” for the 1.2 million displaced Palestinians sheltering in and around the strip’s southernmost city, aid groups say. This comes as northern Gaza is already experiencing a “full-blown famine” which is rapidly spreading across the strip, the World Food Programme warned over the weekend.

3. Severe weather

More than 25 million people in the South and Central Plains are under severe storm threats today. Search and rescue teams in parts of Texas are patrolling streets and neighborhoods for people stuck in the water after at least 200 people were rescued from homes and vehicles in Harris County. Rainfall amounts in the region have been huge over the past week, with some areas picking up two months’ worth of rain in five days. Dozens of tornadoes have hit from the Panhandle to the Gulf Coast. Some areas of the state have been pounded with softball-sized hail and rain has fallen in East Texas in intense spurts, causing rivers to rise to levels not seen since the devastating floods of Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

4. Starliner

Boeing’s spaceflight program may reach a significant milestone today with the launch of its Starliner spacecraft carrying two NASA astronauts to orbit. The mission, dubbed the Crew Flight Test, could take off as soon as 10:34 p.m. ET from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The occasion is a decade in the making — the culmination of Boeing’s efforts to develop a spacecraft worthy of ferrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Development hang-ups, test flight problems and other costly setbacks have slowed Starliner’s path to the launchpad for years. Live coverage of the event will stream on NASA channels beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET.

5. House speaker

House Speaker Mike Johnson could face a vote over his ouster this week, a pivotal moment that presents a major leadership test for the Louisiana Republican, even though he is expected to prevail. Democrats have said they will vote to kill the effort led by GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, effectively ensuring Johnson won’t lose his job. Even if the vote fails as expected, it still threatens to set up a major showdown on the House floor and intensify divisions among House Republicans, who control a razor-thin majority. Some hardline conservatives have been highly critical of Johnson’s speakership, particularly after he helped to pass a major foreign aid package with assistance for Ukraine last month.

HAPPENING LATER

3 weeks in: Trump’s hush money trial set to resume today
Former President Donald Trump will be back in a New York courtroom today at his first criminal trial, where he has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Here’s what’s happened in the trial, so far.

BREAKFAST BROWSE

The 2024 Met Gala is today
Stars will soon showcase a plethora of bold and outlandish outfits at the Met Gala in New York. Read about this year’s theme.

Free Madonna concert attracts 1.6 million to Brazil’s Copacabana beach
More than a million people braved the heat of Rio de Janeiro to see the end of Madonna’s “Celebration” world tour.

Mystik Dan wins 150th Kentucky Derby in a dramatic photo finish
Did you watch the Kentucky Derby on Saturday — yay or neigh? In case you missed it, here are photos from the thrilling finish at Churchill Downs.

What is a vegetable?
Fun fact: The term vegetable doesn’t exist botanically. Here’s why you should eat them anyway.

Embattled ABC News President Kim Godwin steps down
Kim Godwin, the embattled president of ABC News, announced Sunday that she is leaving the news network. Read more about her abrupt exit.

IN MEMORIAM

British actor Bernard Hill, best known for supporting roles in “Titanic” and “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, has died, his family announced on Sunday. He was 79. In the hit 1997 film “Titanic,” Hill played the ship’s Captain Edward Smith. He also appeared in two parts of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy as Theoden, King of Rohan.

TODAY’S NUMBER

295 million
That’s how many trips were made within mainland China during the five-day May Day holiday, which ended on Sunday, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism said. Still, data shows many travelers cut back on their spending, a sign that consumption in the world’s second-largest economy remains sluggish.

TODAY’S QUOTE

“What is happening now in our oceans is like wildfires underwater.”

— Research scientist Kate Quigley, describing the mass coral bleaching event on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Bleaching occurs when marine heat waves put corals under stress, causing them to expel algae from their tissue, draining their color. The corals are casualties of surging ocean temperatures that smashed records in the past year.

TODAY’S WEATHER

Check your local forecast here>>>

AND FINALLY …

Taking wearable tech a step further
Thousands of people in Sweden have had microchips surgically implanted under their skin as a new method of payment. Watch this interesting video to learn more about the process, and what future uses it could hold.

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