Start your week smart: Golan Heights attack, 100 days until election, cartel bust, Sonya Massey case, Alzheimer’s blood test

By CNN Newsource

Published July 28, 2024 7:01 AM

By Andrew Torgan and Daniel Wine, CNN

(CNN) — First-time homebuyers in the US are in for a shock: The number of cities where the price tag of an average entry-level home is $1 million or more has nearly tripled in the past five years. Click here to learn what’s driving home prices through the roof.

Here’s what else you need to know to Start Your Week Smart.

The weekend that was

• Israel vowed Hezbollah will “pay the price” after blaming the Lebanese militant group for a rocket attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 children, touching off fears once again that an all-out war would envelop the region.
• Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are entering the last 100 days of one of the fastest-moving and least predictable campaign seasons in memory, after a historic month upended the 2024 presidential race. Follow live updates.
• Details are still emerging about what led to one of the most significant and stunning cartel busts in recent memory. Authorities said the arrests of two leaders of the Sinaloa cartel started with an act of betrayal.
• Years before sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson gunned down Sonya Massey in her own home, he had been discharged from the Army for serious misconduct and had a history of driving under the influence, records show. He also was told he needed “high stress decision making classes.”
• A combined blood test for cognitive decline has a 90% accuracy rate in determining whether memory loss is due to Alzheimer’s disease, a new study found.

The week ahead

Monday
President Joe Biden heads to Austin, Texas, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act during a visit to the LBJ Presidential Library. Biden was originally scheduled to travel to Texas’ capital city on July 15, but that trip was postponed following the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

Iowa’s strict abortion law goes into effect, preventing most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, or before many women know they are pregnant. The law passed last year, but a judge had blocked it from being enforced. The Iowa Supreme Court reiterated in late June that there is no constitutional right to an abortion in the state and ordered the hold to be lifted. Last week, a district court judge ordered the law to go into effect on July 29 at 8 a.m. local time.

Tuesday
The Senate’s Judiciary and Homeland and Government Affairs committees are scheduled to hold a joint hearing on the attempted assassination of Trump. Witnesses will include FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate and acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe, who was tapped to lead the agency following the resignation of Kimberly Cheatle last week. The House also voted last week to create a bipartisan task force to investigate the shooting. The task force will be made up of seven Republicans and six Democrats and will have subpoena authority, House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said.

Wednesday
The Federal Reserve will wrap up its two-day meeting on interest rates. Policymakers are widely expected to hold the line, but recent economic data indicates that the central bank is about to stick what’s called a “soft landing,” which is when inflation returns to the Fed’s 2% target without a recession. Last week, one of the Fed’s closely watched gauges of inflation showed that price hikes are slowing to near that level. That came on the heels of a separate report showing that Gross Domestic Product, the broadest measure of economic output, was much stronger in the second quarter than economists had predicted — which has Wall Street betting that the Fed will decide to cut rates in its September 17-18 meeting.

Thursday
The voting process to officially name Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee is expected to begin. Voting will be conducted by electronic ballots sent to convention delegates, and party officials have said their goal is to nominate presidential and vice presidential candidates by August 7.

Friday
We end the week with the monthly jobs report for July, which is another bit of economic data the Fed will be watching closely. June’s report showed job gains cooling slightly but overall employment activity remained stable — and that’s good news from the Fed’s perspective.

One Thing: 🎧 Power lines for the left behind
In today’s “One Thing” podcast, CNN’s Ed Lavandera tells us about an initiative working to electrify parts of the Navajo Nation suffering from brutal heat in the Southwest. Listen here.

Photos of the week

Check out more images from the week that was, curated by CNN Photos.

What’s happening in entertainment

TV and streaming
Apple TV+ boots up “Cowboy Cartel” on Friday. The four-part documentary series chronicles the story of a rookie FBI agent who uncovered a massive money laundering operation in American horse racing that was led by one of Mexico’s most ruthless cartels.

On the big screen
M. Night Shyamalan is back with “Trap,” starring Josh Hartnett as a father who takes his teen daughter to a pop star’s concert. Of course, this being a Shyamalan film, expect many twists — the first of which is that dear old dad is a serial killer. “Trap” opens on Friday and is being released by Warner Bros. Pictures, which, like CNN, is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.

What’s happening in sports

At a glance …
The first Sunday of the Paris Olympics will be a busy one, with competition in sports ranging from archery to water polo. In gymnastics, Simone Biles fought through an apparent calf injury to produce an impressive performance in her return to the Olympics. Here are five things to watch during the swimming competition. Check out the official schedule of events, and be sure to follow CNN’s complete coverage of the Games.

If you need a break from Olympic glory, the Houston Texans play the Chicago Bears on Thursday in the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Game at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and ESPN.

For more of your favorite sports, head on over to CNN Sports as well as Bleacher Report, which — like CNN — is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.

Quiz time!

How well do you know the Olympic Games? Take CNN’s Olympics Quiz to test your knowledge of the history and highlights.

Play me off …

‘Hello World’
With the Olympics underway, corporate sponsors are hoping to cash in on the excitement by showcasing their names and products in every way imaginable — including with this ditty that asks listeners to say “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah…” (Click here to view)

Article Topic Follows: CNN - National

Jump to comments ↓