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Start your Monday smart: Coronavirus, Ramadan, Orthodox Easter, Earth Day, NFL draft

Famed street artist Banksy has been isolating, too. Read about how he’s gone to work in his own bathroom, and dive into more CNN weekend reads.

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

(You can also get “5 Things You Need to Know Today” delivered to your inbox daily. You give us five minutes, and we give you five things you must know for your weekday, plus a Sunday edition to get your week started smart. Sign up here.)

TODAY

• Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter. They’re taking a cue from last week’s muted observances as they hold small home gatherings and scaled-back ceremonies, some centered on a holy flame.

• ‘The Sun’s Gonna Shine on You.’ It’s been 25 years since the deadly bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City. Vince Gill, an Oklahoma native, reportedly lent this song to a performance by the city’s ballet company to honor those who lost their lives. It’s a reminder that even in dark times, hope can glimmer.

• Celebrate National Library Week. You can check out (see what we did there?) all kinds of resources, from shipwreck records to declassified CIA documents to old restaurant menus — all without getting up from the couch.

MONDAY

• Marking a decade since a tragic blast. An explosion 10 years ago aboard the BP-contracted Transocean Ltd. Deepwater Horizon oil rig killed 11 workers and triggered a spill in the Gulf of Mexico of some 168 million gallons of oil — still the world’s second-largest oil spill. BP agreed to pay more than $20 billion toward related claims in the largest Justice Department settlement with one entity.

TUESDAY

• Mike Pence visits a ventilator factory. The vice president heads to Madison, Wisconsin, to visit a GE Healthcare facility. Pence, who heads the White House’s coronavirus task force, is expected to recognize efforts to ramp up manufacturing of ventilators during the pandemic.

• Look up for a spectacular show. The annual Lyrid meteor shower peaks overnight, with some 18 meteors per hour expected to streak across the night sky in dark spots. Of course, the performance actually features particles from a comet rushing Earth’s atmosphere at 27 miles per second.

WEDNESDAY

• Hats off to our planet. It’s Earth Day, when denizens of this crazy rock we call home pause to raise awareness of environmental problems. With all its misery, coronavirus has helped temper the climate crisis, reducing pollution as global transit and industry has slowed to a crawl.

• There she is, ‘Mrs. America.’ Rub elbows with Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Bella Abzug, Shirley Chisholm and Phyllis Schlafly as each brings her own priorities to the battle for equal rights. New episodes of the drama series stream on Hulu.

THURSDAY

• Ramadan Mubarak! Muslims around the world expect at sundown to begin observing the holy month. Believers typically indulge together in nightly feasts after fasting since dawn, but the pandemic will mean much smaller gatherings. Religious leaders in Iran and Egypt have asked the faithful to pray at home.

• The NFL draft is here! The NFL draft is here! This is the closest we’re gonna get to the thrill of live sports for a while. The draft kicks off at 8 p.m. ET and runs through Saturday. The whole affair will be simulcast on the NFL Network and ESPN, with coverage on ABC, too. The draft will be entirely virtual, which has required massive technological efforts. Who should you watch for? Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow from LSU and Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa. These two champion QBs are expected to be first-round blockbuster picks.

FRIDAY

• Cargo heads to the ISS. On the 30th anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope into space, NASA plans to launch the Progress 75 cargo ship to the International Space Station. Watch starting at 9:30 p.m. ET on NASA TV.

SATURDAY

• Step into the great outdoors. Nature documentaries can offer a welcome escape from the tide of bad news, and we happen to be living in a golden age for the genre. So, grab your binoculars, hit the sofa and check out some of these top picks.

• Catch some eclectic entertainment from Switzerland. The famed Montreux Jazz Festival postponed the announcement of its next lineup because of Covid-19. Organizers instead have released more than 50 full sets from past events, including from Johnny Cash, Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye, The Raconteurs, and Wu-Tang Clan. Just hop into their time machine.

Article Topic Follows: Health

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