5 things to know for May 12: Trade war, PKK disarms, Habeas corpus, Newark airport, Air Force One

CNN

By Jade Walker, CNN

(CNN) — “Sinners,” the new period piece/crime thriller/vampire horror hybrid from director Ryan Coogler, scored top marks with critics and fans (97% on Rotten Tomatoes) and has earned more than $200 million at the box office. But the closest movie theater to Clarksdale, Mississippi, which served as the inspiration for the film’s setting, is some 80 miles away. Now, locals have launched a petition asking the filmmakers to hold a special screening in town. (“Sinners” is produced and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, which is owned by CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.)

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

1. Trade war

The US and China have agreed to drastically roll back tariffs on each other’s goods for 90 days, de-escalating a global trade war. The announcement comes after a weekend of marathon trade negotiations in Geneva by officials from the world’s two largest economies. The US and China have been steadily upping the stakes in their tariff battle since April, when Trump tacked 34% reciprocal tariffs on Chinese goods and raised that rate to 145% days later. China retaliated with 125% on US goods. Such tit-for-tat actions caused distress in global stock markets, prompted businesses to cancel or store orders overseas and made it difficult for companies to determine future investments. Last Friday, West Coast port officials said not a single cargo vessel had left China with goods for the two major West Coast ports in the past 12 hours. That hadn’t happened since the pandemic. With this new agreement, the US will temporarily lower its tariffs on Chinese goods to 30% while China will cut its levies on US imports to 10%.

2. PKK disarms

The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) announced on Monday that it plans to dissolve after nearly five decades of armed conflict with Turkey. The Kurdish issue has come “to a point where it can be resolved through democratic politics,” the PKK said in a statement. Founded in 1978 by Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK has been fighting to establish an independent Kurdish state in Turkey’s southeast. The long and bloody conflict has claimed more than 40,000 lives. In 1999, Ocalan was captured in Kenya and sentenced to life in prison for treason. In February, he called on PKK fighters to lay down their arms and dissolve the group. “There is no alternative to democracy in the pursuit and realization of a political system. Democratic consensus is the fundamental way,” Ocalan said in his statement.

3. Habeas corpus

The White House has been considering the suspension of habeas corpus, a legal procedure that allows people to challenge their detentions in court. The discussions, which were confirmed by Trump aide Stephen Miller, are in response to the nationwide injunctions against the president’s actions on deportations, which eschew due process protections. But the Constitution only allows habeas corpus to be suspended when “in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.” “The Constitution makes clear that suspension of habeas corpus is to be reserved for actual rebellion or invasion posing the most dire threats to public safety,” CNN senior legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Elie Honig said. Although such a move would surely be fought in court, suspending habeas corpus would essentially allow the administration to detain people without justification.

4. Newark airport

Another equipment outage forced a ground stop for Newark Liberty International Airport-bound flights on Sunday morning. The glitch followed a 90-second-long radar and radio outage on May 2 at the facility handling flights departing from or arriving at Newark, as well as a similar incident on April 28. No crashes occurred, but five FAA employees ended up taking 45 days of trauma leave. Such events have caused thousands of delays and flight cancellations over the past two weeks — and the summer travel season hasn’t even started yet. While the air traffic controllers who went on leave could be back on the job next month, the antiquated technology that failed them cannot be fixed or replaced quickly. The US also continues to grapple with the worst air traffic controller shortage in nearly 30 years.

5. Air Force One

President Trump said he plans to accept a multimillion-dollar jet from the Qatari royal family and have the Boeing 747-8 retrofitted so it can be used as the next Air Force One. Such a move raises major ethical and legal questions. A Qatari official described the gift as more of a government-to-government transaction than a present for Trump. Democrats said accepting a luxury aircraft from a foreign government could be construed as a bribe, particularly since the plane will eventually be donated to Trump’s presidential library so that he can continue to use it after he leaves office. Government watchdog groups said accepting the jet would violate the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause, which bans foreign payments to a sitting US president without congressional consent. Even far-right provocateur Laura Loomer, one of Trump’s staunchest allies, criticized the move, saying accepting the plane would be a “stain” on the administration.

BREAKFAST BROWSE

Pontiff calls for ‘authentic, just and lasting peace’
Pope Leo XVI delivered his first Sunday blessing from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday and used the address to pray for peace. “In today’s dramatic scenario of a third world war being fought piecemeal, as Pope Francis said, I too turn to the world’s leaders with an ever timely appeal: never again war!”

Cosmos 482 came back!
The Soviet-era spacecraft, which was originally designed to make a soft landing on Venus but ended up trapped in Earth’s orbit for decades, splashed down in the Indian Ocean, west of Jakarta, Indonesia, early Saturday morning.

Savy King is stable and ‘responsive’
The Angel City defender collapsed during last Friday night’s soccer match against the Utah Royals. Medical teams performed CPR on the 20-year-old before transporting her to an area hospital for help.

Get the 411 on Cannes
The 78th Cannes Film Festival begins this week, and it’s sure to be packed with star power. Tom Cruise will return with his final “Mission: Impossible” installment and director Spike Lee plans to share his latest film, “Highest 2 Lowest,” starring Denzel Washington. Acting legend Robert De Niro will also receive an honorary Palme d’Or for lifetime achievement.

Amber Heard celebrates ‘completion’ of family
After experiencing “fertility challenges,” the actress has welcomed twins into her family. Heard announced the babies’ arrival along with their names in a Mother’s Day post on Instagram. She also has a 4-year-old daughter named Oonagh with her ex-husband, actor Johnny Depp.

TODAY’S NUMBER

55
That’s how many days five shipwrecked fishermen survived adrift at sea before being rescued.

TODAY’S QUOTE

“[David Steiner’s] selection isn’t just a conflict of interest — it’s an aggressive step toward handing America’s mail system over to corporate interests. Private shippers have been waiting to get USPS out of parcel delivery for years. Steiner’s selection is an open invitation to do just that.”

— Brian Renfroe, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, commenting on the Trump administration’s decision to hire a board member at FedEx to be the next postmaster general.

TODAY’S WEATHER

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AND FINALLY …

He’s a sucker for that ‘order now’ button
A Kentucky boy accidentally spent $4,200 to buy nearly 70,000 lollipops on Amazon.

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