Good morning. It's Monday, April 7, and we're covering the ongoing measles outbreak in Texas, a dominating title performance, and much more. First time reading? Join over 4 million intellectually curious readers. Sign up here.
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Second Measles Death Reported |
A second child has died amid an ongoing measles outbreak in West Texas and the surrounding regions, officials confirmed over the weekend, with hospital reports suggesting the 8-year-old girl in Lubbock succumbed to measles-related pulmonary failure. The two victims—both reportedly unvaccinated and part of a local Mennonite community—are the first confirmed measles deaths in the US since 2015.
The contagious airborne disease causes rashes, fever, and respiratory issues (how it works, w/video), with young children and immunocompromised people at higher risk. The deployment of a vaccine in 1963 and subsequent public health campaigns led to the disease being declared eliminated—meaning no continuous, endemic transmission—in the US in 2000.
Of the 607 measles cases reported this year, almost 90% (535 cases) are linked to the outbreak straddling West Texas and eastern New Mexico (see current stats). Roughly 97% are in unvaccinated patients or those whose vaccination status is unknown.
See historical measles rates back to 1919 here. |
The No. 2 Connecticut Huskies claimed the women's college basketball national title last night, defeating the defending champion No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks 82-59. It marks the first title for the Huskies since winning four in a row between 2013 and 2016, and their 12th overall—the most of any women's team in the sport.
The Huskies were led by star freshman Sarah Strong, who went for 24 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, and three blocks. Paige Bueckers—widely expected to be the top draft pick—added another 17 points in her final game. Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma is in his 40th season with the Huskies—a full 30% of those campaigns have ended with a title win. Watch end-of-game interviews here.
On the men's side, No. 1 seeds Florida and Houston will square off in the title game tonight (8:50 pm ET, CBS). Florida advanced after beating No. 1 Auburn Saturday, 79-73, while Houston stunned No. 1 Duke with a six-point comeback in the final 35 seconds. Watch the final moments here. |
Flooding continued across the US Midwest and South over the weekend, in storms that have claimed at least 17 lives as of yesterday. Days of severe storms have caused rivers to swell rapidly, prompting the National Weather Service to issue flash flood emergencies from Texas to Ohio. At least 45 river locations in multiple states are expected to reach “major flood stage,” causing widespread damage to infrastructure, homes, and roadways (see map).
The storms followed a week of extreme weather that included deadly tornadoes and more than a foot of rain in some locations. While the regions are prone to severe weather, the duration and intensity of the rainfall have led to saturated soil and swollen rivers. See photos here.
The storms shifted eastward into the Appalachians and Southeast Sunday. Meteorologists warn that river levels will continue to rise in many areas through early this week. However, a shift to drier conditions is expected by midweek for much of the region. |
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture |
> Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin scores his 895th goal, passing Wayne Gretzky to become the NHL's all-time leading goal scorer (More) | Carmelo Anthony and Sue Bird headline Basketball Hall of Fame's 2025 class (More) |
> "A Minecraft Movie" hauls in $157M in its opening weekend, the top US domestic debut of 2025 and the biggest opening ever for a video game adaptation (More) |
> Ed Sheeran and Weezer join Green Day, Lady Gaga, Travis Scott, and Post Malone as headliners for the 2025 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (April 11-13, 18-20) (More) | What is Coachella, anyway? This week's 1440 Society & Culture newsletter goes deep into the festival (Sign up here) |
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> Meta releases Llama 4, the latest version of its flagship family of large language models (More) | Anthropic researchers suggest reasoning models—where chatbots explain how they arrived at an answer—cannot always be trusted (More) |
> Researchers who discovered and characterized GLP-1, the hormone behind new weight-loss drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound, lead winners of 2025 Breakthrough Prizes (More) | How semaglutides work (1440 Topics) |
> Scientists uncover new cellular mechanism that weakens bones as we age; cells that have stopped replicating release chemicals that make bone structures more brittle (More) | Aging 101 (1440 Topics) |
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> US stock markets plunge Friday (S&P 500 -6.0%, Dow -5.5%, Nasdaq -5.8%) as countries respond to President Donald Trump's tariff plan (More) | Universal 10% tariff went into effect Saturday, additional tariffs that vary by country kick in Wednesday; see breakdown (More) | Trump adviser says multiple countries have signaled interest in beginning trade talks (More) |
> Payment processor Klarna and ticket platform StubHub delay initial public offerings amid economic uncertainty (More) |
> Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer, reports highest first quarter revenue on record and 24% year-over-year growth; growth driven by demand for AI products (More) |
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> "Hands off!" protests held in cities across the US Saturday; estimates say hundreds of thousands of demonstrators call for end to Trump administration efforts, from federal cuts to deportations (More) | See photos (More) |
> Pope Francis makes surprise visit to crowds at the Vatican's St. Peter's Square; appearance comes two weeks after the 88-year-old pontiff was released from the hospital after a severe respiratory infection (More) |
> Death toll from Myanmar quake rises above 3,350 as storms continue to slow rescue efforts (More) | See previous write-up (More) |
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1440 Business & Finance: Income Taxes |
April 15 is the deadline to file your personal taxes, and this week's 1440 Business & Finance newsletter takes a deep dive into the history of the income tax:
> See how revenue from corporate taxes differs from income tax.
> Dive into the history of the 16th Amendment.
> Learn how tax laws have been used to take down mob bosses.
... and much more. The newsletter comes out Thursday morning. Sign up here for free! |
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