Reid Jones

Pizza and soda laid out on red gingham-covered tables. Marching bands from local schools and cheerleaders with pom-poms paraded down the street, interspersed with fire trucks and classic American cars. But this wasn't an average block party celebration for this small town. It was a royal jubilee. King Charles III and Queen Camilla stopped by Front Royal, a Virginia town with a population of roughly 15,000 tucked near mountainous Shenandoah National Park, on April 30.

The Supreme Court on April 29 threw out a congressional map in Louisiana that had been drawn to protect the voting power of Black residents, a decision that undercuts a landmark civil rights law. An ideologically divided court sided 6-3 with the Trump administration and with the non-Black voters who challenged the map as relying too heavily on race to sort voters – and it did so just three years after upholding the 1965 Voting Rights Act’s vote dilution protections for racial minorities. Writing for the conservative majority, Justice Samuel Alito called the map an “unconstitutional gerrymander) that violates the constitutional rights of the non-Black voters who challenged it.

President Donald Trump's approval rating has plummeted to the lowest level of his current term for reasons including his handling of the nation's cost of living and an unpopular ongoing war with Iran, according to a recent poll. Just 34% of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing, a Reuters/Ipsos four-day poll released April 28 found. The survey showed Trump's overall approval sliding 2 percentage points, down from 36% in a prior Reuters/Ipsos survey, which the outlet reported was conducted April 15-20. "The majority of responses were gathered prior to the Saturday night shooting at the White House Correspondent's Association dinner, where Trump was due to speak," Reuters wrote in its report. Federal prosecutors have charged the suspect in the case with charges including attempted assassination of a president.

The White House announced that Chief of Staff Susie Wiles will convene a meeting this week to discuss security for President Donald Trump after the shooting April 25 at the White House Correspondent's Association dinner. The Secret Service subdued a gunman at the dinner and evacuated Trump, Vice President JD Vance and others from the Washington Hilton. Trump is standing by the leadership of the Secret Service and the president personally thinks agents did an excellent job neutralizing the shooter, said a senior White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly. But Wiles will meet with the White House operations team, the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security leadership to discuss protocol and practices for major events involving the president, the official said.

President Donald Trump had taken his seat on the dais just a few minutes earlier and was talking with other VIPs when a series of loud bangs rippled through the jam-packed Washington Hilton ballroom. Chaos erupted at one of Washington's premier social events, the White House Correspondent's Dinner. Guests in tuxedos and evening gowns ducked for cover under tables. Secret Service agents rushed the dais and quickly evacuated Trump and first lady Melania Trump from the room. Banquet chairs toppled and maroon napkins scattered across the floor. The strong smell of gunpowder hung in the air. Some people prayed. Trump, making his first appearance at the dinner in more than a decade and his first ever as president, was whisked back to the White House. Later, still dressed in black tie and tux, he told reporters at a news conference that he had first thought the loud bangs had been caused by a waiter dropping a serving tray. "It was either a tray or a bullet," he said. "...

Jared Shult flaided both arms during the first weekend of Coachella like the kind of inflatable figure that sits outside a used car lot in a small American town. "Imagine hating on me when this is the vibe I'm on," he captioned an Instagram video post of his moves at the California music and arts festival on April 13. "Trump has more rhythm than you bro," one user commented. "Damn, that's a low blow," Shult, 22, replied with two crying emojis. As Shult buoyed his reputation with over 500,000 followers across Instagram, TikTok, and X, a fellow influencer jabbed at the Trump administration.

The U.S-Israel war on Iran, a conflict that President Donald Trump originally said would take four weeks or less, will soon enter its third month. During that time, Trump has made many statements, some of them contradictory, about the war's military progress, status of negotiations and ceasefires, and how long the conflict would last. Trump has said the United States has won the war. He has said the war would end soon. He also has threatened to bomb critical infrastructure and eradicate Iran's "whole civilization." During Operation Epic Fury, 13 U.S. service members have been killed, and 398 have been wounded. An estimated 3,375 people in Iran have died.

Longtime Rep. David Scott, a Georgia Democrat, died on April 22, a day after he'd cast a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives. He was 80 years old. House Minority Leader Hakeeem Jeffries, D-New York, and Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, confired his death. Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-New York, also offered his condolences on Capitol Hill, calling him a friend and saying he was "going to be missed." "I was just with him yesterday," Meeks said. The Georgia lawmaker was running for reelection, seeking another term in the House. Scott's office did not immediately identify his cause of death. Concerns about his health had spread on Capitol Hill in recent years.

Dry enough for you? With drought stretching from coast to coast, water restrictions are already in effect in many states even before the thirsty summer season begins. Indeed, more than 61% of the nation is now in a drought, the highest percentage in nearly four years, according to the most recent U.S. Drought Monitor. In all, 45 of 50 states are enduring drought, with only Alaska, North Dakota, Michigan, Connecticut and Rhode Island completely drought-free.

President Donald Trump said the fight with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz is "over," declaring in a phone interview with USA TODAY that the deal reached Friday was 'a great victory.' "It's over, it's a great victory," Trump said in an April 17 phone call. Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said in an April 17 social media post that the strait is "completely open." Roughly 20% of the world's oil is transported through the waterway. Restoring shipping traffic in the strait has been a major focus of the U.S. in negotiations over ending the war.