Start your week smart: Rewards of exercise, protests across US, storms’ death toll, college basketball, tax returns
By Andrew Torgan, Daniel Wine and Meghan Pryce, CNN
(CNN) — Consider this fair warning that you have just 10 days left to file your income taxes. April 15 is right around the corner, but if you are still scrounging for financial statements and donation receipts, you are not alone: Fewer Americans have filed their federal taxes — and more have requested extensions — at this point in the filing season compared to last year.
Here’s what else you need to know to Start Your Week Smart.
Sunday spotlight
You don’t have to work out at the gym every day or run marathons to reap the rewards from regular physical activity.
The benefits of even small amounts of exercise are clear. An extensive new study found that physical activity, blood pressure and body mass index are among 17 key health factors that can lower your risk for dementia, stroke and depression.
And of course, any exercise is better than none at all. You can always start slowly and gradually do more.
1️⃣ ‘Exercise snacks’: Short bursts of activity that include almost any type of movement — climbing stairs, walking, doing squats or dancing — can boost your fitness. A small study proved the value of mini workouts for as little as 30 seconds a few times a day in inactive adults.
2️⃣ Not so fast: After starting a new exercise regimen, most people hope to see results almost immediately. It’s not instantaneous, though. A lot of factors come into play — including age, gender and metabolism.
3️⃣ Maximizing movement: As we age, stiffness and reduced mobility feel inevitable. But you don’t need to spend hours stretching — you just need to move smarter. Here’s how.
4️⃣ Brain benefits: Increasing your physical activity level could lower your risk of developing anxiety, depression and dementia, new research suggests — and it doesn’t matter how intense your exercise is.
5️⃣ Healing power: Not every illness requires you to skip the gym. While moderate to severe ailments require a certain amount of rest and recovery, mild ones might improve with movement. Just don’t overdo it.
Editor’s note: We’re trying something new with the “Sunday spotlight” by taking a closer look at one topic. Let us know what you think.
Top headlines
• ‘Hands Off!’ protesters across US rally against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk
• At least 16 dead as storms touch off tornadoes and widespread flooding in central US
• Far from being cowed by US airstrikes, Yemen’s Houthis may be relishing them
• Pope Francis makes surprise public appearance after leaving hospital two weeks ago
• US tourist arrested after allegedly attempting to contact ‘world’s most isolated’ tribe
The week ahead
Monday
April 7 is World Health Day, when the World Health Organization kicks off its year-long campaign on maternal and newborn health.
It’s also the day that Chili’s is opening its first restaurant in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Why Scranton? Any fan of “The Office” will tell you that’s where the employees of Dunder Mifflin celebrated “The Dundies.” Even though the NBC show ended after nine seasons in 2013, it lives on in syndication — which perhaps explains why Chili’s decided to pay homage to the chain’s “most notable on-screen moments, with throwback nods and decor.”
Wednesday
April 9 is the day the US will impose a 54% tariff on nearly everything coming from China. Rates could go even higher, to 79%, if Trump follows through with his promise to slap an additional 25% tariff on any nation that buys oil from Venezuela, which China has done. And then, starting on May 2, the 54% tariff rate will also be applied to packages worth less than $800 coming to the US from China and Hong Kong — think Shein, Temu and AliExpress. In total, the average American household will pay $2,100 more per year because of the tariffs, the nonpartisan Tax Foundation estimated.
Thursday
China said it will impose reciprocal 34% tariffs on all imports from the US starting April 10 in retaliation for Trump’s tariffs against Beijing, ratcheting up the trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
We will also get the latest reading on inflation when the Consumer Price Index for March is released. The previous CPI showed inflation slowed more than expected in February and cooled for the first time in five months, but that progress may be short lived as Trump’s tariffs take hold.
And it’s the 100th anniversary of the first publication of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.”
Friday
Representatives from more than 50 nations, including NATO and European Union members, will gather in Brussels to coordinate military support for Ukraine. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, however, is expected to skip the meeting. Hegseth’s absence would mark the first time since the group’s founding three years ago that a senior Pentagon official will not be there to represent the US, officials familiar with the matter told CNN. The US has for months been steadily pulling back from the group, which was founded by former Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in 2022 after Russia’s invasion as a way for dozens of countries to streamline the delivery of military equipment to Ukraine to quell Russian military advances.
Listen in
One Thing: 🎧 Public lands protests
In this episode of the “One Thing” podcast, CNN’s David Rind speaks to National Parks employees caught up in DOGE’s crosshairs about what’s at stake for visitors and wildlife amid cuts. 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
The season 3 finale of HBO’s “The White Lotus” airs tonight. Get your bingo cards and theories ready.
The 6th and final season of “The Handmaid’s Tale” arrives Tuesday on Hulu, while HBO’s “Hacks” Season 4 premieres on Max with a dual episode premiere on Thursday. (HBO and Max, like CNN, are part of Warner Bros. Discovery.)
In theaters
Oscar-winner Rami Malek (Freddie Mercury in “Bohemian Rhapsody”) plays a CIA cryptographer looking to avenge his wife’s murder at the hands of terrorists in “The Amateur.” Rachel Brosnahan, Jon Bernthal and Laurence Fishburne co-star.
What’s happening in sports
At a glance …
South Carolina and UConn will face off in the NCAA Women’s Basketball National Championship game today in Tampa at 3 p.m. ET on ABC. The Gamecocks are looking to repeat as national champions and win their third national title in four seasons.
The NCAA Men’s Basketball championship game is set for Monday at 8:50 p.m. ET, with a showdown between Houston and Florida. Both teams needed big comebacks to power into the final game, with Houston pulling off one of the most unlikely come-from-behind wins in Final Four history.
And the 2025 Masters Tournament tees off Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia. Two-time winner and reigning champion Scottie Scheffler is hoping to add another green jacket to his locker come next Sunday.
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!
Looking for a challenge to start your week? Take CNN’s weekly news quiz here to see how much you remember from the week that was! So far, 13.7% of readers who took the quiz got a perfect score and 56% got eight or more questions right. How will you fare?
Play me off …
‘War’
President Trump fired the first salvo in his trade war last week, a modern-day “shot heard ‘round the world” that rattled global financial markets. And while the president assured reporters last week that, “The markets are going to boom. The stock is going to boom. The country is going to boom,” as he departed for his private club in Florida, many Americans may soon be singing a different tune. (Click here to view)
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