News Wrap: WHO says global COVID-19 cases drop by nearly a quarter

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• Amna Nawaz:

  In the days's other news: Winds are expected to intensify as firefighters battle the growing wildfire outside of Flagstaff, Arizona. The so-called Tunnel Fire has forced more than 2,000 residents to evacuate their homes. So far, the blaze has burned over 20,000 acres. That's an area larger than Manhattan.

  The World Health Organization said today that global COVID-19 cases dropped by nearly a quarter last week. Infections have been declining around the world since the end of March.

  We will talk with White House COVID response coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha after the news summary.

  The total number of Americans collecting unemployment aid hit its lowest mark in more than half-a-century, underscoring the robust U.S. job market. The Labor Department reported the number of new jobless claims inched down last week to 184,000. That is down 2,000 from the previous week. Those weekly applications for unemployment aid have remained below pre-pandemic levels.

  The U.S. Supreme Court today upheld a law that allows Congress to deny disability benefits to residents of Puerto Rico. The court said those supplemental income security payments for the disabled and elderly can be denied because residents of the U.S. territory don't all pay federal taxes. Justice Sonia Sotomayor was the sole dissenting vote.

  In a separate opinion, the High Court also unanimously sided with a California family seeking the return of a painting by Camille Pissarro confiscated by Nazis during the Holocaust. The case was sent back to a Los Angeles court to decide the matter based on California law.

  A federal judge has temporarily blocked Kentucky's new abortion law that halted the procedure at the state's two remaining abortion clinics. The measure passed by the state's Republican-controlled legislature bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The clinic sought to overturn the law and ask that it be blocked while the legal challenge is pending.

  The Federal Aviation Administration is reviewing a communications breakdown after a parachute stunt caused panic at the U.S. Capitol last night. The failure to notify U.S. Capitol Police about an airplane carrying U.S. Army Golden Knights to the Washington Nationals' baseball stadium prompted warnings of a probable threat and a brief evacuation at the Capitol complex. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also vowed to launch a congressional review.

  An explosion at a Shiite Muslim mosque in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif has killed at least 11 people and wounded 40 others. The Islamic State, or ISIS, claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes during the holy month of Ramadan.

  One local resident described the devastation he witnessed.

  Ghulam Reza, Resident of Mazar-e-Sharif (through translator): The incident that occurred at the mosque was heartbreaking. I was at the market and arrived as fast as I could. Unfortunately, the toll of casualties and injuries are more than our expectations.

• Amna Nawaz:

  The mosque explosion was one of a series of attacks across Afghanistan today. A separate blast in northern Kunduz province led to at least 11 more casualties.

  Violence escalated in the Middle East, as Palestinian militants fired rockets into Southern Israel overnight, while Israeli aircraft bombed targets in Gaza. At Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque, Israeli forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets during dawn prayers. Palestinians threw rocks and Molotov cocktails. Tensions boiled over, as Muslim and Jewish worshipers visited the holy site for Ramadan and Passover.

  CNN's new streaming service, CNN+, is shutting down just a month after it launched. Its new parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, said it will cease operations on April 30 after struggling to lure subscribers. the network invested millions into the venture to compete with other subscription-based streaming services and attract a younger generation of news consumers.

  Billionaire Elon Musk says he has secured $46.5 billion in financing to buy social media giant Twitter. He added that he's exploring a tender offer to buy all the platform's common stock at $54.20 a share. A tender offer can be taken directly to the shareholders, bypassing the company board, which had resisted Musk's previous takeover attempt.

  In economic news, long-term mortgage rates in the U.S. have soared to their highest level in more than a decade. Freddie Mac reported the average rate on a 30-year mortgage rose to 5.11 percent this week from 5 percent last week.

  And stocks fell sharply on Wall Street today. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 368 points to close at 34793. The Nasdaq fell 278 points. The S&P 500 slipped 66.