
Close calls at airport, sweet spot for stress, world's most complicated watch: Catch up on the day's stories
👋 Welcome to 5 Things PM! Yes, of course too much stress is bad for your health and can cause a whole host of problems. But zero stress isn't good either. An expert explains how to find that sweet spot in between.
Here's what else you might have missed during your busy day:
1️⃣ Close calls: It's one of the country's busiest airports — and the site of numerous near accidents between helicopters and commercial jets. Senators recently grilled the Federal Aviation Administration on why this was the case at Reagan National and were told 'something was missed.'
2️⃣ 'Dental deserts': Hundreds of rural communities in the US face a one-two punch to oral health: a dire shortage of dentists and a lack of fluoridated drinking water. Experts worry this will lead to a surge of tooth decay for millions of Americans.
3️⃣ Bones and bombs: An estimated 240,000 people were killed or went missing in the Battle of Okinawa during World War II. Eighty years later, the scars remain — and visitors are allowed to get up close and touch history on the Japanese island.
4️⃣ Ancient artifacts: Stone tools unearthed in southwest China helped a mysterious group eke out a living in a cold and harsh environment during the Stone Age tens of thousands of years ago. Researchers think Neanderthals may have made them.
5️⃣ A watch that wows: It tracks the sun's position in the sky. It chimes with the sound of hammers hitting four miniature gongs. It even tells you when certain stars will be visible from Earth. Take a look at the world's 'most complicated' wristwatch.
🔥 Fighting fires: A company in Germany is developing drones to detect and monitor wildfires. Dryad hopes that its AI-powered prototype will be able to help firefighters suppress blazes in their early stages.
• Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs will go into effect immediately, White House says• 'It's a bloodbath': Massive wave of job cuts underway at US health agencies• Justice Department will seek the death penalty for Luigi Mangione
📱 That's how many Americans use TikTok to find news, entertainment and community — and in some cases, make a living. That could all change, as the app faces a potential ban in the US.
❄️ 'Vail of the East': Niseko is known for its consistently high-quality snow, which makes it a popular skiing destination. Here's how this town on the Japanese island of Hokkaido became the powder capital of Asia — and maybe even the world.
The fact that someone can just be disappeared into the abyss for voicing an idea is absolutely horrifying.
Sam Wachman, attendee at rally
💬 Student arrested: Rumeysa Ozturk, a PhD candidate at Tufts University in Massachusetts, was taken into custody by federal agents because of her visa. Video of the incident has sparked widespread outrage.
💍 Where do billionaire Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez plan to hold their highly anticipated wedding?A. AmsterdamB. Rio de JaneiroC. BangkokD. Venice⬇️ Scroll down for the answer.
🌭 Feast for free: Road trip, anyone? Coastal Carolina University plans to offer complimentary hot dogs, nachos, popcorn and fountain drinks to 'elevate the game day experience' for college football fans next season. (And no, the school said this is not an April Fools' joke.)
👋 We'll see you tomorrow.🧠 Quiz answer: D. The city of Venice confirmed their wedding will take place there in June.📧 Check out all of CNN's newsletters.
Today's 5 Things PM was edited by CNN's Kimberly Richardson and Morgan Severson.
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Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. New data released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has shown that millions more Americans are drinking water that is contaminated with carcinogenic chemicals, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) reported. The findings come as part of the EPA's Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, known as UCMR 5, requiring U.S. water utilities to test drinking water for 29 individual PFAS compounds. PFAS chemicals, a group of thousands of different substances, are classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and have previously been found in U.S. drinking water systems. Newsweek has contacted the EPA via email for comment. Why It Matters PFAS chemicals, also known as "forever chemicals," are used across various industries, featuring in consumer products and even smartwatch wristbands. While these chemicals are favored for their long-lasting nature, research highlighting their potential health risks has been accumulating in recent years. Other than PFAS chemicals, arsenic contamination in U.S. drinking water systems has also become a growing concern across the country. File photo: a person fills a glass of water from the tap. File photo: a person fills a glass of water from the tap. Hendrik Schmidt/dpa via AP What To Know Jared Hayes, a senior policy analyst at EWG, told Newsweek the EPA's latest release of data confirmed the presence of at least one type of PFAS compound in an additional 200 locations—which in total serve 7 million people. He added that, based on previously collected UCMR and state data, it is now clear that more than 172 million Americans are being exposed to PFAS-contaminated drinking water. The EPA previously wrote in a fact sheet that long-term PFAS exposure "can cause cancer and other serious illnesses that decrease quality of life or result in death." Studies have also found that even low levels of exposure to the chemicals can have wide-reaching impacts on multiple systems in the body. While these numbers "are not entirely surprising given what we know about the persistence and mobility of PFAS in the environment," Vasilis Vasiliou, chair and professor of environmental health sciences at Yale School of Public Health, told Newsweek, it "underscores the magnitude of the problem." He added the findings showed "PFAS contamination is both widespread and underreported." However, Marc Edwards, a professor in civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech, told Newsweek, on the flipside, "We already knew that PFAS chemicals are very widespread—the new data just confirms that expectation." He added the EPA is taking steps to reduce PFAS exposure, and "as our understanding improves and new treatments become available, we'll get a better understanding of what to do about it," he said. Additionally, it is not clear to what degree these additional water utilities were contaminated with PFAS chemicals, Natalie Exum, a professor of environmental health and engineering at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told Newsweek. "These chemicals are designed to never breakdown so we should expect that over time every water system in the U.S. will ultimately be contaminated," she said. "I will be more concerned when we can understand at what amounts they are occurring in drinking water and what health effects we are finding at those levels," she added. What People Are Saying Susan Richardson, a professor of chemistry at the University of South Carolina, told Newsweek: "There is the possibility for adverse health outcomes, but I personally would not be concerned at low parts-per-trillion levels. The good news is that drinking water plants will have to meet the new EPA regulation by 2031, and many plants will use granular activated carbon (GAC) to remove it. GAC can also remove natural organic matter precursors to disinfection by-products that are generally present in our drinking water at a thousand times higher levels than PFAS. So, there should be a great co-benefit of using GAC." Jennifer Freeman, a professor of toxicology at Purdue University, Indiana, told Newsweek: "It is very important PFAS drinking water testing continues so we can attain a fuller understanding of where the contamination is occurring and where treatment methods may be needed to reduce exposures." She said: "It is likely already impacting health outcomes across the country with these exposures likely occurring over the past several decades. On the positive side, as drinking water testing continues we now have a better understanding of the PFAS presence in our drinking water supplies and are identifying the regions where contamination is higher and action is needed." Vasiliou told Newsweek: "Chronic exposure to PFAS, even at low levels, has been linked in multiple studies to serious health outcomes, including certain cancers, immune dysfunction, thyroid disease, liver toxicity, and developmental effects. The sheer scale of potential exposure means this could become a major public health challenge in the years ahead. Addressing PFAS contamination is not just an environmental issue, it is a public health imperative." He said: "As monitoring expands, I expect even more communities will be identified, since PFAS are extremely persistent and widespread. What we need now is stronger regulation, expanded monitoring, investment in water treatment, and a rapid phase-out of non-essential PFAS uses." Exum told Newsweek: "PFAS gets into drinking water in so many different ways and over time as they are spread in sewage sludge, sprayed in pesticides, and even travel in rainwater, we should expect that their presence will only increase over time. But their presence may be in low levels depending on the source of contamination, and that is the important question to answer. And it gets answered by the EPA taking action to both regulate these chemicals for their known harms and for the agency to fund the science to understand the public health implications for exposures to these chemicals." She added: "Overall, with more PFAS exposure we should expect to see more cancer, harm to fetal development and reduced vaccine effectiveness, among others. The public needs to be aware and concerned and advocating to their elected officials for the EPA not to weaken the landmark PFAS protections in drinking water." What Happens Next The EPA is expected to release more UCMR 5 results in the coming months. For those who are concerned, Richardson said "activated carbon filters that are certified to remove PFAS" can be used to filter drinking water to reduce exposure.