📌 DEI Exclusion, India-Pakistan Tension, More

The Trump administration has been restricted from denying funds to public schools with diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

A ruling, issued by New Hampshire federal Judge Landya McCafferty, said Trump's action would “cripple the operations of many educational institutions,“ and would constitute a violation of executive branch power in overseeing local school districts.

In her ruling, McCafferty said the Trump administration's definition of DEI is unlawful, and in “stark contrast to the dictionary definition.“ She added that the administration's stance is “inconsistent with the ordinary meaning of the phrase.“

The ruling is not nationwide, and is limited to any public schools that work with the plaintiffs in the case, the National Education Association and the Center for Black Educator Development. The NEA is America's largest teachers' union, with more than 3 million members.

The suit was filed after the Trump administration demanded that public schools in all 50 states not participate in programs that violate its interpretation of what constitutes a violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act or risk losing potentially billions of dollars in federal aid earmarked for low-income students.

The Education Department retaliated, saying US public schools have embraced “pervasive and repugnant race-based preferences,“ which “emanated throughout every facet of academia“ and did so by holding the “false premise that the US is built upon 'systemic and structural racism.'“

Troops from Pakistan and India exchanged fire overnight across the line of control in disputed Kashmir, officials said.

The United Nations urged the nuclear-armed rivals to show “maximum restraint“ after a deadly shooting in the region. India accused Pakistan of supporting “cross-border terrorism“ after gunmen carried out the worst attack on civilians in contested Muslim-majority Kashmir for a quarter of a century.

Syed Ashfaq Gilani, a government official in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, said today troops exchanged fire along the line of control that separates the two countries. “There was no firing on the civilian population,“ he added.

Three Indian army officials told Reuters that Pakistani soldiers used small arms to fire at an Indian position. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with departmental policy, said Indian soldiers retaliated and no casualties were reported.

Militants killed 26 civilians Tuesday in the disputed region in a mountain meadow near Pahalgam. The mass killing derailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claims of restored calm in the restive Himalayan territory and sent tensions soaring between India and Pakistan.

“We very much appeal to both the governments … to exercise maximum restraint, and to ensure that the situation and the developments we’ve seen do not deteriorate any further,“ UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said Thursday.

A median of 61% across 35 countries consider press freedom very important, but only 28% believe their media are completely free.

Global surveys in the first six months of 2024 and in the US to March 30, 2025, reveal a disconnect between the perceived importance of press freedom, free speech, and internet freedom and how free people feel to express themselves.

The Pew Research Center reported 59% say freedom of speech is very important, but only 31% feel they have complete freedom of speech. Majorities see made-up news and information as a very big problem in South Korea (73%), Chile (72%), Greece (65%), France (63%), Germany (62%), Spain (61%) and Japan (59%).

Regional variations exist in the perceived importance of these freedoms, with higher importance in Europe and Latin America. Latin American countries report lower perceptions of press, speech, and internet freedom compared to global medians.

In the US, views on the importance of freedoms have slightly shifted, with increased perceptions of internet and speech freedom under the second Trump administration. Partisan shifts in the US show Republicans are more likely to see freedoms as completely free, while Democrats are less likely.

The resale housing market stalled in March, as elevated mortgage rates sidelined buyers, deepening affordability challenges.

Home sales declined 5.9% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.02 million, reported the National Association of Realtors. This marked the steepest monthly decrease since Nov. 2022. Economists polled by Bloomberg had expected sales to reach 4.15 million. Sales fell 2.4% from March 2024.

“Residential housing mobility, currently at historical lows, signals the troublesome possibility of less economic mobility for society,“ NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said.

At the end of March, total housing inventory reached 1.33 million units, marking an 8.1% increase from February and a 19.8% rise from a year ago.

Unsold housing inventory represents a four-month supply at the current sales pace, an increase from a supply of 3.5 months in February and 3.2 months in March 2024.

Adding to the affordability challenges, the median existing-home price in March hit $403,700, up 2.7% from the previous year. Price increases were seen across all regions, making it even more difficult for homebuyers to navigate an already tough market with rising mortgage rates.

AI-generated questions in the California Bar Exam have sparked outrage among students and educators.

23 of 171 multiple-choice questions were “developed with the assistance of AI and subsequently reviewed by content validation panels and a subject matter expert in advance of the exam,“ the State Bar of California said.

“I'm almost speechless. Having the questions drafted by non-lawyers using artificial intelligence is just unbelievable,“ Mary Basick, assistant dean of academic skills at UC Irvine School of Law, said.

“It's a staggering admission,“ said Katie Moran, an associate professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law. Moran also pointed out that ACS Ventures, the firm used to craft the AI questions, was the same firm to approve the questions.

The California Supreme Court pressured the State Bar to explore new technologies like AI for improving reliability and cost-efficiency.

In 2023, two New York lawyers were sanctioned for using ChatGPT in a legal brief, which cited fake cases. Numerous academic journals have included papers with AI-generated text, which was uncovered when a common AI phrase on Google Scholar was the subject of an investigative search.

Ukraine suffered more Russian strikes despite President Donald Trump’s plea for Russian President Vladimir Putin to “STOP!“

At least eight people were killed in drone strikes across the country, a night after Russia launched its deadliest bombardment of Ukraine since the middle of last year.

A drone attack on the eastern city of Pavlohrad on Friday killed three people, including a 76-year-old woman and a child, and injured 10 others, Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhiy Lysak said.

In southern Ukraine, two people were killed in strikes on Kherson, the region’s governor said, adding the strikes targeted critical infrastructure and residential buildings. Two died in attacks on Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, and one was killed in Kharkiv in the northeast of the country.

Ukraine’s emergency services said today it completed the search for survivors in the rubble of one residential block in Kyiv, hit by what Ukrainian authorities said was a North Korean ballistic missile. Kyiv was the main target of Russia’s massive bombardment on Thursday, killing 12 and wounding 87 people.

Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to arrive in Moscow for further talks with Putin on reaching an agreement. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday Moscow was “ready to reach a deal,“ but added that there were still some specific points that needed to be “fine-tuned.“

A race involving actual sperm will be held today at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.

Sperm Racing, a startup founded by a team of young millionaires, announced that representatives from the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles, will provide the microscopic swimmers for the inaugural Sperm Race.

The race will take place under a microscopic camera that will track the progress of the sperm as they attempt to cross to the finish line.

The startup said there will be three races held to determine the overall winner, and play-by-play commentary will be provided during each heat. There will also be instant replays, leaderboards and betting through approved partners.

“Sperm racing isn't just about racing sperm,“ wrote co-founder Eric Zhu in the Sperm Racing Manifesto. “It's about turning health into a competition. It's about making male fertility something people want to talk about, track, and improve.“

Zhu wrote that “health is a race. And everyone deserves a shot at the starting line.“