📌 Police Reform Calls, US-Houthis Deal, More

Community and civil rights leaders expressed outrage over another disappointment in the long push for police reform.

Their feelings were expressed in no uncertain terms after three former Memphis police officers were acquitted Wednesday in the beating to death of Tyre Nichols. Nichols’ death at a traffic stop more than two years ago sparked nationwide protests and renewed calls for systemic change.

“Tyre and his family deserve true justice — not only in the courtroom, but in Congress, by passing police reform legislation once and for all,” National Association for the Advancement of Colored People President Derrick Johnson posted on social media. “Traffic stops should never be a death sentence, and a badge should never — ever — be a shield to accountability.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who spoke Wednesday to Nichols’ mother and stepfather, said they were outraged. “Justice can still be delivered,” referring to the officers’ upcoming sentencing in a federal civil rights case. “Tyre’s death was preventable, inexcusable, and tragic.”

Nichols, 29, was on his way home on Jan. 7, 2023, when he was stopped for an alleged traffic violation. He was pulled out of his car by officers, one of whom shot at him with a Taser. Nichols ran away, as recorded by video footage showing him being beaten by five officers. An autopsy found he died from blows to the head.

Three officers were acquitted of all state charges in the fatal beating. All five officers, the city of Memphis and the police chief are being sued by Nichols’ family for $550 million. A trial has been scheduled for next year.

A ceasefire deal between Yemen's Houthis and the US does not include sparing Israel, the group said on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump announced Tuesday the US would stop bombing the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen, saying the group agreed to stop attacking US ships. The Houthi attacks disrupted global trade, but saying the deal doesn’t include Israel suggests they will not come to a complete halt.

"The agreement does not include Israel in any way, shape or form," Mohammed Abdulsalam, the chief Houthi negotiator (pictured), said. "As long as they announced the cessation [of US strikes] and they are actually committed to that, our position was self-defence, so we will stop.”

The Israeli military said earlier in the day it intercepted a drone launched from the east, without identifying its exact location. Israeli media, however, reported that a missile launched from Yemen at Israel fell outside the country's borders.

The Houthis have been firing at Israel and shipping in the Red Sea since Israel began its military offensive against Hamas in Gaza after the Palestinian militant group's deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Too few air traffic controllers and old technology led to canceling over 1,000 flights at Newark Liberty International Airport.

The weekly tally originated from a lost connection for about 90 seconds between FAA radar and air traffic control at Philadelphia's Terminal Radar Approach Control on April 28. Five FAA employees at Newark were given 45 days off afterward due to stress. Their absence impacted staffing levels even more, triggering the flight disruptions.

Earlier, Newark said it would close one of its runways, Runway 4L-22R, on April 15, one of the airport’s busiest for departing flights, as part of a $121 million project. Newark’s website says that the construction is expected to be done by mid-June. Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, said, “United has been urging the US government for years to use its authority to effectively limit the number of flights to what the airport can realistically handle.”

Newark was the 14th-busiest US airport in 2024, but has the most global flight cancellations and delays. The FAA implemented a Ground Delay Program at Newark, causing average flight delays of nearly four hours.

The Department of Transportation is offering incentives to increase air traffic controller numbers, including salary increases and bonuses. Air traffic controllers face a mandatory retirement age of 56, with early retirements contributing to staffing shortages.

About 10% of internal medicine doctors in the US report a high level of ‘burnout,’ researchers reported in a medical journal.

"Understanding burnout in this population that provides general medical care is particularly relevant given the projected shortage of approximately 40,000 primary care physicians within the next decade," the report said.

Researchers surveyed 629 internal medicine doctors found through a national database maintained by the American Medical Association. About half of the doctors provide primary care, and the other half work in hospitals.

Around 10% of the doctors had the three signs of burnout: emotional exhaustion, a sense of detachment, and a feeling that their efforts don't make a difference. Burnout risk was similar among doctors working at community medical centers, Veterans Affairs facilities and academic hospitals.

There were no significant differences in burnout risk between primary care or hospital doctors, or between doctors working in inpatient or outpatient settings, researchers found.

However, about 15% of doctors in the West suffered from burnout, significantly higher than those in the Northeast (9%), Midwest (9%), or South (7%), researchers found.

A study found AI could evaluate middle school students’ written responses to science questions with an educator’s oversight.

Science teachers face a particular challenge in adopting Next Generation Science Standards, which emphasize student argumentation and investigation rather than simple memorization. The time taken to mark assignments can create a bottleneck, impacting students’ education.

AI models can grade student responses much faster than human teachers, but often rely on keyword spotting rather than assessing complete understanding. Without human-created rubrics, AI grading accuracy is low (33.5%), but it improves to just over 50% with rubrics, the study found.

AI tends to over-infer student understanding based on limited evidence, missing deeper analytical thought processes, reported the researchers. They suggest AI would best serve as an assistant to human teachers rather than a replacement, enhancing efficiency while maintaining human judgment.

Study author Xiaoming Zhai commented, “Many teachers told me, ‘I had to spend my weekend giving feedback, but by using automatic scoring, I do not have to do that. Now, I have more time to focus on more meaningful work instead of some labor-intensive work.’ That’s very encouraging for me.”

Three former Trump campaign aides are putting their experience to work to ‘Make Albania Grandiose again.”

Chris LaCivita (pictured), Paul Manafort, and Tony Fabrizio are assisting Albania's opposition Democratic Party leader Sali Berisha in the country’s May 11 parliamentary election. Berisha's campaign, initially using the slogan ‘Make Albania Great Again,’ has shifted to ‘Make Albania Grandiose’ to avoid regional tensions.

Berisha, a former prime minister and president, is challenging current Prime Minister Edi Rama while facing corruption charges and seeking to reverse US sanctions against him.

Albania’s Democratic Party has signed a $6 million contract with Continental Strategy, a Republican consulting firm, to leverage US political connections and promote Berisha's campaign.

The involvement of Trump campaign veterans is seen as a strategic move to harness populist sentiment and strengthen ties with the US, which is considered advantageous in Albanian politics.

Rama's government has also engaged with Trump allies, including a development deal with Jared Kushner's company for a luxury resort. The campaign has sparked controversy and an investigation by Albania's anti-corruption agency, SPAK, regarding the funding and legality of the lobbying efforts.

A young boy playing with his mother’s phone ordered 70,000 Dum-Dum lollipops on Amazon -- a purchase of about $4,200.

Lexington resident Holly LaFavers said on social media that she was shocked to discover 30 cases of Dum-Dums on her doorstep, each containing 2,340 pieces of candy.

LaFavers' son, Liam, who is in second grade, admitted he had placed the order while playing with her phone on the weekend.

Amazon initially agreed to allow LaFavers to return eight of the 30 cases, so she started attempting to sell the others to friends and neighbors.

LaFavers later said in an update that "after a long day of working with the bank and talking to a few news stations," Amazon contacted her and agreed to refund the entire purchase.