Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Thursday.
Trump told Putin to ‘STOP!’ after deadly strikes in KyivRussian missiles pummeled Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, today, killing at least 12 people and injuring 90 others. It was the deadliest attack on the city in nearly a year. President Trump, who just hours earlier had suggested that Ukraine’s president was the central impediment to peace, issued a rare public rebuke of Vladimir Putin: “Vladimir, STOP!” Trump wrote on his social media platform. “I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing.” During an Oval Office meeting this afternoon, the president promised that he was putting a lot of pressure on Russia behind the scenes and said the country had made a “pretty big concession.” Pressed on what the concession was, Trump replied, “Stopping taking the whole country.” Trump also made clear that the strikes did not change his view on the war. Unlike the Biden administration — which was proudly Ukraine’s chief benefactor — Trump said he had “no allegiance” to either side and that his only goal was to stop the fighting and save lives. European officials said they agreed with the Ukrainians that the proposed American peace plan was too favorable to Russia. And a core group of European countries have said they are prepared to keep supporting Ukraine should the Americans walk away.
A judge curtailed Trump’s ability to punish schools over D.E.I.A federal judge in New Hampshire limited the Trump administration’s ability to withhold federal funds from public schools that have diversity and equity initiatives. The judge, Landya McCafferty, an Obama appointee, said that the administration’s policy threatened to restrict free speech in the classroom and overstepped the executive branch’s legal authority. The government is expected to appeal. While the administration has not offered a detailed definition of what it calls “illegal D.E.I. practices,” officials have suggested that targeted academic support to specific groups of students, such as Black boys, amount to segregation, and that lessons on concepts such as white privilege or structural racism are discriminatory.
Tensions between India and Pakistan escalatedSoon after militants killed 26 tourists this week in the picturesque Himalayan region of Kashmir, India pointed a finger at its archnemesis, Pakistan. Indian officials rolled out a flurry of punitive measures, including the suspension of a critical water treaty. Today, Pakistan retaliated: Officials there closed its airspace to Indian carriers and said it would order India to reduce its diplomatic staff in Islamabad and would suspend all trade with India. If India does follow through on its threat to block the flow of the Indus River system, Pakistan said it would consider that to be “an act of war.”
This flu season has been especially severeMost people recover from a bout of flu within a few days or a week. But every year, the virus still kills more than 36,000 people in the U.S., and public health officials said this flu season was more severe than those of recent years. Our health reporter Dani Blum spoke with several families who lost loved ones this flu season. More top news
One Man’s StoryNascimento Blair spent 21 years in the U.S. — as a prisoner, a college student and a businessman — until he was deported to Jamaica. The Times followed his journey.
It’s draft daySome football fans look forward to the N.F.L. Draft all year long. It’s a three-day event that offers every team a glimmer of hope: Maybe the top pick will turn around his franchise? Maybe your favorite team will find the next Tom Brady in the sixth round? It all begins tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern time. My colleagues at The Athletic will be covering it live and offering their grade of each pick. They expect Miami quarterback Cam Ward to be selected first. See which players your team could be targeting. One name to watch for: Desmond Watson likely won’t be drafted until Day 3. But if he is, Watson — a 464-pound run-blocking enthusiast — would be the heaviest person ever picked.
Unpacking Duke Ellington’s greatnessThe pianist Jason Moran has spent the last year performing the music of Duke Ellington to celebrate the 125th anniversary of his birth. Moran said the experience helped him appreciate how “vital” Ellington’s songs remain. Watch Moran walk us through an early Ellington masterpiece, “Black and Tan Fantasy,” and explain what makes it so powerful.
Dinner table topics
Cook: The star of th |
