Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Friday.
Virginia’s top court delivers a major victory for RepublicansIn a 4-to-3 ruling today, the Virginia Supreme Court struck down the state’s new congressional map, which was designed by Democrats to flip as many as four Republican-held seats in this fall’s midterm elections. The decision, which came less than three weeks after Virginia voters approved the new map, could be the final word on the state’s districts before Election Day. The court said that the process to enact the new map violated the State Constitution, making it a state matter, not a question of federal law. When the General Assembly first voted on the constitutional amendment that authorized Democrats to redraw the map, it took place just before last fall’s legislative elections, after early voting had already begun. That timing, the justices wrote, violated the complex process laid out in the State Constitution for voting on amendments. With Virginia back to its old map, Republicans stand to gain about half a dozen safe seats from redistricting alone. Still, they are expected to face an uphill battle in their efforts to hold on to their majorities in Congress. In other redistricting news: Democratic candidates and voters sued Tennessee over its new map. These maps show how the state divided up Black voters around Memphis to erase the state’s lone Democratic seat.
Trump plans to fire the F.D.A. commissionerPresident Trump has signed off on a plan to fire Marty Makary, the head of the Food and Drug Administration, after he clashed with members of the administration over vaping, oversight of the abortion pill and a series of application denials for new treatments for rare diseases. The president could still change his mind, as he often does. Makary, who was a cancer surgeon and health policy researcher before joining the administration, has been a supporter of the Make American Healthy Again movement. In other Trump administration news:
Public schools are struggling with falling enrollmentFor the last several years, enrollment in American public schools has been declining. And fewer students means less funding, forcing many districts to make painful budget cuts and some districts to close schools. Several factors are affecting enrollment, including private school voucher programs and the recent crackdown on immigration. But experts say the biggest influence is the record-low U.S. fertility rate, which has fallen 24 percent since its most recent peak in 2007. See which school districts are shrinking and growing the most.
What health experts want you to know about hantavirusNews this week of a deadly virus outbreak on a cruise ship and an international contact tracing effort rekindled anxieties from Covid’s emergence. And many readers asked me whether they should be concerned. But health experts we talked to have been clear: the hantavirus poses very little risk to the general public. “The rate of transmission is not comparable to what was or is for Covid,” Gaby Frank, an expert in pathogens, told us. Hantavirus, Frank said, “requires prolonged exposure.” More top newsMiddle East Conflict
Other Big Stories
The art that everyone in Venice is talking aboutThe world’s top contemporary art event, the Venice Biennale, features nearly 100 national exhibitions sprawling across the floating city, and my colleagues have spent the week sprinting around the lagoon. Austria has the buzziest pavilion — which features a naked woman on a jet ski — and portable toilets that are the place to be. See the seven other exhibitions that everyone there is talking about. Typically, a panel of experts bestows an award for the best national presentation. But this year, the jury resigned en masse amid debate over which countries should be considered for prizes. Instead, the Biennale is letting viewers pick the best artist.
The W.N.B.A. is back and bigger than everThe 30th W.N.B.A. season gets underway this evening, and my colleagues who write The Athletic’s morning newsletter called it the most important year in the league’s history. It’s hard to disagree: Player salaries are way up, TV deals are exploding, Caitlin Clark is back and the league has expanded. A survey of W.N.B.A. general managers found that they expect A’ja Wilson to again win M.V.P. and the Aces to repeat as champions. Here’s what else to look forward to. For more: Sign up for “No Offseason,” The Athletic’s newsletter on women’s basketball.
Dinner table topics
Bake some blueberry crumb cake for Mother’s Day. Read “John of John” and six other books our editors recommended this week. Listen to highlights from the vast and varied career of the bassist Ron Carter. Find a great white shirt, no matter your budget. Upgrade your yard with mulch. Here’s the best way to do it. |
