Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Tuesday.
The shutdown is over, but not the clash over ICE fundingThe House narrowly approved a bill this afternoon to end the partial government shutdown. President Trump then quickly signed it, funding large parts of the government through September. Still, the negotiations over federal spending aren’t over. The legislation, which advanced with the support of 196 Republicans and 21 Democrats, provided money for the Department of Homeland Security only through the end of next week. Trump and his congressional allies will have roughly 10 days to reach a deal with Democrats to avoid another lapse. It is almost certain to be difficult. Democrats negotiated the financial cliff to put pressure on Republicans to agree to restrictions on the administration’s immigration crackdown. Outraged by the killing of American citizens in Minneapolis, Democrats vowed to tie funding for D.H.S. to a set of changes, including a ban on masks for federal agents, a requirement that they wear body cameras and a mandate that they follow the same use-of-force policies as the local police. In related news:
The U.S. shot down an Iranian droneA Navy fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone today after the drone aggressively approached an American aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, the U.S. military said. Hours later, in a separate incident, two Iranian boats and an Iranian drone harassed a U.S. merchant vessel, before a U.S. destroyer provided an escort. The U.S. has built up a military presence near Iran, and Trump has demanded a deal over Iran’s nuclear and military programs. Iran’s president said he supported “equitable negotiations” with the U.S., before talks that are expected to take place Friday.
Colleges see notable racial shifts in student enrollmentAfter the Supreme Court declared in 2023 that the use of race as a factor in college admissions was unconstitutional, Black and Latino enrollment declined at highly selective schools. A new report found that the opposite occurred at large public universities. Across public flagship universities, freshman enrollment of underrepresented minority groups increased by 8 percent. At the University of Mississippi, for example, Black freshman enrollment increased 50 percent. At the University of Tennessee, Latino enrollment went up by more than a third.
More parents are rejecting a potentially lifesaving shotFor more than 60 years, U.S. medical providers have routinely given newborns a vitamin K injection. It has proved to be effective at preventing infants from bleeding, which can be life-threatening. But the shot appears to have been swept up in broader anti-vaccine sentiment, even though it isn’t a vaccine. A recent study showed an uptick in newborns who didn’t receive a vitamin K injection, and doctors said that parents had become increasingly resistant. More top news
“Free Maduro” billboards and graffiti have popped up around Caracas. In this video, my colleague Anatoly Kurmanaev explains how it helps the interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, to navigate her political rebranding.
CT scanners keep improving, so mummies are getting checkups to see what we can learn from their bodies. They reveal details like deteriorated hips and evidence of back surgery — and let people see them “not as exotic artifacts but as human beings,” one researcher said. Take a look.
It’s time for the Super Bowl of dog showsMore than 3,000 dogs have gathered in New York City for the 150th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. When the judging began yesterday, the Dalmatians, poodles, chow chows, French bulldogs and Old English sheepdogs all proved to be attractive subjects for our behind-the-scenes photographer. But the big prize — best in show — will be handed out tonight. You can follow The Times’s live coverage of the event starting at 7:30 p.m. Eastern. Last year’s winner was a giant schnauzer; this year, it’s anyone’s game (though the golden retriever is, as usual, a long shot). For more: Many of the dogs stay at the New Yorker Hotel, one of the city’s few remaining dog-friendly spots.
The Muppets don’t need reinventionEvery few years, television viewers are presented with an updated version of the Muppets. In 2015, the beloved critters were retooled to be “more adult.” In 2020, they were adapted to fit the streaming era. This week, a new special, simply called “The Muppet Show,” takes a simple approach: It doesn’t try to reinvent the Muppets at all. “There are songs and slapstick and jokes, and nobody, blessedly, stayed up too late thinking about the reasons why,” our critic James Poniewozik writes. “This show knows what you want from the Muppets, and it’s going to shoot the stuff at you like Ping-Pong balls from a cannon.”
Dinner table topics
Cook: This homemade pizza is light, fresh and a little bit spicy. Read: My colleague recommended “What Boys Learn” and two other new thrillers. |
