From Trump administration disputes with a university to protests across France and on U.S. campuses, here are stories that made headlines this past week. Or skip to the end to take a quiz to test your news savvy.
Court weighs Trump dispute with Harvard
President Donald Trump’s administration asked an appeals court on Monday to let it terminate more than $2 billion in grants awarded to Harvard University, a major target in the Republican president’s broader campaign against elite universities.
During an oral argument before the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a Justice Department lawyer said the federal government had the authority to withhold federal funding from Harvard to ensure it is adequately fighting antisemitism on its campus.
The court’s decision will help determine whether Trump can leverage federal funding to force change at universities, which he claims are gripped by “radical left” ideologies.
People are also reading…
Pharmaceutical lobby sues over price cuts
The pharmaceutical industry’s top lobby group sued Wednesday to invalidate the Trump administration’s efforts to benchmark drug prices to lower costs overseas in the Medicare health insurance program, arguing it is an illegal government overreach.
The GLOBE rule intends to set hospital drug prices for Medicare patients. The rule is expected to have limited reach. CMS plans to waive it for manufacturers that signed separate voluntary deals with the White House to cut prices for their drugs, and it could ultimately apply to as few as four drugmakers.
The PhRMA lobby group filed its lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services he runs, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and two of its officials.
Demonstrators rally Thursday outside Columbia University in New York City during a Stop Sexual Violence protest, part of U.S. rallies held in the wake of Cornell University gang rape allegations.
Protests show solidarity with Cornell student
Cornell University’s administration and president faced mounting pressure over the school’s handling of an alleged 2024 gang rape that set off a wave of outrage over sexual violence on college campuses.
In other news
Anniversary: Israelis gathered in silence Wednesday in a kibbutz near the Gaza border that was overrun by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 three years earlier, mourning victims of attacks that set off Israel’s assault in Gaza and plunged the Middle East into war.
Environment: Supreme Court justices wrestled with a bid by oil companies ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy to thwart a lawsuit by officials in Boulder, Colorado, seeking monetary damages for harms caused by climate change as they opened their new nine-month term Monday. The Supreme Court’s decision is expected by the end of June.
France: Police fired tear gas at protesters outside French high schools on multiple occasions as students, teachers and parents took to the streets on Tuesday, the biggest day of what Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu described as the most violent school protests in decades.
Students take part in a demonstration Friday at the Ecole du Louvre in Paris, France, part of ongoing protests voicing anger over overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and dilapidated school buildings, which students blame on years of underinvestment.
Robocalls: A Democratic member of the Federal Communications Commission urged the agency Wednesday not to approve a petition to allow political artificial intelligence-generated robocalls from conservative political group Club for Growth. The FCC will consider comments on the petition until Oct. 19.
Planes: Vice President JD Vance said Monday the decision to move B-1 bombers from a British air base was done out of an abundance of caution after a suspected Iranian plot at the site the previous week.
Ukraine: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the U.S. of being unwilling to help Ukraine after a Russian bomb attack on Thursday killed at least 30 people in the east, sending the two-day death toll from Russian strikes to over 70.
Rescuers work Friday at the site of an apartment building damaged during a Russian airstrike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.
The water cooler — trending news
Dennis Hastert (1942-2026): Ex-politician Dennis Hastert, 84, the longest-serving Republican U.S. House speaker who later admitted to sexually abusing boys as a high school wrestling coach and pleaded guilty to hush money charges arising from the scandal, died at his home last weekend due to natural causes, CBS News reported Monday, citing a coroner in Illinois.
Jim Bakker (1940-2026): Televangelist Jim Bakker, 86, who built a multimillion-dollar empire and lived in opulence before he was disgraced by a sex scandal, fraud conviction for bilking followers and divorce from co-host Tammy Faye, died Monday. His second wife revealed his death on social media but did not share details. In 2020, Bakker drew ire for selling a false COVID-19 treatment.
AI poll: Most U.S. voters think President Donald Trump’s administration and Congress are not taking the risks of artificial intelligence seriously enough and want the government to write new regulations for the technology, according to a poll released Wednesday. About 57% of registered voters in the poll said the Trump administration has not taken AI risks seriously enough or at all. About 54% said the same about Congress.
Daylight saving: Senate Majority Leader John Thune said this week “there’s no clear path forward” for legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent. Thune’s comments, made to Politico in an interview Monday, came days after President Donald Trump appeared to give out Sen. Tom Cotton’s phone number amid the senator’s objections to the bill.
Screens display the Skydance logo Thursday on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Big number
$110 billion: The value of a Paramount Skydance takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, which was completed Tuesday, handing CEO David Ellison control of one of the world’s largest entertainment companies.
Quote of the week
President Donald Trump dances on stage Monday during a rally at Pinnacle Bank Expo Center in Grand Island, Nebraska.
“It’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, for keeping our country safe. They could take out a city. Let ‘em take out Los Angeles, let ‘em take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay, and it’s going to be over with very soon,” President Donald Trump said at a political rally Monday in Nebraska, referring to Iran and prompting backlash in California.
