Vox Sentences is your daily digest for what’s happening in the world. Sign up for the Vox Sentences newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox Monday through Friday, or view the Vox Sentences archive for past editions.
Vox Sentences: Who’s in charge in Peru?
Harvard wins lawsuit against its affirmative action program; Peru faces leadership and constitutional crisis.
A win for affirmative action (for now)
Steven Senne/AP
- A district court ruled the Harvard University admissions process doesn’t discriminate against Asian Americans — the first step on a long road that’s likely to end with another challenge to affirmative action at the Supreme Court. [Boston Globe / Deirdre Fernandes]
- Students for Fair Admissions, a nonprofit group working on behalf of an anonymous group of Asian American students rejected from the university, sued Harvard for admissions practices that they say put Asian American students at a disadvantage. [Wall Street Journal / Melissa Korn]
- The Supreme Court has ruled colleges can only consider race in admissions to achieve diversity to benefit all students and only if there are no “race-neutral” ways to achieve diversity on campus. The judge ruled Harvard had no race-neutral options. [NYT / Adeel Hassan]
- In the ruling, Judge Allison Burroughs stated that while the university admissions process “passes constitutional muster,” the institution “could do better.” [CNN / Joan Biskupic]
- The ruling is not an end to the case, as appeals are expected to continue for several years and could take the case all the way to the Supreme Court. [The Harvard Crimson / Camille G. Caldera, Delano R. Franklin, and Samuel W. Zwickel]
A crisis in Lima
- Peru is in the midst of a constitutional crisis as former Vice President Mercedes Aráoz resigned a few hours after being sworn in as president. [BBC]
- Monday, Peruvian President Martín Vizcarra attempted to dismiss the opposition-controlled legislature and lawmakers responded by suspending him to appoint Aráoz. [Time / Franklin Briceño and Christine Armario]
- Several lawmakers physically hunkered down in congressional buildings, and the Peruvian military leadership sided with Vizcarra. [NPR / Colin Dwyer]
- A 27-person interim congressional commission takes the reins until the next elections, scheduled for January 26, 2020. [NYT / Anatoly Kurmanaev and Andrea Zarate]
Miscellaneous
- One of the first big cases of the Supreme Court’s term has huge implications for LGBTQ rights. [Vox / Ian Millhiser]
- A Florida man cut almost 140 electric scooter brake lines. [Washington Post / Lateshia Beachum]
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Tom Cruise as the movie star explores financial incentives for shooting a movie in the country — a conversation that, we can all hope, was less fraught than President Trump’s request for a favor. [HuffPost / Ron Dicker]
- Health concerns aside, beef is still bad for the environment, but scientists disagree on just how bad. [Bloomberg / Justin Fox]
- The abortion bans of the new year: Where are they now? [The Cut / Amanda Arnold]
Verbatim
“I don’t see impeachment as a unifying thing for our country.” [Nancy Pelosi during a joint press conference with Rep. Adam Schiff]
Listen to this: The impeachment counternarrative
Trump’s case for shutting down impeachment talk, decoded. [Spotify]
Read more
See More:
More in: Vox Sentences
By Cameron Peters
By Cameron Peters
By Cameron Peters
