10 things you need to know today: July 4, 2018

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1. Trump rescinds Obama directive on race in college admissions
2. Asylum seekers told to accept deportation to be reunited with children
3. Trump interviews more potential Supreme Court picks
4. Thai boys learning scuba diving to get out of flooded cave
5. Political divisions bleed into Independence Day
6. Former Malaysian prime minister charged with corruption
7. Judge dismisses lawsuit over DNC hacking due to technical concerns
8. Poland Supreme Court purge triggers mass protest
9. Millions to spend Fourth under heat advisories
10. England beats Colombia to reach World Cup quarterfinals

published 4 July 2018

1. Trump rescinds Obama directive on race in college admissions

The Trump administration on Tuesday announced that it was rescinding an Obama administration directive urging universities to consider race as a factor in admissions to increase diversity. The Education and Justice Departments in a joint letter called for restoring race-neutral Bush-era policies, saying the Obama administration overstepped its authority under Supreme Court decisions on affirmative action. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the Obama-era guidance was "issued improperly," and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said schools would still "offer equal opportunities for all students while abiding by the law." Democrats and civil rights groups called the move a step backwards. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said the "rollback of vital affirmative action guidance offends our nation's values" in "yet another clear Trump administration attack on communities of color."

Since a court order to reunite more than 2,000 undocumented migrant children and parents separated at the border in May and June, the Trump administration has told the parents to choose between leaving the country with their kids or without them, NBC News reported Tuesday, citing a government form it obtained. The new instructions to agents do not offer the parents affected by President Trump's "zero tolerance" immigration policy the option of reuniting with their children while awaiting a decision on their asylum applications in the U.S. Advocates say this aspect of the zero-tolerance immigration policy may violate international asylum laws. Parents and children who crossed the border after June 20 are being detained together.

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President Trump continued his push to quickly interview potential Supreme Court picks, meeting with three more on Tuesday after talking to four on Monday. "These are very talented people, brilliant people," Trump said Tuesday during an appearance in West Virginia. "We're going to give you a great one." Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) already has expressed reservations about one top contender, federal appeals judge Brett Kavanaugh, reportedly over his past decisions on health care. Republicans have a narrow 51-49 majority, so any defections could threaten the confirmation of Trump's nominee. Trump's replacement of retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, a longtime moderate conservative swing vote, could influence decisions on contentious issues, including abortion and gay marriage, for a generation.

Thai rescuers are giving swimming and scuba diving lessons to 12 boys, all members of a soccer team, and their coach in preparation for getting them out of a flooded cave where they have been trapped for 11 days. Some Navy divers and medics have already reached the boys in a dry area more than two miles inside the cave, bringing them food, blankets, and other supplies. Another 30 divers are being sent in Wednesday to help get them out. Authorities said the boys, between the ages of 11 and 16, might be brought out in phases, as conditions permit, but dismissed as speculation that the children could be trapped for up to four months. "All 13 don't have to come out at the same time," Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osottanakorn said. "Who is ready first can go first."

President Trump praised military service members on Tuesday ahead of the Fourth of July, saying at a "Salute to Service" charity event in West Virginia that the stronger the military is, the less likely the nation is to have to use it. About 216 million Americans, nearly as many as last year, plan to celebrate the Fourth of July this year with the traditional cookouts and fireworks. They'll eat some 150 million hot dogs and spend more than $900 million on traditional Fourth fireworks, but the political divisions gripping the nation also will be on display, as groups opposed to Trump's policies plan alternative events to call attention to Trump's hostility toward the press, immigrants, and what the organizers of one event described as "our current government's erosion of some of the Constitution's principles."

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was charged in court Wednesday with criminal breach of trust and corruption. He was arrested Tuesday over a suspicious transfer of $10.4 million into his bank accounts from SRC International, a former unit of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state investment fund that he founded. U.S. investigators say Najib's associates looted billions from the 1MDB. The scandal led to Najib's shocking election defeat less than two months ago, and his arrest capped a rapid fall from grace. Najib has maintained his innocence, calling the allegations politically motivated. "I am not perfect, but believe me that the accusations against me and my family are not all true," he said on a recorded video released on social media after his arrest.

U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Huvelle on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit accusing President Trump's campaign and former Trump adviser Roger Stone of conspiring with Russia and WikiLeaks to release hacked Democratic National Committee emails in 2016. Huvelle, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, said the campaign's meetings, canvassing, and other activities had nothing to do with the conspiracies alleged by two DNC donors and a former DNC staffer in the lawsuit, so it could not be reviewed in a Washington, D.C., court. The ruling was "not based on a finding that there was no collusion between defendants and Russia during the 2016 presidential election," Huvelle wrote. "This is the wrong forum for plaintiffs' lawsuit. The Court takes no position on the merits of plaintiffs' claims."

Poland's government on Tuesday night purged the country's Supreme Court, forcing up to 27 of 72 justices to retire and prompting tens of thousands to take to the streets. The move has been interpreted as an assault on the judiciary's independence, and is expected to intensify Poland's clash with the European Union over the rule of law. The purge, along with the creation of a judicial disciplinary chamber, marked the latest in a series of steps the right-wing Law and Justice Party has taken to exert control over the courts. The party has attacked judges for years, calling them obstructionists and holdouts from the Communist era, and it took control of the Constitutional Tribunal after coming to power in 2015.

Heat advisories, warnings, and watches were in effect for 23 states east of the Rockies heading into the Fourth of July. Nearly 80 million people were covered by the advisories and warnings on Tuesday. The heat index, which measures what the temperature feels like with heat and humidity, reached 101 degrees in New York City, 102 degrees in Boston, 108 degrees in Washington, D.C., and 100 degrees in Oklahoma City on Tuesday. It is expected to straddle 100 degrees again on Wednesday in many cities. A heat wave that is fueling wildfires on the West Coast is expected to push temperatures to 115 degrees in Phoenix on Thursday, and 101 degrees in Los Angeles on Friday. There are reports of at least eight heat-related deaths in Canada and the U.S. beginning last weekend, six of them in Montreal.

England on Tuesday eliminated Colombia in the final match of the World Cup's knockout round, emerging victorious after taking it to penalty kicks. The win sends England to the quarterfinals to face Sweden, after the Nordic nation defeated Switzerland on Tuesday morning. The fate of the game was nearly determined when English star Harry Kane scored a penalty shot in the 57th minute, but Colombia made a shocking comeback just moments before the final whistle. After a dramatic overtime period and plenty of yellow cards all around, the Three Lions clinched the win, scoring four of five penalties against Colombia's three. Also advancing to the quarterfinals: Uruguay and France, Brazil and Belgium, facing off on Friday; and Russia and Croatia, set to meet on Saturday.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.