10 things you need to know today: July 4, 2023

A Harvard student holds a sign during a protest against the Supreme Court

(Image credit: Craig F. Walker / The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

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1. Advocacy groups challenge Harvard's legacy admissions policy
2. Putin tells allies the Russian people are united 'as never before'
3. U.S. ambassador to Russia meets with detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich
4. Judge blocks parts of Florida's new elections law
5. Churchill Downs extends suspension of trainer Bob Baffert
6. 5 killed in mass shooting in Philadelphia
7. Florida construction and agricultural workforces diminished after new immigration law takes effect
8. Venus Williams eliminated in first-round at Wimbledon
9. 1 dead, 9 injured after fireworks explode at Michigan home
10. Vietnam bans 'Barbie' movie over map scene

published 4 July 2023

1. Advocacy groups challenge Harvard's legacy admissions policy

Three civil rights groups filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education on Monday, saying that Harvard University's practice of giving priority to legacy admissions — the relatives of alumni — discriminates against students of color. The complaint was filed by Lawyers for Civil Rights on behalf of the Chica Project, the African Community Economic Development of New England, and the Greater Boston Latino Network. Close to 70% of Harvard's donor-related and legacy applicants are white, and being a legacy student makes an applicant about six times more likely to gain admission. This is a "substantial boost," Lawyers for Civil Rights said in a statement, which "has nothing to do with an applicant's merit." Instead, it is "an unfair and unearned benefit that is conferred solely based on the family that the applicant is born into." The filing comes just days after the Supreme Court issued a ruling limiting the ability to consider race in college admissions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday claimed that in the wake of the Wagner Group rebellion, "the Russian people are consolidated as never before." He made his remarks during a virtual Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting, hosted by India. "Russian political circles and the whole of society clearly demonstrated their unity and elevated sense of responsibility for the fate of the fatherland when they responded as a united front against an attempted armed mutiny," Putin added. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization was started in 2001 by Russia and China to counter Western alliances, and now has nine members, after welcoming Iran this year.

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U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne M. Tracy met with imprisoned Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich on Monday at Moscow's Lefortovo Prison, the State Department said, and reported that he is in "good health" and "strong, despite his circumstances." Gershkovich, 31, was arrested in March while on a reporting trip in Yekaterinburg and charged with espionage; prosecutors have not provided any evidence, and both the U.S. government and the Journal have denied the accusation. The U.S. government considers Gershkovich wrongfully detained, and his visit with Tracy on Monday was the first meeting he has had with a U.S. diplomatic official since April 17.

A federal judge on Monday blocked part of Florida's new elections law, ruling that the state cannot ban non-citizens from handling or collecting voter registration forms. The NAACP was one of several groups that sued the state over provisions in the law, which was signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in May, arguing that it would make it harder to register voters in marginalized communities. In his ruling, Judge Mark Walker wrote that Florida is "correct to seek integrity in our electoral system. Here, however, Florida's solutions for preserving election integrity are too far removed from the problems it has put forward as justifications." Walker's ruling also blocks a ban on third-party voter registration groups keeping personal information gathered while registering new voters.

Churchill Downs, the owner of the Kentucky Derby, announced Monday that it has extended its suspension of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert through the end of 2024. He was barred from participating in races at Churchill Downs tracks after it was discovered his horse Medina Spirit, the 2021 Kentucky Derby winner, tested positive for the steroid betamethasone after the race. The prohibition was set to expire at the end of July, pending a review, and Churchill Downs said it decided to extend it because Baffert "continues to peddle a false narrative concerning the failed drug test of Medina Spirit." Baffert has denied any wrongdoing, and in a statement released Monday said he believes a topical treatment used on the horse could have led to the positive test result.

Five people were killed in a mass shooting Monday night in Philadelphia's Kingsessing neighborhood. Police said the suspected gunman, a 40-year-old man whose name has not been released, was taken into custody. The shooting began at around 8:30 p.m., when the suspect opened fire on a street. Once officers arrived at the scene, they heard the gunfire and were able to corner the suspect, police said. Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw told reporters the suspect was wearing a bulletproof vest with multiple magazines, and also had a police scanner, AR-style rifle and a handgun. The people killed ranged in age from 20 to 59 years old, police said. Two children were also injured in the shooting, and are in stable condition.

A new law that took effect in Florida on July 1 is already hitting the state's agricultural and construction industries hard. The law, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in May, makes it a third-degree felony for people to use a false identification to get hired for work. Any business that is found to knowingly employ those unauthorized workers could have its license revoked and face daily fines. An estimated 772,00 undocumented immigrants lived in Florida in 2019, with many working on construction sites, farms and packaging facilities. Migrant workers began leaving the state once the law was signed, including those who are authorized to work but are married to someone who isn't. Some construction companies told The Wall Street Journal they have lost about half of their crews, and Tom C. Murphy, co-president of Coastal Construction, said there was already a labor shortage before the law went into effect. "While we fully support documentation of the immigrant workforce, the new law is aggravating an already trying situation," he added.

Tennis star Venus Williams was defeated by Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in two sets during the first-round at Wimbledon on Monday. The 43-year-old is a five-time Wimbledon singles champion, and due to recent injuries entered this year's tournament as a wild card. Svitolina, 28, took the first set 4-6 and the second 6-3. After the match, Williams said she felt "like I was in great form coming into this tournament, and great form in the match," making her loss "very shocking at the moment." When asked by reporters if she is considering retirement, Williams brushed off the question, but did answer a query about whether she would consider playing at 50. "It's never been done before, so if there is anyone who could do it, it would be me," she said.

One woman was killed and nine people injured on Monday night after fireworks exploded inside a home in Park Township, Michigan. The injuries range from "minor to critical," the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. The explosion also caused damage to several other homes and vehicles in the neighborhood. Major fireworks-related injuries have been reported across the United States leading up to the 4th of July, with three people hurt in New Jersey on Monday after pyrotechnics exploded on a homemade barge; the Byram Township Police Department told CBS News a prosecutors is opening a criminal investigation into the matter. An Illinois man was critically wounded on Sunday when a commercial-grade firework went off in his face, and another man in Indiana was hurt when a firework was thrown into his car and exploded. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said that in 2022, nearly 75% of fireworks-related injuries in the country occurred in the month surrounding Independence Day.

The upcoming "Barbie" movie has been banned in Vietnam due to a scene with a map showing territory in the South China Sea that China has unilaterally claimed, Reuters reported. Chinese maps use the "nine-dash line" to show this disputed territory. In 2016, a Hague international tribunal ruled that China has no legal basis behind its claim to the area, which Vietnam has contested. "We do not grant license for the American movie 'Barbie' to release in Vietnam because it contains the offending image of the nine-dash line," Vi Kien Thanh, head of the Department of Cinema in Vietnam, reportedly said. "Barbie" is expected to be one of the biggest movies of the summer, and was scheduled to be released in Vietnam on July 21, when it also hits theaters in the United States. It's not the first movie or television show to face a ban in Vietnam for this reason — 2022's "Uncharted," 2021's "Pine Gap," and 2019's "Abominable" were all pulled over similar scenes.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.