News Wrap: Harvard Grant Termination, Inflation Slowdown, Ukraine Ceasefire Talks, and Gerard Depardieu Conviction

Harvard Grant Termination

• ❌ The Trump administration is terminating $450 million in grants to Harvard University.
• ⚖️ This action follows a previous freeze of $2.2 billion in federal funding due to accusations of anti-semitism on campus.
• 🏛️ Harvard disputes these claims, stating federal sanctions are an unlawful attempt to control university operations.

Economic and Aviation News

• 📉 Inflation slowed for the third straight month in April, with consumer prices rising 2.3% year-over-year, the smallest increase in over four years.
• 🍎 Grocery prices, particularly for bigs, fell by nearly 13%, contributing to the slowdown.
• ✈️ The FAA is defending its decision to move control of New York's airspace to Philadelphia due to persistent low staffing levels and training issues.
• ⚠️ Technical problems at the Philadelphia facility have led to flight delays and cancellations in Newark, with significant understaffing reported.

International Relations and Conflict

• 🇺🇦 Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is pressuring Russia's Putin to join him for ceasefire talks in Turkey.
• 🤝 Zelenskyy insists on face-to-face talks, stating that only Putin can decide on a potential ceasefire.
• 🇷🇺 Russia has rejected findings from an international aviation body that it was responsible for shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH-17.

Cultural and Legal Developments

• 🎬 French actor Gerard Depardieu was found guilty of sexual assault by a Paris court and received an 18-month suspended prison sentence and a fine.
• ⚖️ The conviction is seen as a bellwether for how French society and its film industry handle such cases in the post-Me Too era.
• 📈 On Wall Street, stocks ended mixed following the inflation data, with the Dow Jones industrial average slipping but the NASDAQ and S&P 500 ending higher.