Vox Sentences: Who’s in charge in Peru?

Table of Contents

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Harvard wins lawsuit against its affirmative action program; Peru faces leadership and constitutional crisis.

A win for affirmative action (for now)

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 physical 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]