Good morning. Overnight breaking news – Israel reportedly struck Iran in what appears to be a military response to Iran's attack last weekend. The response from Iran so far has been subdued. This is a developing story; see updates here.

In today’s edition:

• 💬 Unpacking the controversy over USC’s valedictorian speech
• 🎶 New Taylor Swift just dropped
• 🏡 A snapshot of the current housing market

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~5.28-minute read (1,407 words).

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“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”

–Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

This week, the University of Southern California canceled the commencement speech of its valedictorian, a Muslim student who has promoted controversial pro-Palestinian social media content, citing risks related to security.

Asna Tabassum, a biomedical engineering major, was selected as USC’s 2024 valedictorian out of ~100 qualifying students two weeks ago – an honor that involves delivering a speech at the commencement ceremony in May.

But since her selection, pro-Israel groups and social-media accounts – both on campus and from outside USC – have urged the university to reconsider.

• They say Tabassum promoted antisemitic views by liking, engaging with, and linking to anti-Israel content, including a site that references Palestinian liberation and the abolishment of the state of Israel.

According to USC, the feedback has escalated to the point of “creating substantial risks.” The school said its decision to cancel Tabassum’s commencement address stemmed from security concerns based on electronic communications warning of a plan to disrupt the commencement, including at least one that targeted Tabassum.

• USC declined to give further details about the communications, including whether they’re under criminal investigation.
• A school spokesperson said Tabassum’s viewpoint and background didn’t influence the decision, and noted that free speech laws don’t apply to commencement speeches.

Yes, but… Many free speech experts and advocates argue that USC and other universities should resist canceling events that could be perceived as censorship – especially one as high-profile as a commencement speech – without being transparent and specifying the security concerns. They also express concern about other schools buckling to online pressure and canceling speeches.

Zoom out: Tensions surrounding the Israel-Hamas war have intensified on college campuses since last October. Many Jewish students and alumni say pro-Palestinian student protests often veer into antisemitism, while many protesters say the pushback is an attempt to censor their political beliefs.

📊 Flash poll: In your opinion, should Asna Tabassum be allowed to give her valedictorian commencement address?

Yes

No

Unsure/other

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🇮🇩 An Indonesian volcano erupted five times over a 24-hour period ending Wednesday. The eruptions from Mount Ruang forced the evacuation of 11,000+ people from surrounding areas, and caused the provincial airport to shut down. Local officials declared the highest volcanic alert, saying that part of the volcano could collapse into the sea and cause a tsunami – which occurred when Mount Ruang erupted in 1871.

💨 Global wind power installations reached a record high in 2023. A new report from the Global Wind Energy Council found new wind energy generation capacity increased by 50% in 2023 compared to the previous year, adding enough energy to power ~80 million homes. China led the way in wind energy generation, contributing to 65% of new installations, followed by the US, Brazil, and Germany.

🇳🇴 Norway’s sovereign wealth fund earned a record-high $109 billion last quarter. Since 1996, Norway has invested the proceeds of its state-run oil and gas companies into international markets, eventually growing their wealth fund to $1.6 trillion as of today (the largest in the world and enough to give $283,000 to every single Norwegian citizen). In an earnings report yesterday, Norwegian officials said last quarter’s gains were largely due to a continuing AI boom that propelled the stock values of Microsoft and Nvidia.

Bitcoin enthusiasts everywhere are currently holding their breath for an event called the halving, which many traders expect will bring a sharp upsurge to the cryptocurrency’s price.

Let’s break it down… The halving is an adjustment to bitcoin’s blockchain that cuts the incentive for bitcoin miners – basically how fast new bitcoins are issued – in half roughly every four years. This is one of bitcoin’s rules set in stone by its anonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.

• The halving is aimed at guaranteeing an eventual maximum of 21 million bitcoin in existence – a feature Nakamoto implemented to temper inflation and make each bitcoin more valuable over time due to scarcity.
• New bitcoin will eventually stop being created and issued to miners altogether, though that isn’t expected for at least a century.

The (potential) impact: In the past, halving events have been followed by a significant rise in the price of bitcoin, though analysts are divided over whether that will occur this time around.

• After bitcoin’s previous three halvings, its price increased by 2x-10x within the next eight months.
• However, some analysts say the upcoming halving event comes under different circumstances than previous ones, and caution that it could actually cause bitcoin prices to decrease.

👀 Looking ahead… The halving is expected to occur either today or tomorrow, depending on the rate at which new bitcoins are created.

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If you were woken up at midnight last night by widespread cries of excitement (including from this writer), it probably had something to do with Taylor Swift’s new album. The Tortured Poets Department is now available on all music streaming platforms.

What to know: The Tortured Poets Department is Swift’s 11th studio album, and first release of new music since 2022. The tracklist Includes features from Post Malone and Florence & The Machine.

Some tea: The album may have been leaked online ahead of its official release (though Swift’s camp has been mum on the topic). A Google Drive link purporting to contain all 17 songs was making rounds on X on Wednesday before the platform briefly blocked the search term "Taylor Swift leak."

Marketers, take notes: Swift recently became the first musician to become a billionaire on the back of her songs and performances alone, per Forbes – and you don’t get there without knowing a thing or two about marketing.

• Since announcing the album, Swift has unveiled four variants of The Tortured Poets Department, with each variant album featuring a unique bonus track.
• She’s also teamed up with Apple Music to curate five playlists based on the “stages of heartbreak,” in addition to partnering with Spotify to open an in-person library pop-up in LA to celebrate the album’s release.

🤔 The pivotal question: Anyone else calling in sick today to listen?🖐️

💬 Quoted: “He simply changed his mind.”

• Flip-flopping isn’t just for beaches and pancakes. Famed director Quentin Tarantino is no longer planning to make The Movie Critic, a Brad Pitt-led film reportedly set in the same universe as Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which Tarantino previously said would be his 10th and final film. For over a decade, Tarantino has maintained he will only make 10 films before retiring (he counts both volumes of Kill Bill as a single movie). It’s currently unclear which project Tarantino will choose to replace The Movie Critic as the capstone of his 32-year career.

🏘️📉 Stat of the Day: The spring homebuying season is like a snail at the beginning of a race – off to a sluggish start. Existing US home sales declined 4.3% on a monthly basis in March, marking their biggest such drop since November 2022, per new data from the National Association of Realtors. At the same time, the median price of an existing home was $393,500 – up 4.8% from last year, and the highest March price on record – while average mortgage rates rose above 7% this week for the first time since December.

🤔 Did You Know? During World War II, the Japanese army launched a second attack on Pearl Harbor three months after its initial assault on December 7, 1941.

📰 Worth a Read: The invisible seafaring industry that keeps the internet afloat → (The Verge)

• ☝️ The town of Butte, Montana, had a surprise visitor this week, when an elephant escaped from the visiting Jordan World Circus and started roaming the streets; after crossing a busy road and munching on some grass, the elephant was returned home safely.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Hedonova

• 💰 US markets closed mixed (S&P: -0.2%; Dow: +0.1%; Nasdaq: -0.5%).
• 📺 Netflix posted its best start to a year since 2020, adding 9.33 million subscribers in Q1 (nearly double analysts' estimates); the streamer also said it plans to stop providing investors with subscriber numbers early next year.
• 🧬 ​​23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki is reportedly planning to take the company private. | 💼 ​​Google terminated 28 employees involved in a multi-city protest against the tech giant's cloud computing contract with the Israeli government and military. Read the full memo.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🎸 Dickey Betts, cofounder of the Allman Brothers Band, passed away at 80.
• 🏀👟 Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark is reportedly close to reaching an eight-figure endorsement deal with Nike that will include her own signature shoe.
• 🏒 It's official: The NHL's Arizona Coyotes are relocating to Utah.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with NoNetz

• 🥊🏃 The sympathetic nervous system, responsible for the fight-or-flight response, developed in the earliest known vertebrates roughly 550 million years ago, per a new study. | 🌊🦎 Researchers identified remnants of what may be the largest marine reptile ever discovered; the species, ichthyotitan severnensis, was believed to reach over 80 feet long, twice the length of a city bus.
• 😬 An unhealthy dose of pesticides can be found in ~20% of fruits and veggies sold in the US, per a new report.
• 🤖 Meta released two new versions of Llama 3, its large-language model built to rival ChatGPT; the company claims this tech is among the best-performing generative AI models available today.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 📵 911 outages were reported in four states on Wednesday, leaving millions of residents unable to access emergency services; the FCC is investigating the incident.
• 📈 The Biden administration is seeking to increase a key tariff on Chinese steel products from 7.5% to 25%. | 💻 The Commerce Department will reportedly award $6.1 billion to chipmaker Micron Technology to support domestic factory projects; it marks the latest distribution of funds from the 2022 bipartisan CHIPS Act. (Background)
• ⚖️ San Francisco filed a lawsuit seeking to block the city of Oakland's planned renaming of its airport to "San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport."

CLICKBAIT

• 🏆 Time's 100 most influential people of 2024.

A copy of Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott was recently returned to the Fort Collins Public Library 105 years after its due date. 

• An anonymous woman brought the book in, sharing that her brother had found it while going through their mother's things. 

Technically speaking, based on a $0.02/day late-fee fine, she should have owed ~$760.00. Adjusted for inflation, that’s about $14,000😳. Luckily for her, the library eliminated late fees in 2020 – they're just happy to have this historical book back on the shelves.

Our weekly news quiz is live. In just two minutes or less, see how your news superpowers stack up against The DONUT team.

Below are three lists of ingredients. All you have to do is give us the completed dish they make.

☝️ Recipe #1:

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• Nutmeg
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• Dark spiced rum
• Vanilla extract
• Bananas
• Candied ginger

✌️ Recipe #2:

• Ground pork
• Chinese chives
• Soy sauce
• Sesame oil
• Cornstarch
• Sugar
• Square wanton wrappers
• Water

3️⃣ Recipe #3:

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• Farfalle pasta
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• Cherry tomatoes
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☝️ Recipe #1: Dark and stormy banana bread

✌️ Recipe #2: Pork and chive dumplings

3️⃣ Recipe #3: Caprese salad