Judge sides with Trump: A federal judge on Thursday declined to block President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting voting by mail, ruling challenges to the directive were premature. The decision by U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, marks a setback for Democratic groups, lawmakers and the NAACP, which are seeking to halt the order before November’s midterm elections. The March 31 order directs the U.S. Postal Service to propose rules limiting mailed ballots to voters on state-provided lists and instructs federal agencies to help compile voter data. Louisiana Illuminator has the full story.
Valuation milestone: Anthropic has raised $65 billion in a funding round that values the artificial intelligence company at $965 billion, surpassing rival OpenAI’s valuation for the first time. The funding round came together quickly, underscoring strong investor demand for the maker of the Claude AI platform. Anthropic has developed a suite of AI tools designed to streamline business operations, including coding, cybersecurity and workflow automation. Both Anthropic and OpenAI are expected to go public as early as this fall. Bloomberg has the full story.
Ceasefire extension: U.S. and Iranian negotiators reached a tentative agreement Thursday to extend the ceasefire in the 3-month-old war by 60 days and launch talks on Iran’s nuclear program, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter. Iran did not immediately confirm any deal, and the official noted that President Donald Trump has yet to sign off on it. The emerging memorandum of understanding came as the fragile ceasefire in the war appeared to be wavering. The memorandum makes clear that Iran will not be able to impose tolls on the Strait of Hormuz and that Iran will have to remove all mines from the vital waterway within 30 days. The Associated Press has the full story.
