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A long-running legal battle between President Trump and E. Jean Carroll reaches its financial end, the Federal Reserve reveals growing divisions over the path for interest rates, and a German court delivers a life sentence in one of the country's most disturbing medical murder cases.

Plus, why a quiet new gatekeeper is reshaping the future of college sports.

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A federal judge ordered Trump's damages released to writer E. Jean Carroll, roughly $5m in all. Justices had just refused to hear his appeal, closing the door on years of delay. Carroll's lawyers said the money should be paid within days now that every legal path is exhausted.

Carroll won her defamation and sexual-abuse verdicts back in 2023, but the award stayed frozen while Trump fought through each level of appeal. Payment now lands as the president juggles a widening pile of legal and political battles. For Carroll, the ruling ends a saga that stretched across two trials and nearly a decade of public feuding.

Newly released minutes show Fed officials deeply divided over where US inflation is heading next. Policymakers split sharply on whether rate cuts should arrive soon or wait for cleaner data. Several warned that moving too early could reignite the price pressures they spent two years trying to tame.

Some governors fear tariffs will keep inflation sticky, while others point to a cooling labor market that badly needs relief. Investors read the minutes as a warning that no quick consensus is coming. Futures markets trimmed their bets on a near-term cut as the divisions sank in.

A Berlin court handed a palliative-care doctor a life sentence for murdering 15 patients in his care. Prosecutors described a chilling betrayal of people who trusted him at their most vulnerable. Judges said the true toll may be higher, with investigators still examining other suspicious deaths.

The verdict capped months of harrowing testimony from grieving families and former medical colleagues. Authorities across Germany are now reviewing further deaths that may be linked to him. Prosecutors have signaled that additional charges could follow as the wider inquiry continues.

At least eight people died when a landslide buried a girls' school after days of heavy monsoon rain. Rescuers dug bodies from the mud near a Rohingya camp on the southeastern coast. Officials warn the toll could climb as more rain batters the waterlogged region.

Brazilian police raided Bolsonaro's home hunting for weapons and came away empty-handed. Investigators keep tightening a net around the former president as his legal troubles multiply. Allies called the search political theater, while prosecutors insist it followed credible leads.

A Nobel-winning chemist left the US for China to lead a new AI-driven materials lab. Omar Yaghi's departure spotlights how deep American science-funding cuts are pushing top talent abroad. Chinese institutions have courted foreign researchers aggressively as Washington trims budgets.

A former Wisconsin judge was spared prison for helping a migrant slip past ICE agents. Hannah Dugan had guided the man out a courtroom side door during a hearing last year. Her case became a flashpoint in the fight over local officials and federal immigration enforcement.

An appeals court refused to halt removal of Trump's name from the Kennedy Center. Judges rejected every argument the president's lawyers put forward. Officials can now proceed with stripping the branding added during his tenure.

The administration abruptly cancelled teen-pregnancy grants, blindsiding clinics, universities, and nonprofits. Grantees say months of compliance work vanished overnight with no warning. Some programs may shut their doors within weeks without the federal money.

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Apple committed $30 billion to Broadcom in a sweeping US chipmaking push. Executives billed it as the company's largest American manufacturing bet to date. The deal deepens a partnership central to Apple's custom-silicon ambitions.

Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin is raising outside capital in a round valuing the rocket company at $130 billion, its first time taking external investors. That puts it alongside SpaceX in the rarified upper tier of private space.

Levi Strauss beat earnings expectations and lifted both its guidance and dividend. Denim demand held firm despite tariffs and rising costs. Shares climbed after hours as investors cheered the upbeat outlook.

Scientists watched the ocean floor tear open in real time, unleashing a vast flood of lava. Instruments on the Southeast Indian Ridge caught the crust spreading two metres within days. Researchers called it a once-in-a-generation window into how new seafloor is born.

Meta now lets users generate AI images from public Instagram profile pictures. Privacy campaigners call the feature a recipe for harassment and abuse. Meta says people can opt out, but critics doubt many will know how.

Artemis II astronauts reunited with their moonship three months after their record-setting flight. NASA is refurbishing the capsule for the program's next lunar leg. Engineers are studying how the spacecraft held up on its journey around the Moon.

Justin Verlander will retire after the 2026 season, ending his career where it began in Detroit. Verlander, a three-time Cy Young winner, leaves with 266 wins and 3,554 strikeouts. He earned one last All-Star nod as a Legend Pick for his tenth appearance.

Blackhawks star Connor Bedard will miss the season's start after undergoing shoulder surgery. Doctors expect a four-month recovery for the 20-year-old center. Chicago now faces the opening stretch without its franchise cornerstone.

Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander, 43, announced he will retire at the end of the 2026 season. The 10-time All-Star leaves with three Cy Youngs and two World Series rings — a résumé that puts Cooperstown well within reach.

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Justin Bieber will join the World Cup halftime show beside Madonna, BTS, and Shakira. Organizers promise a Super Bowl-scale spectacle for the tournament's final. The lineup caps Bieber's high-profile return to live performing this year.

Salman Rushdie says AI has zero role in storytelling in a candid new interview. Rushdie also teased a "Midnight's Children" TV series and a fresh film adaptation. He argued that real fiction springs from lived human experience no machine can fake.

Disney is reviving the Cheetah Girls with a fourth, next-generation film. Raven-Symoné and original castmates are set to return. The reboot aims to introduce the franchise to a whole new audience of kids.

What it is: The clearinghouse vetting NIL deals has rejected nearly $90m in athlete agreements during its first year of operation. Run by Deloitte for the new College Sports Commission, it now effectively polices what college athletes across the country can be paid. Every deal above a set threshold must clear its review before the money can change hands.

The detail: The system, branded NIL Go, launched in June 2025 and has approved roughly $355m in deals since opening its doors. Rejected offers averaged about $51,600 apiece, and only two of the thousands of flagged cases have reached formal arbitration. Officials say the goal is to block disguised recruiting payments dressed up as ordinary endorsements.

Why it matters: For over a century college athletes earned nothing official, and now a private body decides which endorsement deals are allowed to stand. Schools, boosters, and donor collectives keep testing how far "fair market value" can be stretched before the gatekeeper intervenes. Critics argue the reviews simply recreate the old limits that courts already struck down.

What to watch: Legal challenges look almost certain as rejected athletes and their collectives push back hard against the commission. Whether the clearinghouse survives that court scrutiny will shape how billions of dollars flow through college sports. Antitrust lawyers are already circling, sensing the next major courtroom fight over amateurism.

- An 18-month-old Arizona toddler declared dead from drowning was found alive in the hospital morgue, flown to a second hospital, and survived — either a miracle or a devastating performance review.

- Two teens attempted a toy-gun drive-by from the back of a Waymo, apparently forgetting that a driverless car is essentially a rolling surveillance van with better manners.

- A German palliative care doctor was sentenced to life for murdering 15 patients and is suspected of many more — a job title now doing a great deal of unwanted work.

Five Minute Daily keeps the day’s biggest stories clear, quick, and useful. Share this edition with someone who wants the world in five minutes.

—The Five Minute Daily Team