When it comes to law school admissions, 2021 was one for the record books. The number of applicants vying to be first-year law students this fall jumped 13%—the biggest year-over-year increase since 2002 reut.rs/3mD44aM 1/6
Law School Admission Test scores also shot up, with more than double the number of applicants scoring in the highest band of 175 to 180. As a result, the median LSAT score among the new classes at nearly every law school went up 2/6
Andy Cornblatt, dean of admissions at Georgetown University Law Center, said the 2021 cycle was a 'perfect storm' of the pandemic and current events pushing people to apply to law school 3/6
Some law schools struggled to manage the influx of applicants, ending up with first-year classes that are significantly larger than they had planned for. A number of elite law schools also admitted their most diverse classes ever 4/6
Some were shut out of schools they would have been admitted to in any other year, he noted, while schools took more time than usual to make decisions—a further source of stress for applicants 5/6
The University of Michigan Law School saw a 42% increase in applications last cycle and hired an additional first reader to help wade through them all, said senior assistant dean Sarah Zearfoss.
The Trump administration's freeze of foreign funding has begun impacting an international effort to hold Russia responsible for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, according to eight sources, halting dozens of jobs and tens of millions of dollars in aid 1/6reut.rs/4gtiV0o
Ukraine has opened more than 140,000 war crime cases since Moscow's February 2022 invasion, which has killed tens of thousands, ravaged vast swathes of the country and left behind mental and physical scars from occupation. Russia says its forces have not committed war crimes 2/6
International organizations such as the US-funded Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group for Ukraine have provided expertise and oversight to Ukrainian authorities, who in turn have been praised by Kyiv's Western partners for probing alleged crimes while the war is still raging 3/6
US President-elect Donald Trump says he wants to make Greenland a part of the United States and does not rule out using military or economic power to get Denmark to hand over the island. Why does Trump want Greenland and could he get it? 1/8 reut.rs/3WyEMN1
Greenland, part of NATO through the membership of Denmark, has strategic significance for the US military and for its ballistic missile early-warning system since the shortest route from Europe to North America runs via the Arctic island 2/8
The US, which has a presence at the Pituffik air base in Greenland's northwest, has expressed an interest in expanding its activities and placing radars to monitor the waters between the island, Iceland and Britain, which are a gateway for Russian navy vessels and submarines 3/8
In Kenya, morgue logbooks record the cause of death reported by police when they bring in bodies. @reuters spoke to police officers who said that Kenyan police at times mischaracterize deaths caused by officers in morgue logs to cover their tracks 1/8 reut.rs/3BSveFn
Thousands of young Kenyans took to the streets in nationwide protests against tax hikes and political corruption, starting in late June. Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has said 42 people were killed during a police response that rights groups say involved firing live rounds 2/8
Some prominent rights groups have accused Kenyan authorities of a cover-up of dozens of alleged police killings, unexplained abductions and illegal detentions related to the protests, which became known popularly as the Gen-Z protests because of their youthful demographic 3/8
Russia said it had detained a citizen of Uzbekistan who had confessed to planting and detonating a bomb that killed Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov in Moscow a day earlier on the instructions of Ukraine's security service 1/9 reut.rs/41Yg643
Kirillov, who was chief of Russia's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, was killed outside his apartment building along with his assistant when a bomb hidden in an electric scooter went off 2/9reut.rs/3ZJSX2s
Ukraine's SBU intelligence service, which accused Kirillov of being responsible for the use of chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops, something Moscow denies, took responsibility for the killing 3/9
Firefighters in Malibu, California, are making some progress in containing a raging wildfire, but it continues to threaten several structures and force residents to flee 1/6
The Franklin Fire is burning in the steep, rugged terrain northwest of Los Angeles 2/6 reut.rs/4ffSWsO
No deaths or injuries from the wildfire have been reported. Officials say the cause remains unknown. Anthony Marrone, Los Angeles County Fire Chief gave an update ⬇️ 3/6
Syrians awakened to a hopeful if uncertain future, after rebels seized the capital Damascus and President Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia, following 13 years of civil war and more than 50 years of his family's brutal rule 1/10 reut.rs/4iojhYr
The lightning advance of a militia alliance spearheaded by Hayat al-Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former al-Qaeda affiliate, marked one of the biggest turning points for the Middle East in generation 2/10
Moscow gave asylum to Assad and his family, Russian media reported and Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's ambassador to international organizations in Vienna, said on his Telegram channel 3/10