Plus: 48 Great Colleges Here And Abroad That Are Still Accepting Applications |
Good morning,
Today is the start of the REAL ID requirement at airport security checkpoints, but if you don’t have one, don’t panic. Most people will still be allowed to fly, according to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.A standard, state-issued driver’s license is no longer enough to get through security—you’ll need one that typically has a star in the upper right corner, though each state’s version looks different. And while you may get through security without a REAL ID, it could mean going through extra screening, so plan to arrive three hours ahead of your flight. The requirement, aimed at improving security, has been long-delayed. But if you have a passport or one of roughly a dozen other compliant forms of identification, there’s no need to rush on obtaining a REAL ID.
Let’s get into the headlines, |
|
| India launched missile strikes in Pakistan Wednesday, two weeks after it accused Pakistan of being involved in a terrorist attack on the tourist town of Pahalgam that killed over two dozen people. Pakistani officials denounced the strikes, calling them “an unprovoked and blatant act of war.” The nuclear-armed nations have been at odds for decades, but tensions have risen in recent weeks following the Pahalgam attack. Even as AI models become more advanced, they’re increasingly prone to hallucinations, or false information created by false reasoning, presenting a challenge for the industry. For instance, company tests show OpenAI’s newest o3 and o4-mini models have hallucinated 30-50% of the time, and it’s unclear why. |
|
|  | | ILLUSTRATION BY EMILY SCHERER FOR FORBES; PHOTOS BY CHUANTHIT KUNLAYANAMITRE, ROBERTDOWNER / GETTY IMAGES |
| | |
|
|
|
For a variety of reasons, elite college admissions are becoming an impossible dream—even for perfect students. Today, 19 of 20 applications submitted to nearly all of the schools in the Ivy League are rejected. And it’s not just the super elite: Admission rates are plunging at popular schools like Northeastern University and New York University. Lower admissions rates lead to more stress and more heartbreak. But while the traditional May 1 decision deadline has come and gone, it’s not too late to secure a college acceptance for the fall term. Through April and May, hundreds of colleges report to the National Association for College Admission Counselors that they still have seats available in their incoming freshman classes. As of Wednesday, 281 colleges told NACAC they’re still seeking applicants. Many of these colleges are excellent, and in an effort to highlight the best colleges in need of freshmen, Forbes has culled the list for schools that appear on the 2025 Forbes Top Colleges list, as well as the Princeton Review’s 2025 list of Best Colleges. One option is the University of San Francisco, a private Jesuit university that is popular for health professions programs. And if internships are a goal, Philadelphia’s Drexel University, with 12,000 undergraduates and 100 majors and minors, is known for its co-op program, which places students in paying jobs for six-month stints at employers like Comcast, Dupont, Estee Lauder, Vanguard and Johnson & Johnson.
|
|
|
|
“Heading into high school graduation season without a college admission offer is disheartening, no doubt, but it’s not time to give up on college ambitions,” says Forbes staff writer Emma Whitford. “Students who didn’t get any college acceptances still have plenty of excellent schools to apply to for the fall, and a strong transfer application to your dream school next spring will fare better than a first-year application following a gap year.”
|
|
|
|
Despite demands from President Donald Trump, the Federal Reserve is unlikely to slash interest rates as the central bank’s rate-setting committee meets this week. Economists at the three largest investment banks all predict the Fed will keep rates steady as it grapples with inflation that remains above its 2% target. |
|
|
Legal AI startup Legora is in talks to raise $85 million in funding at a $675 million valuation, following a string of deals with big name law firms. The firm’s software helps lawyers draft contracts, review and analyze documents, and run checks against legal databases, automating some of the most repetitive and tedious tasks for attorneys. Amazon-owned robotaxi firm Zoox has issued a software recall for 270 of its vehicles after an unoccupied Zoox robotaxi collided with a passenger vehicle in Las Vegas last month. The incident didn’t result in any injuries, and the robotaxis are back on the road, but it adds to a series of challenges for the fledgling industry. |
|
|
Presented by ServiceNow
|
|
Put AI Agents to Work for People
|
|
AI agents are everywhere. But most? Just glorified chatbots. ServiceNow AI Agents are different. They don’t just answer questions; they take action. From Finance to IT, they learn, collaborate, and solve problems so your teams can focus on the big stuff.
|
|
|
|
|
The Trump Organization disclosed in a filing submitted to British regulators that President Donald Trump retains influence over the trust that controls one of his U.K. golf resorts and, via a web of additional entities, virtually every other asset in his empire. By stating that Trump has control over the trust, his own business appears to admit that Trump maintains a grip on his business empire, despite some efforts to portray separation. The Supreme Court allowed the Trump Administration’s transgender military ban to take effect again while a legal case against it moves forward. A lower court had paused the policy, but it is now in effect until it potentially comes back to the highest court again. |
|
|
Newly released audio reveals that air traffic controllers temporarily lost all contact with planes approaching Newark Airport on April 28. Following the incident, some air traffic controllers took time off, and a shortage of controllers has caused hundreds of delayed and canceled flights at the airport over the past week. |
|
|
In recent days, President Donald Trump and top advisor Stephen Miller have suggested immigrants may not be entitled to due process before being deported, as the Trump Administration faces pushback over its mass deportation plans. But that conflicts with longstanding legal precedent: In 1993, conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for the court that “the Fifth Amendment entitles aliens to due process of law in deportation proceedings.” |
|
|
$10 billion
|
|
The worth of new cars exported from the U.S. to the EU in 2023
|
|
|
|
|
3.5%
|
|
The share of all U.S. global exports that went to Germany in 2022
|
|
|
|
|
Nearly 1 million
|
|
The number of jobs in the U.S. supported by trade in services with the EU in 2023
|
|
|
