The CW Network Delivers 1.8 Million Total Viewers for NASCAR Xfinity Series Season Opener

Oklahoma's top public schools official is continuing his quest to put a Bible in classrooms. Republican State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced this week he's teaming with country music singer Lee Greenwood and seeking donations to buy $59.99 leather-bound “God Bless the USA” Bibles. The move comes one day after a legislative subcommittee in the GOP-controlled Legislature turned down Walters' request for $3 million to pay for the Bibles. Walters announced his Bible mandate last year, prompting a lawsuit from a group of parents and teachers. Some of his proposed policy changes, like a mandate that schools collect immigration status of students, have faced opposition from other GOP leaders.

Religious leaders, scholars and diplomats have gathered at Notre Dame University in Indiana for a conference on Ukraine studies with a theme of hope. The timing may not seem good. It comes amid a deterioration of relations between Washington and Kyiv as Russia presses its attacks on Ukraine. But speakers said it’s more important than ever to maintain hope — not as a pie-in-the-sky sentiment but as a force that energizes Ukrainians’ resistance. “Hope is not only a spiritual resource” but a “strategic security asset,” said Taras Dobko, rector of Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv. The three-day conference, “Revolutions of Hope: Resilience and Recovery in Ukraine,” concludes Saturday.

Health officials say West Texas now has almost 200 measles cases and New Mexico's case number has tripled to 30. The case counts were updated on Friday. A child died of measles in Texas last week. New Mexico health officials said Thursday they are investigating a possible adult measles death. Federal health officials announced they would send a team to Texas this week. Most of the cases are in people younger than 18 and people who are unvaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status.

This is a photo collection curated by AP photo editors.

Scientists have dated the skeleton of an ancient child that caused a stir when it was first discovered because it carries features from both humans and Neanderthals. The child’s remains were discovered 27 years ago in the Lagar Velho rock shelter in central Portugal. Small roots had pierced through the bones, and contamination prevented scientists from determining their age. But new techniques have allowed the researchers to date part of an arm bone to about 28,000 years ago. At the time of the initial discovery, it had not been established that humans and Neanderthals mixed, and that people today carry Neanderthal DNA. The research published Friday in the journal Science Advances.

The Trump administration says it’s pulling $400 million from Columbia University. Multiple federal agencies announced Friday that they're canceling grants and contracts because of what the government describes as the Ivy League school’s lackluster efforts to squelch antisemitism on campus. The notice came after Columbia set up a new disciplinary committee and ramped up its own investigations into students critical of Israel, alarming free speech advocates. Nonetheless, federal Education Secretary Linda McMahon says Columbia has “abandoned” its obligation to Jewish students. Columbia is vowing to work with the government to try to get the money back.