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Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Wednesday.

1. The Biden administration rolled out new climate regulations that would transform the U.S. auto industry.

The two proposals would force automakers to transition in the next few years away from internal combustion engines and toward electric vehicles. The new rules, which rely on the E.P.A.’s authority to limit pollution, are designed to ensure that two-thirds of new cars and a quarter of new trucks sold in the U.S. are all-electric by 2032.

The measures would require nothing short of a revolution in the car industry: electric vehicles currently account for just 5.8 percent of new cars sold in the country. If the regulations are enacted as proposed, they would put the U.S. economy, the world’s largest, on track to slash its emissions at the pace scientists say is required to avert the most devastating impacts of climate change.

The regulations will surely face legal challenges from those who see them as government overreach. Some automakers fear that the administration’s push for electric vehicles could result in job losses and lower profits. Nearly all major car companies have already spent billions switching to electric, but the new rules would require them to shift their production processes in ways that would essentially spell the end of new gas vehicles.

In related news, China is leading the race for the next big battery innovation: replacing lithium with sodium, a far cheaper and more abundant material.

2. Inflation cooled, but it’s still a long road back to normal.

Fueled by declining gas prices, consumer prices climbed 5 percent on the year through last month — the slowest rate in nearly two years. The new data provided relief for many Americans and suggested that the Federal Reserve’s campaign to cool the economy may be starting to work.

On a monthly basis, energy prices fell about 3.5 percent in March, and food prices remained roughly the same. With those numbers stripped out, a core index of price trends picked up slightly, underlining the vexing staying power of inflation.

Fed officials said the consumer price numbers were encouraging, but not decisive. Their next interest rate decision will be released in early May.

3. States led by Democrats are stockpiling abortion pills after a ruling to restrict them.

In the days after a federal judge in Texas invalidated the F.D.A.’s approval of a widely used abortion drug, officials in Massachusetts and Washington State began building up large supplies of the pills, while Maine and Maryland said they were exploring a similar move.

Some states, including California and New York, are purchasing misoprostol, the second drug in the two-drug abortion regimen, which was not covered in the Texas judge’s preliminary ruling. The judge’s decision, which is working its way through the appeals process, could affect access in all states, even where abortion is protected.

For more: Here’s a look at what’s next in the abortion medication case.

4. Ukraine’s battle for Bakhmut has shrunk to just 20 blocks of ruins.

Pushed into a corner of a devastated city, Ukrainian soldiers remain determined to hold out, even as Russian artillery continues to rain down and allies question the cost.

In recent days, my colleague Andrew Kramer, and a photographer, Mauricio Lima, traveled to Bakhmut, the site of one of the longest and deadliest battles in the war. One commander, interviewed in a basement bunker, said his soldiers had about 15 firefights at close range every day. He said his units were short on artillery shells, tank rounds and rocket-propelled grenades: “We pay with our lives for the lack of ammunition.” 

Also in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky demanded that world leaders respond to a video that appeared to show a Russian soldier beheading a Ukrainian prisoner.

5. Both expelled Tennessee Democrats are now back in the legislature.

County officials in Memphis voted unanimously to send Justin Pearson back to the state House of Representatives after the chamber, which Republicans control, ousted him for leading a gun-control protest on the House floor. Pearson will return to his seat alongside the other expelled Democrat, Justin Jones, who was sworn back in earlier this week.

The expulsions marked just the third time since the Civil War era that the Tennessee House had removed a lawmaker from its ranks. They sparked outrage among Democrats, including President Biden, who called them “shocking” and “undemocratic.”

In local politics elsewhere, a sheriff overseeing a rural Mississippi jail was repeatedly accused of abuse. But, for years, no one scrutinized him.

6. NPR said it would no longer use Twitter after it was designated “government-funded.”

The public radio broadcaster, which said it received less than 1 percent of its annual operating budget from government-funded grants, accused the social network of falsely implying that it was not editorially independent.

“We are not putting our journalism on platforms that have demonstrated an interest in undermining our credibility,” an NPR spokeswoman said.

The departure was just the latest flap at Twitter in the months since Elon Musk acquired it for $44 billion. In an interview with the BBC, Musk said running Twitter had been “painful.”

In other media news, a judge placed a sanction on Fox News for withholding evidence, and Montana is nearing the passage of a statewide ban of TikTok.

7. Should college come with trigger warnings? At Cornell, it’s a “hard no.”

The Ivy League University’s undergraduate student body unanimously approved a resolution last month calling for warnings when “traumatic content,” such as sexual assault, might be discussed in class. Almost immediately, Cornell’s president vetoed it, arguing that the trigger warnings would “infringe on our core commitment to academic freedom.”

To some, the conflict illustrates a stark divide in how different generations define free speech and how much value they place on its absolute protection, especially at a time of increased sensitivity to mental health concerns.

8. Have you ever heard of the sweeper pitch?

Baseball’s Statcast system, which feeds information to scoreboards and television screens, began using two new names to describe pitches this year: the slurve and the sweeper. Among baseball fans, the slurve — a mix of a slider and a curve — is well known. But many viewers, including professional pitchers, are confused by the sweeper.

The pitch, which had long just been called a slider, is now considered to be its own thing. It is intended to bait the hitter by seeming hittable at first before darting away from the bat.

In other sports news, Bob Baffert, who has been barred from horse racing’s biggest events, is still winning races.

9. What to do tonight:

Cook: Tangy and bright, these cheese and spinach phyllo rolls make for a great appetizer.

Watch: PBS is airing a new documentary on hummingbirds tonight. Here’s what else is on TV this week.

Read: Explore Kerala, at India’s southern tip, through these books.

Garden: The pineapple lily makes a big impression. Here’s why.

Work out: We put together a guide for using kettlebells the correct way.

Book: For your next long flight, consider a couch in coach class.

Play: Here are today’s Spelling Bee, Wordle and Mini Crossword. For more, find all our games here.

10. And finally, meet New York City’s new rat czar.

Kathleen Corradi, who was named the city’s first-ever director of rat mitigation, faces a daunting task: She will oversee a team of rat experts in charge of driving down the city’s relentless rat population. (The job description called for someone with a “killer instinct.”)

A former elementary-school teacher who later worked at the city’s education department, where she led rodent-reduction efforts, Corradi is not a trained rodentologist. But she expressed confidence that she was the right person for the job.

“You’ll be seeing a lot of me and lot less rats,” Corradi said.

Have a pest-free evening.

Brent Lewis compiled photos for this briefing.

Want to catch up on past briefings? You can browse them here.

What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at briefing@nytimes.com.