France proved too strong for Morocco on Thursday, defeating the North African side 2-0 in a World Cup quarterfinal matchup held in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Forward Kylian Mbappe got France on the board, celebrating after putting his team’s first goal past the Moroccan goalkeeper. Morocco was unable to find a way back into the match, falling 2-0 by the final whistle.
France, widely regarded as one of the pre-tournament favorites, now advances to the World Cup semifinals. Their next opponent will be either Spain or Belgium, depending on the outcome of the other quarterfinal contest.
North Korea has announced a series of steps aimed at boosting its nuclear capabilities both in size and sophistication, according to a report Friday from the country’s state-run news agency, KCNA.
The decisions were made during an expanded session of the Workers’ Party’s Central Military Commission on Thursday. During the meeting, leader Kim Jong Un pushed for a broad modernization of the country’s armed forces.
Kim stated that the nation’s security and what he described as “true peace” can only be achieved by developing a military strong enough to counter any threat it faces, KCNA reported.
The commission laid out a set of goals that include overhauling the technical infrastructure supporting combat systems, growing and reinforcing nuclear forces, and bringing military installations up to modern, standardized standards, according to the report.
Officials at the meeting also took up the question of broadening the responsibilities of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, the country’s military intelligence arm, with the goal of sharpening its ability to gather information and conduct surveillance.
Additionally, KCNA reported that the session covered plans to build new, modern naval facilities and boost the capacity of shipyards — moves the agency said reflect a significant shift in the importance and mission of North Korea’s navy.
CCC Intelligent Solutions, a Chicago-based technology company, is looking into selling the business, according to three individuals with knowledge of the situation.
The company, which develops software and artificial intelligence tools for managing automotive insurance and repair workflows, has enlisted investment bank Morgan Stanley to oversee the potential sale. Outreach has already begun to prospective buyers, including private equity firms, the sources indicated.
Neither CCC nor Morgan Stanley offered a response to requests for comment.
CCC’s platform is used by auto insurers, collision repair shops, vehicle manufacturers, and parts suppliers to handle accident claims, repair management, and related business processes. According to the company, its system connects more than 35,000 businesses within the property-and-casualty insurance industry.
The company’s market value has taken a significant hit over the past year, falling from approximately $6.4 billion to around $3.3 billion. Investors have expressed concern over slowing revenue growth, reduced claims volumes across the industry, and slower-than-anticipated uptake of some of CCC’s newer software offerings. The company’s stock has lost roughly 44% of its value over the last 12 months.
This is not the first time CCC has considered a sale. Back in 2022, Reuters reported that the company was weighing strategic options — including a possible sale — after drawing interest from potential acquirers, though no deal ultimately came together.
Motorists traveling on Interstate 495 in both the northbound and southbound directions should be aware of an ongoing trash removal operation taking place along the highway.
Crews are working in the shoulder and the median between the Newport and Edgemoor areas. The operation is active in both directions of travel.
The work is expected to be completed by 3 p.m. Drivers are encouraged to stay alert and use caution when passing through the area.
The National Weather Service office in Mount Holly, New Jersey has issued a Flash Flood Warning that went into effect at 5:29 PM EDT on Wednesday, July 9, and remains active until 8:30 PM EDT that same evening.
Residents in areas covered by this warning are urged to take the alert seriously and stay clear of flood-prone locations. Flash flooding can develop rapidly and pose serious dangers to life and property.
Authorities remind the public never to attempt driving through flooded roads. Even shallow moving water can sweep vehicles off roadways. The phrase “Turn Around, Don’t Drown” remains the standard safety guidance during flash flood events.
Stay tuned to TV Delmarva and local weather updates for the latest information as conditions develop throughout the evening.
Syrian authorities announced Thursday that they have taken several suspects into custody in connection with a series of recent explosions in Damascus, including bombings that occurred during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the country earlier this week.
According to a statement from Syria’s Interior Ministry, security forces conducted raids in and around the Syrian capital and “succeeded in dismantling the entire cell responsible” for the attacks. Officials did not release any information about who the suspects are or what group they may be affiliated with.
On Tuesday, explosive devices were placed inside a garbage bin and a parked vehicle while Macron was making a historic visit to Syria — a nation still working to recover from years of civil war. Macron was inside the presidential palace when the blasts went off. He was unharmed and proceeded with his scheduled meeting with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa.
Syria’s Ministry of Health confirmed that the explosions resulted in one death and 36 injuries in the final casualty count.
Prior to those bombings, an explosive device went off last week at a cafe located near Damascus’s main judicial complex, leaving at least 10 people dead and more than 20 wounded.
No group has come forward to claim responsibility for either attack.
The bombings represent a significant challenge to al-Sharaa, who has been working to consolidate control over Syria. He has reached out to minority groups who are skeptical of his government’s Islamist-led leadership and has sought backing from Western governments wary of his past role heading Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a group formerly tied to al-Qaida.
Al-Sharaa’s government has pledged political and economic reforms following decades of authoritarian rule under the Assad family. That era came to an end when former President Bashar Assad was removed from power during an insurgent offensive in December 2024, led by al-Sharaa.
Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war claimed close to half a million lives and forced millions of people from their homes, leaving widespread destruction and crumbling infrastructure. While other nations and businesses have pledged major investments, the country still requires hundreds of billions of dollars to rebuild and lift its population out of poverty.
The National Weather Service office in Mount Holly, New Jersey has put a Flood Watch into effect starting the evening of July 9 at 5:20 PM Eastern Time, with the watch continuing through midnight on July 10.
A Flood Watch means that conditions are favorable for flooding to develop in the watch area. Residents should remain alert, avoid low-lying areas near streams and drainage ditches, and be ready to act quickly if flooding begins.
Authorities urge people to never attempt to drive through flooded roadways. Even shallow water moving across a road can be dangerous. The phrase “Turn Around, Don’t Drown” is a reminder that most flood-related deaths occur in vehicles.
Residents should keep an eye on the latest forecasts from the National Weather Service and be prepared to move to higher ground if conditions worsen before the watch expires at midnight.
The National Weather Service office out of Mount Holly, New Jersey has put a Severe Thunderstorm Warning into effect, running from 5:30 PM until 6:15 PM Eastern Time on July 9.
Those in the warned area are urged to move indoors immediately, stay away from windows, and avoid any unnecessary travel until the warning has expired. Severe thunderstorms can bring dangerous lightning, damaging winds, and large hail.
Residents should monitor local weather updates and be prepared to take shelter quickly if conditions deteriorate. The warning was issued by the NWS Mount Holly office, which provides weather coverage for parts of the surrounding region.
The National Weather Service office in Mount Holly, New Jersey issued a Flash Flood Warning on the evening of July 9, effective starting at 5:16 PM Eastern Time.
The warning is set to expire at 7:45 PM EDT on July 9. Forecasters are cautioning people in the affected areas to stay alert and avoid any roads or areas that may be flooded.
Flash floods can develop quickly and even shallow moving water can be dangerous for pedestrians and vehicles. Residents are reminded never to attempt to drive through flooded roadways.
CATIA LA MAR, Venezuela — Weeks after powerful back-to-back earthquakes devastated parts of Venezuela, both survivors of the disaster and others in surrounding communities are overwhelming relief services being provided by nongovernmental organizations in the most severely affected areas.
The mounting demand for assistance comes as the United Nations announced an appeal for approximately $300 million to reach 1.3 million people in desperate need of help across the South American nation — a country where nongovernmental organizations had until recently faced government crackdowns. Mobile kitchens, traveling clinics, and field hospitals have now been set up in public spaces throughout the northern state of La Guaira, which bore the brunt of the destruction.
U.N. relief chief Tom Fletcher visited Venezuela and spoke with the Associated Press about what he is witnessing on the ground. “It is clear at displacement sites that, particularly after two weeks, that people are turning up because they haven’t been able to get their other treatments,” Fletcher said. “So, they’re not turning up with just the fractures now, they’re turning up with those longer-term health needs. And it’s vital that we’re there for them.”
Medical workers treating patients in the community of Catia La Mar on Thursday reported a noticeable rise in skin problems and diarrheal illnesses, along with a growing number of requests for medications used to manage chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. Health officials noted that the worsening conditions are linked to overcrowded living spaces and inadequate access to clean water and sanitation — problems that existed in many communities even before the earthquakes struck.
One resident, 67-year-old Irma Echarri, arrived at a sidewalk mobile medical unit across from a local church clutching the boxes of her usual eyedrops and pain medication, hoping medical staff could replenish her supply. She also sought help for nose pain that developed following the June 24 earthquakes.
“It hurts a lot,” Echarri said while waiting to be seen. “It hurts because it hurts.”
Although Echarri’s own home was left intact, many of her neighbors have been displaced. Venezuelan officials report that 190 buildings collapsed and another 856 were damaged in the twin earthquakes, which claimed the lives of 3,811 people.
The government of acting President Delcy Rodríguez has estimated that roughly 18,000 people were left homeless by the disaster. Those displaced are now sheltering in schools, on sidewalks, in parks, plazas, and other public areas.
Fletcher, who leads the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told the AP that the United States has contributed the largest share of earthquake relief aid so far. Much of the on-the-ground assistance is being carried out by local Venezuelan organizations working alongside international humanitarian groups.
Among those seeking care is 41-year-old Zulbey Reyes, who visited a clinic run by the Venezuela-based organization Paluz in collaboration with the global relief agency International Rescue Committee. Reyes, who also lost her job as a nanny due to the earthquakes, came in for newly developed chest pain.
“I thought it was my heart that was sick,” Reyes said after receiving a diagnosis and medication. “But it’s a nerve that became inflamed after the screams that day.”
The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction has placed the total direct physical damage to housing and infrastructure at around $37 billion.
The open presence of nongovernmental organizations operating freely in Venezuela stands in sharp contrast to the persecution and restrictions they faced in recent years. During the tenure of former President Nicolás Maduro — when acting President Rodríguez served as vice president — these organizations were repeatedly accused of working against the government, and the U.N.’s local human rights office was expelled from the country.
Fletcher acknowledged the political shift, saying: “When you have a crisis of this magnitude, people put the politics to one side and are able to focus on saving as many lives as possible, and that’s what I’m seeing so far in this response.”
BOGOTA, Colombia — A decade after Colombia reached a landmark peace agreement with a now-defunct rebel organization, the court established to address crimes from that conflict is in jeopardy — threatened by a newly elected president who wants to shut it down.
The court, officially called the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, or SJP, has been a source of national controversy ever since it was created, much like the peace deal itself with the rebel group known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
Colombia’s president-elect, Abelardo de la Espriella — who has received an endorsement from U.S. President Donald Trump — has called the tribunal a “failed” institution. However, analysts and legal professionals caution that dismantling it will be far from straightforward, given both constitutional protections and international legal commitments.
The court is shielded by Colombia’s Constitution and has the backing of the International Criminal Court, the world’s foremost international justice body. That court wrapped up its own nearly 20-year preliminary investigation into Colombia back in 2021, determining that the country was fulfilling its global justice responsibilities — a conclusion largely based on the Colombian tribunal’s progress.
Alejandro Ramelli, who leads the tribunal, told The Associated Press that the closure of the international investigation was conditional on the SJP continuing its operations. Without that, he said, Colombia would be in violation of its obligations to the world court.
The SJP’s mission is to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity through 2028, followed by an additional five-year window for trials. After that, Colombia’s Congress would weigh in on whether to extend the court’s term by another five years.
Despite the peace agreement, Colombia has not fully escaped its cycle of violence. Armed criminal groups continue battling over drug trafficking revenues and illegal mining operations. These include FARC splinter factions that rejected the peace deal, the National Liberation Army — known as the ELN — and the Clan del Golfo cartel.
Those who support the tribunal view it as a historic achievement that helped bring Latin America’s longest-running guerrilla conflict to an end and brought accountability for serious atrocities. Critics, on the other hand, contend the court is unfairly biased against former military members.
Since beginning operations in 2018, the SJP has taken on cases involving more than 14,000 individuals accused of crimes tied to the conflict. Roughly 70% of those are former FARC fighters, 29% are former members of the country’s security forces, and the remainder are civilians.
Iván Cancino, designated by de la Espriella to serve as justice minister, told radio station Caracol Radio on Wednesday that he has no plans to eliminate the SJP outright, but intends to hold it accountable for results and scrutinize how it spends its budget.
Outgoing President Gustavo Petro has also been critical of the SJP during his time in office, though this week he posted on X that the tribunal’s budget “must be strengthened,” adding that “establishing the judicial truth about the conflict is fundamental to national reconciliation.”
Ramelli warned the AP that cutting the court’s funding “would seriously affect the fundamental right of access to justice,” particularly for victims of the armed conflict. He also cautioned that an “abrupt termination” of the court would leave the legal process in limbo.
He highlighted key rulings the court has already delivered — including findings against the former FARC leadership for more than 21,000 kidnappings, and against a group of former military personnel for more than 100 extrajudicial killings. In both instances, those found responsible acknowledged their actions and received alternative sentences — no prison time, but requirements to carry out projects that benefit victims. The court has also issued a 20-year prison sentence to a former soldier who denied involvement in extrajudicial killings.
“What is the value of the truths uncovered through the judicial process?” Ramelli said. “We now know the true scale of FARC kidnappings, the recruitment of more than 18,677 children, the sexual violence committed by the FARC and the extrajudicial killings carried out by security forces.”
“The country simply did not know the full extent of these crimes,” he added.
GRAPEVINE, Texas — Wally Funk, a groundbreaking figure in aviation history who held the record as the oldest woman to travel to space, has passed away at the age of 87.
Funk died Wednesday at her apartment inside an assisted living facility in Grapevine, Texas, located in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Grapevine City Councilwoman Duff O’Dell, who described herself as Funk’s caregiver, confirmed the death on Thursday and said she was at Funk’s side when she passed. O’Dell noted that Funk had experienced several falls in recent weeks and was battling an infection in her leg.
“It took its toll,” O’Dell said in a phone interview.
Funk was among 13 female pilots who underwent the same rigorous testing as NASA’s all-male astronaut corps in the early 1960s through the Mercury 13 program — yet none of them were permitted to become astronauts. Decades later, in 2021, Funk finally got her moment in space when Amazon founder Jeff Bezos personally selected her as an “honored guest” aboard his Blue Origin rocket for a brief up-and-down flight from West Texas.
At the time of the flight, Funk was 82 years old, making her the oldest person to have ever traveled into space. That record was later surpassed by “Star Trek” actor William Shatner and Ed Dwight, America’s first Black astronaut candidate, both of whom were 90 when they made their flights.
Following news of her death, Blue Origin posted a tribute on X, calling Funk “a pioneer in every sense of the word” and adding, “We were humbled to be part of her journey.”
O’Dell remembered Funk as someone who refused to be discouraged, no matter how many times she was turned away.
“She was told by many, many, many men, ‘No, you can’t do this. No you can’t do that,’” O’Dell said. “And she never got mad about it. She just was more determined.”
O’Dell described Funk as the “most eternally optimistic person” she had ever known.
According to a brief biography released by the City of Grapevine, Funk was also the first woman to serve as an inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration and the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman shared a tribute on X on Thursday, writing: “Wally Funk never stopped believing that one day she would reach space. Her passion for flight, perseverance, and love of exploration will continue to inspire generations of Americans. Godspeed, Wally.”
PROVO, Utah — Folding chairs, sleeping pads, and blankets have become a familiar sight outside a Utah courthouse each morning, as people line up — sometimes through the night — hoping to secure one of just 14 public seats inside a courtroom where a preliminary hearing is underway for the man accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The hearing for defendant Tyler Robinson has drawn intense national attention and even significant interest from abroad. Continuous livestreams and round-the-clock media coverage have stoked public curiosity, driving spectators to compete fiercely for the limited courtroom access available on a first-come, first-served basis.
The proceeding is expected to conclude Friday. At that point, State District Judge Tony Graf will determine whether prosecutors have presented sufficient evidence to send Robinson to trial on a charge of aggravated murder.
On Thursday morning, Chris Palmer, the court’s director of security, announced that people would no longer be permitted to bring tents or camping gear to the courthouse steps. He also made clear that cutting in line or holding spots for others would not be allowed.
Rules inside the courtroom go beyond basic decorum. Palmer addressed those waiting outside, saying the people attending the hearing deserve to feel comfortable. “These people come here to get justice,” he said. “They don’t need to feel like they’re under a microscope when somebody’s sitting behind them or ahead of them.”
Each morning, sheriff’s deputies and court staff distribute wristbands amid what can only be described as organized disorder. Reporters and bloggers position themselves near the entrances, phones ready, hoping to capture the arrival of Kirk’s family, Robinson’s family, or notable figures such as Donald Trump Jr.
Earlier in the week, court officials announced that wristbands for public seating would be individually labeled after security found that some individuals had purchased matching colored wristbands in an attempt to sneak inside.
Joshua Carr, a local man who described himself as an independent journalist, was first in line Thursday. A friend had arrived at 9 p.m. the previous evening to hold his place until Carr showed up at 2:30 a.m. Carr said he has been following the case and the conspiracy theories surrounding it for several months.
“Being in the courtroom is a different thing because you’re able to actually feel the emotions, see the expressions on people’s faces that aren’t shown in the public feed,” Carr said.
Billie Webb traveled from Salt Lake City to attend. She has followed the investigation since Kirk was shot on September 10 and has been present at earlier hearings on motions filed by both prosecutors and defense attorneys. Webb arrived at 5 a.m. Wednesday and found herself eighth in line, but the afternoon start time meant she still made it inside. On Thursday, despite arriving at 3 a.m., she missed the cutoff — but said she was “absolutely determined” to get in on Friday.
Among the things drawing Webb’s interest was a recorded law enforcement interview with Robinson’s roommate and romantic partner, Lance Twiggs. Attorneys spent much of Wednesday debating whether that recording should be made public.
Webb said she also intends to be present if the case advances to trial. “If I have to camp for 24 hours, I will,” she said.
Massive public and media interest in high-profile court cases is not a new phenomenon. It is typically driven by celebrity, politics, race, or the sensational nature of the crime itself.
One early example dates back to 1935, when a New Jersey trial for the man charged with kidnapping and killing the infant child of legendary aviator Charles Lindbergh drew enormous crowds and press coverage. Decades later, the O.J. Simpson double murder trial in the 1990s became so widely followed it was dubbed the “Trial of the Century.”
More recently, large public gatherings and media attention surrounded the 2021 trial of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer convicted and sentenced to more than 20 years in prison for the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. That same year, lines formed outside a Manhattan federal courthouse for the trial of British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who was ultimately convicted of recruiting teenage girls to be sexually abused by American millionaire Jeffrey Epstein.
France and Morocco are set to face each other once more on the World Cup stage, this time in the quarterfinals. The two nations previously clashed in the 2022 semifinal in Qatar, where France eliminated Morocco — who had made history as the first African country to reach that round. France is now chasing a spot in the final for the third consecutive World Cup, a feat only two other nations have ever accomplished. Adding to the intrigue, six Moroccan players were born in France, and the ties extend to club soccer as well. France captain Kylian Mbappé and midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni are both Real Madrid teammates with Morocco’s Brahim Diaz.
A trade sending Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors has been put on hold while the NBA investigates the Los Angeles Clippers over possible salary cap violations. The league launched its probe in September, centered on a $28 million endorsement deal between Leonard and Aspiration Fund Adviser LLC. The Raptors announced Thursday they are waiting for the investigation to wrap up before moving forward. The two teams had already reached a trade agreement earlier this month. Leonard, a seven-time All-Star who just completed his highest-scoring season, now waits in limbo with no set timeline for the investigation’s end.
Coco Gauff’s run at Wimbledon came to a painful end in a tiebreaker-filled semifinal loss to Karolina Muchova. Gauff squandered a match point in the deciding tiebreaker, and Muchova did the same before ultimately closing out the match 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (10). Gauff admitted she “panicked” on the missed match point. Muchova will now face Linda Noskova in an all-Czech final on Saturday after Noskova defeated Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk 6-4, 6-4. The men’s semifinals on Friday will feature top-ranked defending champion Jannik Sinner taking on seven-time Wimbledon winner Novak Djokovic, while French Open champion Alexander Zverev squares off against British wild card Arthur Fery.
U.S. soccer standout Christian Pulisic suffered a fractured right leg during the Americans’ World Cup round-of-16 defeat to Belgium and will be out of action for several weeks. The U.S. Soccer Federation confirmed Pulisic has a bone bruise along with a microfracture in both his tibia and fibula, a diagnosis reached through an X-ray and MRI on Tuesday. The injury occurred in the 52nd minute of Monday’s 4-1 loss in Seattle when Pulisic struck the leg of Belgium captain Youri Tielemans while attempting a shot. He is expected to return to training before his club team AC Milan opens its season at Torino on August 23.
A federal judge in Ohio has granted a preliminary injunction allowing 24 college basketball players — both men and women — to remain eligible while their lawsuit against the NCAA moves forward. The athletes argue the organization’s new age-based eligibility model unfairly bars them from further competition. Judge Christopher Wagner ruled Thursday that the NCAA has applied its eligibility rules in an arbitrary and capricious manner, and his decision allows the players to enter the transfer portal. A conference has been scheduled for August 4 to prepare for trial. The attorney behind the suit has filed similar cases on behalf of nearly 30 other men’s and women’s basketball players.
St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker has been announced as the fifth participant in the upcoming Home Run Derby, set for Monday in Philadelphia. The 24-year-old joins Boston’s Willson Contreras, Kansas City’s Jac Caglianone, Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero, and the New York Yankees’ Ben Rice in the competition, with three spots still to be filled. A first-time All-Star, Walker is in the midst of a breakout season, ranking fifth in the National League with 21 home runs. The 2020 first-round draft pick is batting .294 with an .889 OPS and leads all of Major League Baseball with 70 RBIs.
The Anaheim Ducks have decided to match the Philadelphia Flyers’ offer sheet for center Leo Carlsson, retaining the young star at a significant price. The Flyers had extended a five-year, $90 million offer to the 21-year-old one week ago, making Carlsson the NHL’s highest-paid player under the deal. Carlsson had agreed to the offer sheet after a year of unsuccessful contract talks with Anaheim general manager Pat Verbeek, whose firm negotiating stance ultimately backfired. The final contract value far exceeded what most observers expected for a restricted free agent.
Russia’s track and field federation has taken its fight to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, seeking to overturn a World Athletics ban that has kept its athletes out of international competition since March 2022. World Athletics suspended Russian and Belarusian athletes following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and reaffirmed that ban at a council meeting last week. The appeal comes as the International Olympic Committee has recently eased its own restrictions on Russia ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Games and encouraged other sports organizations to follow suit.
Los Angeles officials are using the 2026 FIFA World Cup as a proving ground for an ambitious plan to make the 2028 Olympics a largely car-free event. City leaders have encouraged fans attending World Cup matches to rely on public transit instead of driving, and the results have been notable. A recent game saw nearly 50,000 rides taken on rail lines, with more than 30,000 additional rides on special shuttles deployed by LA Metro. Transit officials are also in the process of building their own police force and are hopeful the World Cup has helped attract new regular riders while boosting the public’s view of the city’s transit system.
England defender Jarell Quansah has been handed a two-game suspension stemming from a red card he received during England’s World Cup round-of-16 match against Mexico. The ban will keep Quansah out of England’s quarterfinal against Norway on Saturday and the semifinal if Thomas Tuchel’s squad advances that far. Quansah was ejected in the second half of England’s 3-2 win over Mexico on Sunday after committing a dangerous foul on Jesus Gallardo.
Jonathan Gonzalez Perez is adding another prestigious honor to his resume after earning a selection to the HBCU Swingman Classic.
The recognition comes as Gonzalez Perez wraps up his collegiate career, capping it with an invitation to one of the sport’s notable showcase events for HBCU athletes.
When people think of Wimbledon, they think of strawberries and cream, Pimm’s, and petunias — but increasingly, they should also think of Czech women’s tennis. Saturday’s singles final will pit 21-year-old Linda Noskova against her fellow Czech Karolina Muchova, a historic meeting that has never happened before at a Grand Slam in the professional era.
What makes it even more fitting is the venue. Wimbledon has long been a hunting ground for Czech women, and whoever lifts the Venus Rosewater Dish on Saturday will become the third Czech champion in four years. Marketa Vondrousova claimed the title in 2023 and Barbora Krejcikova followed in 2024.
The Czech legacy at Wimbledon stretches back decades. Petra Kvitova won the championship in both 2011 and 2014. The late Jana Novotna triumphed in 1998. And before them all, Martina Navratilova — competing as a Czech — claimed the first of her nine Wimbledon singles titles in 1978, before later becoming an American citizen.
Noskova reached her first-ever Grand Slam final with a commanding 6-4, 6-4 victory over Marta Kostyuk, relying on her powerful serve, strong groundstrokes, and sharp net play. She reflected on what seems to be a national gift for grass-court tennis.
“It’s a tradition at this point, I would guess, but I would say we are all kind of brought up in the same way in Czechia, in our game styles, in our tennis, but in some ways we are very different,” Noskova said.
“We are very creative, I would say, so grass allows us to kind of use any side of tennis, if it’s serve and volley back in the old days, if it’s slices and volleys in this new era. I would say that we have all these sides that we can use, that grass allows us, and it’s showing.”
Noskova’s win was her 19th on grass over the past two years — more than any other player on the Tour. “I feel like I’m using my game, my game style on grass, a lot, and it’s paying off,” said the self-described nature lover.
Muchova, the 29-year-old 10th seed, displayed equally impressive grass-court instincts in a gripping third-set tiebreaker against American Coco Gauff. She plucked off a breathtaking volley at her feet, executed a gorgeous topspin lob, delivered an ace, and kept attacking even as the pressure mounted.
When asked about the Czech secret to success on grass, Muchova was candid. “I don’t have a theory,” she said. “Yeah, we have great history of Czech tennis. Definitely the fact that there is so many of us. Myself, when I was younger, looking up to the girls who were like maybe five years older than I was, you can just see them doing so well. It’s nice that we’re from such a small country and we have so many good players.”
A surge in microchip stocks gave U.S. investors something to cheer about Thursday, helping Wall Street push past mounting tensions in the Middle East and concerns that renewed hostilities could stoke inflation down the road.
Here are the major stories shaping markets right now:
Iran struck back overnight, hitting U.S. targets in Kuwait and Bahrain after President Donald Trump declared that an interim deal to end the conflict was finished. Pre-owned home sales in the U.S. dropped unexpectedly in June. Democratic Senate hopeful Graham Planter of Maine stepped back from his campaign after facing a sexual assault allegation. Meta plans to begin producing its own AI chip in September as part of an effort to grow its total computing capacity to 14 gigawatts by next year, according to an internal memo obtained by Reuters. South Korean chip manufacturer SK Hynix is looking to price its U.S.-listed shares at $149, a move that would raise roughly $26.5 billion. And Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced her government intends to file criminal complaints in the United States over Mexican citizens who died while in immigration custody or during anti-immigration operations.
Thursday’s Market Snapshot
The Nasdaq led all major U.S. stock indexes upward, powered by the chip sector’s comeback, while Europe’s STOXX 600 snapped a three-session losing streak with a gain of its own. Seven of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors finished in positive territory, with technology shares out front and consumer staples bringing up the rear. Chip stocks overall climbed 3.1%. The U.S. dollar slipped amid steady jobs figures and rising U.S.-Iran tensions. Treasury bond yields declined as investors moved back into bonds following a recent selloff. On the energy front, front-month WTI crude settled down 2.0% and Brent crude fell 2.2%, while gold climbed more than 1%.
Key Themes to Watch
U.S. equity funding markets remain under pressure following a spike in short-term borrowing costs last month. Near-record stock valuations and heavy demand for popular technology shares are driving up the need for borrowed money. The concern is centered on the equity repo market — where investors pledge stock holdings in exchange for short-term cash. Around the end of the April-June quarter, the cost of financing those positions jumped 200 basis points above the federal funds rate on June 26, the highest level since December 2024, according to Morgan Stanley data.
The cancellation of a federal food security survey is raising alarms about the country’s ability to track hunger. The survey, which was ended last year, had most recently found that 13.7% of U.S. households were food insecure — a 10-year high. Without it, experts say it will be nearly impossible to gauge whether cuts to the food stamp program have worsened hunger, especially among children.
Despite President Trump’s push for peace, sources close to the Kremlin say Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to escalate the war in Ukraine rather than negotiate. Ukraine’s recent drone attacks on Russian oil refineries and ports have reportedly hardened Putin’s position. Three sources, speaking anonymously, said there is a “high probability” of escalation in the months ahead — a stark contrast to Trump’s claim Monday that Putin wanted the war to end and that a resolution was “closer than people realize.”
What Could Move Markets Friday
Traders will be watching for any new developments in the Middle East, shifts in energy markets, and social media activity from President Trump. Economic data releases from several European countries — including Germany, France, Norway, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Italy, and Portugal — are also on the calendar, along with inflation figures from Brazil and Russia and Canada’s June employment report.
New Mexico’s top law enforcement official is pointing the finger at the U.S. Department of Justice, accusing the federal agency of standing in the way of the state’s investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The state, under Democratic leadership, reopened its investigation in February into Epstein’s former ranch located south of the state capital, Santa Fe. Epstein is accused of abusing women and girls at that property for close to 30 years.
Despite nearly five months passing since the investigation was relaunched, New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez has not yet announced any findings or results.
The push to make U.S. Department of Justice files on Epstein public has been a recurring issue for President Donald Trump during his second term in office. Trump has indicated he believes the country should move past the investigation into the deceased financier’s alleged crimes.
In a letter dated June 30 and addressed to Acting U.S. Attorney Todd Blanche, Torrez stated that the Justice Department had not responded to a February request from New Mexico for unredacted documents. Those files reportedly contain the names of Epstein survivors, witnesses, co-conspirators, and other individuals considered critical to the state’s investigation.
Torrez followed up with a public statement on Thursday, calling the 130-day delay “unreasonable under any rule of reason.”
The Justice Department pushed back, with a spokesperson stating that the agency did respond to New Mexico’s request back in June.
“The DOJ reiterates that it welcomes New Mexico undertaking additional investigation of the Zorro Ranch and stands ready to provide necessary assistance with New Mexico’s investigation,” the spokesperson said. The agency also indicated it was prepared to investigate and potentially prosecute any federal crimes uncovered through the New Mexico probe.
Earlier in March, Torrez had acknowledged that investigators were running into major roadblocks. He pointed to the significant amount of time that had passed since Epstein’s alleged crimes took place, the potential loss or degradation of evidence at the ranch — which was sold in 2023 — and possible legal jurisdiction complications that could affect any future prosecutions.
Across the country, lawmakers are grappling with a difficult question: when does an AI-generated campaign parody stop being political satire and start becoming something more troubling?
States including Michigan have attempted to put guardrails on how artificial intelligence can be used in political campaigns, but those regulations may not be enough to prevent misleading or manipulative content from reaching voters.
The rapid advancement of AI technology has outpaced many of the laws designed to govern it, leaving a gap between what regulators intended and what the public actually encounters online and in political advertising.
The debate centers on whether AI-created parodies of candidates and campaigns should be treated as protected political expression — a long-standing tradition in American democracy — or whether they pose a new kind of threat to the integrity of elections.
As the 2026 election cycle moves forward, the tension between free speech protections and the potential for AI-generated content to mislead voters shows no signs of being resolved quickly.
Cool Spring Road is currently closed to traffic between Fisher Road and Forest Road following a crash, according to transportation officials.
Motorists traveling in the affected area are advised to avoid the stretch of road and plan for alternate routes until the roadway is reopened. No timeline for reopening has been provided.
Drivers should use caution near the area and watch for emergency personnel on scene. Updates will be provided as more information becomes available.
The National Weather Service office in Mount Holly, New Jersey has issued a Flash Flood Warning that went into effect at 4:30 PM EDT on July 9 and is set to expire at 8:30 PM EDT the same evening.
Residents in areas covered by this warning are urged to take the alert seriously and avoid travel through flooded roadways. Even shallow water moving across a road can be dangerous, and conditions can change rapidly during a flash flood event.
Authorities remind the public never to attempt to drive through flooded roads. If you encounter a flooded area, turn around and find an alternate route. Flash floods can develop quickly, leaving little time to react.
Stay tuned to TV Delmarva and monitor official weather sources for the latest updates as conditions develop throughout the evening.
Tel Aviv University officially opened its doors to a state-of-the-art sport science facility on Wednesday, marking a major step forward in Israel’s preparation for future Olympic competition. The new Sylvan Adams Sport Science Institute was funded through an approximately $35 million philanthropic gift from businessman and philanthropist Sylvan Adams, whose name the institute now bears.
At the opening ceremony, the university also unveiled a formal strategic partnership with the Olympic Committee of Israel. Through this agreement, members of Israel’s Olympic squads will have access to scientific research, performance evaluations, and customized training guidance as they work toward competing at the Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games.
The inauguration drew a notable gathering of attendees, including Adams himself, Tel Aviv University President Prof. Ariel Porat, Olympic Committee of Israel Chair and International Olympic Committee member Yael Arad, institute head Prof. Eran Ben Gal, Olympic cyclist Mikhail Yakovlev, and other Israeli athletes.
The facility was designed to bridge the gap between academic research and real-world athletic performance. Among its many features are sport science laboratories developed in collaboration with Tel Aviv University’s Gray Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences and Faculty of Engineering. The institute also houses an advanced scientific gym, a climate chamber capable of recreating environmental conditions found at competition venues around the world, fitness assessment labs, motion analysis systems, an advanced swimming flume, and a hypoxic hotel that can simulate altitudes of up to 5,000 meters.
In addition to physical training resources, athletes will have access to physiological testing, nutrition counseling, training consultation, and mental performance support. The institute’s staff brings together a wide range of specialists, including sport scientists, physiologists, engineers, data scientists, artificial intelligence experts, physicians, and public health professionals.
Under the terms of the Olympic Committee partnership, selected athletes will undergo continuous performance evaluations and receive personalized scientific guidance as they prepare not only for the Olympics but also for future World Championships and European Championships.
Adams spoke about the institute’s broader mission at the ceremony. “The Institute lays the scientific, technological, and research foundation that will help Israeli athletes achieve new levels of sporting excellence,” he said.
Yael Arad expressed confidence that the new center would give Israeli competitors a meaningful edge on the world stage. “The Sylvan Adams Sport Science Institute will undoubtedly become a significant—and at times decisive—competitive advantage for Israel’s athletes,” she said.
Prof. Eran Ben Gal explained that the institute’s approach centers on the individual athlete, with each person receiving tailored assessments and performance plans designed to improve results, fine-tune training, lower the risk of injury, and track long-term development.
Iran fired eight missiles toward Jordan on Thursday in what reports described as an attack aimed at a US military base in the country. Jordanian air defenses successfully shot down all eight missiles before they could cause any harm.
Jordan’s state news agency confirmed that every missile was intercepted after warning sirens rang out across the country. No injuries or property damage were reported. State broadcaster Al-Mamlaka stated, “Alarm sirens sounded in Jordan on Thursday to alert citizens and urge them to follow instructions.”
According to the broadcaster, the Jordanian Armed Forces were placed on high alert and stood ready to respond to any threat to national security. Reports also indicated that the warning sirens could be heard in several Israeli communities located in the Jordan Valley.
At the same time, Iranian officials confirmed that the United States carried out additional military strikes on targets within Iran’s borders.
Iran’s deputy governor of Bushehr province told state media that a US projectile hit the area surrounding the Bushehr nuclear power plant. The official indicated that multiple locations throughout Bushehr province — including areas near the nuclear facility — were struck during the attacks.
In a separate development, Iran’s Fars news agency reported that overnight US strikes caused damage to the Aq Takeh Khan railway bridge in Golestan province, located in northern Iran.
Fars described the bridge as a component of a rail corridor linking Iran to China and Russia by way of Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. The agency noted that the route has grown increasingly vital during this year’s US blockade of Iran’s Gulf ports, and has also been used by Russia to move cargo into Iran since late 2025.
A newly released report from NGO Monitor is raising serious concerns about the network of organizations that orchestrated protests across the United Kingdom in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attacks, pointing to coordinated operations, murky financial structures, and in some instances, connections to extremist actors.
The report tracked 40 major demonstrations and mobilization efforts that took place after October 7, 2023, pinpointing organizations and individuals it says were repeatedly involved in planning, funding, and carrying out protest-related activities. Contrary to how many of these events were presented publicly, the report concludes they were not spontaneous grassroots movements but rather the product of a coordinated international advocacy network.
According to the report’s findings, at least 11 of the 40 organizations examined either have direct ties to extremist groups or include officials who have met with or worked alongside the Iranian regime, its Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hamas, Hezbollah, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or the Muslim Brotherhood.
The report also highlights overlapping leadership roles among six key coordinating organizations. It specifically names Jeremy Corbyn as holding the positions of vice president of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, deputy president of the Stop the War Coalition, and patron of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. The report notes that funding sources for his organization, the People’s Forum UK, remain unknown.
Youth outreach emerged as a significant component of the campaign activity documented in the report. It identifies Amnesty International UK as running a program focused on anti-Israel activism that trains hundreds of young people in protest rights, media strategy, and campaign organizing. The group Friends of Al-Aqsa was also cited for encouraging young people to take part in pro-Palestinian activism.
When it comes to organizational structure, the report found that 10 of the 40 groups are registered charities, eight are companies, nine are hybrid entities, and 13 operate entirely outside any formal UK regulatory framework — despite collecting substantial amounts of public money. Nineteen of the organizations receive funding through the UK government via the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office or Gift Aid. At least 11 receive taxpayer money from other countries, including the United States, Belgium, Ireland, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the European Commission.
Among its policy recommendations, the report urges stricter financial disclosure requirements, stronger oversight of foreign funding, more rigorous vetting processes for government grants, regulation of cryptocurrency-based fundraising, updated guidance from the Charity Commission, and formal inquiries by both government and parliament into how these protest networks are financed and coordinated.
The report additionally calls on the UK to formally designate the IRGC, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Muslim Brotherhood as proscribed organizations, and to take action against any groups found to be engaged in or supporting violence.
Iran fired eight missiles toward Jordan on Thursday in what reports described as an attack aimed at a US military base located in the country. Jordanian air defenses successfully intercepted all eight projectiles before they could cause any harm.
According to Jordan’s state news agency, warning sirens rang out across the kingdom before all missiles were brought down. No injuries or property damage were reported. State broadcaster Al-Mamlaka noted, “Alarm sirens sounded in Jordan on Thursday to alert citizens and urge them to follow instructions.”
Al-Mamlaka also reported that the Jordanian Armed Forces were placed on high alert and stood ready to respond to any threat to the nation’s security. Reports indicated that warning sirens were also heard in a number of Israeli communities located in the Jordan Valley.
At the same time, Iranian officials confirmed that the United States carried out additional military strikes on targets within Iran. Iran’s deputy governor of Bushehr province told state media that a US projectile struck the area surrounding the Bushehr nuclear power plant. The official added that several locations throughout Bushehr province, including areas near the nuclear facility, were hit during the attacks.
In northern Iran, the Fars news agency reported that overnight US strikes caused damage to the Aq Takeh Khan railway bridge in Golestan province. Fars described the bridge as part of a rail corridor linking Iran with China and Russia through Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. The agency noted that the route had grown in strategic importance during this year’s US blockade of Iran’s Gulf ports and had also been used by Russia to move cargo into Iran since late 2025.
Wall Street powerhouse Goldman Sachs has told its employees they are no longer allowed to participate in prediction-market contracts connected to financial markets or political events, according to a source with knowledge of the situation who spoke on Thursday.
The firm issued an internal memo at some point in the past laying out the new policy, which is designed to prevent situations where staff trading activity could create actual or apparent conflicts of interest — whether with the bank itself, its clients, or the wider financial industry.
Bloomberg News, which broke the story first, reported that employees who repeatedly break the rule could face disciplinary consequences up to and including losing their jobs. Those workers may also be required to give back any financial gains earned through trades that violate the policy.
However, the ban does not extend to all prediction markets — contracts related to sports and entertainment remain fair game for employees, the source noted.
NEWARK, Del. — Sixteen University of Delaware football players have been recognized on the Athlon Sports Preseason All-Conference USA teams, according to an announcement from the publication.
Leading the way on the first team are offensive lineman Steven Demboski, quarterback Nick Minicucci, linebacker Gavin Moul, safety KT Seay, running back Jo Silver, and wide receiver Sean Wilson.
Four additional Blue Hens earned second-team recognition: cornerback Kshawn Cox Jr., offensive lineman Anthony Caccese, defensive end Noah Matthews, and tight end Elijah Sessoms.
The third team included punt returner Bryson Graves, cornerback Jamarion Kolagbodi, linebacker Blake Matthews, and offensive lineman Noah Rosahac.
Rounding out the honorees, punter Josh Cupitt and linebacker Colin Gallagher were both named to the fourth team, completing an impressive preseason sweep for the Delaware program ahead of the 2026 campaign.
Palm Beach International Airport in Florida is officially getting a new name Thursday — one that pays tribute to the current president.
The airport’s renaming in honor of President Trump marks a historic moment: he becomes the first president in the nation’s history to have an airport bear his name while still serving in office.
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve has revealed the names of prominent figures who will help guide recommended changes to how the nation’s central bank functions. Among those named Thursday are venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, economist Raj Chetty, and former Bank of England governor Mervyn King.
The three are among the co-leaders of five separate task forces that Fed Chair Kevin Warsh announced last month. The remaining leaders represent a mix of business executives and public officials.
Warsh had called for “regime change” at the Fed last year while he was being considered by the Trump administration to take over from former chair Jerome Powell. Since taking the helm, Warsh has signaled a desire to share less publicly about the Fed’s interest rate thinking and has expressed interest in trimming the central bank’s approximately $6.7 trillion in government bond holdings.
Still, it remains to be seen just how much impact these task forces will have. Most of the directors announced Thursday are respected names in economics and business — not longtime critics of the Fed. Those who follow the central bank closely say Warsh’s decision to use task forces suggests he’s looking to build consensus among fellow Fed officials rather than force through changes unilaterally.
“The U.S. economy has changed significantly over the last generation, and never more so than right now,” Warsh said in a written statement. “Each task force will carefully consider whether policymakers’ means and methods, analytical tools and policy approaches can be improved upon.”
Each of the five task forces will have three co-leaders and will receive support from Fed staff, according to the central bank.
One task force will zero in on how artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies could reshape productivity and the job market. Warsh has frequently stated his belief that AI will bring sweeping changes to the American economy.
Leading that effort will be Andreessen, a major investor in both AI technology and cryptocurrency firms. Joining him will be Asha Sharma, an executive vice president at Microsoft and CEO of its Xbox division, along with Charles Jones, a Stanford economist currently on leave with Anthropic.
Chetty, who teaches at Harvard, will co-lead a task force focused on the data sources the Fed relies on. He has built a reputation for using massive data sets to follow families’ financial trajectories across generations and identify which parts of the country have seen the greatest economic mobility.
Also co-leading that data task force are Doug McMillon, the former president and CEO of Walmart, and Kevin Murphy, an economics professor at the University of Chicago.
A third task force will take a hard look at the Fed’s balance sheet, which has grown substantially since the Great Recession of 2008-2009. Co-leading that group are Raghuram Rajan, a former head of the Reserve Bank of India; Harvard economist and former Treasury official Karen Dynan; and Jeremy Stein, a former Fed governor.
Greg Mankiw, who served as a top economist in the George W. Bush administration, and Thomas Sargent, a Nobel laureate at New York University, will co-lead a task force on inflation frameworks. Meanwhile, King, the former Bank of England governor, will be among the leaders of the task force focused on Fed communications.
When Matthew Smith brought his five-year-old son to a World Cup match in the Los Angeles area earlier this month, they chose public transit over driving from their nearby coastal community. It was Smith’s first time riding LA Metro in ten years — and he came away impressed.
“Seems like a very functioning transit system, which is somewhat surprising given its reputation,” Smith said.
That kind of reaction is exactly what Metro officials were aiming for. The agency used the eight Los Angeles-area games of the 2026 FIFA World Cup to introduce — or reintroduce — residents to a transit network that often gets overlooked in a city built around the car. The games are also serving as an early trial run for the 2028 Olympics, which organizers have promised will be a “no car” event, with zero parking available for spectators at any venue. Everyone attending will need to use public transit or shuttles to get there.
For the July 2 Spain-Austria game that Smith and his son attended, nearly 50,000 trips were taken on rail lines. While no train runs directly to SoFi Stadium in the LA suburb of Inglewood, Metro added 15 shuttle routes connecting major rail stations and transit hubs to the venue — with the longest route running one hour and 15 minutes. More than 30,000 shuttle rides were taken for that single game, according to the agency.
Metro plans to use a similar model for the Olympics, since many venues aren’t directly connected to the rail network. For the World Cup, the agency borrowed around 200 buses to handle the surge in riders. Officials say they’ll need roughly 3,000 borrowed buses to meet Olympic demand.
For many Angelenos, hopping on a bus or train isn’t part of daily life the way it is in cities like New York or Chicago. LA Metro estimates its system handles about 1 million rides per day — roughly on par with Chicago, which is a smaller city. New York’s system, by comparison, sees well over 3 million weekday riders.
The LA system has long struggled with a reputation for being unreliable and, at times, unsafe. High-profile incidents — including the death of a 67-year-old woman who was stabbed aboard a Metro train in 2024 — have reinforced those concerns. Riders have also raised issues about drug use, cleanliness, and the presence of unhoused individuals on trains and platforms.
In response, Metro launched its own police department in June, with plans to have it fully operational by 2029, replacing the LAPD’s role on the transit system. The agency hopes that pairing sworn officers with homeless outreach and crisis response teams will make riders feel more comfortable. Metro has also pointed to data showing a 13.6% drop in overall crime in March 2026 compared to the same period a year earlier, part of a two-year downward trend.
Martha Banuelos had used the system occasionally in the past but said she typically tried to “avoid it like the plague.” She recently started riding the trains again to travel from North Hollywood into the city for World Cup watch parties.
“It’s a lot cleaner and smells way better,” she said.
To build excitement around transit during the tournament, Metro partnered with FIFA to set up fan zones and watch parties at major transit hubs. Thousands of fans gathered at these locations to drink, dance to DJ sets, and cheer on their favorite teams. The agency also promoted limited edition tap cards featuring different countries and used social media to encourage people to ride public transit during the games.
Metro also updated its payment system ahead of the World Cup, now allowing riders to pay directly with a credit card — eliminating the need for a separate tap card, similar to what other cities have already done.
Those changes helped attract first-time riders like Yasmin Cortez, 32, who boarded a train for the very first time to attend the official FIFA Fan Festival at the LA Memorial Coliseum, where she watched matches and volunteered for FIFA. A week later, she rode the rail again — this time from Cerritos, about 16 miles southwest of Los Angeles — to cheer for Uruguay at the Union Station Fan Zone.
“Especially with gas prices now, yeah I should be taking the Metro,” she said. “There’s a lot to explore, and I bought some new walking shoes.”
The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics set a high bar for transit accessibility, with nearly every venue reachable by Metro, commuter train, tram, or bus. LA is working hard to close that gap before the 2028 Games arrive.
In June, transit fans celebrated the long-awaited extension of the D line, which previously connected downtown LA to Koreatown and now stretches further west to reach popular destinations like the Grove shopping mall, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the La Brea Tar Pits. It was the first heavy rail expansion to open in the United States since 2020. Four additional stations are currently under construction to push the line all the way to the University of California, Los Angeles campus, which is slated to serve as the official Athlete Village for the 2028 Games.
“LA is a transit city,” said Jennifer Vides, Metro’s chief customer experience officer. “People want to try to say that it’s not. Obviously we have a lot more expansion to do and we’re working on it. But people really want transit.”
A small earthquake rattled the Czech Republic on Thursday, but it turned out to be far less powerful than early reports suggested, according to geophysics agencies and the Czech news agency CTK.
Germany’s Research Centre for Geosciences, known as GFZ, had initially posted on its website that a 5.5 magnitude earthquake struck the area around Plzen, a city located 93 kilometers — roughly 60 miles — southwest of Prague. However, the actual magnitude was later determined to be just 1.8.
Seismic monitoring stations within the Czech Republic also detected a weak tremor, though officials said the precise strength and location would need further analysis. CTK cited Ales Spicak, the director of the country’s Institute of Geophysics, in reporting those details.
To put the numbers in perspective, a 4.6 magnitude quake — the strongest ever recorded in the Czech Republic, which occurred in 1985 — is typically felt by people but causes little to no damage. A 5.5 magnitude event, by contrast, can cause structural damage to buildings that are not well constructed.
NEWARK, Del. — The University of Delaware men’s golf team is getting a new addition, with head coach Brendon Post announcing Thursday that Shaun Mazzalupi has joined the Fightin’ Blue Hens through the transfer portal.
Mazzalupi spent the past two seasons at Ashland University before making the move to Delaware. During his time there, he posted a stroke average of 75.22 across 54 rounds, a performance that places him eighth in Ashland’s program history.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy confirmed Thursday that a Russian strike earlier this week targeted an ammunition depot in the Kyiv region, and announced that a criminal investigation has been opened in response.
The attack struck the small town of Vyshneve, located on the western outskirts of Kyiv, on July 6. The strike hit the weapons warehouse and triggered a chain of powerful secondary explosions. Ukrainian officials reported that 10 people lost their lives and hundreds of residential structures were damaged in the blast.
Speaking to journalists through a WhatsApp media chat, Zelenskiy did not hold back in his assessment of the situation. “As for the investigation into the explosion in Vyshneve, the situation is absolutely appalling: There was an ammunition depot in Vyshneve. The enemy struck this depot, causing a large number of casualties and significant losses,” he said.
It is uncommon for Ukrainian officials to publicly acknowledge damage to military targets following Russian strikes, making Zelenskiy’s admission notable.
The president said a criminal case has been opened and that officials at Ukroboronprom — the state-owned weapons manufacturer that owned the warehouse — would be held accountable, with some facing termination from their positions.
The incident has generated significant public anger, with local residents accusing authorities of negligence and complaining that they were kept in the dark about the presence of the ammunition depot in their community.
The University of Delaware track and field program is welcoming a new addition to its coaching staff. Head coach Josh Hayman has officially announced the hiring of Caitlin Jorgensen as an assistant coach for the Blue Hens.
Jorgensen is expected to step into her new role beginning July 31, joining the Newark-based program as it looks to build on its cross country and track and field efforts.
The U.S. Senate is scheduled to return to work Monday, kicking off a four-week session that is expected to include votes on defense spending and national security legislation. However, one of the most influential voices on those topics — Republican Senator Mitch McConnell — will not be there, as he remains hospitalized with health problems his office has declined to explain publicly.
McConnell, who is 84 years old and has spent more than four decades in Congress, currently chairs both the Senate Rules Committee and a defense appropriations subcommittee. He was taken from his home to a hospital in the Washington area in mid-June, and his office has offered little explanation for nearly a month.
The Senate had been on a July 4 recess since June 24. On Tuesday, McConnell’s office released a brief statement: “Senator McConnell appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital. The senator continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.”
His absence is expected to have the greatest impact on the Senate Appropriations Committee, where Republicans and Democrats have been unable to agree on annual funding for the Pentagon and other federal agencies. Republicans hold a narrow 15-to-14 majority on that committee. With current federal funding set to run out when fiscal year 2027 begins on October 1, party leaders have begun hinting that a temporary spending measure — known as a continuing resolution — may be necessary to keep government agencies operating.
McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, has frequently clashed with President Donald Trump and his allies. He has spoken out against Trump’s tariff policies, opposed some of the president’s cabinet nominations, and resisted Trump’s push to eliminate the Senate filibuster and pass the voter identification legislation known as the SAVE America Act.
Senate Republicans are also hoping to revive a lapsed Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, even as lawmakers raise concerns about Trump’s decision to name Bill Pulte — a political ally with no background in intelligence — as acting director of national intelligence.
McConnell holds the record as the longest-serving party leader in Senate history, but his health has been a growing concern in recent years. He was seen freezing mid-sentence while speaking to reporters in 2023, and he spent eight days in the hospital in February after experiencing flu-like symptoms.
His current, unexplained absence has drawn comparisons to that of U.S. Representative Thomas Kean, a New Jersey Republican, who was away from Congress for nearly four months before revealing he had been treated for depression.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, a Democrat, has publicly urged McConnell to give constituents an update, saying that the ongoing silence was unfair to both the senator and the people he represents.
The absence of clear information has sparked online rumors about McConnell’s condition. Some conservatives have pushed back against the speculation, including commentator Mark Levin, who urged people not to mock the senator. “I was highly critical of Mitch McConnell over the years. But I hope he is getting better and hanging in there. I wish him well as he moves into retirement,” Levin wrote on X.
The Anaheim Ducks announced Thursday that they will match the offer sheet submitted by the Philadelphia Flyers for young forward Leo Carlsson, keeping him in Anaheim on a five-year contract worth $90 million.
The agreement carries an average annual value of $18 million, making it the largest per-season salary in NHL history. At that figure, Carlsson, 21, now earns $1 million more per year than Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov, who previously held the top spot. Carlsson had been playing under his entry-level deal, which paid him $950,000 per season.
Despite the massive offer from Philadelphia, Carlsson made clear where his heart was. “It was an offer that 99% of people would sign, too. It’s a pretty simple answer,” he said. “I really wanted to be here though. I really wanted them to match. I want to be an Anaheim Duck.”
Under the terms of the deal, Anaheim is prohibited from trading Carlsson for at least one year. His contract runs through 2031, at which point he will become an unrestricted free agent.
Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek expressed enthusiasm about keeping the young center in the fold. “We are very happy to have Leo under contract for five years,” Verbeek said. “We have viewed Leo as a franchise player since the moment we met him prior to the 2023 draft. He’s a character person on and off the ice. Leo is viewed as a top player in this league, and it was always our intention to match any offer sheet.”
The announcement came Thursday, one day before the matching deadline would have expired. Had Anaheim chosen not to match, the team would have received four first-round draft picks from Philadelphia as compensation.
Ducks owners Henry and Susan Samueli released a joint statement backing the decision. “Matching the offer sheet was an easy decision, as Pat has intelligently left enough cap space to give us the ability to retain Leo,” the statement read. “We have extremely high expectations for Leo. We firmly believe he will continue his strong growth trajectory and become one of the truly elite centers in the league, while continuing to make a strong impact in our community.”
Carlsson had a standout season in 2024-25, setting career bests with 29 goals, 38 assists, and 67 total points across 70 games. Since being chosen by the Ducks with the second overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, he has accumulated 141 points — 61 goals and 80 assists — over 201 career games.
Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh has chosen a diverse and intellectually varied roster of economists and former central banking officials to lead five task forces he is creating to examine how the U.S. central bank functions.
The review will cover a wide range of subjects, from technical matters such as how the Fed manages its balance sheet, to forward-looking concerns like the economic impact of artificial intelligence.
Warsh first announced the task forces at a press conference following his inaugural policy meeting as Fed chairman, held June 16-17. On Thursday, the central bank revealed the names of the people who will lead each group.
According to a Fed statement, the groups “will operate independently, with a mandate to follow the evidence, provide candid feedback, and produce rigorous findings for the Federal Open Market Committee.”
Among those chosen are Harvard University economics professor Raj Chetty, known for pioneering the use of alternative and real-time data to study how households and communities are doing — he will help lead a panel focused on data. Tech investor Marc Andreessen will serve as one of three co-leads on a panel examining productivity and jobs. Greg Mankiw, who previously chaired the Council of Economic Advisers during the George W. Bush administration, will co-lead a task force on inflation.
Warsh explained the reasoning behind the review in a statement: “The U.S. economy has changed significantly over the last generation, and never more so than right now. Each task force will carefully consider whether policymakers’ means and methods, analytical tools and policy approaches can be improved upon.” He added, “The goal is straightforward: to ensure the Fed is best positioned to achieve our objectives in this consequential time.”
A senior United Nations official delivered alarming numbers to the Security Council on Thursday, reporting that Russian strikes claimed the lives of at least 265 civilians in Ukraine during June and left 1,816 others wounded — the worst combined civilian casualty toll recorded since the earliest weeks of Moscow’s full-scale invasion, which began in February 2022.
U.N. political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo noted that May had already set a grim benchmark, recording the highest civilian casualties since April 2022. However, figures from the U.N.’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights showed June’s numbers were even worse — and early indicators suggest July may follow the same pattern.
A U.N. spokesperson confirmed that the complete and final data for June will be made public in late July.
“This concerning trend is seemingly continuing into July,” DiCarlo told the Security Council, pointing to three large-scale waves of Russian aerial attacks that struck Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities in just the past week, with many of those strikes aimed at densely populated urban areas.
“Any attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, wherever they occur, are a clear violation of international humanitarian law and must stop immediately,” she said.
DiCarlo also presented the broader wartime toll, stating that the U.N. has verified at least 16,402 civilian deaths in Ukraine since the war began — among them 802 children — along with 48,428 injuries, including 2,948 children. She cautioned that the true numbers are likely even higher than what has been officially confirmed.
She added that civilians living in Ukrainian territories currently under Russian occupation, as well as people inside Russia itself, have also suffered casualties. Russian authorities have reported that 250 civilians were killed and 1,596 injured inside Russia during the first six months of 2026, though DiCarlo noted the U.N. has not been able to independently verify those figures.
Drivers across the country have been facing an unpredictable situation at the gas pump after the United States and Israel launched military action against Iran, setting off a chain of events that has sent fuel prices up and down with little warning.
The conflict disrupted shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for global oil transport, creating uncertainty in energy markets and making it difficult for everyday consumers to plan around fuel costs.
The back-and-forth swings in gas prices have left many households scrambling to adjust their budgets, with no clear end in sight to the volatility.
Financial experts suggest that drivers consider a few strategies to cope with the unpredictability, including filling up when prices dip rather than waiting, reducing unnecessary trips, and keeping an eye on fuel price tracking apps to find the best deals in their area.
For now, analysts say the situation in the Middle East will continue to play a major role in determining what Americans pay every time they pull up to a gas station.
A blockbuster NBA trade sending Kawhi Leonard back to Toronto is temporarily frozen while the league investigates potential salary cap violations by the Los Angeles Clippers, the Raptors announced Thursday.
The Raptors said the NBA’s league office told them they would be taking on the risk of any fallout from the ongoing Clippers investigation if the deal went through. As a result, the team said it would hold off until the investigation wraps up.
“The NBA league office informed us that as a result of the ongoing investigation involving the Clippers, we would assume the risk of any potential outcome of the investigation impacting Kawhi,” the Raptors stated. “In light of this, we will wait until the league’s investigation is complete.”
The NBA launched its investigation back in September after journalist Pablo Torre reported on a $28 million endorsement deal between Leonard and Aspiration Fund Adviser LLC — a company that has since filed for bankruptcy. The league is using outside legal counsel to conduct the probe, and there is currently no estimated end date for the investigation. The NBA had no comment on the matter Thursday.
Despite the delay, the Raptors made clear they still want Leonard back in their lineup. “The Raptors remain eager to bring Kawhi back to Toronto and look forward to a swift resolution for our players, our organization, and our fans,” the team said.
The two teams had reached a trade agreement earlier this month. Under the deal, Toronto would send Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two first-round draft picks, two second-round picks, and pick swaps to the Clippers in exchange for Leonard.
Leonard’s lone season in Toronto was a memorable one — he helped the Raptors capture their only NBA championship in 2019. He turned 35 earlier this month and is coming off the best scoring season of his career, putting up an average of 27.9 points per game over 65 games with the Clippers.
A seven-time All-Star and seven-time All-NBA selection, Leonard has won two NBA championships — the one with Toronto and another in 2014 with San Antonio. He is widely regarded as one of the premier defensive players in the history of the game.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — New York Yankees star Aaron Judge is set to have his injured rib reimaged during the All-Star break, with the team hoping the updated scans will show progress in his recovery.
The three-time AL MVP has been out of action since May 31. He was placed on the injured list on June 5 after a CT scan, an MRI, and a consultation with a specialist revealed a stress fracture in his right rib.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman addressed the situation with reporters on Thursday, emphasizing that the team won’t rush Judge back before he’s fully ready. “I don’t think we want to put him at risk of coming back while still injured,” Cashman said. “He should be asymptomatic before we turn him loose. If he’s asymptomatic and not feeling anything and (medical images) are showing healing, then it’s probably appropriate to get him going again. But we don’t want to, because the schedule is what it is, put him in a position where we’re putting him in jeopardy where it somehow gets worse.”
Cashman also noted that the injury has limited Judge’s ability to do upper-body workouts, as putting any strain on his rib cage is off the table for now. The upcoming imaging will give the team a clearer picture of how far along he is in his rehabilitation.
Entering their series finale against the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees had posted a 14-19 record during Judge’s absence.
NAIROBI, Kenya — African nations have secured $900 million in new financial pledges aimed at expanding access to cleaner cooking technologies, the International Energy Agency announced Thursday.
The fresh commitment adds to the $2.2 billion raised at the first-ever Africa Clean Cooking Summit held in Paris in 2024, pushing the overall total to more than $3.1 billion. Those funds are earmarked to broaden access to cleaner cooking fuels, stoves, and supporting infrastructure throughout the continent.
The announcement came during a virtual meeting on clean cooking in Africa, organized jointly by the IEA and Kenya. Participants reviewed how much progress has been made since the Paris gathering and discussed priorities leading up to the next summit, scheduled for later this year.
Close to 1 billion people across Africa still do not have access to clean cooking options, instead depending on charcoal, firewood, and other polluting fuels. The IEA estimates these fuels contribute to roughly 850,000 premature deaths each year.
The virtual meeting included Kenyan President William Ruto, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, African Union commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy Lerato Mataboge, and IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol, among other participants.
Clean cooking involves the use of low-emission fuels and technologies — including ethanol, biogas, and electricity — as alternatives to traditional options like charcoal and firewood. Making the switch reduces dangerous indoor air pollution and leads to better health outcomes for millions of African families.
Wright emphasized the significance of the issue, saying, “Access to clean cooking is one of the most impactful yet overlooked challenges of our time,” and noting that it directly touches the lives of billions of people, especially women and children.
President Ruto pointed to funding as the central barrier to achieving widespread clean cooking access across Africa. “Ambition alone is not enough. It must be backed by investment,” he said.
Birol reported that IEA tracking data shows $740 million — roughly one-third of what was pledged in Paris — has already been put to work across 22 African countries. “The additional $900 million in commitments demonstrates growing momentum, with more expected before the next summit,” he added.
The IEA also released a new report indicating that governments have enacted 121 new clean cooking policies across more than 30 African countries since the Paris summit. Those nations represent approximately 80% of Africans currently without access to clean cooking options.
The agency said it is partnering with the African Union to help governments build stronger national clean cooking policies as part of a continent-wide strategy ahead of the next summit.
Additionally, the IEA launched a new public-private initiative called the Clean Cooking Security Programme, designed to reinforce global supply chains for cooking fuels — particularly liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG. The program was prompted in part by shipping disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz earlier this year, which impacted roughly 30% of globally traded LPG. More than 3.4 billion people around the world rely on LPG as their main cooking fuel.
The program will offer technical assistance to nations looking to improve their fuel security and explore ways to deepen international cooperation on clean cooking supply chains.
LONDON — Senior British law enforcement officials are sounding the alarm about the growing role that technology and online platforms are playing in threats against the United Kingdom, with hostile foreign governments, extremist groups, and far-right organizations all increasingly exploiting the digital landscape.
Vicki Evans, a senior national coordinator for counterterrorism at the Metropolitan Police, described an ongoing “continual battle” against online threats and stressed that law enforcement cannot tackle the problem without assistance from technology companies. “It’s not something we can do alone,” she said.
Laurence Taylor, head of counterterrorism police, noted that while Islamic extremism continues to pose the greatest overall threat, dangers posed by far-right groups and hostile foreign states have grown considerably over the past five years.
Evans described the threat from hostile states as the “most rapidly escalating mission” currently facing counterterrorism police.
Several high-profile cases have underscored the danger. In July, two Romanian men were sent to prison for stabbing a journalist from a Persian-language television station — an attack the judge said was carried out on behalf of Iran’s government. In June, a Ukrainian man and a Romanian man were jailed for their involvement in setting fire to property connected to U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a plot that fits the profile of Russian state-sponsored sabotage. And in May, a U.K. border official and former Hong Kong police officer were convicted of spying for China.
Evans revealed that in 2025 alone, police have identified more than 20 Iranian-backed plots targeting the U.K., including planned assassinations and kidnappings. Investigators are also looking into whether a series of arson attacks on Jewish sites earlier this year may be connected to Iran.
Russia, she added, has been running a “constant stream of surveillance plots” against individuals and institutions in Britain. The goal, she said, is to target people Russian officials view as enemies, work their way into everyday life, and recruit individuals willing to spread Russian narratives or carry out tasks on Moscow’s behalf.
Across Europe, Russia has used messaging apps like Telegram to recruit dozens of people to commit acts of vandalism and arson — including the torching of a London warehouse that housed communications equipment destined for Ukraine. The ringleader of that plot, Dylan Earl, was recruited through Telegram by the Wagner Group, a mercenary organization acting on behalf of Moscow that has been designated a terrorist group by the U.K. government.
Evans also disclosed that teenagers as young as 15 have been arrested in connection with these proxy plots. She warned that “anyone could be targeted,” particularly through online channels.
“This isn’t something that’s happening elsewhere,” Evans said, speaking to reporters at New Scotland Yard, the Metropolitan Police’s headquarters. “It’s happening here. This risk is in our neighborhoods, in our online spaces and in our workplaces.”
Taylor said the U.K.’s national threat level was elevated in April from “substantial” to “severe,” due in part to a significant rise in cases tied to extreme far-right ideologies. Police have observed a surge in what officials called “vile” online content — a mix of racism, misogyny, and extreme homophobia — with the number of such cases approaching 800.
Taylor said extreme viewpoints are facing less and less pushback, creating an environment where previously unacceptable ideas are becoming more widespread. He pointed to the case of 18-year-old Alina Burns, who was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison in May after attacking a stranger with an ax — a crime Taylor said was driven by her extreme right-wing beliefs. He also cited Alfie Coleman, a 22-year-old sentenced Wednesday to 13.5 years in prison for attempting to purchase a firearm from an undercover MI5 officer — a man who, Taylor said, was radicalized online beginning at age 14.
Evans explained that those exploiting young people online are deliberately crafting content designed to appeal to them, blending propaganda with gaming footage, historical imagery, and music. Young people are then encouraged to carry out violent acts in real life — including being urged to “recreate” brutal scenarios from video games, she said.
In some cases, Evans said, “sadistic online groups” pit users against each other in competitions to cause harm, whether through cyberattacks, extremist activity, serious violence, child sexual abuse, or even terrorism.
The sheer volume of disturbing content online — including extreme violence and graphic imagery — has left some people with a distorted view of what is normal, Evans said, making them especially susceptible to manipulation by outside actors, including foreign governments.
While the British government has announced plans to ban social media use for those under 16, Evans said that measure alone is not sufficient. She called for sustained pressure on technology companies to take a more active role in reducing harmful content online, noting that laws and regulations tend to become outdated quickly while social platforms continue to have powerful tools for pushing content toward young users.
“The tipping point is very swift and steep,” Evans said, describing how quickly some individuals can be drawn into dangerous online spaces.
MIAMI — England’s 60-year wait for a second World Cup title will be front of mind when they take the field Saturday against Norway in a quarterfinal showdown in Miami, facing a squad that may be the underdog but is armed with one of football’s most dangerous forwards.
Erling Haaland has been a standout performer throughout the tournament, netting seven goals and pushing Norway into territory the country hasn’t seen in 28 years — their first World Cup in nearly three decades. His two-goal performance against Brazil in the round of 16 quickly became fodder for internet memes around the world.
England enters the match with more experience at this stage of major competitions, having advanced to the quarterfinals or beyond at three World Cups and two European Championships over the past eight years. But their only international championship remains the 1966 World Cup, won on home soil, and the pressure that builds at home every time England reaches the later rounds of a tournament is something Norway is eager to exploit.
Norway midfielder Kristian Thorstvedt said Thursday that his squad feels they have little to lose, and the 25-year-old Haaland — himself born in England — was more than happy to stoke the flames. Speaking to reporters with a smile, he said: “I think there are some clear favourites out there, England is one of them, so I think all of you should put every single pressure on the English lads.”
Haaland is hardly a mystery to England’s players. After four years in the Premier League, he shares familiarity with five current and former club teammates who are now in the England squad. Defender John Stones, one of those players, acknowledged what Norway brings to the table. “We’ll treat them with the same respect we show every opponent,” Stones said. “We know what they’ve got, especially with Erling, but we’ve put in some great defensive performances so far.”
Norway’s run to the quarterfinals has been built on more than just Haaland and playmaker Martin Odegaard. The squad has developed a tight bond that has shown up in their on-field performances. “There’s very little negative energy in the group,” said midfielder Morten Thorsby. “We’ve been together a long time, and we have a very good time together.”
England has also shown resilience, most notably in a gutsy victory over co-hosts Mexico in the round of 16, a win achieved with only 10 men that many are calling England’s best World Cup performance. However, that match came at a cost — defender Jarell Quansah picked up a red card and faces a two-game suspension, leaving coach Thomas Tuchel with limited options at right back.
England still boasts captain Harry Kane, who has scored six goals in the tournament, along with midfielder Jude Bellingham, who has emerged as one of the competition’s brightest players. Thorstvedt acknowledged England’s collective strength but said individual moments will be the deciding factor. “They have a good collective,” he said. “But we have individual players who can decide the big moments, and I feel that’s what top-level football is. When two good teams meet, it often becomes an even match, and then it’s really those moments that decide it.”
Syrian Interior Minister Anas Khattab announced Thursday that the group behind what he described as “terrorist” bombings in Damascus earlier this week has been apprehended, according to Syrian state television.
Khattab said authorities plan to publicly disclose the identities of those arrested, their individual roles, and all connections they may have had — but only after investigators have finished their work.
The bombings took place Tuesday when two explosive devices went off near a hotel in Damascus where French President Emmanuel Macron was staying overnight. The blasts injured 18 people and put a dark cloud over what was a significant diplomatic moment — the first trip to Syria by a head of state from the European Union since the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker will step up to the plate in the Home Run Derby this Monday evening at Citizens Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia.
Walker, a first-time All-Star, is enjoying a remarkable breakout season in St. Louis. Heading into Thursday, he had already set a career best with 21 home runs and paced the entire Major League Baseball with 70 RBIs.
At just 24 years old, Walker becomes the first Cardinals representative in the annual power-hitting showcase since Albert Pujols participated back in 2022.
Spectators at Citizens Bank Ballpark may want to brace themselves — Walker is posting an average exit velocity of 94.2 mph, which ranks tied for fifth among qualified hitters according to Statcast data.
Walker will share the Derby stage with Rays third baseman Junior Caminero, Yankees first baseman Ben Rice, Royals outfielder Jac Caglianone, and Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras. The eight-player field still has three open spots yet to be announced.
ANKARA — When allied leaders arrived at this week’s NATO summit in Turkey, they faced a familiar question: which version of the U.S. president would show up — the one who champions the alliance, or the one who threatens to tear it apart?
As it turned out, they got a little of both.
Shortly after arriving Tuesday, Trump publicly blasted the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Italy, accusing those nations of failing to back the United States in its war with Iran. Wednesday morning brought more turbulence, when Trump announced he would cut off all trade with Spain, calling the country a “terrible partner” and accusing it of blocking the war effort while not spending enough on defense.
“I don’t want anything to do with Spain. Cut off all trade with Spain, please, including visits, OK?” Trump said, directing his remarks to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
Trump also renewed his push for U.S. control over Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory — a demand that has already caused significant tension within the alliance.
Yet by Wednesday evening, the tone had shifted dramatically. Trump was applauding those same European leaders for boosting their defense budgets, and he described a private session among NATO heads of state as brimming with “love.”
“It was sort of pretty wild,” Trump reflected before a packed room of journalists.
The mood swings were jarring but not entirely surprising. NATO leaders, who experienced a similar rollercoaster at last year’s summit, have learned to manage Trump through careful diplomacy — and, when necessary, outright flattery.
In his meeting with Trump, Rutte praised the president’s military strikes on Iran and credited him with pushing Europe to spend more on defense. “Grab the win. It’s there. You did it,” Rutte told him.
Trump appeared to take the advice to heart and later acknowledged that the private charm offensive from European leaders had worked on him.
“They said, ‘Sir, we love you.’ These are grown people saying that. Isn’t that nice?” Trump told reporters. “Maybe they’re doing it to get to me. And in a way they did.”
Diplomats noted that while Trump’s public outbursts made headlines, his tone in closed-door sessions was noticeably calmer. Multiple diplomats said he did not repeat his threats against Spain or bring up Greenland during the private leaders’ meeting.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez downplayed the earlier confrontation, describing his conversation with Trump as “very cordial.”
Trump also met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that afternoon, offering praise for the Ukrainian leader — a welcome development for officials in Kyiv who have navigated a turbulent relationship with Washington.
When Trump stepped before cameras at the summit’s closing press conference, NATO officials breathed a collective sigh of relief. No new disputes had erupted among allies.
“They have a lot of good in their heart, not evil, good, and they’re doing a great job for their country,” Trump said of allied leaders.
Still, veteran diplomats are not counting on the warm feelings to hold. At last year’s NATO gathering in The Hague, Trump also praised the alliance’s leadership — only to host Russian President Vladimir Putin in the United States weeks later for a meeting that allies privately criticized.
On the flight back home, Trump called Spain “very generous” and praised NATO’s “tremendous unity” — then, moments later, repeated a threat to withdraw additional American troops from Europe.
According to a report from The Athletic published Thursday, the Houston Dynamo are in the process of acquiring American striker Duncan McGuire from Orlando City.
As part of the deal, Orlando City will receive $1.25 million in general allocation money, along with $1.15 million in targeted allocation money tied to performance-based incentives. The club will also hold onto a sell-on clause as part of the agreement.
Orlando City had already kept the 25-year-old McGuire off the field during Wednesday night’s friendly matchup against the Tampa Bay Rowdies, a move that now makes more sense in light of the reported transfer.
During the current season — his fourth with Orlando — McGuire has contributed two goals and one assist across 11 appearances, including four starts.
McGuire made a strong impression on the MLS scene back in 2023 when he netted 14 goals, then followed that up with 10 more in 2024. His 2025 campaign was interrupted by surgeries on both shoulders. Over his career, he has accumulated 29 goals and eight assists in 85 total matches, starting 45 of them.
Despite losing McGuire, Orlando City’s attacking options remain deep. The club added French star Antoine Griezmann this spring, along with designated players Martin Ojeda and Marco Pasalic, Brazilian attacker Tiago, and homegrown forward Justin Ellis.
The National Weather Service office in Mount Holly, New Jersey has issued a Flash Flood Warning that went into effect at 2:07 PM EDT on Wednesday, July 9, and remains active until 5:45 PM EDT that same day.
Residents in the warned area are urged to take the alert seriously and avoid travel through flooded roadways. Even shallow moving water can be dangerous for pedestrians and vehicles alike.
Authorities recommend staying off roads where water is covering the surface, as it is impossible to judge the depth or current strength of floodwaters. If you encounter a flooded road, turn around and find an alternate route.
Continue to monitor local weather updates and official alerts for the latest information as conditions develop throughout the afternoon.
A long-running effort to build a sweeping 485-mile multi-use trail through Vermont is taking steps to make sure riders of all abilities can participate.
The trail, known as The Velomont, is designed to run the full length of the state and has been in development for several years. Organizers are placing a special focus on making the route accessible to people with disabilities, with particular attention to adaptive cyclists.
The push for inclusivity reflects a broader commitment among trail planners to ensure that outdoor recreational spaces are welcoming to everyone, regardless of physical ability.
OpenAI rolled out a new workplace-focused feature on Thursday called ChatGPT Work, an automated agent built into its well-known chatbot that can carry out tasks spanning multiple programs and file types.
Running on GPT-5.6, ChatGPT Work is designed to pull information from existing apps, files, and workflows to produce finished products such as documents, spreadsheets, presentations, reports, and websites, according to the company.
The announcement comes as technology companies are increasingly battling for a share of the professional AI tools market, driven by growing demand for automated systems that can handle complex tasks without much human involvement.
The release follows a move by OpenAI competitor Anthropic, which earlier expanded its own enterprise offerings with Claude Cowork — an agent built to independently plan and carry out multi-step tasks.
In addition to ChatGPT Work, OpenAI — which is currently preparing for an initial public offering — also announced a new desktop application and a hosted websites feature that allows users to build and share websites directly through the Work platform.
ChatGPT Work became available Thursday on both web and mobile, with a broader rollout expected over the coming days.
The National Weather Service office in Mount Holly, New Jersey has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch effective from 2:30 PM EDT through 10:00 PM EDT on Wednesday, July 9.
A Severe Thunderstorm Watch means conditions are favorable for the development of severe thunderstorms in and around the watch area. Residents should remain alert and be ready to act quickly if a Severe Thunderstorm Warning is issued for their specific location.
Severe thunderstorms can bring damaging winds, large hail, and heavy rainfall. People are encouraged to stay indoors, avoid open areas, and keep away from windows during any storm activity. Make sure to charge devices and have emergency supplies on hand in case of power outages.
Monitor your local forecast and weather alerts throughout the evening for the latest updates as conditions develop.
The National Weather Service office in Mount Holly, New Jersey issued a Flood Watch on July 9 at 2:03 PM Eastern Time, with the alert set to remain in effect until midnight on July 10.
A Flood Watch means that conditions are favorable for flooding to develop in the warned area. Residents should stay informed and be ready to take action if flooding begins or a Flood Warning is issued.
Authorities urge people to avoid low-lying areas, never attempt to drive through flooded roadways, and keep an eye on the latest updates from the National Weather Service. Remember the phrase: turn around, don’t drown.
Check back with TV Delmarva for the latest weather updates as this situation develops.
Westbound travelers on Harrington Highway, also known as Route 14, in Milford are facing a lane shift this afternoon as construction crews work in the area.
The lane shift is located between Canterbury Road and Church Hill Road and is expected to remain in place until 5 PM.
Drivers are encouraged to use caution while passing through the construction zone and to allow for additional travel time if using that stretch of roadway.
Three individuals are now facing criminal charges following an attempted vehicle break-in incident at a New Castle County residential community.
On Tuesday, July 7, 2026, just after 1:37 in the afternoon, officers from the New Castle County Division of Police were dispatched to the 100 block of Highland Boulevard in the Sophia Place West community. Residents had called in reports of multiple people dressed in dark clothing and wearing masks who appeared to be trying to force their way into parked vehicles in the area.
The investigation led to charges being filed against three individuals in connection with the attempted thefts.
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Thousands of people took to the streets of Hungary’s capital on Thursday to push back against efforts by the country’s new government to remove President Tamás Sulyok from office. The rally was organized by the far-right Fidesz party and promoted heavily by former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, though Orbán himself did not show up.
Demonstrators crowded around the presidential offices at the grand Sándor Palace in Budapest’s Castle District, voicing support for Sulyok. The new center-right government has pledged to remove him through a constitutional amendment that is scheduled for a parliamentary vote next week.
The amendment would cut short Sulyok’s term in office and also introduce term limits for members of parliament, carry out changes to the court system, and establish a new body to investigate alleged financial wrongdoing during Orbán’s time in power.
Orbán’s 16-year grip on Hungary came to an end following a decisive election defeat in April. The winner of that vote, new pro-European Prime Minister Péter Magyar, has moved aggressively to undo what he describes as Orbán’s “mafia” — removing political appointees and institutional leaders he says helped sustain Orbán’s authoritarian rule.
Magyar has argued that Sulyok, who was appointed during the Orbán era, failed in his presidential duties by not blocking antidemocratic actions taken by Orbán’s government. He made removing Sulyok a central campaign promise and points to his party’s two-thirds majority in parliament as a voter mandate to follow through.
Though the Hungarian presidency is largely ceremonial, the president holds the power to sign legislation into law and can refer bills to the constitutional court for review. Supporters of Magyar’s new government have expressed concern that Sulyok could use those powers to block the administration’s agenda.
One demonstrator at Thursday’s protest, Krisztina Nemerkényi, said the gathering was about more than just one individual. “The point is not whether Tamás Sulyok is popular or not, but that this is simply unacceptable in a democracy,” she said, adding that the protest was “not about the person of Sulyok, but about the office.”
Fidesz lawmaker János Pócs told the Associated Press at the rally that while his party had amended Hungary’s constitution many times — making 15 changes to the document it wrote on its own in 2011 — those changes were made “always in the interest of the country, in order to protect the country, but not for the sake of dictatorship.”
Orbán and Fidesz have characterized the push to remove Sulyok as an attack on democratic principles and the rule of law, and warned it represents an early move toward authoritarian rule — a charge that critics find ironic given Fidesz’s own record in power.
Since taking office in May, Magyar’s government has moved quickly on other campaign pledges as well. It suspended Hungary’s public television and radio news service, which Magyar has called a “propaganda factory” for Orbán’s party. The government also put an eight-year cap on how long a prime minister can serve and removed the heads of the national security and intelligence agencies that operated under Orbán.
Additionally, the new government managed to unlock 16.4 billion euros — roughly $19 billion — in European Union funds that had been withheld from Hungary by pushing through rapid reforms aimed at reversing democratic backsliding that took place during Orbán’s tenure.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A South Florida airport officially adopted a new name Thursday, now operating as the President Donald J. Trump International Airport, replacing the long-standing Palm Beach International Airport identity.
Old signage has been taken down as crews work to install new branding throughout the facility. Airport officials acknowledged the transition will take time, noting in a Facebook post: “Because an entire airport transformation doesn’t happen overnight, you’ll notice a combination of both our classic look and our new brand elements coexisting while traveling through the terminal over the next several weeks.”
The first aircraft to touch down at the newly named airport was “Trump Force One,” a Boeing 757 belonging to The Trump Organization, arriving just after 5 a.m. Among those on board was Eric Trump, the president’s son. The Trump family frequently uses the West Palm Beach airport when visiting President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in nearby Palm Beach. A road connecting the airport to that property was already renamed Donald J. Trump Boulevard earlier this year.
Eric Trump celebrated the occasion on X, writing: “There is no person who has done more for Florida and our country, and no one more deserving of this incredible honor. As a son, and someone who flies out of this airport nearly every day, I will forever be proud to see the initials ‘DJT’ on my boarding pass.”
Although the name officially changed Thursday, the airport’s three-letter code will not switch from PBI to DJT until August 18.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the legislation earlier this year that cleared the way for the renaming. Officials estimate the full cost of new signage, rebranding, and related updates could reach as much as $5.5 million.
Not everyone at the airport was enthusiastic about the change. Traveler Keegan Collett, who was heading to Cincinnati Thursday morning, said he was caught off guard by the new name. While he doesn’t believe Trump deserves the honor, he said he isn’t particularly worked up about it either.
“At the end of the day, it’s just the name of an airport,” Collett said. “There’s bigger things. I feel like it’s just more of a distraction. Why even worry about it?”
The airport renaming was not the only Trump-related ceremony Thursday. In Dandridge, Tennessee, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, and Representative Tim Burchett gathered to rename the I-40 Bridge in East Tennessee the Donald J. Trump Bridge.
Bessent said ahead of the event that “no one is more deserving” of having the bridge named in Trump’s honor.
Trump carried 82% of the vote in Jefferson County, where Dandridge is located, during the 2024 general election.
The University of Delaware Athletics and Campus Recreation departments have wrapped up the 2025-26 academic year, releasing a comprehensive look back at the highlights and accomplishments from the past season.
The Blue Hens’ year-in-review covers the wide range of athletic programs and campus recreation initiatives that took place throughout the year, showcasing the efforts of student-athletes and staff across the university’s sports programs.
Full details of the year’s achievements, standout moments, and program milestones are available through the university’s official athletics department.
IHeartMedia has reached an agreement with federal regulators to resolve an investigation into allegations that its radio stations pressured musical artists into performing at company-hosted concerts and festivals in return for more favorable airtime, the Federal Communications Commission announced Thursday.
The FCC identified IHeartMedia as the largest owner of radio stations in the country. Under the terms of a consent decree, the company must follow strict disclosure procedures governing the connection between song airplay and artist appearances at live events, with the goal of ensuring there are, in the agency’s words, “no prohibited pressure or relationships.”
LONDON — Andy Burnham, who is widely expected to be named Britain’s next prime minister before the end of the month, has spoken out about the need for the United Kingdom to take a stronger stance against the Israeli government regarding its conduct in Gaza, according to a report published Thursday by the Guardian.
In the interview, Burnham took aim at how current Prime Minister Keir Starmer initially handled Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which began in October 2023 following an attack on Israel carried out by Hamas-led gunmen.
“We’ve got to do more to put pressure on the Israeli government … Yes, we have taken some important steps … But let’s be honest, the UK was too slow to call for a ceasefire. And we must now do more to strengthen our approach,” Burnham said.
Starmer had initially pushed back against calls from within his own party — including from Burnham, who was serving as a regional mayor at the time — to demand a ceasefire, opting instead to support a humanitarian pause in the fighting.
Starmer eventually did call for a ceasefire and has since spoken out against the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza. His government has also imposed sanctions on far-right Israeli cabinet ministers and formally extended recognition to a Palestinian state.
While a ceasefire reached last year brought the two-year conflict to a close, Israel’s military has continued conducting strikes in Gaza as part of the broader regional conflict involving Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon, pointing to ongoing threats or fire from Hamas as justification.
Burnham indicated he wants to go further, stating: “We need to do more, which includes looking at further sanctions, both on those involved in the violence in Gaza but also looking at measures to ban trade in goods with illegal settlements.”
SAN JOSE — Just two months into her presidency, Costa Rica’s Laura Fernandez finds herself in a deep and damaging conflict with the nation’s court system — a battle that experts say is getting in the way of any serious effort to combat a surge in drug-related violence.
The dispute is part of a wider pattern of instability across Central America, a key route for cocaine moving toward the United States, where criminal organizations have exploited weak institutions to fuel corruption and bloodshed.
The friction between Fernandez’s administration and the judiciary has focused on two main flashpoints: steep budget cuts being imposed on the court system, and a legislative push to allow Congress — rather than the Supreme Court — to choose who serves as attorney general.
Matters came to a head last week when Fernandez publicly accused the judiciary of being infiltrated by organized crime “to the core.” She also criticized the courts for blocking the tough “iron fist” security approach her government has been pushing, a strategy modeled after policies used by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, whose mass incarceration campaign — roughly 90,000 people jailed — has dramatically reduced crime in El Salvador.
Judicial officials have pushed back hard, denying any corruption and demanding that Fernandez back up her claims with evidence. They warn that the planned budget reductions for 2026 and 2027 would undermine democratic oversight and actually make it harder to fight crime.
Fernandez ran for office on a tough-on-crime message, promising to bring order back to a country of 5.2 million people where approximately two people are killed every day. The murder rate has held stubbornly high since reaching a record 17.2 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2023 — twice the rate seen a decade earlier.
Security Minister Gerald Campos told Reuters the conviction rate for murders is alarmingly low. “The problem here is not a lack of an army… the problem is a lack of convictions in the courts,” he said, noting that only 38% of homicides lead to a conviction.
Both government officials and experts point to drug trafficking networks exploiting Costa Rica’s geography as a key driver of the violence, using the country as a staging point to move narcotics to markets further north.
Evelyn Villarreal, coordinator of the State of Justice report — a research initiative that monitors Costa Rica’s justice system — warned that internal fighting is making an already difficult situation worse. “Facing an enemy with infinite resources… fighting among ourselves makes it very difficult to be prepared,” she said.
Shortly after taking office, Fernandez called on Attorney General Carlo Diaz and senior Supreme Court justices to resign, saying they had failed to address the security emergency. None have done so.
Patricia Solano, who leads the country’s top criminal court, rejected the notion that the judiciary bears responsibility for the rise in crime. She argued the government’s true goal is to weaken an essential democratic institution. “Since 2022, we have seen a systematic attack against the judiciary,” Solano said, pointing to actions that began under former President Rodrigo Chaves, who belongs to the same political party as Fernandez.
Solano also noted that the prison population has grown by 36% since 2020, with Costa Rica’s incarceration rate now at 366 per 100,000 people — ranking 22nd highest in the world in 2024, according to the World Prison Brief.
On the streets, everyday residents expressed exhaustion and frustration with the political conflict. “We are still in bad shape, even if they say they are doing things and fighting each other,” said Karina Bolaños, a 39-year-old shopkeeper in Goicoechea, north of the capital. “The country has changed for the worse.”
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that it is seeking to relax emissions standards for heavy trucks and engines that were established under former Democratic President Joe Biden back in 2023.
As part of the proposal, the EPA is looking to reduce emissions warranty requirements and push back the timeline for when more stringent regulatory useful life standards would kick in.
The agency acknowledged that some manufacturers working on 2027 model-year medium and heavy-duty engine development have run into technical hurdles. In response, the EPA is proposing to let those manufacturers continue selling their existing products while they finish developing engines that meet the 2027 compliance standards.
A class action lawsuit aimed at two major artificial intelligence companies is growing, with additional victims now joining the legal fight.
The new plaintiffs in the case against Elon Musk’s SpaceXAI and Stability AI allege that AI tools developed by those companies were used to produce sexually explicit imagery of them when they were minors.
The lawsuit accuses both companies of enabling the creation of what is known as deepfake child sexual abuse material — fabricated but realistic-looking explicit images generated using artificial intelligence technology.
The case raises serious concerns about how AI platforms can be misused to victimize children, and the expansion of the lawsuit suggests the alleged harm may be more widespread than initially known.
Veteran guard Jordan Clarkson is returning to the New York Knicks after agreeing to a one-year contract worth $3.9 million, according to an announcement made Thursday by his agent and Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul.
The contract represents the veteran’s minimum salary for Clarkson, who earned the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award five years ago.
The 34-year-old put up averages of 8.6 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.3 assists across 72 games — including just one start — during his most recent season with New York.
Clarkson’s NBA journey began when the Washington Wizards selected him in the second round of the 2014 draft, though he was immediately traded to the Lakers. He spent three and a half seasons in Los Angeles before moving on to the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he played parts of three seasons. In December 2019, he was dealt to the Utah Jazz.
Over the course of 825 career NBA games — with 232 starts — Clarkson has averaged 15.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game.
The National Weather Service office in Mount Holly, New Jersey has issued a Flash Flood Warning that went into effect at 1:37 PM EDT on Wednesday, July 9, and is set to expire at 5:45 PM EDT the same day.
Residents in the warned area are urged to take precautions immediately. Flash flooding can develop quickly and pose serious dangers to life and property.
Authorities remind the public to never attempt to drive through flooded roadways. Even shallow water moving across a road can sweep a vehicle away. The phrase “Turn Around, Don’t Drown” remains the standard safety guidance during flash flood events.
Stay tuned to TV Delmarva for the latest updates on this developing weather situation, and monitor alerts from the National Weather Service for any changes to this warning.
The Anaheim Ducks are keeping their prized young center Leo Carlsson — but it’s going to cost them dearly.
The organization announced Thursday that it will match the Philadelphia Flyers’ offer sheet for the 21-year-old, locking him into a five-year, $90 million contract. That $18 million average annual value makes Carlsson the highest-paid player in the entire NHL, edging out Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov, who was previously at the top at $17 million per year.
Carlsson had signed the Flyers’ offer sheet as a restricted free agent following a year of unsuccessful contract talks with Anaheim general manager Pat Verbeek. Verbeek’s typically firm stance in negotiations with restricted free agents backfired significantly in this case, as the deal Carlsson ultimately landed far exceeded what most around the league believed he would command — and even more than what Carlsson himself had reportedly been willing to accept.
Philadelphia’s general manager Danny Briere didn’t land the top-line center his team has been searching for, but the bold move demonstrated his willingness to do whatever it takes to strengthen his roster. Had Anaheim declined to match, the Ducks would have received four first-round draft picks from Philadelphia as compensation.
The unusual structure of the Flyers’ offer sheet also stood out — it front-loaded Carlsson’s contract with large signing bonuses, a departure from how most NHL deals are typically structured. The move may have lasting effects on how young NHL talent is valued in future negotiations.
While the Ducks managed to hold onto their most important young player, the saga has put Verbeek’s front office under a harsh spotlight. The general manager, who has kept Anaheim’s payroll well below the salary cap throughout his tenure, will now be spending owner Henry Samueli’s money right up against the cap ceiling next season. The league’s salary cap currently sits at $104 million and is projected to climb in the years ahead.
The situation comes on the heels of what had been a promising moment for the franchise — the Ducks ended a seven-year playoff absence last season with a second-round run that suggested they were becoming a genuine contender in the Western Conference.
Verbeek’s offseason troubles don’t stop with Carlsson. He has yet to sign 41-goal scorer Cutter Gauthier, another restricted free agent, though Gauthier is not eligible to receive an offer sheet. Verbeek did sign defenseman Pavel Mintyukov to a five-year, $36 million deal last week — again paying well above what the market expected for a restricted free agent — amid reports that Mintyukov was close to receiving an offer sheet of his own.
The Ducks also lost four key defensemen from last season — Jacob Trouba, captain Radko Gudas, Olen Zellweger, and late-season rental John Carlson — without making any notable replacements beyond veteran journeyman Nick Jensen. Additionally, Anaheim traded center Mason McTavish, a key part of the team for several seasons, to St. Louis in exchange for draft picks after McTavish struggled last year.
This pattern of contentious negotiations has become a defining characteristic of Verbeek’s tenure. Players Trevor Zegras, Jamie Drysdale, and McTavish all missed training camp in recent years due to unresolved contract disputes with Verbeek — and all three were eventually signed, then later traded away. Two of those trades involved the Flyers. Sending Drysdale to Philadelphia in a package for Gauthier drew praise, while giving up the high-scoring Zegras last summer drew criticism from Ducks fans.
Despite the drama surrounding his contract, Carlsson’s talent is not in question. Selected second overall in the 2023 draft — just behind Connor Bedard — he has quickly established himself as one of the game’s top young playmakers. Last season, he posted 67 points in 70 games even while missing a significant stretch due to a leg injury, and he added 11 points in 12 playoff games during his first postseason.
Though his point production hasn’t yet matched the level implied by his new salary, most observers believe he has the potential to become one of the best centers in hockey — meaning this deal could eventually look like a bargain. When the contract expires in 2031, Carlsson is expected to become an unrestricted free agent at just 26 years old, setting him up for yet another massive payday.
St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker is headed to the Home Run Derby, set to take place in Philadelphia on Monday.
Walker becomes the fifth confirmed entrant in the competition, joining Boston’s Willson Contreras, Kansas City’s Jac Caglianone, Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero, and the New York Yankees’ Ben Rice. Three spots in the eight-player field have yet to be filled.
The 24-year-old is making his first All-Star appearance and has been one of the breakout performers of the season. Walker has launched 21 home runs, placing him fifth in the National League, while batting .294 with an .889 OPS. He also leads all of Major League Baseball with 70 RBIs. Walker was selected by the Cardinals in the first round of the 2020 draft.
With his appearance in the derby, Walker will become the eighth Cardinals player to ever compete in the event. He joins a list that includes Jack Clark (1985), Ray Lankford (1997), Mark McGwire (1998-99), Jim Edmonds (2003), Albert Pujols (2003, 2007, 2009, 2022), Matt Holliday (2010-11), and Carlos Beltran (2012).
Despite that long history of participation, no Cardinals player has ever taken home the Home Run Derby title.
MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s government announced Thursday that it plans to pursue criminal charges connected to the deaths of 17 Mexican citizens who died either while detained by U.S. immigration authorities or during enforcement operations carried out under the Trump administration.
Mexican Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco made the announcement Thursday morning, further straining an already tense relationship between the two countries. Mexico has been increasingly vocal in its criticism of how its citizens are being treated as the U.S. government ramps up deportation efforts.
The formal request, which does not carry legal authority on its own, will be sent to state prosecutors’ offices and the U.S. Department of Justice. It asks those agencies to consider bringing criminal charges against individuals responsible for the deaths.
Foreign Minister Velasco added that the request will be paired with civil lawsuits targeting the private companies that run immigration detention facilities, with the goal of stopping what Mexico describes as ongoing human rights violations inside those centers.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday that her country chose to “move beyond diplomatic channels” following the shooting death of Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston earlier this week by an ICE agent. Sheinbaum described the killing as something that “is not only sad and regrettable, but also appears to have been targeted.”
“We are going to do everything in our power, because we cannot stand silent” in the face of the deaths of Mexicans “whose only crime is working honestly in the United States,” Sheinbaum said.
Salgado Araujo had lived in the United States for decades. At the time of the shooting, he was driving a work crew to a residential construction site. His family has called for a full investigation into the circumstances of his death.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said agents were pursuing Salgado Araujo because he was in the country without legal immigration status. The department stated he was shot after ignoring commands and attempting to strike an agent with his vehicle, and that the agent fired in self-defense.
According to Mexican officials, 14 of the 17 deaths occurred while individuals were in ICE detention, while the remaining 3 happened during active ICE operations.
Prior to this latest escalation, Mexico had been supporting victims’ families, sending formal diplomatic messages to Washington calling for investigations, and raising concerns with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. President Sheinbaum had also directed Mexican consulates to routinely check on ICE detainees and filed a complaint with the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The latest move adds more friction to a relationship already under significant pressure. Sheinbaum has taken a harder line against organized crime than her predecessors amid repeated threats from the Trump administration about possible military action against drug cartels. She has also worked to maintain a working relationship with U.S. leadership as both countries renegotiate a longstanding free trade agreement, while simultaneously taking a firm position on immigration enforcement and the rights of Mexican citizens held in U.S. custody.
HOUSTON — A Mexican national was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer while driving his construction workers to a job site in Houston, sparking outrage from his family, civil rights groups, and the Mexican government.
ICE identified the man as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. The agency said officers targeted him on Tuesday because he had entered the country without authorization and, when they attempted to pull him over, he did not stop and instead drove his van into their vehicle. ICE, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security, has released no video footage or photographs to support its account of what happened.
Salgado Araujo’s family painted a very different picture. They said he had spent 35 years living and working in the United States and was nearly finished with the lengthy process of obtaining legal immigration status. The family also suggested that ICE officers were using unmarked vehicles and that Salgado Araujo may have believed he was about to be robbed — not confronted by law enforcement.
The family, alongside civil rights advocates, is calling for a thorough and independent investigation into his death.
Bystander Juliet Martinez captured video of the scene after the shooting. The footage shows a black vehicle positioned at an angle near a white van, with both vehicles’ doors open. A bleeding, handcuffed man can be seen on the ground groaning, his leg trembling. Federal officers are seen standing over at least three other men who are also handcuffed.
ICE has not released the names of the other men taken into custody. However, Salgado Araujo’s family identified one of them as his brother. Families of the other two detained men said they were briefly able to speak with them on Wednesday and confirmed they remain in custody.
His son, Ronaldo Salgado, described his father as a hardworking family man who came to America as a young adult with his wife after the two met as teenagers in Mexico. The couple wanted to build a better life for their family. Salgado Araujo went on to work in home construction in the Houston suburbs, eventually starting his own business and leading his own crew. He had no criminal record, according to his family.
Ronaldo, the eldest son, became a teacher. He said one of his brothers works as an engineer, while another is currently studying engineering in college.
Ronaldo described his father as a quiet, gentle man whose wife packed his lunch every morning before he left at sunrise and had a warm dinner waiting when he returned at sunset. He enjoyed sitting on his porch, petting his dog, and listening to music.
“That’s how I want the world to know my father. Not as someone who got shot and killed, but as a family man, a man who understood that good things come to those who put in hard work,” Ronaldo said at a news conference Wednesday.
Salgado Araujo is believed to be at least the eighth person to die during the current administration’s immigration enforcement campaign. No immigration officers have faced criminal charges in any of these deaths, and in several prior cases, video evidence has contradicted the accounts given by federal officers.
Among the most high-profile prior deaths were those of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were shot and killed during protests in Minnesota during a winter crackdown. Another shooting death involved Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, who was killed during a traffic stop in Texas in March 2025 — a death that was not publicly disclosed for nearly a year. A farmworker also died after falling from the roof of a greenhouse in California and breaking his neck, and two additional deaths involved men who were struck by vehicles while attempting to flee.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum responded forcefully to Salgado Araujo’s killing, saying it is time for Mexico to move its complaints beyond standard diplomatic channels.
“We are going to do everything in our power, because we cannot stand silent” in the face of the deaths of Mexicans “whose only crime is working honestly in the United States,” Sheinbaum said.
Mexican Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco announced Thursday that Mexico will file criminal charges in U.S. courts related to the alleged killings of three Mexican nationals during ICE operations, as well as the deaths of 14 others while in ICE custody. Those complaints will be directed at whoever is found responsible and submitted to state prosecutor offices and the U.S. Department of Justice. Civil actions against companies running detention facilities will also be pursued, Velasco said, with the goal of ending what he described as human rights violations.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed Tuesday that its Inspector General’s office has opened an investigation into the shooting.
Salgado Araujo’s family and civil rights leaders are pushing for an independent probe separate from any internal federal review. The League of United Latin American Citizens announced a $5,000 reward for videos or other evidence related to the incident, and warned that turning any such material over to ICE could result in it being hidden or destroyed.
Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said the family and community deserve answers but acknowledged that federal authorities are currently in sole control of the investigation. Houston Mayor John Whitmire confirmed that city police had no involvement in the pursuit or the shooting and have no authority over federal officers.
New York’s attorney general took legal action Thursday against a group of major chemical and agricultural companies, claiming they deliberately sold dangerous so-called forever chemicals that ended up in everyday products ranging from cosmetics to non-stick cookware.
The suit names 3M, DuPont de Nemours, The Chemours Company, and Corteva, among other manufacturers. It represents the latest in a growing wave of legal battles over PFAS chemicals, which researchers have connected to a higher risk of certain cancers and developmental problems in children.
New York Attorney General Letitia James made clear where she stands: “Big companies like 3M and DuPont knowingly sold toxic products that threatened New Yorkers’ health and polluted our environment for decades. It’s time for them to pay for the damage they caused.”
The case was filed in state court in Albany and demands that the companies help pay for environmental cleanup across New York and provide consumers with proper warnings about their products. The lawsuit contends that, in certain instances, the companies already knew the chemicals were toxic or capable of causing environmental harm.
Representatives for DuPont, 3M, Corteva, and Chemours had not responded to requests for comment as of Thursday.
This isn’t the first time these companies have faced financial consequences over PFAS. Last year, DuPont, Chemours, and Corteva reached an agreement to pay New Jersey as much as $2 billion to resolve environmental claims tied to the same class of chemicals.
PFAS — short for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances — are a broad category of man-made chemicals that have been in use for decades and have gradually worked their way into the air, water, and soil across the country.
These chemicals were once considered highly valuable. They made firefighting foam more effective at smothering flames and helped clothing repel water, among countless other applications. The problem is that they don’t break down naturally, meaning they linger in the environment indefinitely and accumulate to harmful levels over time.
DALLAS — Conference USA has officially released the University of Delaware women’s basketball team’s league schedule for the upcoming 2026-27 season, with the announcement coming Thursday.
The Blue Hens will now have a full look at their conference slate as they prepare for the season ahead in Conference USA competition.
U.S. men’s national team forward Christian Pulisic is dealing with a microfracture and bone bruise in his right leg, sustained during the United States’ World Cup round of 16 defeat against Belgium, the country’s soccer federation announced Thursday.
According to U.S. Soccer, the federation and Pulisic’s club team, AC Milan of Italy’s Serie A, will work together to develop a recovery plan for the injured forward. AC Milan did not immediately provide a response when contacted for comment.
U.S. Soccer stopped short of giving a specific timeframe for when Pulisic might return to action. However, a report from The Athletic indicated the injuries could require several weeks of recovery time.
Pulisic was forced off the field during the second half of the Belgium match after going down with the injury. It wasn’t his first health setback during the tournament — earlier in the competition, a separate calf issue had already limited his time on the field.
American soccer star Christian Pulisic is expected to miss several weeks of action after suffering a bone bruise and microfracture in his right leg, according to a new report.
The injury happened during the U.S. men’s national team’s 4-1 round of 16 World Cup defeat to Belgium on Monday in Seattle.
The Athletic was first to report the details of the injury and the projected recovery timeline. Pulisic is anticipated to be back in training before AC Milan kicks off its Serie A season against Torino on August 23.
The incident took place in the 54th minute, with the United States trailing 2-1. Pulisic was preparing to take a shot from the edge of the 18-yard box when Belgium captain Youri Tielemans stepped in between the ball and Pulisic’s leg, causing the American to make contact with Tielemans’ foot instead.
After initially going down on the field, Pulisic tried to push through the pain and continue playing. However, he was clearly hobbling and was substituted out in the 59th minute — shortly after goalkeeper Matt Freese made a costly error that allowed Belgium to extend their lead to 3-1.
The 27-year-old was visibly emotional on the bench following his exit from the match. He wrapped up his second World Cup appearance with one assist across four games.
On Wednesday, Pulisic took to Instagram to share his thoughts on the tournament’s end. “Tough to find the words. I want to start by saying thank you to everyone who believed. The support carried us all the way through,” he wrote.
He continued: “It simply wasn’t good enough from us in the end and I wanted to deliver so much more. I still feel blessed to be a part of this team. The memories this summer will last a lifetime. It’s just the start for us and for this sport in America.”
Pulisic had already been dealing with injury issues heading into the tournament. During the U.S. opener against Paraguay, he aggravated a calf injury he had sustained before the World Cup and was pulled at halftime. He did not see the field again until the second half of the team’s final group-stage match against Turkey.
DAKAR — A convoy carrying Malian soldiers alongside fighters from the Russian paramilitary organization known as Africa Corps came under attack in northern Mali on Thursday, according to three security sources and a spokesperson for an armed group.
One source indicated the convoy was transporting more than 200 Russian fighters and more than 100 Malian soldiers. That same source noted a separate military convoy heading north had also been targeted earlier in the week in a similar attack.
The violence follows coordinated strikes on July 4, when the Al Qaeda-linked group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin, known as JNIM, and the Tuareg-led rebel organization the Azawad Liberation Front, or FLA, launched simultaneous assaults on army positions throughout Mali.
Thursday’s convoy was en route to the northern town of Anefis — an area where clashes have continued since those July 4 attacks — when it came under fire in the early hours, sources said.
A spokesperson for the FLA stepped forward to claim responsibility for the attack, though it remains unclear whether JNIM played any role. Mali’s military did not respond to requests for comment.
Neighboring country Niger, which is allied with Mali, provided air support during the fighting, all three sources confirmed. Niger’s military was not reachable for comment.
The FLA and JNIM previously joined forces in April for a high-profile coordinated operation that struck the airport in Mali’s capital city of Bamako and resulted in the death of the country’s defense minister.
Africa Corps has been supporting Mali’s armed forces in their ongoing battle against insurgent groups that have destabilized the West African nation since 2012.
Private credit firms in the United States raised more money than they have in two years during the second quarter — but they were far less willing to lend it out, according to new industry data.
North America-focused closed-end direct-lending funds brought in $16.25 billion during the quarter, a dramatic jump from just $1.3 billion raised in the first quarter, according to figures from Preqin. That marked the strongest fund-raising performance in two years for the sector.
Despite that influx of capital, actual lending activity moved in the opposite direction. U.S. direct-lending volume — a measure of how much money private credit funds are loaning directly to companies — dropped roughly 55% compared to the previous quarter. Total loan volume fell to $33.59 billion in the second quarter, down from $74.67 billion in the first quarter, according to PitchBook/LCD data. That represents the lowest level of direct lending since the second quarter of 2023. The number of deals also declined, dropping from 217 to 154.
Direct lenders are private credit funds that provide loans straight to companies — often to help finance buyouts, acquisitions, or debt refinancings — bypassing traditional banks and the broader loan market.
The gap between money raised and money deployed suggests that while investor interest in private credit remains strong, the firms managing those funds are becoming increasingly selective about which deals they will finance.
Jun Li, EY’s global and Americas wealth and asset management leader, attributed the slowdown to several factors, including weaker merger and buyout activity, delays by borrowers, growing competition from the broader syndicated loan market, and more cautious decision-making by private credit managers.
The steepest declines were seen in lending tied to private equity-backed deals, which have historically been a major driver of direct-lending demand. Buyout firms routinely use private credit loans to fund acquisitions, but that category of lending fell to $19.40 billion in the second quarter from $44.61 billion in the first, per PitchBook/LCD data. Lending connected to leveraged buyouts specifically dropped to $9.79 billion from $22.31 billion.
Part of the hesitation among lenders traces back to loans made during the 2021-2022 boom period, when interest rates were lower and lending terms were more relaxed. As rates climbed higher, many borrowers have struggled to keep up with payments, prompting lenders to push for better pricing and tighter protections on any new deals they consider.
Some firms are also dealing with stress in their existing loan portfolios. Bryant Riley, chairman and chief executive of B. Riley Financial, noted that older loans are showing signs of strain, leading some business development companies to hold onto cash in case troubled borrowers need additional support rather than deploying it into new lending.
Private business development companies have also faced requests from investors to pull their money out, while many publicly traded BDCs are seeing their shares trade below the actual value of their assets — making it harder for them to raise new equity capital.
Looking ahead, EY’s Li offered a longer-term perspective: “Over the long term, investors are likely to place greater value on underwriting quality and risk-adjusted returns than on deployment speed alone.”
Dixon Technologies announced Thursday that the Indian government has approved its joint venture with Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo Mobile, opening the door for the two companies to establish a smartphone production operation within India.
Under the terms of the agreement, Dixon will hold a 51% majority stake in the venture, while Vivo Mobile India will own the remaining 49%.
The approval process was not routine. Indian regulations require senior government-level clearance for large investments made by companies from countries that share a land border with India — a rule that applies to Chinese firms — meaning the deal faced heightened scrutiny before receiving the go-ahead.
Once operational, the joint venture will function as an original equipment manufacturer, producing smartphones and other electronic devices. It will take on Vivo’s smartphone production orders as a primary focus.
Dixon also noted that the new venture will have the flexibility to manufacture electronic products for other brands beyond Vivo, potentially broadening its customer base within India’s growing electronics sector.
MOSCOW — Former U.S. Marine Robert Gilman, who is currently imprisoned in Russia, has been hospitalized, according to a report published Thursday by Russian newspaper Kommersant.
The publication cited Gilman’s attorney, who confirmed his client is currently receiving medical treatment. However, the lawyer noted it is too soon to discuss any specific diagnosis.
Reuters reached out to the U.S. State Department for a response to the news.
Gilman’s legal troubles in Russia began in 2022, when he was first imprisoned for assaulting a police officer while intoxicated. His sentence was later extended in 2024 after he was convicted on additional charges of assaulting prison officials and a state investigator.
Russian state media reported last December that Gilman was facing a combined sentence of 10 years following yet another conviction related to assaulting prison staff.
Those who support Gilman back in the United States maintain that he was already suffering from illness when he was initially arrested, and that he was deliberately provoked while behind bars — leading to the additional charges brought against him.
Kommersant also reported that due to Gilman’s undisclosed medical condition, a court located in the southern Russian city of Voronezh has postponed a scheduled hearing involving a prosecutor’s appeal of his most recent sentence.
A source with ties to the Kremlin told Reuters last year that Gilman is among nine Americans imprisoned in Russia whom the U.S. government has sought to have released and brought back to the United States.
Have you ever wondered how scientists precisely measure the Earth? The answer lies in a field of science called geodesy — and NOAA is helping explain it to the public.
Geodesy is the discipline focused on understanding the exact shape, size, and gravity of our planet. Experts in this field, known as geodesists, use specialized surveying equipment to take highly accurate measurements of the Earth’s surface.
NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey plays a key role in this work, helping establish the frameworks that make modern navigation, mapmaking, and land surveying possible. A geodesist was recently photographed on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., using a surveying device as part of this ongoing scientific effort.
NOAA released a video on July 9, 2026, aimed at helping everyday people understand what geodesy is and why it plays such an important role in how we understand and navigate the world around us.
Prospective homebuyers are facing higher borrowing costs this week as the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate crept closer to 6.5%.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the benchmark 30-year rate rose to 6.49%, up from 6.43% the previous week. At this same point last year, that rate stood at 6.72%.
When mortgage rates climb, borrowers can end up paying hundreds of dollars more each month, which cuts into what they can afford to spend on a home.
Rates have stayed elevated after briefly dipping below 6% in February — the first time that had happened since late 2022. They then climbed again in May, reaching their highest point in nine months. That upward pressure has taken a toll on home sales throughout the year.
The cost of refinancing also ticked upward. The average rate on a 15-year fixed mortgage — a popular option for homeowners looking to refinance — rose to 5.82% from 5.79% last week. A year ago, that rate was 5.86%, Freddie Mac said.
Several forces shape where mortgage rates land, including the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decisions and how bond market investors read the economic and inflation outlook. Rates typically move in step with the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders rely on when setting home loan prices.
Concerns about inflation heating up — driven in part by higher crude oil prices since the war with Iran began in late February — have pushed long-term bond yields upward, pulling mortgage rates along with them.
By midday Thursday, the 10-year Treasury yield sat at 4.55%, compared to 4.49% a week earlier. Back in late February, just before the war started, it was only 3.97%.
The current 30-year mortgage rate has essentially returned to where it was two weeks ago.
Even though average long-term rates are still lower than they were a year ago, the uncertainty created by the conflict with Iran has left many potential buyers hesitant to make a move.
Sales of previously owned homes across the U.S. fell during the first quarter of this year compared to the same period a year ago, continuing a housing slowdown that stretches back to 2022 when rates began rising from their pandemic-era lows.
Through the first six months of this year, seasonally adjusted existing home sales are up just 0.7% compared to the same stretch in 2025, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Overall, existing home sales continue to hover near a pace of 4 million annually — well short of the historical average closer to 5.2 million.
NEW YORK (AP) — The idea of letting an artificial intelligence tool handle all your meeting notes sounds appealing. Within moments of sitting in on an hour-long video call, these AI agents can produce a full recap of what was discussed and generate a task list for everyone involved.
But the way these tools actually work has led many professionals to think twice before using them. At their core, AI notetakers convert everything spoken during a meeting into data — and that data can include confidential personnel matters, sensitive business strategies, trade secrets, and potentially damaging remarks that could fall into the wrong hands.
“There are huge risks to the organization on AI notetakers,” said Amy Dufrane, the chief executive of human resources training and certification provider HRCI. “I don’t think companies should use it at all.”
An AI notetaker is a software program or device that combines artificial intelligence, voice recognition, and large language models to capture, transcribe, and condense conversations. While the tools are designed to save time and boost engagement, professionals across multiple industries say there are legitimate reasons for concern.
One of the biggest worries is not knowing where recorded data ends up or how long it’s kept. Privacy advocates are raising alarms that the companies behind these tools may be building voiceprints — unique acoustic profiles similar to fingerprints but based on the specific qualities of a person’s voice — without obtaining consent. Those voiceprints can be used to gain access to restricted accounts, including bank accounts.
Some technology companies resell data gathered through their notetaking products or use recordings and transcripts from private meetings to improve their AI systems. There’s also a legal dimension: a federal judge in New York ruled in February that a criminal defendant had to hand over documents he had prepared for his attorneys, because those documents had already been shared with a third party — Anthropic’s Claude AI.
“People who use AI notetakers, they don’t always know where the data goes,” said Justin Daniels, an Atlanta-based corporate attorney at law firm Baker Donelson. “And in my context, if the data goes anywhere else and they’re not aware of it, that attorney-client-privileged conversation may not be attorney-client-privileged anymore.”
Here is what you should know about the risks of AI notetakers, how to handle them in a meeting, and steps you can take to protect your information.
When you enter a virtual meeting, get into the habit of checking for an AI notetaker. It may appear on the participant list — often with a label indicating it’s an AI tool — or a notification may pop up on screen alerting attendees that the session is being recorded, which can indicate a notetaker is active.
Platforms like Zoom and Google Meet typically alert users when recording is happening, but not all meeting software makes it obvious when an AI notetaker has been added, according to Thorin Klosowski, a senior security and privacy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
It’s also possible for participants to use a separate personal device to record and transcribe a conversation without the knowledge of others in the meeting.
“You hope the other person would tell you that they’re doing that,” Klosowski said. “Asking everyone for consent before doing a sensitive meeting would be the most polite approach to take.”
If you’re not certain whether an AI notetaker is present, simply ask. You can also set expectations at the start by stating the meeting is not authorized to be recorded.
Dufrane suggested a straightforward way to handle it: say, “Our company policy is that this meeting cannot be recorded.” Framing it as a company rule takes the pressure off individual employees — like a salesperson trying to make a good impression — and shifts responsibility to the organization, she explained.
Another approach is to allow the notetaker to run during part of the meeting, then shut it off before turning to more sensitive topics.
“I won’t start talking about anything substantive until it’s shut off, because I just don’t want to take the risk,” Daniels said.
According to Chris Pluymers, an associate attorney at The Dillon Law Group in East Lansing, Michigan, many AI notetaking tools create individual voiceprints for each person speaking — that’s how the software tells participants apart and labels them as “Speaker 1” or “Speaker 2.”
Voiceprints are already used by some institutions to verify the identity of bank customers over the phone. If those vocal signatures were obtained by bad actors, they could be weaponized to access files, commit fraud, or take over accounts, Pluymers said.
Several states have enacted laws governing how voiceprints can be collected and stored, and those laws give individuals certain rights to object to the use of AI notetakers in meetings they attend.
In Illinois, voiceprints are classified as biometric identifiers — similar to fingerprints — and fall under the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act. That law requires written notice and informed consent before any AI tool collects voiceprints. It also requires companies to have a documented plan for how long data is kept and when it will be destroyed. However, Pluymers noted that most companies using these tools don’t have any of those safeguards in place.
“In the world of AI, the world of data and privacy, the world of biometric identification, I don’t think you can have such a lax approach to it,” Pluymers said. “I think getting out ahead of it is crucial.”
Under that Illinois law, workers can decline to attend a meeting where an AI notetaker is present until they receive clear answers about how their data will be stored, why it’s being kept, and when it will be deleted, Pluymers said. They can also request to see any written policy or consent form related to the tool.
If an AI notetaker shows up unexpectedly, Pluymers suggested a polite response: “I prefer we keep this meeting without AI recording or transcript tools and I’d be happy to take my own notes and share a recap if that’s helpful.” Being respectful while clearly expressing your preference is often the most effective approach, he said.
Danielle Kays, a partner at Fisher Phillips who advises businesses on privacy and employment law, recommends finding out whether the companies behind AI notetaking apps hold on to recordings, transcripts, or metadata indefinitely — or use that material to train their AI systems.
“If there is some sort of speaker ID or voice recognition, really understand what that is and how it works,” Kays said.
Even when content appears to be deleted, metadata about meetings can remain stored with the vendor. That means sensitive business details could still influence how an AI model behaves and, in some cases, could be recalled or reproduced by the system, she said.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation also points out that AI notetakers produce text-based output, which is far easier for outside parties to search through than raw video or audio files.
“Storing a bunch of video isn’t easy, it’s costly and hard to look through, but text is much easier to search and cheaper to store,” said Klosowski of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Migrants who were deported from the United States and are now being held at a hotel in Equatorial Guinea say that at least one person suspected of carrying the Ebola virus was brought into the same facility — a claim backed up by lawyers representing the detainees, who spoke out Thursday.
The hotel, located on a tropical island off the coast of the central African nation and owned by the country’s powerful President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, is currently housing 17 migrants from nations including Angola, Mauritania, and Ethiopia. Their detention stems from an arrangement made under the Trump administration as part of a broader effort to crack down on illegal immigration.
According to a statement from a coalition of international lawyers, as well as interviews with two of the detainees — who asked not to be identified out of fear of retaliation — a man believed to be infected with Ebola was brought to the hotel last week by medical workers dressed in hazmat suits. He was placed on a floor below where the migrants are being held.
Two deportees told The Associated Press that a doctor informed them in English that the individual was a suspected Ebola case and warned them to take precautions — but provided no additional details or protective supplies.
One detainee also reported that a woman was brought to the same quarantine floor on Sunday and was similarly identified by medical staff as a suspected Ebola patient.
The lawyers’ coalition said in a statement that they received “disturbing reports from multiple detained individuals that a person with a suspected case of Ebola was recently brought under quarantine into the same hotel complex where they are being held.”
The AP reviewed videos showing medical personnel dressed in full protective gear transporting patients to the hotel, which was previously used as an isolation facility during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Things are getting worse every day,” one detainee said. “It’s very confusing, no one is coming to talk to us. No one is informing us of anything. The hygiene is unimaginable.”
Lawyers and detainees say that beyond those already present in the facility, no masks, disinfectants, or other basic protective items were distributed, and no steps were communicated to reduce the risk of exposure.
The central African nation of Congo is currently dealing with a rare Ebola strain that has killed more than 600 people since an outbreak was first announced in May. Cases have spread to neighboring Uganda, though no confirmed or even suspected cases have been reported in Equatorial Guinea, which does not share a border with Congo and sits roughly 1,885 miles — or about 1,425 kilometers — away.
The Trump administration has used a series of often-secret agreements to deport thousands of people it considers to be in the country illegally to nearly two dozen nations that are not their home countries, according to advocates. Immigration lawyers argue these third-country deportations serve as a legal workaround to send asylum seekers back to their countries of origin without directly doing so. Equatorial Guinea is among at least eight African nations that have entered into such agreements with the U.S.
A $7.5 million deal with Equatorial Guinea led President Obiang to convert a family-owned hotel in Malabo, on Bioko island, into a detention center. Currently, 4 women and 13 men are being held there, according to the lawyers’ coalition. All of them, the lawyers say, had received orders from U.S. judges that should have shielded them from removal to their home countries.
Earlier this month, rights attorneys filed a case against Equatorial Guinea before Africa’s leading human rights body, accusing the country of forcing U.S. deportees back to their home nations in violation of their legal rights.
The lawyers’ coalition also reported Thursday that they had received “multiple reports that individuals with serious medical conditions are being denied adequate medical care while detained in government custody.”
Equatorial Guinea ranks among the wealthiest nations in Africa due to its oil reserves, but U.S. officials say it is also plagued by widespread corruption and human rights abuses. Rights organizations and the U.S. State Department have accused the government of detaining, torturing, and even killing those who speak out against it. Despite this, U.S. businesses are the country’s largest foreign investors, and the U.S. government funds military training there.
A fire broke out Thursday at a shoe factory in China’s eastern Fujian province, leaving 28 people dead, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
Chinese President Xi Jinping issued a call for “an all-out search and rescue effort,” pushing for a rapid investigation and saying authorities should “strictly hold those responsible accountable.”
The fire ignited at a facility belonging to the Huiteng shoe company in the city of Jinjiang, according to a statement from the city’s fire department. The cause of the blaze remains unknown at this time.
At the time the fire broke out, 237 factory employees and two visitors were inside the building. Emergency crews were able to evacuate or rescue 213 of those individuals. Of the 28 fatalities, two victims were pronounced dead after being transported to a hospital, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Xinhua reported that the factory’s owner and other individuals in leadership positions have been taken into custody, and the company’s financial accounts have been frozen.
Video footage from CCTV showed the exterior of the multi-story building heavily scorched and blanketed in white smoke. Earlier video captured flames burning across several floors as thick, black smoke engulfed the structure.
Jinjiang, where the fire occurred, holds a notable distinction — it is widely regarded as China’s shoe manufacturing capital.
PORTLAND, Maine — The race to fill a critical U.S. Senate seat in Maine shifted into high gear Thursday as Democrats began competing to replace progressive nominee Graham Platner, who announced he will exit the race following a sexual assault allegation that he denies.
Under Maine state law, the Democratic Party has until July 27 to name a replacement candidate. That person will have fewer than four months to mount a campaign against longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in the general election. Even before Platner formally announced his intention to withdraw, potential candidates had been signaling their interest — and by Thursday, several had made it official.
The Maine Democratic Party plans to hold a nominating convention to select the new candidate, a process that will involve hundreds of delegates from around the state. The specific details of how and when the convention will take place have not yet been announced.
Maine is viewed as a critical battleground in the fight for control of the closely divided U.S. Senate. With President Donald Trump facing widespread unpopularity, Democrats are eager to find a strong challenger to Collins.
Here is a look at those who have expressed interest in the race:
Maine’s former state Senate president, Jackson, ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination earlier this year with the support of Platner and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. Shortly after Platner’s withdrawal announcement, Jackson launched his Senate campaign, saying Mainers are looking for “a progressive fighter.” Our Revolution, the organization founded by Sanders, has announced it will support Jackson, who is 58 years old.
Shah, who previously served as director of Maine’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, announced Thursday that he is seeking the Democratic Senate nomination. He finished second in this year’s Democratic governor’s primary and was widely viewed as a more moderate voice in that race compared to Jackson. “To the movement that supported Graham Platner, my message is this: you have a place in this campaign,” Shah, 49, said in a statement.
Kleban, co-founder of Maine Beer Company, confirmed his candidacy Wednesday following Platner’s announcement. He had briefly entered the Senate race the previous year before stepping aside when Gov. Janet Mills announced her own candidacy. Kleban, 49, had endorsed Mills, who later withdrew from the Democratic primary. “I’m ready to fight for Mainers and bring a new generation of leadership to Washington,” he said.
Bellows, Maine’s secretary of state, has not formally declared her candidacy but has indicated interest in the seat. She is no stranger to statewide races — the 51-year-old finished fourth in the state’s Democratic governor’s primary in June. Back in 2014, she ran against Collins as the Democratic Senate nominee and lost by a wide margin.
Wood, 36, initially tried to enter the Maine Democratic Senate primary last year but stepped out to run in the state’s 2nd Congressional District instead, where he came in third behind state Auditor Matt Dunlap. He has since expressed renewed interest in a Senate run and formally announced his candidacy Thursday. “To beat Susan Collins, we need a candidate who can provide a true contrast and run an unapologetically progressive campaign: Passing Medicare for All. Stopping ICE terrorizing our streets,” Wood wrote on social media Tuesday.
Loud, a 29-year-old social worker, filed paperwork earlier this week to enter the Senate race. She also ran in the 2nd District Democratic primary but was eliminated in the first round of the state’s ranked choice voting process.
Geiger, a state Democratic lawmaker and former Platner supporter, is also being mentioned as a potential candidate. She has not officially announced a run, but in a Wednesday interview with MS NOW, the 70-year-old said she would bring on Platner’s campaign staff, describing them as “deeply impassioned and confident young people.”
Rory McIlroy walked off the course Thursday feeling good about his 65, despite a couple of short-range putts he would have liked to convert, as he shared the first-round lead at the Scottish Open in North Berwick, Scotland.
McIlroy sits at 5-under alongside Tom Kim of South Korea, Bernd Wiesberger of Austria, and Patrick Cantlay — one stroke ahead of a group that includes Brooks Koepka, Min Woo Lee of Australia, and Patrick Reed, among others tied for fifth place.
Several competitors were still making their way around the course, including Scottie Scheffler, who had carded a birdie on the par-3 ninth hole and stood at 2-under through nine holes.
McIlroy’s round got off to a rocky start, but he steadied himself with back-to-back birdies and a clutch sand save for par at the ninth hole. That recovery helped offset two bogeys — one on his opening hole, the 10th, and another at the 18th. A highlight of the day was a brilliant eagle on the par-5 first hole, which stretches beyond 600 yards this week, with McIlroy crediting his putter for that moment.
MADRID — President Donald Trump softened his tone toward Spain on Thursday, just hours after threatening to stop all trade with the NATO member nation. Spanish officials say the shift came after Trump was briefed on how dramatically Spain has increased its contributions to the alliance in recent years.
At a NATO summit held in Ankara on Wednesday, Trump labeled Spain a “terrible partner” and called for an immediate halt to all trade with the country, citing disagreements over defense spending and the conflict with Iran.
As Trump traveled back to the United States following the summit, he spoke with reporters aboard Air Force One and appeared to soften his position. “I did have issues, and I still do. But Spain, they came back all the way today. Spain was very generous today,” he said.
When asked what Spain had done to earn that praise, Trump responded: “They honoured a request for lots of payments, and if they didn’t, we wouldn’t have even talked to them.”
A spokesperson for Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez interpreted Trump’s remarks as a reference to Spain meeting NATO’s previous defense spending benchmark of 2% of gross domestic product.
During the Ankara summit, Sanchez pointed out that Spain is on track to hit that 2% target this year — a significant milestone given that the country more than doubled its nominal defense spending from 0.98% of GDP in 2017 to nearly €33 billion (approximately $37.7 billion). Sanchez characterized the tension between the two nations as minor and said he had a “very cordial” exchange with Trump at the summit.
Despite the warmer words, Trump has continued to push back on Spain’s refusal to commit to a new NATO goal requiring member nations to spend 5% of GDP on defense by the year 2035. Spain’s left-leaning government has argued it prefers to address genuine security threats rather than boost spending simply to hit a number, warning that doing so would require cuts to social programs.
It remained unclear Thursday whether Trump’s softer language would have any practical effect on his earlier order to halt trade with Spain.
A U.S. official in Washington told Reuters that relevant federal agencies would be presenting Trump with a list — described as a “menu” — of Spanish goods that could potentially be subject to an embargo.
Legal experts in trade law say Trump could use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose a full or partial ban on Spanish imports. It’s worth noting that during his first term, Trump’s administration placed a 30% anti-dumping tariff on Spanish black olives back in 2018.
On the diplomatic front, Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles was scheduled to sit down Thursday with U.S. Ambassador Benjamin Leon for what was described as a “working meeting,” according to the Spanish government’s official calendar. No further details were provided.
Sources within the Spanish delegation to Ankara, cited by the newspaper El Mundo, suggested Madrid viewed the dispute as more of a performative conflict than a genuine crisis, noting that Spanish officials had not observed any real economic fallout or drop in U.S. investment in Spain despite Trump’s ongoing criticism.
Back in Spain, the dispute drew political reactions across party lines. Some members of the main opposition People’s Party (PP) placed blame on Prime Minister Sanchez for the friction, though they also expressed solidarity with their country. One senior PP official pointed to the deep economic ties between Spanish and American companies, arguing that “economic reality takes precedence over the grandiloquent statements (Trump) seeks to make in order to attack Spain.”
In the PP-governed region of Aragon — where major American technology companies including Amazon and Microsoft have poured billions of dollars into data center construction — local officials said operations were continuing normally.
Santiago Abascal, leader of the far-right Vox party and a known Trump ally, took a harsher view, calling the tensions with Washington “absolutely dramatic” and accusing Sanchez of “destroying Spain’s credibility on the world stage.”
New York state has taken legal action against chemical giants 3M, DuPont, and several other corporations, alleging they created a public nuisance by knowingly selling toxic substances called “forever chemicals” for use in everyday consumer goods.
Attorney General Letitia James filed the lawsuit on Thursday, accusing the companies of concealing the environmental and health dangers posed by these chemicals — known as PFAS — from consumers for decades, even as the companies quietly began pulling some of them from use.
James is asking the court to order the companies to pay for cleanup efforts and to issue proper warnings to consumers about the dangers. She is also pursuing financial damages, restitution, and additional penalties.
Among the other defendants named in the suit are Chemours, Corteva, and EIDP — all of which were formerly part of DuPont before being spun off as separate companies. The lawsuit was filed in state court in Albany, New York’s capital city.
“For far too long, our communities have unfairly shouldered the costs of protecting people from these toxic forever chemicals and cleaning up their contamination,” James said in a prepared statement. “I look forward to ensuring the companies responsible for PFAS pollution are held accountable.”
None of the companies named in the suit responded to requests for comment.
PFAS — short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — show up in hundreds of everyday products, ranging from cosmetics and non-stick cookware to stain-resistant clothing.
The chemicals have earned the nickname “forever chemicals” because they resist breaking down in the human body or in the natural environment. Exposure to PFAS has been associated with a range of serious health problems, including elevated cholesterol, low birth weight, weakened immune response to vaccines, and kidney and testicular cancer.
U.S. equity funding markets are still under strain following a sharp rise in short-term borrowing costs last month, as stock prices hover near record levels and intense demand for leveraged technology trades keeps the pressure on.
The concern is focused on the equity repurchase — or repo — market, where investors borrow short-term cash using their stock holdings as collateral. As the June quarter came to a close, the cost of that borrowing surged dramatically. According to data from Morgan Stanley, financing costs for equity positions climbed to roughly 200 basis points above the federal funds rate on June 26 — the highest level since December 2024.
Those costs have since dropped by more than half, now sitting around 89 basis points based on a metric with a quarterly maturity. But market insiders say the underlying conditions that pushed rates so high are still very much present — including a boom in leveraged exchange-traded funds that traders have been snapping up to bet on high-demand sectors like semiconductors.
That sustained appetite for leverage means another round of funding stress could be coming, particularly around future quarter-end periods, when banks typically pull back from lending to clean up their balance sheets for reporting purposes. That pullback makes short-term cash harder to get and more expensive, which can trigger a broader retreat from popular market positions.
“The risk of a funding spike may be with us for the foreseeable future,” said Martin Tobias, a U.S. rates strategist at Morgan Stanley in New York.
Multiple indicators suggest investors are leaning on borrowed money more than ever, Tobias said. Under normal circumstances, equity financing rates trade only a few basis points above benchmark rates like the federal funds rate or the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, known as SOFR. Because equity financing is backed by highly liquid collateral — unlike unsecured borrowing — the cost should stay only slightly above the risk-free rate, according to Kevin Muir, an independent proprietary trader based in Toronto.
Despite that collateral advantage, financing costs have stayed elevated. That coincides with primary dealers carrying near-record levels of equity financing exposure on their books, with borrowing heavily concentrated in a narrow group of stocks — mainly technology and semiconductor companies. Federal Reserve figures show dealers held approximately $211 billion in such exposure as of June 24.
“What these equity financing metrics are signaling is that the marginal buyer has become one that’s been increasingly reliant on leverage,” Tobias said, referring to the category of market participants — such as leveraged investors — who actually move prices.
Tobias noted that his measure of dealers’ equity repo exposure relative to the S&P 500’s free float adjusted market capitalization has climbed 50% over the past year, a sign that each dollar of investible equity is increasingly propped up by borrowed money.
The market’s leadership has also narrowed, with leverage appearing to concentrate in hot technology sectors. That makes the broader market more susceptible to a sharp reversal if investor sentiment turns.
“The next correction could very well be much larger than people expect because of the crazy amount of speculation that’s occurring,” said Muir, adding that the recent funding spike “signifies the monstrous amount of demand in equity markets.”
Muir pointed to the rapid expansion of leveraged exchange-traded funds as one key example. These products require banks and dealers to take on additional financing and hedging, leaving the market heavily positioned for just one outcome — rising stock prices. He compared the current climate to a crowded trade where optimism has become deeply embedded, warning that while a correction isn’t necessarily around the corner, any eventual pullback could be significantly more severe as a result.
Sam Earl, a U.S. rates strategist at Barclays, frames the situation as a basic supply-and-demand problem. Demand for equity financing has surged, but dealer balance sheet capacity has not kept up.
“When you have a massive run-up in equity prices so quickly, that’s just a ton of balance-sheet capacity that’s being used,” Earl said.
He estimates the equity financing market is approximately $10 trillion in size. A 10% increase in leveraged equity exposure can generate roughly $1 trillion in additional financing demand. Add in strong gains in overseas markets — particularly in Asia — and available capacity can be consumed quickly.
Earl said similar pressures are likely to return unless dealer balance sheets expand considerably or stock prices cool enough to ease financing demand. Neither of those outcomes looks likely anytime soon. U.S. stocks remain near record highs, though brief pullbacks tied to geopolitical developments — such as headlines around Iran — remain possible. Enthusiasm for technology and artificial intelligence trades continues to run strong, and demand for leverage shows little sign of letting up.
“It’s a very dangerous environment if this all unwinds. The potential for an accident is increasing,” Muir warned.
Czech tennis player Karolina Muchova punched her ticket to the Wimbledon final for the first time in her career Wednesday, defeating American Coco Gauff in a breathtaking three-set semifinal that lasted two hours and 35 minutes. The final score — 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (12-10) — barely captures just how dramatic the match turned out to be.
What made the victory even more remarkable is that Muchova, the tournament’s 10th seed, reportedly has a grass allergy and needs what she described as “a lot of pills, sprays, eyedrops” just to compete on the surface.
Muchova dominated the opening set, breaking Gauff’s serve in the third and fifth games. A 111 mph ace closed out the set in style. But Gauff — who had already survived four consecutive three-set matches just to reach the semifinals — was not about to go quietly.
The American seventh seed came roaring back in the second set. After failing to convert her first eight break point chances, Gauff finally broke through on her ninth attempt to grab a 3-1 lead. She broke again to go up 5-1, sending her mother into a frenzy in the player’s box. Gauff rolled through the set 6-1 to force a deciding third.
The final set was a showcase of elite tennis from both players, with powerful forehands and stunning backhands traded back and forth. Gauff had two opportunities to break for a 5-4 lead, but Muchova escaped both times and never looked back.
In the nerve-wracking match tiebreak, Muchova delivered when it mattered most — including a jaw-dropping diving volley winner and a perfectly placed lob that earned her the first match point. That chance slipped away, but she calmly converted the second when Gauff drove a forehand into the net.
Muchova’s win sets up the possibility of a historic all-Czech women’s final at a Grand Slam. Her compatriot Linda Noskova was set to face Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in Thursday’s second semifinal. If Noskova advances, it would be the first time two Czech players have met in a Grand Slam final. A Czech champion would also be the third in four years, following Marketa Vondrousova’s 2023 title and Barbora Krejcikova’s 2024 victory.
A dangerous Fourth of July weekend on Maryland waterways kept Natural Resources Police (NRP) officers busy with multiple emergencies, including two boat explosions, several capsizings, and hundreds of enforcement stops between July 3 and July 5.
The holiday period is statistically the busiest and most hazardous time of year for boating. Despite the serious incidents, no boating fatalities were recorded in Maryland during the three-day stretch.
Severe storms on the evening of July 4 — bringing damaging winds and heavy rain — triggered a wave of rescue operations across the state’s waterways. Here is a breakdown of the major emergencies NRP responded to:
James Island, Dorchester County: Just before midnight on July 4, a boat carrying eight people struck an exposed dredge pipe. NRP, Dorchester County Fire Services, and a Good Samaritan vessel brought seven of the occupants to Taylor’s Island Boat Ramp. One person stayed with the damaged boat before eventually making it back to shore. One occupant was injured and taken to a nearby hospital. The vessel was removed the next day.
Potomac River, near Westmoreland State Park: Around 11:45 p.m. on July 4, a 21-foot bowrider flipped over, throwing all seven people aboard into the river. Virginia Marine Police, the U.S. Coast Guard, NRP, and Maryland State Police Aviation all took part in the rescue effort. All seven were pulled from the water, and one was taken to Mary Washington Hospital.
Potomac River, near Silverbrook Beach in Nanjemoy: Around 10 p.m. on July 4, rough water conditions drove a boat aground, stranding seven people on shore. NRP transported all of them safely to Aquia Creek Marina in Virginia, and the vessel was recovered the following day.
Patuxent River, near Solomons Island: Around 8:30 p.m. on July 4, a 13-foot Pro-Line carrying three people overturned in heavy rain and strong winds, throwing everyone into the water. A Good Samaritan rescued the three occupants and brought them to the Solomons boat ramp. The boat later washed ashore on its own.
C&D Canal, near Chesapeake City: Around 4 p.m. on July 4, a 32-foot Wellcraft exploded after being fueled at Schaefer’s Canal House and Marina. Ten people — some on the boat, others on the dock — were injured. Maryland State Police Aviation and EMS crews transported four victims by air and five by ground to area medical facilities. NRP and the Office of the State Fire Marshal are working to determine what caused the blast.
Patapsco River, near Bodkin Point: Around noon on July 3, a 26-foot vessel exploded, leaving two adults and two juveniles with burn injuries. Bystanders pulled all four from the water before EMS arrived and transported them to area hospitals. The boat burned all the way down to the waterline. The Anne Arundel County Fire Department helped with firefighting, and the incident remains under investigation.
In addition to the emergencies, NRP made five alcohol-related arrests over the weekend as part of Operation Dry Water, an annual nationwide enforcement effort targeting impaired boating. Two of those arrests involved charges of Operating While Under the Influence of Alcohol (OUI). A conviction on that charge can result in fines of up to $1,000, up to one year behind bars, and a two-year loss of boating privileges.
The two OUI cases from Operation Dry Water 2026 were:
A 24-year-old man from Glen Burnie was charged after officers responded to a disabled vessel in Rock Hall on July 5. A 31-year-old man from Frederick was charged after being stopped for reckless operation of a personal watercraft on the upper Potomac River near the Big Slackwater boat ramp on July 3.
Three more people were arrested for driving under the influence on Maryland roads during the same enforcement window.
When all was tallied, NRP issued 163 boating citations and 813 natural resources warnings, completed 173 recreational vessel inspections, stopped 345 vessels, and handled 1,873 calls for service across the three-day period.
Operation Dry Water was established in 2009 by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators. NRP has taken part in the initiative since it began, deploying extra officers to areas where drinking and boating are known to occur throughout Maryland.
HOCKESSIN, Del. — Motorists traveling through Hockessin should plan ahead for a road closure set to begin Monday, July 13th.
The Delaware Department of Transportation has announced that Oak Ridge Road will be closed between McKennans Church Road and Valley Book Drive. The closure is expected to remain in effect through Monday, September 14th, weather permitting, to allow crews to complete a bridge replacement project.
Drivers who normally use that stretch of road will need to follow a posted detour. According to DelDOT, vehicles should head north on McKennans Church Road, then turn left onto Newport Gap Pike to get around the work zone.
Motorists are encouraged to allow extra travel time and follow all posted detour signs throughout the duration of the project.
Former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn stood before a D.C. Superior Court judge on Thursday and entered a not guilty plea to a charge of destruction of property.
Hearn is accused of causing more than $1,000 in damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C.
After his arraignment concluded, Hearn walked out of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia with his attorney, Norman Eisen, where a group of reporters and protesters had gathered to hear from them.
The National Weather Service office in Mount Holly, New Jersey has put a Flood Watch into effect starting July 9 at 11:22 AM Eastern Time, with the watch expected to remain in place through midnight on July 10.
A Flood Watch means that conditions are favorable for flooding to develop in the watch area. Residents should remain alert, avoid low-lying areas, and be ready to act quickly if flooding begins or a Flood Warning is issued.
Authorities urge people to never attempt to walk or drive through flooded roadways. Even shallow water moving quickly can be extremely dangerous. The phrase “turn around, don’t drown” is a key reminder during any flood event.
Stay tuned to TV Delmarva and monitor the National Weather Service for the latest updates as conditions develop.
NEW YORK — A coalition of prominent news organizations, including The New York Times and the Daily News, is asking a federal judge in Manhattan to impose sanctions on OpenAI, intensifying a legal battle over artificial intelligence and copyright law that many say could determine the fate of the news industry.
The media companies allege that OpenAI — the company behind the popular ChatGPT chatbot — has been concealing evidence critical to what could become a landmark copyright infringement trial. At the heart of the case is how OpenAI and its business partner, Microsoft, used millions of news articles to develop their AI technologies. The broader question is whether AI chatbots are unfairly drawing users away from news websites, capturing web traffic without performing the reporting work that produced the content.
A court filing submitted Thursday in a Manhattan federal courthouse accuses OpenAI of choosing “obstruction” rather than turning over datasets and ChatGPT activity logs that could demonstrate how the AI system made use of copyrighted journalism. The news organizations are asking the judge to penalize OpenAI for what they describe as “discovery misconduct” that could distort the evidence in the case. They say a recent deposition of an OpenAI employee contradicts statements the company previously made.
Attorney Steven Lieberman, who represents the Daily News and seven of its affiliated newspapers, said OpenAI has spent two years making false claims about its capacity to search for copyrighted material in its AI training data and logs.
“This motion asks the court to punish OpenAI for hiding and destroying evidence showing how ChatGPT was trained on stolen journalism,” Lieberman said.
OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment by Thursday.
The New York Times originally filed suit against OpenAI and Microsoft in late 2023, roughly a year after ChatGPT launched and set off a wave of commercial AI development that began transforming how people look up information online. The danger to news outlets became even clearer in 2024, when Google began displaying AI-generated answer summaries at the top of search results — cutting into the advertising revenue that news sites depend on when readers click through to their stories.
Since then, additional news organizations have joined the legal effort, including MediaNews Group-owned outlets such as the Daily News and the Chicago Tribune, digital publisher Ziff Davis, and the nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting.
OpenAI and other technology companies have maintained that training AI systems on digitized books, web articles, and other online text is permitted under the “fair use” provision of U.S. copyright law. That argument is now being tested across dozens of lawsuits brought by visual artists, authors, music labels, and other creative industries — with varying outcomes so far.
In the largest AI copyright settlement to date, OpenAI competitor Anthropic agreed to pay book authors $1.5 billion after its Claude chatbot was trained on pirated works. That figure, while substantial, represents only a small portion of Anthropic’s $965 billion market valuation as the company prepares to go public.
The New York Times is making a somewhat different legal argument than the book authors. In its original lawsuit and an updated complaint filed last month, the newspaper focused on unfair competition, arguing that AI companies are trying to “free-ride on The Times’s massive investment in its journalism by using it to build substitutive products without permission or payment.”
The Times has already spent more than $28 million fighting AI companies in court, according to disclosures filed with financial regulators. That total includes a separate lawsuit the paper filed against AI company Perplexity. Among the penalties the newspapers are seeking Thursday are attorney fees to cover the costs of trying to obtain evidence they say was improperly withheld.
These escalating legal costs come as a growing number of news organizations have instead chosen to sign licensing agreements with OpenAI and other AI companies — including Google and Facebook parent Meta — that pay outlets a fee to train AI systems on their content. The Associated Press was the first news organization to announce such an agreement with OpenAI, doing so in 2023.
The International Monetary Fund announced Thursday that it is eager to work alongside the U.S. Federal Reserve as the central bank conducts a planned review of how it communicates its monetary policy decisions, including its use of forward guidance.
IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack echoed comments made recently by other senior IMF officials, noting that forward guidance has proven to be a helpful tool for central banks — particularly during times when interest rates were hovering near zero. However, she said it is entirely reasonable for central banks to reconsider their strategies now that interest rates have moved significantly higher.
Kozack specifically addressed the Federal Reserve’s plans during a regularly scheduled briefing. “With respect to the Fed in particular, they have talked about setting up a task force to look at communications, and we very much look forward to engaging with them on the findings of the task force and on their thinking about how communications can be adapted,” she said.
Qiagen, a biotechnology company, appears to be on the radar of several major buyout firms as a potential acquisition target, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.
According to Bloomberg, citing individuals with knowledge of the situation, the firms showing early interest in a possible takeover include EQT AB, Advent, and KKR.
Reuters, which initially reported on the Bloomberg story, noted that it was unable to immediately confirm the information independently.
NEW YORK — Steve Cherundolo, a former U.S. men’s national team player and Major League Soccer head coach, has been selected to guide the United States under-23 men’s national soccer team ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the nation’s soccer federation announced Thursday.
Cherundolo is no stranger to the highest levels of American soccer. During his playing career, he earned 87 caps for the United States and suited up for three separate World Cup tournaments. On the coaching side, he made a major mark when he led LAFC to the MLS Cup championship in 2022, following earlier work coaching youth teams in Germany.
The U.S. under-23 squad has already secured its place in the 2028 Games as the host nation. The team’s most recent Olympic showing came at the Paris Games, where they advanced to the quarterfinals — a notable achievement considering it marked their first Olympic appearance since 2008.
Cherundolo expressed enthusiasm about the opportunity, saying in a statement: “I believe we have an exciting group of players with tremendous potential, and I’m looking forward to building an environment where they can challenge themselves, grow together, and represent our country with pride.”
A video interview featuring the roommate of Tyler Robinson, the man charged with killing Charlie Kirk, is scheduled to be shown in a Utah courtroom on Thursday as part of an ongoing preliminary hearing into the September 2025 assassination.
Robinson’s legal team attempted Wednesday to block prosecutors from playing the recorded interview with Lance Twiggs, in which prosecutors say Twiggs describes Robinson allegedly telling him he was responsible for Kirk’s death. That effort failed.
The footage will be presented on the fourth day of the preliminary hearing, where the prosecution is attempting to persuade Utah District Court Judge Tony Graf that there is enough evidence against Robinson to move forward with a trial.
The week-long proceeding marks the first time prosecution evidence in Kirk’s assassination has been tested in a public forum. The killing is among a string of attacks that have heightened alarm about political violence in the United States.
Investigators allege Robinson shot Kirk, who was 31 years old, in front of thousands of onlookers while the prominent ally of President Donald Trump was engaged in a debate with students at Utah Valley University.
An attorney representing Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s widow, called Wednesday for the complete video to be shown, saying it should be played in full “to let the world see what happened.”
Judge Graf ruled that certain portions of the interview could not be played after Robinson’s attorney argued that prosecutors would present the clips as “confessions” and undermine the defendant’s right to a fair trial. Prosecutors agreed to make the edits requested by Graf and proceed with showing the video.
Prosecutor Lauren Hunt said Wednesday that Twiggs agreed to record the April 20 interview with prosecutors and law enforcement instead of appearing as a witness at the preliminary hearing, and was granted immunity for anything he said during that interview.
Robinson, who was training to become an electrician at the time of the shooting, has not yet entered a plea. During this week’s proceedings, his attorneys have suggested that investigators may have overlooked evidence pointing to another person’s involvement in the killing.
Prosecutors have indicated they intend to introduce text messages exchanged between Robinson and Twiggs, as well as messages from a Discord group chat. While some of that material has already appeared in court documents, Robinson’s defense team has argued that broadcasting it poses a serious threat to his constitutional rights.
According to text messages cited by prosecutors, Twiggs asked Robinson after the shooting whether he had shot Kirk, and Robinson said he had. When asked why, Robinson allegedly replied: “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”
Prosecutors argue the messages show Robinson targeted Kirk because of his conservative political beliefs. The defense disputes that interpretation and has moved to limit the use of any evidence suggesting a political motive — a factor that could potentially be used to argue for the death penalty.
Mexico City — Mexico’s government is taking legal action in the United States over the deaths of Mexican citizens who have died either while held in U.S. immigration custody or during anti-immigration enforcement operations, Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco announced Thursday.
Velasco told reporters that 14 Mexican nationals have died while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, while three additional deaths occurred during arrest operations carried out by the agency.
“We are going to move beyond the diplomatic sphere and go directly to U.S. prosecutors to file complaints regarding these incidents, requesting that they are investigated as criminal matters,” Velasco said.
The announcement comes after a U.S. ICE agent fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Mexican national who had been living in the United States without legal status for approximately 30 years. The shooting took place on Tuesday.
His death triggered protests in Houston and pushed the total number of people shot and killed during immigration enforcement actions to at least six since January 2025, when President Donald Trump returned to the White House and began a large-scale deportation campaign.
Neither the U.S. Department of Homeland Security nor the Department of Justice responded to requests for comment before publication.
New data gathered by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and Old Dominion University reveals that the Chesapeake Bay is off to its healthiest start in recorded history when it comes to dissolved oxygen levels. Measurements taken from May through late June 2026 across the Maryland and Virginia portions of the Bay’s mainstem show hypoxia — defined as water containing less than 2 milligrams per liter of oxygen — running well below historical norms.
In May, no hypoxia was detected at all, placing 2026 among only ten years out of the past 42 where May monitoring found zero hypoxic conditions. Early June set an all-time record low for that period, with hypoxic volume measuring less than one-tenth of a cubic mile — the lowest ever recorded for early June in 38 years of data. By late June, hypoxia climbed to just under one cubic mile, but that figure still fell below the long-term historical average of 1.27 cubic miles. Neither May nor early June showed any anoxia — water with less than 0.2 mg/l of oxygen — while late June recorded just 0.05 cubic miles of anoxic water.
The data, ranked from best to worst conditions across 42 years of monitoring, shows May 2026 tied for first place with a hypoxic volume of zero, compared to the historical average of 0.18 cubic miles. Early June ranked first out of 38 years at 0.076 cubic miles, far below the average of 0.85. Late June came in 14th out of 36 years at 0.97 cubic miles versus the 1.27 average.
Researchers point to ongoing drought conditions as a major factor behind the improved water quality. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, water flow into the Bay has been running below average since August 2025 due to persistent dry conditions across the watershed. Less water flowing in means fewer nutrients — specifically phosphorus and nitrogen — entering the Bay. Those nutrients are what feed algal blooms, which in turn consume oxygen in deeper Bay waters when they die and break down.
A seasonal forecast issued by Chesapeake Bay Program partners noted that from January through April 2026, river flow into the Bay ran 32% below the long-term average, while nitrogen levels came in 39% lower than typical, totaling roughly 59 million pounds of nitrogen according to monitoring station estimates. The forecast had predicted Bay hypoxia volumes would run about 31% below the long-term average this season — a prediction that current monitoring results appear to support.
However, scientists caution that conditions could shift. Since the late June measurements were taken, air temperatures across the watershed have reached record highs, and seasonal storms are expected to pick up. Warmer water naturally holds less oxygen, and increased freshwater flowing into the Bay could cause greater stratification — a layering effect that prevents oxygen from mixing down into deeper waters — while also carrying additional nutrients.
Dissolved oxygen is essential for the Bay’s wildlife. Crabs, fish, oysters, and countless other species depend on adequate oxygen levels to survive. Scientists and resource managers track hypoxia volumes and how long those conditions last in order to assess potential harm to Bay ecosystems.
Efforts to cut nitrogen and phosphorus pollution from industrial operations, wastewater treatment, farmland, and urban runoff continue as part of the long-term strategy to improve Bay health. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources calculates hypoxia volumes each year from May through October using water quality data managed in partnership with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, with funding support from both states and the Chesapeake Bay Program. Monitoring will continue through the summer, and additional water quality information is available through the Eyes on the Bay website.
