USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas headlined a 2017 program at McLennan Community College in Texas, his hosts had more than a speech in mind. Working with the prominent conservative lawyer Ken Starr, school officials crafted a guest list for a dinner at the home of a wealthy Texas businessman, hoping an audience with Thomas would be a reward for school patrons -– and an inducement to prospective donors.

10 July 2023; MEMO: An increasing number of countries are repatriating gold reserves as protection against the sort of sanctions imposed by the West on Russia, according to an Invesco survey of Central Bank and sovereign wealth funds published on Monday, Reuters reports.

The financial market rout last year caused widespread losses for sovereign money managers who are "fundamentally" rethinking their strategies on the belief that higher inflation and geopolitical tensions are here to stay.

July 10 (Reuters) - Torrential downpours pounded the U.S. Northeast on Monday, threatening catastrophic flooding across the region, where rains have washed out roadways, overwhelmed rivers, forced numerous rescues by boat and caused at least one fatality, officials said.

More than 13 million Americans were under flood watches and warnings from Eastern New York state to Boston and Western Maine to the northeast, the National Weather Service said in its forecast Monday, after storms that began over the weekend inundated rivers and streams.

WASHINGTON, July 10 (Reuters) - The White House will brief senators Tuesday on artificial intelligence in a classified setting as lawmakers consider adopting legislative safeguards on the fast-moving technology.

The 3 p.m. ET briefing, organized by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and other senators, will be the first-ever classified Senate briefing on AI and will take place in a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) at the U.S. Capitol.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronomers have discovered the most distant black hole yet using the Webb Space Telescope, but that record isn’t expected to last.

The black hole is at the center of a galaxy dating to within a mere 570 million years of the Big Bang. That’s 100 million years closer to the beginning of the cosmos than a black hole observed in 2021 with a telescope in Chile led by a Chinese team.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — The suspect in the 1982 Tylenol poisonings that killed seven people in the Chicago area, triggered a nationwide panic, and led to an overhaul in the safety of over-the-counter medication packaging, has died, police said on Monday.

Officers, firefighters and EMTs responding to a report of an unresponsive person at about 4 p.m. Sunday found James W. Lewis dead in his Cambridge, Massachusetts, home, Cambridge Police Superintendent Frederick Cabral said in a statement. He was 76, police said.

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks ticked higher on Wall Street Monday ahead of a week with updates on where inflation and corporate profits are heading.

The S&P 500 rose 10.58, or 0.2%, to 4,409.53, coming off just its second losing week in the last eight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 209.52, or 0.6%, to 33,944.40, and the Nasdaq composite added 24.77, or 0.2%, to 13,685.48..

BRUSSELS (AP) — When it comes to criticizing the NATO members who fail to spend enough on defense, tiny Luxembourg is an easy target.

One of NATO’s richest countries, and routinely ranked at the top of Europe’s economic growth tables, the Grand Duchy currently spends 0.72% of gross domestic product on its armed forces, according to the organization’s estimates for this year.

That puts it at the foot of the 31-nation military alliance’s charts. Still, the numbers are deceiving, and that goes for other members too, like Germany.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Biden administration asked a federal appeals court Monday to temporarily block a lower court’s order limiting executive branch officials’ discussions with social media companies about controversial online posts.

(AP) --- As the Republican presidential primary intensifies this summer, most White House hopefuls are devoting their time to events in Iowa and New Hampshire, the states that kick off the nomination process early next year. Not Ron DeSantis or Donald Trump.

The Florida governor will address more than 1,500 faithful Republicans on Saturday at Nashville’s Music City Center. A few weeks later, the former president will swing through Alabama to headline the state GOP’s biggest event of the summer.