“A Spanish law granting amnesty to those involved in Catalonia’s separatist drive does not violate European Union law, the EU’s top court says, in a boost to the Spanish government and its Catalan allies. The Court of Justice ruled on Thursday that EU law does not preclude the Spanish amnesty law because its adoption and application fall within the competence of member states. … In 2024, the Spanish lower house approved a law to annul the criminal records of hundreds of officials and activists involved in crimes related to the Catalonian secessionist push from 2011.” (07/16/26)
“A UK court on Thursday jailed two young men for a 2024 cyberattack on London’s public transport operator that exposed the details of millions of customers, in one of Britain’s biggest data breaches. Thalha Jubair, 20, from East London, and 18-year-old Owen Flowers from England’s West Midlands were each handed five-and-a-half-year sentences at London’s Woolwich Crown Court. The pair pleaded guilty last month to hacking Transport for London’s (TfL) network between August 31 and September 3, 2024, gaining access to around 7 million customers’ names and contacts.” (07/16/26)
“Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz was furious to learn that the Trump administration is threatening to withhold grant money the city uses to help prosecute rapists — all because the California city was deemed a refuge for immigrants. ‘Justice for victims shouldn’t be politicized. It has nothing to do with immigration enforcement,’ Janz told USA TODAY. It’s the latest example of the Trump administration’s promise to withhold funding from cities it calls ‘sanctuary jurisdictions.’ It pressures cities to sign cooperation agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials with the strongest tool at its disposal: money.” (07/16/26)
“The former chief executive of an Italian highway operator was handed a 12-year prison sentence by an Italian court on Thursday for lapses that contributed to the collapse of a major bridge in Genoa in 2018 that killed 43 people. The former executive, Giovanni Castellucci, oversaw the highway operator, Autostrade per l’Italia, that ran the bridge — named for its designer, Riccardo Morandi — when the structure failed on Aug. 14, 2018. … Since July 2022, Mr. Castellucci had stood trial with 56 other defendants, including others from the company and civil servants from the Transport Ministry. Mr. Castellucci was convicted of negligence and manslaughter, and prosecutors had asked for a sentence of about 18 years.” (07/16/26)
“Filings for unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest level in 10 weeks as U.S. layoffs remain historically low. The number of Americans applying for jobless aid in the week ending July 11 dropped by 8,000 to 208,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s well below the 219,000 new applications forecast by analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet. Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered a proxy for layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the U.S. job market.” (07/16/26)
“Israeli strikes killed at least five Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, Palestinian health officials said …. Medics said an Israeli airstrike killed two people near the Tuffah neighbourhood in the north of the enclave, while a third person was killed in Israeli tank shelling in the Zeitoun suburb in eastern Gaza City. Another airstrike at a tent encampment for displaced people in western Gaza City killed one person and wounded several, while an attack on a vehicle in Khan Younis, in the south, killed another, medics said.” (07/16/26)
“Eli Lilly will acquire psychedelic drugmaker AtaiBeckley for $2.8 billion up front, the company said Thursday, as momentum grows for using versions of the drugs as mental health treatments. The transaction gives Lilly access to AtaiBeckley’s experimental DMT-based drug that’s being studied in Phase 3 clinical trials for treatment-resistant depression. AtaiBeckley is developing several other psychedelics for mental health conditions, including one related to MDMA, also known as ecstasy.” (07/16/26)
“The wife of Spain’s prime minister will stand trial before a jury on charges of influence peddling and embezzlement, a court ruled on Thursday, in a further setback for the government embroiled in months of graft investigations and scandals. Begoña Gomez’s defence team had launched an appeal, asking Madrid’s high court to drop the charges made against her that she denies, and lift other orders imposed on her by a lower court last month. The Madrid court dropped a third charge of corruption in business against Gomez, and lifted the lower court’s order barring her from leaving the country, making her regularly report to court and requiring her to surrender her passport.” (07/16/26)
“The Food and Drug Administration approved a daily pill on Thursday that can lower cholesterol levels far below what can be achieved with statins, the cheap cholesterol-reducing pills. The drug, enlicitide, whose brand name is Lipfendra, is made by the pharmaceutical company Merck. Clinical trials have shown that it can bring levels of LDL — the dangerous type of cholesterol — down to 50 or 60 or even lower. Adults not taking cholesterol-lowering drugs usually have levels above 100. It works by inhibiting a protein known as PCSK9.” (07/16/26)
“Argentina face the prospect of disciplinary action from Fifa after their players celebrated the World Cup semi-final win against England with a banner in support of their country’s claims to the Falkland Islands. The defending world champions produced a dramatic late comeback in Atlanta, scoring twice to defeat Thomas Tuchel’s side 2-1 and book a showdown with Spain in Sunday’s final. After the final whistle, Argentina players celebrated while holding a banner reading ‘Las Malvinas son Argentinas’, which translates as ‘The Falklands are Argentine’. The Falklands, a British overseas territory in the south-west Atlantic Ocean, remain the subject of a sovereignty dispute between the UK and Argentina. Downing Street backed calls for Fifa to investigate, with the prime minister’s official spokesperson saying: ‘The World Cup might not be ours, but the Falkland Islands definitely are. Our commitment to the Falklands will never waver.'” (07/16/26)
