“A San Francisco robot startup, already embroiled in a local controversy over an Airbnb rental, is now facing a class action lawsuit from former workers who say the company failed to pay them. Former contract workers are suing the Bot Company, also known as Botco, and multiple contract agencies for allegedly unpaid overtime wages, reimbursements of expenses, allegedly not providing work-free lunches and breaks, and termination pay. Originally filed in San Francisco Superior Court in April, the lawsuit obtained class action status on June 29, with three more former Botco workers signing on to a new complaint. Botco is the latest venture of Kyle Vogt, the former CEO of failed robotaxi startup Cruise.” (07/29/26)
“Turkish police detained the opposition mayor of Ankara’s Etimesgut district and 51 other suspects on Thursday in a graft investigation, the Interior Ministry said. Mayor Erdal Besikcioglu was among 37 municipality employees detained after police raided the municipality in western Ankara. Detention warrants were issued for a total 55 suspects, including 18 company officials, the ministry said. Three suspects were still being sought. It was the latest step in an unprecedented legal crackdown on municipalities run by the main opposition to President Tayyip Erdogan.” (07/30/26)
“Dr. Anthony Fauci, who led the nation’s infectious disease efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, invoked the Fifth Amendment on Wednesday and declined to answer questions from a Senate committee investigating the origins of the coronavirus. Fauci said Homeland Security Chair Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was trying to get him to say something that could put him in legal jeopardy. Former President Biden preemptively pardoned Fauci before leaving office, but Fauci argues he could be in trouble if he makes any statements that could open new lines of investigation for the committee. … Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) told Fauci he wasn’t surprised the former top infectious disease expert was taking the Fifth: ‘I think it would be almost impossible for you to answer the questions truthfully without really demonstrating what you did.'” (07/29/26)
“The U.S. carried out strikes on Iran Thursday morning, hours after President Trump told reporters the U.S. would ‘be hitting them very hard’ in response to new attacks by Iran targeting U.S. forces in the Mideast. Hours later, Jordan shot down five missiles launched from Iran, Jordan’s state-run news agency said.At least 20 people were killed in joint U.S.-Saudi strikes on Iranian-backed forces in Iraq, an umbrella paramilitary group known as the Popular Mobilization Forces said Wednesday. Central Command said U.S. and Saudi forces conducted strikes late Tuesday on Iranian proxies in Iraq, the first confirmed attacks by a Gulf state during the war.” (07/30/26)
“An explosion in Poland left a 10m-wide crater after Russia launched an overnight missile attack on Ukraine. Polish armed forces are investigating a possible missile incursion after fighter jets were scrambled and sirens sounded in the eastern border city of Lublin in response to the Russian attack. Russian missiles hit the Ukrainian city of Lviv overnight, near the Polish border, in a huge overnight bombardment of 74 missiles and 284 drones spanning east to west Ukraine. The operational command of the Polish armed forces said on Thursday morning that at least 12 missiles had been observed over western Ukraine, but they had not identified what had crashed into its territory.” (07/30/26)
“The Federal Reserve left its key interest rate unchanged Wednesday despite persistently high inflation and a spike in energy prices caused by the Iran war. The Fed’s rate-setting committee reached the 9-3 decision after two days of deliberations, marking the fifth straight meeting at which the benchmark rate was kept at around 3.6%. Dissenting in favor of a quarter-point interest rate hike were Beth Hammack, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland; Neel Kashkari, president of the Minneapolis Fed; and Lorie Logan, president of the Dallas Fed. Inflation has been stuck above the central bank’s 2% target for more than five years.” (07/29/26)
“Todd Blanche’s hopes of becoming US attorney general seemed to be in jeopardy on Wednesday after the Department of Justice did not provide written assurances to a key Republican senator that a $1.8bn slush fund was dead. The US Senate judiciary committee postponed a vote scheduled for Thursday on whether to advance Blanche’s nomination. … Blanche, Trump’s former personal lawyer, is already serving as acting US attorney general. He needs the vote of every Republican on the Senate judiciary panel to advance his nomination to land the role on a permanent basis. … But a swing vote on the committee, John Cornyn of Texas, told reporters on Wednesday he would not support Blanche’s nomination until he received written confirmation that the fund was not moving ahead.” (07/29/26)
“Courts in Myanmar have sentenced nine activists to up to 37 years in prison for involvement in a protest calling for a boycott of the elections last December, an activist group said Wednesday. May Hnin, a spokesperson for the Anti-Junta Forces Coordination Committee-Mandalay, said eight members including prominent activist Htet Myat Aung were sentenced to 37 years on Tuesday by two courts in Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, after being convicted under the electoral law and counterterrorism Law. A ninth activist was sentenced to 27 years after being convicted under the counterterrorism law, she said. Htet Myat Aung and the others were arrested days after staging a flash protest in downtown Mandalay on Dec. 3 calling on the public to reject the elections, abolish the military conscription law and release political prisoners detained after the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021.” (07/29/26)
“Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye appeared to collapse in court on Wednesday during a trial in which he is facing treason charges. Besigye, 69, who has been detained without bail for several months, shouted the word ‘stop’ many times before he fell backward in the dock. The court proceedings were postponed as prison guards moved to attend to the high-profile defendant. Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate, has been repeatedly denied bail. His main attorney, Erias Lukwago, has also been arrested and charged with alleged failure to report acts of treason. In recent days, prosecutors have moved to present evidence they say will prove Besigye and others plotted to overthrow the government of President Yoweri Museveni.” (07/29/26)
“Yemen’s government has accused the Iran-backed Houthi rebels [sic] of working with Tehran to establish a system for charging fees to commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, describing the alleged plan as a major threat to global shipping and energy markets. Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said on Wednesday (July 29) that recently obtained intelligence indicated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was helping the Houthis create a technical and administrative framework to collect payments from shipping companies using one of the world’s busiest maritime corridors. … Reuters reported that senior Houthi officials travelled to Iran in July to attend the funeral of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, where Iranian officials discussed the possibility of introducing transit charges for ships passing through the Bab el-Mandeb.” (07/29/26)
