“The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled for a [b]lack death row inmate from Mississippi who claims there was racial bias in the makeup of the jury that convicted him. By a 5-4 vote, the justices sided with Terry Pitchford, who was sentenced to death for his role in the killing of a grocery store owner. ‘In this case, whether due to confusion, oversight, an overly hurried jury selection process, or some other cause, things broke down,’ Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the court. Chief Justice John Roberts and the court’s three liberal justices joined with Kavanaugh. There were 11 white jurors and one [b]lack juror in a trial with similarities to that of another [b]lack man on Mississippi’s death row, whose conviction the high court overturned seven years ago.” (05/28/26)
“Inflation continued to hit consumer wallets in April, likely keeping the Federal Reserve on the sidelines until the current wave subsides, fresh pricing data released Thursday showed. The personal consumption expenditures price index increased a seasonally adjusted 0.4% for the month, putting the 12-month inflation rate at 3.8%, the Commerce Department reported. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for respective readings of 0.5% and 3.8%. Excluding food and energy, core prices rose 0.2% for the month and 3.3% for the year, against estimates of 0.3% and 3.3%.” (05/28/26)
“For nearly two centuries after France abolished slavery, the colonial-era law that classified humans as property has remained quietly on the books. On Thursday, the lower house of parliament voted to wipe it from French law. The National Assembly voted 254-0 — a rare show of unanimity — to adopt a bill repealing Code Noir, or Black Code, the 1685 decree King Louis XIV signed to govern slaves across France’s colonies. The law turned human beings into chattel, allowing them to be worked, beaten, sold, raped and murdered. And the realization that France never formally did away with it left many aghast.” (05/28/26)
“Russia has claimed it has found evidence of a US-backed bioweapons programme operating in Ukraine. The country’s Investigative Committee has alleged that Ukraine’s Health Ministry was involved in projects funded by the US Department of Defence. The committee’s official spokesperson, Svetlana Petrenko, said the findings were based on documents and materials allegedly recovered during Russian military operations, according to Sputnik India. … In 2022, the Joe Biden administration rejected claims made by Russia and China that the US owned or operated secret chemical or biological weapons laboratories in Ukraine.” (05/28/26)
“The European Union has imposed a €200m ($232m; £173m) fine on Chinese-owned online retailer Temu for having illegal products such as dangerous baby toys and faulty chargers for sale on its platform. The European Commission said the company had ‘failed to diligently identify, analyse and assess the systemic risks’ of the products and the harm they could cause to consumers. Temu has been under investigation since October 2024 over whether it has been meeting its obligations as a designated Very Large Online Platform under EU law. The online retailer said it disagreed with the decision and deemed the fine disproportionate, and was now considering available options.” (05/28/26)
“Sean Donovan has rented his childhood home in San Francisco on Airbnb for years. Tech workers in town for conferences, and families coming for graduations are common customers, but last month he had a new guest: a robot that he said left a mess. Donovan alleges that a San Francisco startup booked his home on Airbnb last month ‘under false pretenses’ to conduct tests on the ‘robotic prototype,’ and left the place in shambles, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in San Francisco County Superior Court. He’s seeking more than $12,000 for a laundry list of damages from the Bot Company, (identified in court records as ‘Botco’) for personal property damage and unauthorized entry into a locked closet. Donovan told SFGATE that he and his partner had never put more hours into fixing the house after an Airbnb rental.” (05/27/26)
“Anti-mafia investigators in Italy have seized cash, companies and other assets worth more than €200m (£175m) in an operation they say targeted the network of notorious late Sicilian mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro. The funds, described as ‘huge amounts of capital’ by the financial police in Palermo, are said to be proceeds from over four decades of drugs trafficking linked to the presumed former head of the Cosa Nostra group. Announcing their results in Sicily on Thursday, investigators released a video showing masked police officers, some in riot gear, barging down doors and scaling walls to raid a series of vast luxury villas surrounded by palm tree-lined lawns. Messina Denaro spent three decades on the run until his arrest in 2023 as he left a clinic where he was being treated for cancer. He died in custody soon after.” (05/28/26)
“An Israeli air raid in northern Gaza has killed at least 10 people, including four children, health officials said, as Israel continues with its near-daily attacks despite a nominal ‘ceasefire’ being in place. More than 20 others were injured in the attack on a residential building in Gaza City late on Wednesday, officials said. … The air raid came hours after dozens of Palestinians attended the funeral of Mohammad Odeh, the head of Hamas’s armed wing, who was killed in an Israeli attack on Tuesday, as Israel continues its campaign to eliminate what remains of the group’s senior leadership. Odeh’s wife and son were also killed in the attack in Gaza City.” (05/28/26)
“A billionaire and insurance mogul with Bay Area ties was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison after he orchestrated an elaborate scheme that defrauded multiple insurance companies out of $2 billion that he used to buy mansions and private jets, the U.S. Department of Justice said. San Mateo native Greg Lindberg, 56, was sentenced on Tuesday in the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina on charges related to a multibillion-dollar fraud conspiracy that bankrupted several insurance companies and policyholders, the DOJ announced in a news release. Lindberg, now a Florida resident, was the founder and chairman of North Carolina-based international private equity and financial services firm Eli Global LLC, and Global Bankers Insurance Group, which managed international life insurance and reinsurance companies. Bloomberg Businessweek reported in December 2024 that Lindberg’s net worth had been more than $1 billion.” (05/28/26)
“The top prosecutors of New Jersey and New York announced Wednesday they’ve launched an investigation into FIFA’s ticket selling practices in the latest escalation of tensions between soccer’s international governing body and the governments of the region that will host the World Cup. New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport and New York State Attorney General Letitia James in a rare joint press release said they plan to probe ‘a range of issues that have arisen with FIFA’s ticketing process,’ including dynamic pricing that’s driven the cost of the most in-demand tickets to five figures. The attorneys general said they issued subpoenas to FIFA for details about their ticketing practices.” (05/27/26)
