“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)
“The Food and Drug Administration is investigating iceberg lettuce supplied to Taco Bells by Taylor Farms as a possible source in an escalating outbreak of cyclosporiasis in four Midwestern states, a stomach bug that causes weeks of severe diarrhea, according to a person familiar with the investigation. Nationwide, nearly 7,000 people nationwide may have been sickened, with 1,645 of those cases confirmed and more than 5,100 still under investigation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. No deaths have been reported. Earlier this week, the CDC announced an investigation into more than 400 cases in Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky.” (07/16/26)
“Five years ago, revelations of Israeli-made spyware Pegasus, purchased by Morocco, was being used to spy on various high-ranking French officials, including the then defence minister, Sébastien Lecornu. Now Prime Minister, Lecornu is on an official visit to Morocco, where new revelations related to the scandal have come to light. Investigative outlet Forbidden Stories reports a group of representatives of Israeli company NSO spending 10 days in a villa in central Rabat in 2017, long before the two countries had normalised bilateral relations. They wowed Moroccan officials with what Pegasus could do: remotely activating cameras and microphones and extracting text messages or data with a single click. Nearly a decade after, a consortium of 15 news outlets have secured the rare testimony of a whistleblower who was formerly employed by the Moroccan secret services.” (07/16/26)
“President Donald Trump fired the new top US prosecutor in Seattle on Wednesday less than an hour after the attorney was unanimously appointed by the federal judges in the district, highlighting tensions between the courts and the president over the powerful positions. Roger Rogoff, a former judge and veteran state and federal prosecutor, was sworn in as US attorney before 8 a.m. at the courthouse in downtown Seattle. In a phone interview, he said he then went to the US Attorney’s Office and asked to meet with Charles Neil Floyd, whose 120-day interim term in the position ended in February. As he waited in a lobby, Rogoff said, he received an email from the Trump administration informing him he’d been removed. He is consulting with other lawyers about suing over his firing, he said.” (07/16/26)
