“Albanian police clashed with protesters Thursday as an anti-government demonstration — part of protests triggered by plans for a luxury development linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner — turned violent. Police fired tear gas and pepper spray at protesters who were pelting them with rocks, eggs and other objects. Authorities said 12 police officers were injured and 18 protesters were detained. The gathering was part of daily protests, dubbed the ‘flamingo revolution’, that began more than a month ago in opposition to plans for a luxury coastal development project linked to Kushner. While the protests stemmed from environmental issues related to the development project, they have morphed into more general political demonstrations voicing opposition against the government and Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama.” (07/02/26)
“The EU’s top court upheld Thursday a record €4.1 billion ($4.7 billion) fine the bloc slapped on Google for anti-competitive practices related to its Android operating system. The European Court of Justice dismissed the US tech giant’s second attempt to overturn the penalty imposed by the European Commission in 2018 – which remains the EU’s highest ever antitrust fine. … The commission, the 27-nation bloc’s antitrust regulator, had accused Google of abusing the popularity of its Android operating system to restrict competition.” (07/02/26)
“Former CIA Director John Brennan sued the Trump administration Tuesday, seeking a court order requiring officials to preserve records related to investigations into him. If Brennan is later charged, preserved records could be central to any claim that the prosecution amounted to unconstitutional political retaliation. Brennan contends the investigation is part of Trump’s broader push to punish political adversaries — especially critics like Brennan, who has publicly clashed with Trump for years.” (07/01/26)
“Asian supermarket chain 99 Ranch has been hit with a federal lawsuit alleging that the company racially discriminated against non-Chinese employees when it wrongfully terminated staff based on their race. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a complaint on Tuesday alleging that 99 Ranch’s parent company, Tawa Supermarket Inc., started discriminating against non-Chinese employees as early as 2016, when the employees were not promoted or were paid less than their Chinese colleagues. The lawsuit alleges that several non-Chinese employees were terminated without reason while their Chinese colleagues remained employed. Catherine Eschbach, acting general counsel for the EEOC, said in a statement that the chain’s Asian ownership did not give it an excuse to discriminate against non-Chinese workers.” (07/02/26)
“German federal prosecutors have filed charges against a 50-year-old Ukrainian national over a series of explosions that destroyed two Nord Stream underwater gas pipelines linking Russia to Europe in 2022. The federal prosecutor’s office declined to comment on the specifics of the indictment on Wednesday against the accused, who is identified only as Serhii K in court documents under German privacy rules. Serhii K is accused of attacking civilian energy infrastructure, causing an explosion, and destroying structures, according to the German public broadcaster ARD. The underwater explosions damaged both the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines so severely that no gas could be transported through them, knocking out the key routes for Russian gas to Europe for months after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.” (07/02/26)
“Huntsville Police are investigating an early morning shooting on Salem Drive that they believe was an act of self-defense. Officers responded to a home on the 200 block of Salem Drive around 3 a.m. Wednesday, after getting a report of a shooting. When they arrived, they say they found a man with gunshot wounds who was taken to a local hospital, where he remains in critical condition. Detectives with the Violent Crimes Unit believe the injured man broke into the home while carrying a gun. Police say he then threatened the people inside before one of them shot him in self-defense.” (07/01/26)
“Russian forces have launched a major drone and missile attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv overnight, killing 13 people, officials say. Several neighbourhoods were evacuated as strikes rocked buildings throughout the city, hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Russia was preparing for a ‘massive’ attack.” (07/02/26)
“A federal judge on Wednesday blocked the U.S. Postal Service’s proposed restrictions on mail-in voting, finding that they violated a settlement with a leading civil rights group that required expedited mail-in ballot handling. The decision by Washington-based U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan marked the second defeat in the courts in as many weeks for U.S. President Donald Trump’s push to severely restrict mail-in voting ahead of the November 3 midterm elections, with his Republican Party locked in a tight battle to maintain control of both houses of Congress. … The Postal Service in May proposed a rule requiring states to provide lists of voters and adopt new balloting procedures before the mail agency would make deliveries. If states did not comply, the Postal Service would refuse to deliver the ballots.” (07/01/26)
“Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), XRP, and other major crypto surged over the past 24 hours. This comes as investors responded to Wall Street’s forecasts on slowing nonfarm payrolls, indicating a cooling labor market and Fed rate cut odds. Bitcoin climbed more than 4% to hit a 24-hour high of $61,223 after weaker-than-expected ADP private payroll data and lower oil prices eased inflation concerns. The moves came amid broader market optimism, the US-Iran peace talks, and a sharp fall in ISM Manufacturing PMI prices.” (07/02/26)
“A federal judge in Arkansas has thrown out a handful of state laws that put extra restrictions on citizen efforts to gather signatures for ballot initiatives, agreeing with challengers that they violated the constitutional free speech rights of voters. The decision handed several victories to the League of Women Voters of Arkansas and other plaintiffs, which sued last year amid efforts in various states to make it harder for regular citizens to make laws or amend their states’ constitution through ballot initiatives. One such measure required someone signing a petition to show photo ID. That and other additional ballot-initiative restrictions were imposed by Arkansas’ GOP-controlled state government after election officials cited a legal technicality to reject petitions submitted by abortion rights supporters in a 2024 effort to legalize abortion in the conservative state.” (07/01/26)
