“The World Health Organization has declared the hantavirus outbreak over after the last identified contact of an exposed person linked to a cruise ship completed quarantine and tested negative for the virus. The outbreak, which infected 13 people and killed three, involved the rare Andes hantavirus strain that typically circulates in Argentina and Chile. The cruise ship Hondius sailed from Argentina on April 1. … The Andes virus is the only known hantavirus that can spread through close, prolonged human-to-human contact.” (07/02/26)
“South Korea’s Hyundai Motor and Kia posted record first-half sales in the United States, driven by strong demand for hybrid vehicles and sport utility vehicles despite elevated borrowing costs and slowing electric vehicle demand. Hyundai Motor Group said Thursday that Hyundai, Kia and the Genesis luxury brand sold a combined 920,383 vehicles in the United States from January through June, up 3% from the same period last year.” (07/02/26)
“Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda on Thursday said the Baltic country’s top political leaders had agreed that a constitutional ban on the domestic deployment of nuclear weapons should be removed. The decision comes shortly after lawmakers in Finland, another NATO member that shares a border with Russia, voted to lift its longstanding ban on nuclear weapons. … The removal of the provision means Vilnius can adapt to evolving security circumstances in the future, Nauseda said. He added, however, that there were no immediate plans to store nuclear weapons in the country.” (07/02/26)
“Amazon says it now has enough satellites operating in low-Earth orbit to light up its Starlink internet competitor. With last night’s launch, Amazon Leo has 396 satellites deployed, which is “enough to support continuous service across initial latitudes,” according to Chris Weber, VP heading up business and product for Amazon Leo. That puts the company on track to meet its “mid-2026” target for commercial availability. Just don’t expect miracles on day one. SpaceX went live with its ‘Better than nothing beta’ back in 2020 when it had almost 900 satellites operating in low-Earth orbit.” (07/02/26)
“OpenAI has proposed handing the U.S. government a 5% stake in the company, the Financial Times reported Thursday, as the artificial intelligence startup seeks to defuse mounting political pressure in Washington. A 5% holding would be worth roughly $42.6 billion, after the AI lab closed a record-breaking funding round in March at a post-money valuation of $852 billion. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman argued that giving the public a financial interest in the company is the best way to share the upside of AI, the FT reported, citing two people familiar with the talks. Altman suggested a stake of that size in early discussions with the Trump administration, as part of a broader arrangement under which Washington would hold 5% of each of the leading U.S. AI developers via a government vehicle, according to the report.” (07/02/26)
“For a quarter century, Jane Calvert has been on a mission shared by few scholars of the Revolutionary War era. She has championed a founder mostly remembered, when remembered at all, as the man who wouldn’t sign the Declaration of Independence — the lawyer and statesman John Dickinson. ‘It has been a constant struggle’, says Calvert, a former associate professor at the University of Kentucky who has written often about Dickinson and is the founder of the John Dickinson Writings Project, which aims to make his works widely available. For much of the country, the 250th anniversary of independence on Saturday is a time for celebrating and debating the country’s birth. But for Calvert and others, it’s also a moment to challenge the lingering image of a man who at times has been ignored, ridiculed or literally cast aside.” (07/02/26)
“The Vatican announced Thursday that priests and members of a breakaway Catholic group that ordained four new bishops in defiance of Pope Leo XIV’s wishes are in schism and excommunicated. The Society of Saint Pius X, an ultra-traditionalist group, went ahead with the ordinations on Wednesday without papal approval and despite appeals from Leo to reverse the decision. In response, the Vatican’s doctrinal office on Thursday published a decree saying that the four bishops are excommunicated, along with the two bishops who participated in the ordination ceremony. Excommunication means they are excluded from the sacraments of the church. It added in an explanatory note that priests belonging to the society and lay members who ‘formally adhere’ to the group are also in schism and excommunicated.” (07/02/26)
“Three members of a four-person MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter crew were rescued at sea after an ’emergency water landing’ in the Arabian Sea early Wednesday morning, according to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command. A search continues for the fourth and final crew member. There is ‘no indication’ the helicopter was shot down by hostile action, the military said. The helicopter is assigned to the USS George H.W. Bush.” (07/01/26)
“Rescuers pulled a 43-year-old security guard alive from a collapsed basement early Thursday, ending a grueling days-long operation that became a symbol of hope after the devastation of twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela eight days earlier. Hernán Alberto Gil Flores was extracted safely after being trapped since June 24 under the rubble in the basement of the Galerías Playa Grande shopping center in the coastal town in La Guaira. Rescuers initially made contact with him over the weekend. Teams carrying flags from across the world cheered as rescuers carried Gil, wearing an oxygen mask on a stretcher covered in an orange tarp, through throngs of people into a Red Cross ambulance. A group of men in red Costa Rican Red Cross uniforms embraced and laughed in relief, while others broke out into applause. The rescue was considered a small miracle cutting through a week of tragedy.” (07/02/26)
“Attackers targeted the homes of three politicians from Greece’s ruling party with homemade explosives on Wednesday, leaving one person dead and four wounded, police told AFP. The attacks at dawn in the northern city of Thessaloniki targeted figures from the New Democracy party with devices made from gas bottles. … The Kathimerini news website reported that the parents of former party candidate Afroditi Nestora were injured and taken to hospital. It identified the other two targets as the party’s executive committee president Zisis Ioakimovic and former MP Savvas Anastasiades. Nestora’s mother died on Wednesday evening, according to the Thessaloniki hospital where she had been taken for treatment. … Police did not say who might have carried out the attacks or suggest a motive. The anti-terrorist division was investigating. Leftist and anarchist groups often use improvised explosives to target political figures, banks and companies in Greece, causing damage but rarely any casualties.” (07/02/26)
