“A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the release of $5.8 million to E. Jean Carroll three years after the jury awarded payment for damages caused by President Trump. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said Carroll should receive the funds, which were placed in an escrow account while Trump appealed a verdict that found him liable for defaming Carroll. During his first term in the Oval Office, Trump said Carroll’s claims that he sexually assaulted her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in Manhattan were a ‘con job’ and ‘hoax.’ A jury determined his statements were defamatory and negatively impacted Carroll professionally. The Supreme Court declined to hear Trump’s appeal to overturn the case without an explanation or reasoning last week. … Trump’s lawyers appealed Kaplan’s ruling less than an hour after it was issued.” (07/08/26)
“A Berlin court on Wednesday convicted and sentenced a German doctor to life in prison on charges of murdering 15 of his patients who were under palliative care, in a case involving allegations he torched the homes of victims to try to cover up the crimes. The 41-year-old doctor, who has only been identified as Johannes M. in line with Germany’s privacy rules, went on trial nearly a year ago at a Berlin state court. Part of an end-of-life care team at a nursing service in Berlin, he was initially suspected of the deaths of four patients. Prosecutors eventually accused him of the deaths of 15 people between September 2021 and July 2024. The Berlin court found the physician administered a lethal mixture of various medications to 12 women and three men, German news agency dpa reported.” (07/08/26)
“Waymo has activated fully driverless operations in Las Vegas, its riders will now see vehicles with no human at the wheel, and the Alphabet unit says Denver, San Diego, and Tampa are next in line. The move adds four new markets to Waymo’s driverless footprint and pushes the company deeper into its target of 1 million paid rides per week by the end of 2026. … Waymo now operates a fleet of roughly 3,500 robotaxis and has surpassed 20 million trips. It was providing around 500,000 paid rides per week across its existing markets earlier this year, which include Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Orlando.” (07/08/26)
“Drone strikes on civilian vehicles headed to social gatherings in Sudan have killed over 20 people in recent day, according to rights groups, as the use of unmanned aircraft becomes increasingly common in the north eastern African country’s war. A drone hit the outskirts of Khartoum killing 10 civilians, including five women from the same family, as they drove to a wedding, the Sudan Doctors Network said Wednesday. The medical aid group, which has been tracking violence between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces throughout the war — which is in its fourth year — blamed Tuesday’s attack on a road west of Omdurman, the sister city of the capital, Khartoum, on the RSF. All of those on the vehicle, which caught fire, were killed.” (07/08/26)
“Jeff Bezos’[s] Blue Origin is raising about $10 billion, in its first outside funding round that will value the rocket company at $130 billion, sources told CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin. Bezos is set to contribute $2 billion into the round, along with about $4 billion from hedge fund Coatue Management, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the details are private. The remaining $4 billion has seen significant demand, with several major investors expected to participate, the people said. … Bezos has in the past funded Blue Origin solely through sales of his Amazon stock. In 2024, Bezos said he believed Blue Origin will one day be a bigger company than Amazon.” (07/08/26)
“Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen declared at a NATO summit on Wednesday that her country would defend its territory as President Donald Trump revived his longtime demand for control of Greenland. Earlier this year, Trump sharply raised tensions with allies and seemed to push NATO to a breaking point with his threats to seize Greenland …. Allies stood up to the president and Trump backed down, saying at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that he had reached the framework of a deal brokered by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. But almost as soon as he arrived to meet NATO counterparts in Turkey, Trump restarted the fight, telling reporters that Greenland ‘should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark.’ … Asked if Denmark would defend its territory from friend or foe alike, Frederiksen said, ‘Of course we will defend the kingdom of Denmark.'” (07/08/26)
“Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in the UK, has been granted a posthumous conditional pardon. Ellis was hanged at London’s Holloway Prison in 1955 after being convicted of murdering her lover David Blakely. Her family have campaigned for her murder conviction to be overturned, arguing she was a victim of domestic abuse and was physically and emotionally abused by Blakely before shooting him. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy told MPs the King had granted the pardon, saying that the death penalty had been replaced with a sentence of life imprisonment.” (07/08/26)
“U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth canceled a meeting that had been scheduled for Wednesday to discuss the possible sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an Israeli source told Reuters. Any such sale would likely anger Israeli officials. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said Hegseth had also been scheduled to meet Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on a trip to Israel and that Iran would feature in their discussions. … In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, Netanyahu said he opposed the sale of F-35s to Turkey, and that he had made his opposition clear to Trump.” (07/08/26)
“Graham Platner seems not to like taking no for an answer. The head of the Maine Democratic Party accused the embattled Senate candidate and alleged rapist late Tuesday of trying to put his ‘thumb on the scale’ as the party scrambles to find a replacement ahead of the November election. … ‘We have repeatedly reiterated to Graham Platner’s team that they have no role in determining our next Democratic nominee for the US Senate, nor in determining what this process looks like,’ [MDP Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson said]. ‘We have also reiterated that Graham Platner must drop out of this race, so that Democrats in Maine can focus on defeating Susan Collins this November. ‘We look forward to making this process public as soon as Graham Platner formally withdraws from this race.'” (07/08/26)
“A year since the dust settled on the Singapore general election, leadership resignations in two small opposition parties signal a period of post-poll recalibration after disappointing results. The once-promising Progress Singapore Party (PSP), led by ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) defector Tan Cheng Bock, was dealt an ‘existential blow’ on Monday, analysts say, following the resignations of two central executive committee members. … Also on Monday, People’s Power Party (PPP) announced its secretary general, Goh Meng Seng, had been replaced by William Lim Lian Chin. Goh had said he would step down after his team’s dismal showing in the four-way contest in the Tampines constituency.” (07/08/26)
