By Jessie Schuster
Edited by Elissa D. Hecker
Entertainment
Taylor Swift Prevails in Poet's Plagiarism Lawsuit as Florida Judge Dismisses Case With Prejudice
A federal judge dismissed, with prejudice, a lawsuit filed by Florida poet Kimberly Marasco alleging that Taylor Swift lifted phrases from her poetry books for songs including "The Man" and "The Great War." The judge ruled that Marasco's poems didn't contain protectable expression and that she failed to plausibly plead copying, closing the case just days after Swift's wedding to Travis Kelce.
https://variety.com/2026/music/news/taylor-swift-wins-plagiarism-poet-lawsuit-florida-judge-1236802619/
iHeartMedia Settles FCC "Payola" Investigation Without Any Fine or Determination of Wrongdoing
iHeartMedia resolved an FCC investigation into whether it pressured artists to perform free shows in exchange for additional airplay, agreeing to strengthen its anti-payola compliance program without paying a fine or admitting wrongdoing. The company will now file regular reports disclosing artist compensation and airplay data for three years.
https://www.billboard.com/pro/iheartmedia-settles-fcc-payola-investigation-without-fine/
Arts
Smithsonian Chief Disputes Scathing White House Report Accusing Museum of "Radical" Activism
Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch pushed back in an internal staff letter against a 162-page White House Domestic Policy Council report accusing the National Museum of American History of "extreme political activism" and presenting a "radical view" of American history.
https://abcnews.com/Politics/smithsonian-chief-disputes-scathing-white-house-report-accusing/story?id=134628251
With A.I.'s Help, a Family Realized Their Mysterious Thrift-Store Find Is a Portrait by a Great Scottish Painter
A family's inexpensive thrift-store painting was identified as a work by renowned Scottish artist Sir Henry Raeburn after researchers used AI-assisted analysis to determine that a seemingly ordinary purchase is actually a significant piece of art history.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/with-help-from-ai-a-family-realized-their-mysterious-thrift-store-find-is-a-portrait-by-a-great-scottish-painter-180988948/
American Museum of Natural History to Repatriate Native American Hair Clippings
The American Museum of Natural History plans to repatriate roughly 2,700 Native American hair samples, originally collected for an 1893 Chicago World's Fair exhibit, decades after discovering them in its collection. The museum could have faced steep federal fines for not disclosing the samples sooner, and its president says there's no longer any internal debate over whether the materials should be returned.
https://www.artforum.com/news/museum-of-natural-history-repatriate-native-american-hair-1234754263/
The Curious Case of the Private Eye Artist and the Government Inquiry
Artist Julia Weist's new production restages a real 2024 interrogation she underwent by New York's Department of State after she obtained a private investigator license as part of her art practice. Performers lip-sync to audio Weist secretly recorded during the actual questioning, creating a new document of an exchange the state had refused to release to her.
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2026-07-07/new-theater-hollywood-presents-julia-weists-questioning-premiere
Sports
Texas Attorney General Launches Investigation Into StubHub Amid World Cup Complaints
Texas AG Ken Paxton opened an investigation into StubHub after widespread reports that the platform canceled or failed to deliver World Cup tickets fans had already paid for, sometimes just hours before kickoff.
https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/texas-attorney-general-launches-investigation-into-stubhub-amid-world-cup-2026-07-03/
Alpes 2030 to Be First Gender-Equal Olympic Winter Games
The IOC confirmed that the 2030 Winter Olympics in the French Alps will be the first Winter Games with full gender parity, with freeride skiing/snowboarding and a nine-skater synchronized figure skating event debuting on the Olympic program. Nordic combined, the last male-only Winter Olympic discipline, was dropped entirely after ranking lowest in popularity among all Winter Games disciplines.
https://www.olympics.com/ioc/news/alpes-2030-to-be-first-gender-equal-olympic-winter-games-freeride-ski-and-snowboard-and-synchro9-figure-skating-athletes-to-debut
Ex-Bucknell Strength Coach Charged with Hazing in Player Death
Strength coach Mark Kulbis was charged with felony aggravated hazing and misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter in the 2024 death of freshman football player Calvin "CJ" Dickey Jr., who collapsed during a first-day workout. Prosecutors allege that Kulbis subjected Dickey, who had sickle cell trait, to 100 "up-downs" despite knowing of his condition and being trained on the risks.
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/49288090/ex-bucknell-strength-coach-charged-player-hazing-death
Microsoft to Cut 4,800 Jobs, Overhaul Xbox Unit
Microsoft announced it is cutting about 4,800 jobs, or 2.1% of its global workforce, with roughly a third of the cuts hitting its Xbox division as part of what its new gaming CEO called the most significant restructuring in Xbox history. The layoffs come amid record AI infrastructure spending and a rough stretch for Microsoft's stock, which fell nearly 23% in the first half of 2026.
https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/microsoft-joins-ai-driven-tech-layoff-wave-with-4800-job-cuts-2026-07-06/
Late Cowboys Player Marshawn Kneeland Diagnosed With CTE
Former Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland, who died by suicide in November 2025 at age 24, was posthumously diagnosed with Stage 1 CTE by Boston University's CTE Center. His family shared the diagnosis to raise awareness about the disease's effects on young contact-sport athletes, while researchers cautioned that CTE should not be considered a direct cause of his death.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/49296262/late-cowboys-player-marshawn-kneeland-diagnosed-cte
U.S. Olympian David Hearn Pleads Not Guilty in Reflecting Pool Vandalism Case
Former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn pleaded not guilty to a felony destruction-of-property charge after prosecutors accused him of tearing up a section of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool's newly installed liner during a June bike ride stop. Hearn maintains he only touched already-peeling material out of curiosity, and his attorneys called the prosecution "outrageous."
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/us-olympian-david-hearn-arraigned-charges-reflecting-pool-vandalism-ca-rcna353638
European Lawmakers Demand Investigation Into FIFA President Over U.S. Red Card Reversal
Dozens of European Parliament lawmakers are pushing for an investigation into FIFA President Gianni Infantino after the organization abruptly suspended a red-card suspension for U.S. striker Folarin Balogun following a call from President Trump. UEFA said FIFA had "crossed a red line," and Balogun went on to play in the Americans' Round of 16 loss to Belgium that eliminated the U.S. from the tournament.
https://time.com/article/2026/07/10/world-cup-fifa-infantino-trump-us-balogun-red-card-european-lawmakers/
IOC Provisionally Lifts Suspension of Russian Olympic Committee
The IOC Executive Board provisionally lifted its suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee, in place since October 2023, after determining that the ROC no longer includes regional sports organizations from Ukrainian territory it does not control. Ukraine's Olympic Committee called the decision "premature" and "unjustified," and the IOC has not yet decided whether Russia can display its flag or anthem at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
https://www.olympics.com/ioc/news/ioc-provisionally-lifts-suspension-of-russian-olympic-committee-recommendations-to-ifs-with-regard-to-russian-athletes-participation-no-longer-applicable
Russia heads to sports court to overturn its ban from international track and field
Russia’s track and field federation says it has gone to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn a World Athletics ruling suspending its athletes from international events due to the war in Ukraine. World Athletics excluded all athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus from its international events in March 2022, days after Russian forces invaded Ukraine. It kept that suspension in place at a council meeting last week. Since then, the IOC has eased its restrictions on Russia ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics — something the Kremlin hailed as an “important step” — and recommended other sports bodies do the same.
https://apnews.com/article/russia-world-athletics-cas-6955934bd4d8e810ad381381e96fddbf
Media & Technology
Meta Ditches Muse Image AI Feature Because It ‘Misses the Mark’ on Users’ Privacy
Meta pulled its "Muse Image" AI feature just three days after launch following backlash over its default inclusion of public Instagram account. Meta admitted that the feature "missed the mark" after criticism from privacy advocates and Hollywood talent agencies like CAA over consent and likeness rights.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jul/11/meta-ditches-muse-image-ai-feature-instagram-privacy
New York Times and Other News Outlets Accuse OpenAI of Lying in Discovery, Demand Legal Sanctions Against AI Giant
The New York Times, Daily News, and other publishers filed a motion for sanctions against OpenAI, alleging that the company falsely claimed for two years that it couldn't search its training data and chat logs for their copyrighted content while secretly having already done so. The outlets also accuse OpenAI of deleting billions of relevant ChatGPT conversations and are seeking court sanctions and attorneys' fees.
https://variety.com/2026/digital/news/new-york-times-news-outlets-accuse-openai-of-lying-lawsuit-1236805648/
Trump Administration Subpoenas New York Times Reporters After Air Force One Reporting
The Justice Department subpoenaed four New York Times journalists to testify before a federal grand jury after they reported on security concerns surrounding the Qatari-gifted Air Force One jet, with federal agents delivering some subpoenas to reporters' homes. The Times called the move a "brazen act" aimed at intimidating journalists and vowed to fight the subpoenas in court.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-administration-subpoenas-new-york-times-reporters-after-air-force-one-reporting-b7f1b368
Apple Sues OpenAI, Alleging Trade Secret Theft, Says Scheme Was ‘At Every Level’
Apple sued OpenAI in federal court, alleging that the AI company and its hardware chief, former Apple executive Tang Tan, orchestrated a scheme to steal Apple's confidential hardware technology through departing employees. Apple claims that one former engineer downloaded dozens of confidential files before joining OpenAI, marking a striking reversal in the companies' 2024 ChatGPT-Apple Intelligence partnership.
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/10/apple-openai-lawsuit-trade-secrets.html
Judge Allows News Site to Publish School Lockdown Video but Sets Limits
A New Jersey judge upheld and expanded a prior restraint order against local outlet New Brunswick Today, barring it from publishing unredacted school security footage of a student's BB gun incident without prior court and school district approval. Press freedom advocates called the order "censorship, full stop," warning that it defies decades of First Amendment precedent against prior restraints.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/10/nyregion/school-video-news-story-censorship.html
Distillation: The New U.S.-China AI Fight
Anthropic told Capitol Hill that Alibaba's Qwen AI lab ran the largest known "distillation" attack on its Claude models to date, using roughly 25,000 fraudulent accounts over six weeks to harvest 28.8 million exchanges. Anthropic is urging lawmakers to treat the practice as a national security issue rather than a commercial dispute, pushing for penalties and stronger export controls to prevent foreign labs from cheaply replicating U.S. AI capabilities.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/craigsmith/2026/06/25/distillation-the-new-uschina-ai-fight/
Anthropic Leases Entire Hudson Square Building as AI Fuels NYC Real Estate Boom
Anthropic signed a lease for the entire 16-story, 466,000-square-foot building at 330 Hudson Street in Manhattan's Hudson Square, a roughly 30-fold increase over its current New York footprint. The company plans to more than double its NYC headcount to over 1,000 employees by year's end as part of a broader wave of AI firms expanding their Manhattan office presence.
https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estate/commercial/cny-anthropic-330-hudson-street-20260708/
Commission Preliminarily Finds Addictive Design of Instagram and Facebook in Breach of the Digital Services Act
The European Commission preliminarily found Meta in breach of the EU's Digital Services Act over addictive design features on Instagram and Facebook, including infinite scroll, autoplay, and personalized recommendation systems. The Commission says Meta failed to adequately assess risks to minors and vulnerable adults and could face fines of up to 6% of its global revenue if the findings are finalized.
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_1579
Judge Dismisses Prince Harry’s Privacy Invasion Lawsuit Against Publisher of Daily Mail
A UK High Court judge dismissed Prince Harry's phone hacking and privacy invasion lawsuit against Associated Newspapers, ruling that he and his fellow claimants, including Elton John and Elizabeth Hurley, failed to prove that the outlet obtained information about them unlawfully.
https://apnews.com/article/prince-harry-lawsuit-daily-mail-charles-elton-2ada29f1fc84ade5d414c3b49ac47ac6
General News
Largest Housing Affordability Bill in Decades Becomes Law Without Trump's Signature
The bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act became law without Trump's signature after he refused to sign it in protest of the Senate's failure to pass a separate voter ID bill, but also declined to veto it. The law aims to boost homebuilding nationwide, including capping the number of single-family homes large corporate investors can purchase and easing manufactured-home construction rules.
https://www.npr.org/2026/07/10/nx-s1-5885027/housing-bill-without-trump-signature
Lindsey Graham, a Staunch Trump Ally and Longtime GOP Fixture, Dies
Longtime South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham died Saturday evening at his Capitol Hill home, just days after returning from meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky and finalizing a Russia sanctions bill with the White House.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/07/12/lindsey-graham-dead-71-illness/90891945007/
Trump Reports More Than $1.4 Billion in Income From Crypto Ventures
Trump's latest annual financial disclosure shows that he earned more than $1.4 billion from crypto ventures in 2025, including over $550 million from World Liberty Financial and roughly $635 million from his memecoin business, making digital assets his largest source of personal income. Trump defended the earnings, telling reporters "the stock market's going up, everybody's profiting," while the disclosure showed total 2025 income topping $2 billion.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-reports-more-than-14-billion-income-crypto-ventures-2026-06-30/
Hochul Signs Executive Order to Streamline Government Rules
Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order launching a comprehensive, AI-assisted review of thousands of New York State regulations, fees, and mandated boards and commissions to identify outdated or burdensome rules for elimination. The state partnered with Stanford's RegLab and other nonprofits to use AI tools to help catalog the regulations, with the first wave of reforms expected later this year.
https://www.news10.com/capitol/hochul-launches-regulatory-reset/
New York Sues 3M, DuPont, Others Over "Forever Chemicals" in Consumer Goods
New York Attorney General Letitia James sued 3M, DuPont, and several other chemical manufacturers, alleging they knowingly sold toxic PFAS "forever chemicals" in cosmetics, cookware, and other consumer products while hiding the health and environmental risks for decades. The lawsuit seeks a court order forcing the companies to fund cleanup efforts and pay damages and restitution.
https://www.reuters.com/world/new-york-sues-3m-dupont-others-over-forever-chemicals-consumer-goods-2026-07-09/
Man Sues DHS After Agents Tracked Him Down for Sending a Scathing Email to ICE
A Rochester man is suing the Department of Homeland Security after federal agents tracked him to his home and a hotel to deliver a "warning notice" over a critical email he sent to former ICE acting director Todd Lyons five months earlier. The lawsuit, filed by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, argues the agents' actions violated his First Amendment right to criticize a law enforcement official.
https://www.npr.org/2026/07/06/nx-s1-5883784/dhs-ice-critic-lawsuit-free-speech
New York City Building's Near Collapse Raises Concerns About Push to Convert Offices to Housing
Two steel columns buckled at the former Pfizer headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, prompting evacuations and renewed scrutiny of the engineering challenges behind adaptive reuse construction. City officials said the building has since stabilized, and Mayor Mamdani said office conversions remain part of the city's answer to its housing crisis, provided they're done safely.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/nyc-buildings-collapse-raises-concerns-convert-offices-rcna385907