U.S.-Iran Strikes Shatter Fragile Hormuz Truce

NOAA Raises Odds of Historic El Niño

Texas Voucher Market Opens Public Funds to Bible, AI Courses

Reused Falcon 9 Booster Sets Record on 36th Flight

Publishers Seek OpenAI Sanctions as AI Copyright Case Law Takes Shape

U.S.-Iran Strikes Shatter Fragile Hormuz Truce

The U.S. military struck approximately 90 targets in Iran on July 9 in a second consecutive day of attacks, hitting air defense systems, coastal surveillance assets, and missile and drone storage and logistics sites. Iranian officials reported blasts near the perimeter of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, although U.S. officials did not acknowledge targeting the facility. In retaliation, Iran said it launched ballistic missiles and drones at U.S.-linked military sites in Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain. Jordan said it intercepted eight missiles after Iran said it fired 10 at Azraq air base, while Kuwait said it downed three ballistic missiles, one cruise missile and 10 drones as debris and interception damage wounded one person. Pakistan and Qatar urged Washington and Tehran to return to diplomacy and uphold the memorandum of understanding that extended an earlier ceasefire. Because that agreement was also intended to support the gradual reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the renewed attacks threaten both negotiations and a vital shipping corridor.

Al Jazeera / RFE/RL

NOAA Raises Odds of Historic El Niño

NOAA said July 9 that El Niño had strengthened across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific as ocean and atmospheric conditions became more closely aligned. The agency assigned an 81% probability to a very strong event from October through December 2026 that would rank among the largest in records dating to 1950. It also placed the chance that El Niño will persist through early spring 2027 at 97%. El Niño is a periodic warming of surface waters in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific that can shift atmospheric circulation and seasonal weather patterns. NOAA cautioned that even the strongest events do not produce typical effects everywhere, making the forecast important as a guide to changing seasonal odds rather than a guarantee of specific conditions. The agency's next diagnostic discussion is scheduled for Aug. 13.

NOAA

Texas Voucher Market Opens Public Funds to Bible, AI Courses

Texas began paying out its new Texas Education Freedom Accounts on July 1, sending initial funds to nearly 73,000 accounts as the program's online marketplace opened. More than 102,000 students have been accepted, with families eligible for about $10,000 to $30,000 per student and first-year state costs projected at roughly $1 billion. Parents can use the public money for private-school tuition, tutors, textbooks, therapy services and other offerings, including Bible studies, faith-based curricula and online courses taught by artificial intelligence. Some participating schools weave scripture throughout their instruction, prompting critics to warn that the program directs public funds to religious education and schools that may reject applicants. Supporters say the accounts give families, including those dissatisfied with public schools, greater control over their children's education. As the largest state yet to launch such a broad voucher system, Texas provides a national test of how extensively public education funds may flow to private and religious providers.

Austin Chronicle / Texas Tribune / Houston Public Media

Reused Falcon 9 Booster Sets Record on 36th Flight

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket at 5:25 a.m. EDT on July 9 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, flying first-stage booster B1067 for a record 36th time. The Starlink 10-42 mission carried 29 broadband satellites into low Earth orbit. A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, the booster landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. B1067 previously supported the Crew-3 and Crew-4 astronaut missions and 24 other Starlink launches, making the flight a new benchmark for SpaceX's booster-reuse program.

Spaceflight Now

Publishers Seek OpenAI Sanctions as AI Copyright Case Law Takes Shape

The New York Times, New York Daily News and other newspapers asked a federal court in Manhattan on July 9 to sanction OpenAI, alleging the company misrepresented its ability to search its systems for their copyrighted material. The publishers said OpenAI deleted or made billions of relevant ChatGPT conversations unsearchable and requested attorneys' fees and a finding that the company's logs show misuse of their work. OpenAI called the allegations false and said demands for conversation logs threaten the privacy of users who have no connection to the case; the court has not ruled on the motion. The underlying lawsuit, filed in 2023, accuses OpenAI and Microsoft of using millions of newspaper articles without permission to train the model behind ChatGPT, and it is one of several cases brought by copyright owners against AI companies. The dispute matters beyond the parties because courts are applying copyright and evidence-preservation doctrines developed before generative AI to model training and vast stores of user output. Decisions in these cases could shape emerging case law on how protected works may be used in AI systems and what records developers must preserve during litigation.

Reuters

JULY 10, 1832: ANDREW JACKSON VETOES RE-CHARTER OF THE SECOND BANK OF THE UNITED STATES

President Andrew Jackson blocked the renewal of America’s central bank because he believed it favored wealthy financiers and big cities over farmers, workers and Western settlers. By attacking what he called a “monster bank,” Jackson cast himself as champion of the “common man” against distant economic elites, turning the fight into the defining issue of his re-election campaign. His victory—shutting down the bank and moving federal money into friendly state “pet banks”—helped inspire a lasting style of populist politics where leaders claim to defend ordinary people against powerful institutions, a pattern echoed throughout US history in arguments over Wall Street, the Federal Reserve and “rigged” economic systems.

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Sources

1. Al Jazeera / RFE/RL
2. NOAA
3. Austin Chronicle / Texas Tribune / Houston Public Media
4. Spaceflight Now
5. Reuters