Jobless Claims Fall to Lowest Level Since 1969, Undercutting AI Layoff Narrative

Fauci Faces Senate After Released Diaries Reveal Private Doubts on COVID Origins

Mamdani Sets 30% Discounts at New York's Planned City-Run Grocery Stores

Meta Faces Trillion-Dollar Damages Claims as Youth-Safety Lawsuits Reach Trial

Graham Funeral Brings Zelensky and Netanyahu to Washington for Back-to-Back Trump Summits

Jobless Claims Fall to Lowest Level Since 1969, Undercutting AI Layoff Narrative

First-time applications for US unemployment benefits fell last week to their lowest level since 1969 — data that cuts against narratives of AI-driven job losses. Initial claims dropped by 22,000 to 187,000 in the week ended July 18, according to Labor Department figures released Thursday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected 210,000. The reading suggests employers remain reluctant to cut staff. Last month's jobs report showed many Americans leaving the labor force, which could also help explain fewer filings. For now, the numbers point to a labor market where layoffs stay muted even as hiring momentum cools.

Bloomberg

Fauci Faces Senate After Released Diaries Reveal Private Doubts on COVID Origins

Dr. Anthony Fauci's private assessment of COVID-19's origins in early 2020 diverged from his public statements, Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rand Paul says. Paul published more than 1,100 pages of the former NIAID director's pandemic-era diaries July 25. His office says the entries show virologists told Fauci on Jan. 31, 2020, that the virus's furin cleavage site raised doubts about a natural origin — a possibility Fauci publicly dismissed for years afterward. Fauci is scheduled to testify before the committee at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday under a subpoena Paul issued in June after Fauci withdrew from a voluntary appearance. Fauci has previously denied misleading Congress or the public about the outbreak's source and did not respond to NPR's request for comment. The hearing could reshape the public record on the pandemic's origins and oversight of federally funded virus research.

Senate HSGAC / CBS / NPR

Mamdani Sets 30% Discounts at New York's Planned City-Run Grocery Stores

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Monday that a core basket of everyday groceries will be priced 30% below market at his five planned city-owned grocery stores, one per borough by the end of his first term. The basket covers all fresh produce, meat and seafood plus roughly 20 categories of pantry, dairy and refrigerated staples, at prices locked in rather than reset weekly. The first store is slated to open by the end of 2027 at Hunts Point in the Bronx, where officials say 77% of households struggle to afford basic necessities. City Hall projects the discounts, which apply regardless of income, would cut an average shopper's bill by about 15%, roughly $90 a month. The stores will skip high-margin items such as cigarettes, lottery tickets and prepared hot food, which Mamdani framed as a pledge not to compete with bodegas. Grocery-industry critics argue subsidized stores will distort the market and undercut private operators, making the rollout an early national test of whether government-run retail can dent food inflation.

NYC Mayor's Office / Gothamist / ABC7

Meta Faces Trillion-Dollar Damages Claims as Youth-Safety Lawsuits Reach Trial

Meta faces the gravest legal challenge of its two-decade history as youth-safety lawsuits reach juries after years of pretrial fights. After March courtroom losses in California and New Mexico, the company faces thousands more suits from individuals, school districts and attorneys general in more than 40 states over mental-health harm to young users. With a Tennessee trial underway, a federal trial opening in Oakland in August will weigh four states' claims for up to $1.4 trillion in damages — nearly Meta's entire market value. The state and school district cases also seek court-ordered changes to the features that keep users engaged, threatening Meta's core business as user growth stalls. Meta calls the trillion-dollar figure absurd but has warned investors the New Mexico case alone could yield $3.7 billion in damages. The litigation could also erode the federal liability protections that have long shielded platforms from responsibility for harmful content.

WSJ

Graham Funeral Brings Zelensky and Netanyahu to Washington for Back-to-Back Trump Summits

Even in death, Sen. Lindsey Graham is shaping a day of high-stakes diplomacy in Washington. President Trump will host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in back-to-back White House meetings Tuesday ahead of Graham's funeral at Washington National Cathedral. The Zelensky session will center on the Russia-Ukraine peace process and what Kyiv calls its top priority: anti-ballistic missile defense and strategic cooperation with Washington. Netanyahu's Oval Office visit will cover the war with Iran — where Trump concedes minor differences with the prime minister — negotiations with Lebanon and expanding the Abraham Accords. Washington is weighing whether to resume strikes on Iran, paused since Saturday for Oman-mediated talks, while pressing for a Ukraine settlement. The meetings could determine the next phase of two wars in which American weapons, money and diplomacy are decisive.

Reuters via WHBL / Kyiv Post / Ukrainska Pravda

JULY 28, 1996: “KENNEWICK MAN” DISCOVERY SPARKS DEBATE OVER ANCIENT AMERICA

Two men at a park along the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washington, spot a human skull in shallow water—remains that scientists later date to more than 9,000 years ago, making “Kennewick Man” one of the oldest and most complete skeletons ever found in North America. The discovery ignites a two‑decade legal and scientific battle between researchers and several Native American tribes over whether the Ancient One, as tribes call him, should be studied or reburied. After years of DNA analysis and policy fights under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, the remains are finally returned to the tribes and reburied with Native rites in 2017, underscoring ongoing conflicts between Western archaeology, Indigenous sovereignty, and the right of Native nations to care for their ancestors’ remains.

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Sources

1. Bloomberg
2. Senate HSGAC / Paul Reading Room / Diary PDF / CBS News / NPR
3. NYC Mayor's Office / Gothamist / ABC7
4. WSJ
5. WHBL / Kyiv Post / Ukrainska Pravda