Trial in Trump documents case set for May 2024

The federal judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s prosecution on charges of illegally retaining dozens of classified documents set a trial date Friday for May 2024, taking a middle position between the government’s request to go to trial in December and Trump’s desire to push the proceeding until after the 2024 election. In her order, Judge Aileen Cannon said the trial was to be held in her home courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida, a coastal city 2 1/2 hours north of Miami that will draw its jury pool from several counties that Trump won handily in his two previous presidential campaigns.

Texas A&M president resigns amid fallout over journalism program

Texas A&M University said Friday that its president was resigning “immediately” following a conflict over the school’s shifting offers to a candidate who appeared set to lead its journalism school but ultimately declined the position after facing pushback over her work promoting diversity. M. Katherine Banks, submitted a letter of retirement late Thursday in which she said that the negative attention over the journalism director, Kathleen McElroy, was a distraction for Texas A&M, one of the largest universities in the country. Banks’ resignation came days after the resignation of the dean overseeing the university’s College of Arts and Sciences and followed a tense meeting between Banks and the university’s faculty senate Wednesday.

7 AI companies agree to safeguards after pressure from the White House

Seven leading AI companies in the United States have agreed to voluntary safeguards on the technology’s development, the White House announced Friday, pledging to manage the risks of the new tools even as they compete over the potential of artificial intelligence. The seven companies — Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI — formally announced their commitment to new standards in the areas of safety, security and trust at a meeting with President Joe Biden. The technological leaps have prompted fears about the spread of disinformation and dire warnings of a “risk of extinction” as self-aware computers evolve.

Biden nominates Adm. Lisa Franchetti to lead the Navy

Since the days of John Paul Jones and the American Revolution, the top job in the U.S. Navy has gone to a man, but that will change if President Joe Biden’s pick to become the service’s top uniformed leader is confirmed. The White House announced Friday that Biden intends to nominate Adm. Lisa Franchetti to become the Navy’s highest-ranking officer following the retirement of Adm. Michael Gilday this summer. Before her promotion to four stars and taking the Navy’s No. 2 job in September, Franchetti served as the director for strategy, plans and policy at the Joint Staff as its leaders began seeking more diversity.

Michael Cohen Expected to Settle Lawsuit With Trump Organization

Michael Cohen, the longtime fixer to Donald Trump, who was set to go to trial next week against his former boss’s company in a dispute over legal fees, has agreed to settle his lawsuit with the Trump Organization, lawyers for both parties said at a brief court hearing Friday. Cohen’s lawsuit, filed in 2019, accused the Trump Organization of failing to abide by the terms of a deal and refusing to pay more than $1 million in legal costs. Jury selection for the trial began earlier this week, and opening arguments were scheduled for Monday.

In Black Sea showdown, Russia batters Ukraine’s ability to export grain

Russia barraged Ukrainian ports for the fourth night in a row Friday, striking granaries in Odesa and mounting a show of naval force on the Black Sea in a deepening showdown that imperils a vital part of the global food supply. The Kremlin this week withdrew from a year-old agreement that allows ships carrying food from Ukrainian ports to bypass a Russian blockade, and began a concentrated bombardment of facilities used to ship grain and cooking oil across the Black Sea. The Russian military warned that any vessels attempting to reach Ukraine would be treated as hostile.

Vast demographic shifts are reshaping the world

For decades, the world’s dominant powers have benefited from large working-age populations that help drive economic growth. Meanwhile, particularly young populations in much of the developing world have had limited resources to divert to raising children, curbing economic opportunity. But the world’s demographic sweet spots are changing, and fast. Japan had the first major shift: By 2013, a quarter of the population was 65 and older. Much of Western Europe will follow and South Korea, Britain and Eastern Europe will be next, along with China. At the same time, many low-income countries today will have huge prime-age labor forces for the first time.

Record-setting blazes push Canada to rethink its wildfire approach

Wildfires in Canada have so far scorched forests totaling the size of the state of Virginia. Mega fires, so vast and ferocious that they simply cannot be fought, have erupted across the country. Even as thousands of Canadians and firefighters from abroad continued to battle more than 900 fires, Canada’s record-shattering wildfire season has made it clear that traditional firefighting methods are no longer enough, experts in wildfires and forests say. Instead of focusing on putting out flames, wildfire agencies, provincial governments and the logging industry must carry out fundamental changes to prevent fires from igniting and spreading in the first place, they say.

Wheat, sugar, and now tomatoes: Extreme weather dents India’s food supplies

Last year it was wheat, then sugar. This year, it is tomatoes. As weather patterns grow erratic, food shortages are one of the many ways India is reeling from climate change. Supplies have been shrinking, and prices shooting up — in the case of tomatoes, at least a fivefold increase between May and mid-July according to official figures, and even a steeper spike based on consumer accounts. The government has been forced to take emergency measures, curbing exports and injecting subsidized supplies to the market to reduce the shock on the world’s most populous nation.

Around the globe, searing heat with no sign of relief

Power plants are churning across the United States and China, struggling to meet air-conditioning demand. Wildfires are raging in Southern Europe and Canada. Explosive thunderstorms, torrential monsoons and extreme heat are sowing destruction and threatening lives across three continents. And there is little relief in sight, from the mountains and megacities of Asia to the lakes and rivers of Europe or the plains, forests and suburbs of North America. In the short term, meteorologists predicted more intense heat and extreme weather over the next month. In the long term, scientists say, climate change is making heat waves hotter, more frequent and longer and making wildfires more intense.

Israeli Air Reservists threaten to walk out, widening a political crisis

More than 1,000 pilots and other personnel in the Israeli air force reserve said Friday that they would stop reporting for duty next week if the government pushes through a contentious plan to reduce judicial power without broader consensus. In a joint letter released Friday, 1,142 air force reservists said they would not serve if the government proceeded with its plan to reduce the ways in which the Supreme Court can overrule the government. If such a large number of reservists follow through with their threat, defense officials have said it could significantly affect the capacity of the air force and its operational readiness.

By wire sources