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Southern Baptists endorse effort to overturn same-sex marriage

(NYTimes) — Southern Baptists voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to call for the overturning of the Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage, with strategists citing the successful effort that overturned the right to legal abortions as a possible blueprint for the new fight. The denomination has long opposed same-sex marriage, but Tuesday was the first time its members have voted to work to legally end it. Expanding on conservatives’ success in overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022, the vote signals growing evangelical ambitions to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court ruling that was handed down 10 years ago this month.

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FDA to use AI in drug approvals to ‘radically increase efficiency’

(NYTimes) — The Food and Drug Administration is planning to use artificial intelligence to “radically increase efficiency” in deciding whether to approve new drugs and devices, one of several top priorities laid out in an article published Tuesday in JAMA. Another initiative involves a review of chemicals and other “concerning ingredients” that appear in U.S. food. “The FDA will be focused on delivering faster cures and meaningful treatments for patients, especially those with neglected and rare diseases, healthier food for children and common-sense approaches to rebuild the public trust,” wrote Dr. Marty Makary, the agency commissioner, and Dr. Vinay Prasad, who leads the division that oversees vaccines and gene therapy.

Appeals court pauses ruling ordering due process for deported Venezuelans

(NYTimes) — A federal appeals court on Tuesday said the Trump administration did not have to comply for now with a judge’s order to give due process to scores of Venezuelan immigrants who were deported to El Salvador under a wartime law. The ruling, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, came one day before the administration was supposed to outline for a lower-court judge how to allow nearly 140 deported Venezuelans to challenge their expulsion. The men are accused of being members of a violent street gang. The ruling was an administrative pause to give the appellate judges more time to consider the validity of the underlying order.

Democrats grill NIH leader on cuts: Who is calling the shots?

(NYTimes) — As the Trump administration clamped down on the country’s medical research funding apparatus in recent months, scientists and administrators at the National Institutes of Health often privately wondered how much autonomy the agency’s director, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, had. After all, the Department of Government Efficiency helped drive decisions to cancel or delay research grants. Other projects fell victim to President Donald Trump’s face-off with universities over antisemitism. But given an opportunity before a Senate panel Tuesday to dispel suspicions about who wields influence at the NIH, Bhattacharya did little to claim ownership of perhaps the rockiest period in the agency’s many decades of funding research institutions.

US and China agree to walk back tensions

(NYTimes) — The United States and China have agreed to a “framework” intended to ease economic tension and extend a trade truce between the world’s two largest economies, officials said Tuesday. After two days of negotiations in London, top economic officials from the United States and China are now expected to present the new framework to President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping for final approval. The agreement is intended to solidify terms of a deal the U.S. and China reached in Switzerland in May that unraveled in recent weeks. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said American concerns over China’s restrictions on rare earth mineral and magnet exports had been resolved.

Meta is creating a new AI Lab to pursue ‘superintelligence’

(NYTimes) — Meta is preparing to unveil a new artificial intelligence research lab dedicated to pursuing “superintelligence,” a hypothetical AI system that exceeds the powers of the human brain, according to four people with knowledge of the plans. Meta has tapped Alexandr Wang, 28, founder and CEO of the startup Scale AI, to join the new lab, the people said, and has been in talks to invest billions of dollars in his company as part of a deal that would involve other Scale AI employees. Meta has also offered seven- to nine-figure compensation packages to dozens of researchers from leading AI companies, with some agreeing to join, according to the people.

23andMe customers did not expect their DNA data would be sold, lawsuit claims

(NYTimes) — Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia have sued the genetic-testing company 23andMe to oppose the sale of DNA data from its customers without their direct consent. The suit, filed Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of Missouri, argues that 23andMe needs to have permission from each customer before their data is potentially sold. The company had entered an agreement to sell itself and its assets in bankruptcy court. The DNA company, which at one point in 2021 was valued at $6 billion, filed for bankruptcy in March. It is poised to be acquired by biotech firm Regeneron Pharmaceuticals for $256 million, according to the lawsuit.

Document shows EPA plans to loosen limits on mercury from power plants

(NYTimes) —The Environmental Protection Agency plans to weaken a Biden-era regulation that required power plants to slash pollutants, including the emissions of mercury, a neurotoxin that impairs brain development, according to an internal agency document. Lee Zeldin, the EPA administrator, intends to announce the proposed changes within days, according to two people who have been briefed on the agency’s plans. Zeldin also will release a separate proposal to eliminate limits on greenhouse gases from power plants, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss agency plans. Once finalized, both rules are expected to face legal challenges.

A political titan in Argentina is sentenced to prison

(NYTimes) — Cristina Fernández, Argentina’s former president and one of the country’s most polarizing political figures, was sentenced to prison Tuesday and barred for life from public office after the Supreme Court upheld her corruption conviction. The ruling comes after Fernández, who was the target of an assassination attempt three years ago, announced plans for a political comeback. The court rejected an appeal by Fernández, cementing a six-year sentence handed down by a lower court that had found she defrauded the state during her two terms as president, from 2007-15.

At least 10 killed in shooting at Austrian high school, police say

(NYTimes) — A former student at an Austrian high school opened fire on the campus in Graz on Tuesday, killing 10 people before apparently killing himself, a rare episode of gun violence in Europe. State police said the shooter was a 21-year-old who had previously attended the school, BORG Dreierschützengasse, but never graduated. Graz is Austria’s second largest city. The shooter killed six females and three males on campus. No identities were provided. Another victim, a woman, later died at a hospital. Authorities said they would not release more information on the victims, including how many were students, until preliminary investigations had finished.

Palestinian Authority President says Hamas must exit Gaza

(NYTimes) — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has called for Hamas to “hand over its weapons,” immediately free all hostages and cease ruling the Gaza Strip, the French presidency said Tuesday after receiving a letter from him. The letter was addressed to President Emmanuel Macron of France and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, who will jointly chair a U.N. conference in New York next week to explore the creation of a Palestinian state. Macron has set a number of conditions for the possible French recognition of such a state at that meeting, including the disarmament of Hamas.

UK, Canada and others impose sanctions on far-right Israeli ministers

(NYTimes) — Five Western countries announced Tuesday that they would impose sanctions on two far-right Israeli Cabinet ministers, a significant escalation of Western pressure on Israel over settler violence in the West Bank and conduct of the war in the Gaza Strip. Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Norway jointly imposed the sanctions, which will restrict the right to travel and freeze the financial assets of Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. The two are the most hard-line members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet. The United States denounced the sanctions, saying that they did not help its efforts to achieve a ceasefire.

US teacher seized by Russia is located in prison

(NYTimes) — Stephen James Hubbard, a retired American teacher taken from his eastern Ukrainian home by Russian soldiers shortly after Russia invaded in February 2022, has been located in a Russian prison in Mordovia. His family had no information on his whereabouts since his criminal conviction in 2024. Hubbard is designated by the U.S. State Department as “wrongfully detained,” an indication that the United States believes charges against him are fabricated. Hubbard, 73, was accused of manning a checkpoint and fighting for Ukraine, and then convicted by Russia of being a mercenary in October and sentenced to almost seven years in a penal colony.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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