Top 8 today

Top eight stories for today including the Supreme Court ruled Alabama adopted a congressional map that diluted the votes of Black residents; A former Kuwaiti minister of defense was given a new chance to claim he's the rightful owner of the so-called Mountain in Beverly Hills; An adviser to the EU’s top court approved Amazon’s sweetheart tax deal with Luxembourg, and more.

National

Bolstering Voting Rights Act, Supreme Court finds violation in Alabama

Alabama adopted a congressional map that diluted the votes of Black residents, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday, siding with civil rights groups.

Voting rights activists march outside of the Supreme Court on Aug. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

As wildfire smoke chokes East Coast, Senate tackles federal firefighting challenges

As the nation's capital braved a second day of hazardous air contamination thanks to wildfires blazing in Canada, federal officials told members of the Senate that the government is underpaying and overworking wildland firefighter forces.

A thick layer of smoke blankets the Washington Monument as the Marine Corps honor color guard rehearse in Washington on June 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

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Americans express skepticism of race in college admissions ahead of big Supreme Court ruling

With only weeks to go before the Supreme Court is expected to rule on a landmark case that could end affirmative action, researchers announced Thursday that the majority of Americans could support that result.

Graduates walk at a Harvard commencement ceremony held for the classes of 2020 and 2021 in Cambridge, Mass., on May 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm)

Regional

Lawyer who cited bogus legal opinions from ChatGPT pleads AI ignorance

A New York lawyer whose court filings included fake case citations generated by ChatGPT apologized Thursday afternoon for getting duped by the artificial intelligence tool, but the federal judge overseeing potential sanctions appeared unlikely to show any mercy.

New York attorney Steven Schwartz leaves Manhattan Federal Court after a June 8, 2023, hearing in which he apologized for using the AI chatbot ChatGPT to generate bogus case citations for legal research. (Josh Russell/Courthouse News Service)

Ex-Kuwaiti minister gets new shot at claiming ownership of Beverly Hills ‘Mountain’

A former Kuwaiti minister of defense was given a new chance to claim he's the rightful owner of the so-called Mountain in Beverly Hills, a 157-acre plot of undeveloped land that at one point was valued at $1 billion.

Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills on March 21, 2012. (John O'Neill/Creative Commons via Courthouse News)

International

Amazon tax deal with Luxembourg OK’d by court adviser

A sweetheart deal in Luxembourg that allegedly allowed retail giant Amazon to avoid millions of dollar in taxes was not improper and the European Commission wrongly classified it as illegal state aid, an adviser to the European Union's top court said Thursday.

An Amazon logo on the company's building in Schoenefeld near Berlin, Germany, March 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, File)

Mexican justice in thesis scandal claims vindication from technicality

Lawyers for an embattled Mexican Supreme Court justice accused of plagiarizing both her undergraduate and doctoral theses premiered the latest installment of what has become a laughter-eliciting affair for the country’s legal community.

Supreme Court Justice Yasmín Esquivel Mossa, seen here in a photo taken from her Twitter account, is accused of plagiarizing her undergraduate thesis. (Twitter via Courthouse News)

Science

Octopuses adapt to temperature shifts by rewiring brain

From escaping tanks for stolen midnight fish snacks, opening jars, and playing little tricks on biologists, what can’t octopuses do? They can even, according to a new study, rewrite their genetics to accommodate for environmental changes.

The California two-spot octopus (Octopus bimaculoides) is native to the coast of California and Mexico and is identified by their bright blue eyespots. (Roger T. Hanlon/Marine Biological Labratory)

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