Sophie Sullivan

UC Berkeley mathematics professor Zvezdelina Stankova acknowledged using AI to help edit an op-ed arguing that some students enter Berkeley five to eight years behind in mathematics and that UC’s test-blind admissions policy contributed to declining preparedness. The San Francisco Standard op-ed was flagged by Berkeley student journalists using Pangram, which estimated that 33% had been generated or assisted by AI. Stankova said the work involved hundreds of hours of human effort and that AI helped locate documents and edit material, while the Standard said humans remained responsible for the published article. The disclosure has prompted debate over academic and editorial AI use, but Stankova said it distracts from her team’s case for reinstating standardized tests. UC ended SAT and ACT requirements in 2020, and its academic senate is reviewing whether testing should return, potentially affecting admissions from fall 2028.

A Lake Como-inspired 12-acre estate in Hillsborough, California, has sold for $70m to a man involved in the AI industry. The sale, which followed an $88m listing and less than five months on the market, set records for Hillsborough and Northern California. Real-estate professionals and market data indicate that AI-generated wealth is driving stronger demand and soaring prices at the top end of Silicon Valley housing, while also widening divisions between income tiers and locations near AI employment centers.

Democratic US senators from six states have urged the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to restrict prediction-market betting on wildfires, warning that such contracts could incentivize arson. Polymarket accepted more than $1.2 million in wagers linked to the 2025 Los Angeles fires, while Kalshi has avoided wildfire markets and Wyldfyre has begun offering California fire trades. Experts support regulatory action, citing the speed and scale of betting in an era of climate-driven fires, while the CFTC continues to face questions over its oversight of Polymarket.

Lineage Logistics has applied to repair and rebuild its Los Angeles warehouse roughly a month after a weeklong fire left about 85 million pounds of spoiled food, severe odors, rats and flies affecting nearby residents. Mayor Karen Bass condemned the application as premature while cleanup remains incomplete. Although Lineage says the burned food has been cleared and demolition is beginning, city and county officials say conditions remain unsanitary; the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has issued citations and plans fines of up to $2,000 a day until underlying problems are resolved.

James Loubeau, a US airman stationed at RAF Mildenhall, was accused of sexually assaulting six women in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire during a four-month period in 2019, including allegations that he drugged women or attacked them while they were asleep. Suffolk police transferred responsibility for investigating two British women’s allegations to US military police, allowing the case to proceed through a US court martial, where Loubeau was acquitted in 2020. He was later convicted in a Miami federal court after an FBI investigation linked him through DNA to an American servicewoman he allegedly attacked at Mildenhall. He received a five-year prison sentence and 20 years of post-release supervision. The case has prompted scrutiny of Suffolk police’s decision to cede jurisdiction and broader concerns about US military personnel avoiding British courts for crimes committed in the UK.

A Guardian review of 26 vehicle-assault cases promoted by DHS found that 15 people were never federally charged, eight charged cases were dismissed or deferred, one remains pending, and only one resulted in an assault guilty plea. Court records, videos and official accounts frequently contradicted DHS claims that immigrants or protesters had intentionally rammed ICE vehicles or endangered officers. The findings come amid scrutiny of fatal ICE shootings in Texas and Maine, with critics arguing that inflammatory government rhetoric about immigrants is helping justify dangerous traffic stops and deadly force.

A GlobalX aircraft carrying Portugal’s men’s football team to a World Cup match in Dallas on 4 July was also used for ICE removal flights, including the 2025 deportation of more than 200 Venezuelans to El Salvador’s Cecot prison despite a judge’s order. Flight records indicate the aircraft has conducted more than 1,580 removal-related flights since May 2023. Former detainees allege wrongful gang accusations and physical and psychological abuse. FIFA arranged Portugal’s flight but did not respond to requests for comment, while advocates criticized the use of sports travel to normalize or obscure human-rights abuses. France, England and Iran also reportedly used GlobalX during the tournament, although Avelo Airlines recently ended its ICE contract.

San Francisco International Airport is seeking bids to develop and operate a 75,000-square-foot private terminal for commercial-airline passengers willing to pay for separate security and customs lines, valet transfers, and a secluded luxury experience. The airport plans to award a contract in December 2026 and hopes to open the facility in late 2028. SFO says demand for premium travel and the growth of affluent customers, particularly amid San Francisco’s AI-driven wealth boom, justify the project. Comparable services already operate at airports including Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Los Angeles, Dallas Fort Worth, Miami and Atlanta, with PS charging up to $1,295 for a single visit or $4,850 for annual membership.

The French men’s national football team used GlobalX charter aircraft for at least three domestic World Cup flights, including a plane that had recently transported immigration detainees for ICE. GlobalX has operated more than half of ICE removal flights in recent years, with documented transfers involving secrecy, restraints and alleged due-process violations. The team and airline did not comment. The arrangement is presented as politically incongruous because captain Kylian Mbappé and several teammates have publicly opposed France’s far-right National Rally and anti-immigration politics. England and Iran also reportedly used GlobalX aircraft during the tournament.

Two British women, Rebecca and Emily, described alleged sexual assaults by US airman Tyrion Davis and the invasive court martial held at RAF Lakenheath after UK authorities transferred jurisdiction to the US Air Force. Davis was acquitted of most charges but convicted of sexually assaulting Emily based partly on messages acknowledging that she had told him to stop. He received a 10-month sentence and a dishonourable discharge, a penalty the women regarded as inadequate compared with likely UK sentencing. The case raises concerns about military juries, limited transparency, the treatment of victims, and the process by which British authorities hand crimes involving US personnel to American military courts.

US airman Hannes Marschalek was accused of exposing himself to five women, including a 16-year-old, near his home in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, in 2022. Cambridgeshire police transferred the investigation to the US military, which prosecuted him at a 2023 court martial after negotiating jurisdiction, even though the alleged offences occurred off base and UK courts would ordinarily have primary jurisdiction. Marschalek admitted to being naked at his doorway on two occasions, received a two-month sentence and dismissal from the Air Force, but a US military appeals court later quashed his conviction because prosecutors had charged him under the wrong offence. The case has intensified scrutiny of UK police forces transferring crimes involving US service personnel to American military courts.

A week-long fire at a Lineage Logistics cold-storage warehouse in Boyle Heights destroyed or spoiled roughly 40 million pounds of frozen food, leaving residents exposed to smoke, polluted runoff and an overpowering smell of decaying meat and vegetables. Local resident Kelvin Vasquez reported respiratory and other health symptoms and said the property had become a “ticking bomb” after an earlier solar-panel fire. Cleanup has been assigned to the property owner and contractor Signal, but city health officials said they were unaware of a disposal plan. Lineage has blamed rooftop solar operator Altus Power, which disputes that the cause has been established, while Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass pledged accountability and additional cleanup resources.