Human Times

North American Edition

10th July 2026

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THE HOT STORY

Goldman Sachs bans staff from some prediction-market bets

Goldman Sachs has added rules on prediction-market betting to its employee codes of conduct. The bank's personal trading policy bans employees from trading on prediction markets except for sports and entertainment bets. Trading on event contracts related to specific companies, election outcomes, or financial market performance is prohibited. Repeated violations of the policy may lead to dismissal or account closure, and employees may be required to forfeit profit or donate it to charity in cases of improper trades.

Bloomberg

Financial Times

Reuters

AI BUYING GUIDE

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July 14 | 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET

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WORKFORCE

U.S. jobless claims edge lower as labor market remains resilient

The Labor Department reported Thursday that new U.S. unemployment claims fell by 2,000 to 215,000 in the seven days to July 4th, remaining below expectations and signaling that layoffs continue to be historically low despite slower hiring. The four-week moving average fell by 3,750 to 218,750, while the total number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits, reported with a one-week lag, rose by 8,000 to 1.81m. "Claims remain low and stable, with the rise over the last couple of months probably reflecting residual seasonality, rather than an increase in labor market slack," said Samuel Tombs, chief U.S. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. "Looking ahead, layoffs likely will remain low."

TECHNOLOGY

UN launches initiative to improve trust in AI agents

The United Nations' agency for digital technologies is establishing a focus group comprised ⁠of technical, policy and legal experts to improve trust in artificial ‌intelligence agents, amid growing concern about accountability and human oversight over these increasingly autonomous AI systems. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said that while AI agents - systems that act independently on behalf of users to carry out ⁠tasks - can improve productivity, they also run the risk of impersonating people and taking unauthorized decisions. The group will hold its first meeting in Paris in November and its second in Geneva in January.

Reuters

HEALTH & WELLBEING

U.S. announces grants for addiction and mental health programs

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has announced more ‌than $281m in grant funding opportunities across 15 programs to address addiction, overdose and mental illness. The funding opportunities will support programs focused on substance use disorder treatment, suicide prevention, trauma care, recovery services, workforce development and training for first responders.

Reuters

LEGAL

Trump ‌to ask Supreme Court to ⁠rehear case ⁠challenging birthright citizenship

President Donald Trump has said he intends to request a rehearing from the Supreme Court regarding its ruling that affirmed birthright citizenship for babies born in the U.S. under the Fourteenth Amendment. The Supreme Court's decision, made on June 30, rejected Trump's executive order aimed at limiting this citizenship benefit for immigrant children. In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that the “ruling is wrong . . . I will be asking for a Rehearing by the United States Supreme Court, IMMEDIATELY.” He said the ruling could “destroy America.” The Supreme Court has not granted a rehearing since 1965.

Bloomberg Law

CNBC

John Deere settles right-to-repair lawsuit with FTC and states

John Deere has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission and five states over allegations that it unlawfully restricted farmers' ability to repair their own equipment. Under the agreement, Deere will provide farmers and independent repair shops with the same diagnostic tools and repair resources available to authorized dealers for 10 years, including access to new repair resources once they are widely available within its dealer network. The company, which did not admit wrongdoing, will also pay $1m to cover the states' legal costs. The settlement, which is subject to court approval, follows Deere's $99m agreement in April to resolve related private class-action litigation and is intended to expand repair access and reduce costs for farmers.

Courthouse News Service

Des Moines Register

STRATEGY

Apple to buy $30bn of U.S.-made chips from Broadcom

Apple has agreed to spend $30bn over the next five years on U.S.-made chips from Broadcom, marking the largest commitment under its pledge to invest $600bn in the U.S. during President Donald Trump's administration and reinforcing its strategy of expanding domestic semiconductor manufacturing. The agreement is expected to result in the production of 15bn chips in the U.S. and support a $1.5bn investment in Broadcom's manufacturing facility in Fort Collins, Colorado. Apple said the deal strengthens its U.S. semiconductor supply chain, while chief executive Tim Cook thanked the Trump administration for supporting domestic manufacturing projects. The announcement follows Broadcom's recent extension of its supply agreement with Apple until 2031, including the development of custom chips for future Apple products.

Financial Times

Reuters

CORPORATE

U.S. states 'could sue next week to block Paramount-Warner Bros deal'

Sources have told Reuters that U.S. states concerned that Paramount's $110bn acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery will hurt competition could challenge the deal in court as soon as next week. California Attorney General Rob Bonta is leading an investigation into whether the deal violates U.S. laws against mergers that would unlawfully harm competition, Reuters reports.

Reuters

INTERNATIONAL

Fears that 'EU Inc' could erode labor rights

Unions and lawmakers fear that the European Union's new proposal, "EU Inc", a rulebook which aims to streamline business registration across member states, allowing companies to set up online in under 48 hours, could undermine labor rights and worker protections. "On the surface it looks like a technical company law proposal," Marcus Meyer-Erdmann, a researcher at the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), said. "But underneath there are a lot of core elements like pay, worker protection, individual workers' rights, also dismissal protection . . . that would be rendered obsolete in a sense." Finnish radical left EU lawmaker Li Andersson said the proposal "clearly opens up the possibility" for companies to register where labor rights are the weakest. But centrist French EU lawmaker Pascal Canfin is offering reassurances that workers' rights will be protected. "The proposal must not have loopholes that allow abuses," he said. Canfin is to take part in negotiations on behalf of the parliament.

France 24

Fashion industry races to protect supply chains from extreme heat

Global fashion brands and manufacturers are stepping up efforts to protect garment workers from rising temperatures as extreme heat increasingly disrupts production across Asia. Studies show India's garment factories can suffer productivity losses of up to 10% during peak summer months, while 87% of Indian garment workers reported experiencing heat-related illnesses over the past year. Manufacturers are investing in climate-resilient factories with improved insulation, cooling systems and energy-efficient technology, while brands including Uniqlo are supporting suppliers through long-term contracts that enable investment in workplace upgrades. Industry groups are also urging retailers to share responsibility for tackling heat stress, warning that protecting workers and maintaining supply chain resilience will require greater investment and could ultimately increase costs for consumers.

Bloomberg

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries to refund foreign workers' meal costs

Korean shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has said it will fully refund meal costs it had deducted from foreign workers for years, and has announced a package of measures following consultations on improving their working conditions. The company will provide free breakfast, lunch and dinner to all foreign workers and retroactively reimburse meal deductions made since 2023. The average refund is estimated at around 7 million won ($4,600) per worker. HD Hyundai Heavy also said it will revise its bonus system by doing away with performance-based differential payments and instead provide equal bonuses to all foreign workers.

The Korea Times

OTHER

Squirrel causes chaos in Meta office

A squirrel caused a stir at Meta's Bangkok office, creating chaos for about 20 minutes after being delivered in a package. The reason for the squirrel's delivery remains unclear. New York Times journalist Mike Isaac tweeted that the squirrel scratched a janitor who was attempting to capture it, leading to the janitor receiving first aid. Employees reportedly had a "field day" with the incident, with one creating an AI-generated video on squirrel-related office best practices. The squirrel was eventually caught, but its fate is still unknown. Meta has not commented on the event.

NJ.com

OregonLive.com

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