Nation and World news — at a glance — for July 11

Hot nights fuel wildfires in California

(NYTimes) — Over the July 4 weekend, hundreds of fires sparked across California, feeding on the hot, dry conditions of an ongoing heat wave. They grew rapidly and expanded their territory at a time when fires traditionally rest: at night. But human-caused climate change has accelerated nighttime warming more quickly than daytime warming, dismantling this natural shield. “With climate change, we will see more and more overnight burning,” said Kaiwei Luo, a doctoral student in environmental sciences at the University of Alberta and the lead author of a recent study in the journal Nature that found overnight burning can cause fires to burn larger and longer.

Hospitals in Houston ‘backed up’ after hurricane as millions in US swelter

(NYTimes) — Texas officials began moving patients into a temporary field hospital in Houston’s massive sports complex Wednesday, two days after Hurricane Beryl left millions without power as excessive heat and humidity swamped the region. The lack of electricity has strained the health care system in the nation’s fourth-largest city. Doctors determined that it was not safe to discharge some patients to homes without air conditioning, leading to “backed up” hospitals and three-hour wait times for ambulances to drop off patients. Officials suspect heat as the cause of more than 30 deaths in the West this month. About 144 million people were under National Weather Service heat advisories Wednesday.

NASA says no plan to use SpaceX to rescue Boeing Starliner astronauts

(NYTimes) — For two astronauts supposedly stranded in space, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore of NASA are certainly enjoying living aboard the International Space Station for an extra month or two. Williams and Wilmore arrived at the space station June 6 as part of a shakedown flight for Boeing’s new Starliner spacecraft. Their stay was originally scheduled for just over a week, but it now has stretched indefinitely as engineers work to understand problems that occurred with Starliner’s propulsion system before it docked with the space station. One small helium leak occurred before launch, but four more popped up once Starliner reached orbit.

In constant battle with insurers, doctors reach for a cudgel: AI

(NYTimes) — For a growing number of doctors, AI chatbots — which can draft letters to insurers in seconds — are opening a new front in the battle to approve costly claims, accomplishing in minutes what years of advocacy and attempts at health care reform have not. Doctors are turning to the technology even as some of the country’s largest insurance companies face class-action lawsuits alleging that they used their own technology to swiftly deny large batches of claims and cut off seriously ill patients from rehabilitation treatment. Some experts fear that the prior-authorization process will soon devolve into an AI “arms race,” in which bots battle bots over insurance coverage.

Arkansas rejects abortion rights amendment petition on technicality

(NYTimes) — The Arkansas secretary of state Wednesday rejected an effort to put an abortion-rights amendment on the ballot this November, saying the campaign failed to submit necessary paperwork. Less than a week ago, organizers said they had successfully submitted more than 101,000 signatures, a few thousand more than the required minimum. Last Friday, the day of the deadline, they dropped off boxes of petitions, cheering in the halls of the state Capitol. But in a letter Wednesday, John Thurston, the secretary of state, said the group had failed to submit a sworn statement identifying paid canvassers and confirming that those canvassers had been educated on how to collect signatures.

Biden announces tariffs on Chinese metals routed through Mexico

(NYTimes) — The Biden administration took steps Wednesday to prevent China from circumventing U.S. tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum by routing those imports through Mexico. U.S. officials said the move would close a trade loophole that has allowed state-subsidized Chinese metals to circumvent U.S. tariffs. The United States will now impose a 25% tariff on Mexican steel that is melted or poured outside North America before being turned into a finished product. Mexican aluminum coming into the United States will face a tariff of 10% if it contains metal that has been smelted or cast in China, Belarus, Iran or Russia, said Lael Brainard, the director of the White House’s National Economic Council.

Amazon says it reached climate goal seven years early

(NYTimes) — Amazon announced Wednesday that effectively all of the electricity its operations used last year came from sources that did not produce greenhouse gas emissions. In its announcement, Amazon said it had reached its goal of 100% clean energy seven years ahead of schedule. The company said it invested billions in more than 500 solar and wind projects to achieve its target. But because the solar and wind farms do not all directly power Amazon’s operations — most of that energy is sent to electricity grids that serve many businesses and homes — some critics say that the company’s calculations can create a misleading impression of its effect on the climate.

Macron ends his silence, calling for ‘a broad gathering’ that would split the left

(NYTimes) —French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that “a little time” would be needed to build a “broad gathering” of what he called “republican forces” able to form a coalition government. In a letter to the French people, Macron said “nobody won” the election. The New Popular Front, a resurgent left-wing alliance that came in first with about 180 seats — well short of the 289 needed for an absolute majority in the National Assembly. That group’s leaders claimed victory and said the alliance would name its choice for prime minister this week. The letter made clear that Macron is almost certain to reject the left’s choice, raising tensions that are already high.

Deadly Israeli strike at school-turned-shelter shatters a moment of cheer

(NYTimes) — It was a moment of respite and levity in the Gaza Strip: Boys played soccer in the courtyard of a school building as a crowd looked on. The moment did not last. Video shared by Al Jazeera and verified by The New York Times recorded the instant an Israeli airstrike hit outside the school-turned-shelter Tuesday night, killing at least 27 Palestinians, according to Gaza authorities. The Israeli military said that the strike targeted a Hamas member who took part in the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel that ignited the war. The military said it was “looking into reports that civilians were harmed.”

UK Police find man suspected of killing 3 women with crossbow

(NYTimes) — Authorities in England located a man Wednesday who was suspected of killing three women the previous night with a crossbow and possibly other weapons in a small town north of London, according to Hertfordshire Police. The man, who was identified as Kyle Clifford, 26, was found in the Enfield area of north London after a search and is receiving medical treatment for injuries, police said in a statement. Police said they arrived at the scene just before 7 p.m. Tuesday and found three women with serious injuries who died shortly afterward. The BBC reported that the victims were the wife and daughters of one of its horse-racing commentators.

UAE puts 84 civil society members on trial again, sentencing 43 to life

(NYTimes) — A group of 84 lawyers, academics and activists in the United Arab Emirates who had been convicted in shadowy national security trials years ago, after they had called for political reforms, had expected to soon be released from prison as their sentences expired. Instead, they were all prosecuted again, accused of starting a “terrorist” organization called the Justice and Dignity Committee. On Wednesday, an Abu Dhabi court sentenced 10 of them to an additional 10 to 15 years behind bars, and 43 others to life in prison. The court dismissed the cases against 24 defendants, the Emirati state news agency said, and acquitted one. The outcomes of the remaining cases remained unclear.

Squirt guns and ‘go home’ signs: Barcelona residents take aim at tourists

(NYTimes) — Over the weekend in Barcelona, locals’ anger at tourists over housing shortages, overcrowding and the cost of living was tangible — and wet. Residents of the Catalan capital took to the streets Saturday, squirting water guns at diners eating al fresco. Some carried signs with messages such as “tourists go home.” About 2,800 people demonstrated, police said, a figure some organizers said was an undercount. “Spraying someone with water is not violent,” said Daniel Pardo Rivacoba, who helped lead and organize the protest. “It’s probably not nice,” he added, “but what the population is suffering every day is more violent.” Rosario Sánchez, a Spanish tourism official, condemned the protests.