## US supreme court approves redrawn Texas congressional maps

Authored by theguardian.com

Texas can use a redrawn congressional map that adds as many as five Republican-friendly congressional districts, the supreme court ruled on Thursday, handing Donald Trump a major win in his push to boost Republican seats ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

In an unsigned order, the 6-3 conservative majority court granted a request by Texas to lift a lower court’s ruling that struck down the state’s new map in November.

“The district court improperly inserted itself into an active primary campaign, causing much confusion and upsetting the delicate federal-state balance in elections,” the supreme court said in an order explaining its decision.

Republicans in Texas, North Carolina, and Missouri have passed new maps that could add as many as seven GOP-friendly seats.

Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, welcomed the supreme court ruling in favor of the state’s Republican party.

Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, said the court had “once again shredded its credibility by rubber-stamping a racially gerrymandered map in Texas”.

The gerrymandered Texas congressional map is a partisan and racially discriminatory power grab designed to subvert the will of the voters – particularly in Black and Latino communities. »

### Kenyan court declares law banning seed sharing unconstitutional

Authored by apnews.com

KISUMU, Kenya (AP) — A high court in Kenya on Thursday declared unconstitutional sections of a seed law that prevented farmers from sharing and selling indigenous seeds in what food campaigners have called a landmark win for food security.

Farmers in Kenya could face up to two years’ imprisonment and a fine of 1 million Kenya shillings ($7,700) for sharing seeds through their community seed banks, according to a seed law signed in 2012.

Justice Rhoda Rutto on Thursday said sections of the seed law that gave government officials powers to raid seed banks and seize seeds were also unconstitutional. »

### Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa Dies: ‘Mortal Kombat, ‘Last Emperor’ & ‘Man In The High Castle’ Actor Was 75

Authored by deadline.com

Tagawa died due to complications from a stroke early this morning surrounded by his children.

He began playing the character in New Line’s 1995 film adaptation and was also featured in the 1997 follow-up Mortal Kombat Annihilation.

Tagawa lived on the island of Kauai where he and his wife Sally raised their two children. »

### Microsoft drops AI sales targets in half after salespeople miss their quotas

Authored by arstechnica.com

The adjustment is reportedly unusual for Microsoft, and it comes after the company missed a number of ambitious sales goals for its AI offerings.

AI agents are specialized implementations of AI language models designed to perform multistep tasks autonomously rather than simply responding to single prompts.

In another US Azure unit, most salespeople failed to meet an earlier quota to double Foundry sales, and Microsoft cut their quotas to 50 percent for the current fiscal year. »

### Investigators found Hegseth had a 'unique' system installed so he could use his personal cellphone from inside his secure Pentagon office

Authored by businessinsider.com

The Pentagon inspector general released findings from an investigation into the secretary's use of Signal earlier this year.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had his assistant install a "unique" system in his secure office at the Pentagon that allowed him to access and control his personal cellphone from inside, a new watchdog report says.

Hegseth confirmed in a July statement to the Pentagon inspector general's office that he requested the system. »

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