FBI: Scammers stole more than $3.4B from older Americans last year

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI says scammers stole more than $3.4 billion from older Americans last year. An FBI report released Tuesday shows a rise in losses through increasingly sophisticated tactics to trick the vulnerable into giving up their life savings. Investigators are warning of a rise in brazen schemes to drain bank accounts involving sending couriers in person to collect cash or gold from victims. The FBI says investigators are seeing organized, transnational criminal enterprises targeting older Americans through a variety of schemes, like romance scams and investment frauds. Authorities say earlier this month an 81-year-old Ohio man fatally shot an Uber driver he thought was trying to rob him after receiving scam phone calls.

Mammograms should start at 40 to address rising breast cancer rates at younger ages, panel says

(AP) — Regular mammograms to screen for breast cancer should start younger — at age 40. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force announced the updated guidance Tuesday. It also says women ages 40 to 74 should get screened every other year. Previously, it said women could choose to start breast cancer screening as young as 40, with a stronger recommendation that women get the exams every two years starting at age 50. The nudge toward earlier screening is meant to address the increasing incidence of breast cancer among women in their 40s and the higher breast cancer death rate among Black women compared to white women.

Eight U.S. newspapers sue ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and Microsoft

NEW YORK (AP) — A group of eight U.S. newspapers is suing ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging that the technology companies have been “purloining millions” of copyrighted news articles without permission or payment to train their artificial intelligence chatbots. The New York Daily News, Chicago Tribune, Denver Post and other papers filed the lawsuit Tuesday in a New York federal court. The other newspapers that are part of the lawsuit are MediaNews Group’s Mercury News, Denver Post, Orange County Register and St. Paul Pioneer-Press, and Tribune Publishing’s Orlando Sentinel and South Florida Sun Sentinel.

House Republicans launch investigation into federal funding for universities amid campus protests

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are investigating the federal funding for universities where students have protested the Israel-Hamas war. They are broadening a campaign that has placed heavy scrutiny on how presidents at the nation’s most prestigious colleges have dealt with reports of antisemitism on campus. Several House committees will be tasked with a wide probe that ultimately threatens to withhold federal research grants and other government support to the universities. It places another pressure point on campus administrators who are struggling to manage pro-Palestine encampments, allegations of discrimination against Jewish students and questions of how they are integrating free speech and campus safety.