High court has ethics code

A code of ethics has been adopted by the U.S. Supreme Court, the first of its kind. The code has no enforcement mechanism and is up to each individual justice for compliance.

The call for a code came principally after news articles revealed that Associate Justice Clarence Thomas had accepted expensive travel and other benefits.

Other justices criticized have been Samuel Alito and Sonia Sotomayor.

The code includes prohibitions on political activities and connections to family and financial interests, but critics say the code is too vague and doesn’t meet the controversies that have lowered the public’s confidence in the court.

Al-Shifa: refuge or command center?

The Al-Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip is now surrounded by Israeli forces, leading to international controversy over whether the medical facility is providing refuge for the helpless or serving as a command center for the Hamas militant organization, as Israel claims.

President Joe Biden called for “less intrusive action” around Al-Shifa, saying that all the Gaza Strip’s hospitals “must be protected.” The World Health Organization called the situation “dire and perilous” for patients as Al-Shifa is “not functioning as a hospital anymore” since Israel cut off fuel and water to the area.

Health officials say that corpses are decomposing since there’s no way to refrigerate them or take them out.

Sports: UCLA women are third

This week’s AP Top 25 for college women’s basketball shows the UCLA team ranked third with a 3-0 record.

South Carolina (2-0) is ranked first, followed by Iowa (3-0). Fourth is Utah (2-0) and Colorado (3-0) is fifth.

In the men’s top 25, Kansas (2-0) is first, followed by Purdue (2-0) in second, Arizona (2-0) in third, Marquette (2-0) is fourth and UConn (2-0) is fifth.

USC (2-0) is 16th; UCLA is unranked but received 36 points (equivalent to 29th).

Weather: Find your umbrella

The summer weather we’ve been enjoying is about to end, or at least leave for a while. The West Orange County area will have partly cloudy skies on Tuesday. The daytime high should be 79 with a low of 52. Wednesday is forecast to have showers in the afternoon. The daytime high should hit 73 with a low of 59. Partly cloudy skies will be back back on Thursday, and Friday is forecast for scattered thundershowers with a high of 72 and a low of 58.