Democrats Reach Spending Deal With Trump, Seeking to Rein In ICE
Democrats and the White House agreed to fund the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks while they negotiate restrictions on an immigration crackdown. Senators said they hoped to vote on the deal on Friday.
Trump and First Lady Attend Premiere of ‘Melania’ at Kennedy Center
Amazon paid Melania Trump’s production company $40 million for the movie and then paid another $35 million to promote it.
Universal Basic Income Could Be Used To Soften Hit From AI Job Losses In UK, Minister Says
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Guardian: The UK could introduce a universal basic income (UBI) to protect workers in industries that are being disrupted by AI, the investment minister Jason Stockwood has said. "Bumpy" changes to society caused by the introduction of the technology would mean there would have to be "some sort of concessionary arrangement with jobs that go immediately", Lord Stockwood said. The Labour peer told the Financial Times: "Undoubtedly we're going to have to think really carefully about how we soft-land those industries that go away, so some sort of [universal basic income], some sort of lifelong mechanism as well so people can retrain."
A universal basic income is not part of official government policy, but when asked whether people in government were considering the need for UBI, Stockwood told the FT: "People are definitely talking about it." [...] While he has previously been a vocal proponent of a wealth tax in the UK, Stockwood told the FT he had not repeated his calls for the government to go further on taxing the rich. However, he added: "If you make your money and the first thing you do is you speak to a tax adviser to ask: 'Where can we pay the lowest tax?' we don't want those people in this country, I'd suggest, because you're not committed to your communities and the long-term success in this country."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
War Threats and Ambiguous Evidence: Trump Again Confronts Iran
There is little sign that Iran has made significant progress in reconstituting its nuclear program, leaving questions about the timing and motive behind potential plans for further attacks.
Xi’s Military Purge May Set Back His Taiwan Ambitions
By ousting his top generals, Xi Jinping has secured absolute control, but has also hollowed out the command structure preparing for possible war over Taiwan.
California Jury Convicts Ex-Google Engineer of Stealing AI Secrets
A federal jury found that Linwei Ding stole thousands of confidential files to help him start a company in Beijing.
Newsom Files Civil Rights Complaint Against Dr. Oz Over Fraud Video
Dr. Mehmet Oz, a top federal health official, posted a video that accuses Armenian Americans in California of health care fraud.
Comcast Keeps Losing Customers Despite Price Guarantee, Unlimited Data
Comcast's attempt to slow broadband customer losses still isn't stopping the bleeding as fiber and fixed wireless competition intensifies. In Q4 2025 alone, Comcast lost 181,000 broadband subscribers, even as it leans harder into wireless bundling and other business lines like Peacock and theme parks. Ars Technica reports: The Q4 net loss is more than the 176,000 loss predicted by analysts, although not as bad as the 199,000-customer loss that spurred [Comcast President Mike Cavanagh's] comment about Comcast "not winning in the marketplace" nine months ago. The Q4 2025 loss reported today is also worse than the 139,000-customer loss in Q4 2024 and the 34,000-customer loss in Q4 2023.
"Subscriber losses were 181,000, as the early traction we are seeing from our new initiatives was more than offset by continued competitive intensity," Comcast CFO Jason Armstrong said during an earnings call today, according to a Motley Fool transcript. Comcast's residential broadband customers dropped to 28.72 million, while business broadband customers dropped to 2.54 million, for a total of 31.26 million.
Armstrong said that average revenue per user grew 1.1 percent, "consistent with the deceleration that we had previewed reflecting our new go-to-market pricing, including lower everyday pricing and strong adoption of free wireless lines." Armstrong expects average revenue per user to continue growing slowly "for the next couple of quarters, driven by the absence of a rate increase, the impact from free wireless lines, and the ongoing migration of our base to simplified pricing." Comcast Connectivity & Platforms chief Steve Croney said the firm is facing "a more competitive environment from fiber" and continued competition from fixed wireless. "The market is going to remain intensely competitive," he said.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Melania Trump Documentary Premiere: Who Was at the Kennedy Center
Top White House officials streamed into the Kennedy Center on Thursday for a screening of Amazon’s new documentary about the first lady, Melania Trump.
Michael Beck, 65, Dies; First to Report Symptoms of ‘Havana Syndrome’
As an employee with the N.S.A., he claimed he was exposed to a direct-energy device that led to a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease at the age of 45.
The Polls Are Clear. Americans Don’t Want This.
There is rising anxiety among Americans that the presence of an armed federal force in cities is actively making life less safe for people who live there.
Maps: Where the U.S. Is Building Up Military Force Near Iran
President Trump has not authorized military action in Iran, but the U.S. has built up its presence in the region in recent days.
Cory Doctorow On Tariffs and the DMCA In Canada
Longtime Slashdot reader devnulljapan writes: In 2012, Canada passed anti-circumvention law Bill C-11, cut-and-pasted from the U.S. DMCA, in return for access to U.S. markets without tariffs. Trump has tariffed Canada anyway, so Cory Doctorow suggests it sounds like like a good idea to ditch Bill C-11 and turn Canada into a "Disenshittification Nation" and go into the business of "disenshittify[ing] America's defective tech exports." Some of the specific ways Canada could respond include legalize jailbreaking, allow alternative app stores/clients, force companies to offer repair tools, and open firmware that break monopoly lock-ins. Cory's pitch is equal parts economic strategy (capture the rents Big Tech extracts) and national security (reduce dependence on U.S. tech stacks that can be switched off or weaponized).
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Did Trump Really Give Nicki Minaj a $1 Million ‘Gold Card’ Visa?
“Gold Trump card free of charge,” the rapper wrote on social media. But the White House says it’s not what it seems.
Washington Post Plans Cuts to Reshape Newsroom
The changes are expected to include significant layoffs in areas like sports and international coverage.
Trump Weighs New Military Options Against Iran
The plans being weighed by the president go beyond those he considered weeks ago amid widespread protests against Iran’s government.
Linux Gaming Developers Join Forces To Form the Open Gaming Collective
A group of Linux gaming-focused distros and developers have formed the Open Gaming Collective to pool work on shared components like kernels, input systems, and Valve tooling. The Verge reports: Universal Blue, developer of the gaming-focused Linux distribution Bazzite, announced on Wednesday that its helping to form the OGC with several other groups, which will collaborate on improvements to the Linux gaming ecosystem and âoecentralize efforts around critical components like kernel patches, input tooling, and essential gaming packages such as gamescope." The other founding members of the OGC include Nobara, ChimeraOS, Playtron, Fyra Labs, PikaOS, ShadowBlip, and Asus Linux.
[...] It's worth noting that this will mean some changes to Bazzite, which is switching to the OGC kernel, replacing HHD with InputPlumber as its input framework, and integrating features like RGB and fan control into the Steam UI. Bazzite also added that, "We'll be sharing patches we've made to various Valve packages with the OGC and attempting to upstream everything we can."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Patrick Schiltz, an Ethicist, Is the Minnesota Judge Blasting ICE
Judge Patrick Schiltz, an appointee of George W. Bush, became an unlikely critic of the Trump administration’s tactics in Minnesota.
Venezuelan Lawmakers Approve Sweeping Overhaul of Oil Sector
Bowing to Trump administration pressure, the new legislation improves conditions for foreign oil companies and opens the way to slash the taxes they pay.
What Domestic Terrorism Means, and Doesn’t
The Trump administration has called the Minneapolis shooting victims “domestic terrorists.” Our criminal justice reporter Jonah E. Bromwich explains what that term actually means.