The White House Panic Over the Epstein Files: Six Takeaways From the New York Times Investigation

NY Times - Wed, 06/10/2026 - 05:04
Senior officials clashed in a series of meetings as they struggled to manage a crisis over the president’s refusal to release the documents.

Is A.I. affecting your career? We want to hear from you.

NY Times - Wed, 06/10/2026 - 05:01
The New York Times wants to talk to workers about what they think artificial intelligence will mean for their careers, and how they are navigating this uncertain period.

NASA Announces Astronauts For Its Artemis III Mission

SlashDot - Wed, 06/10/2026 - 03:00
NASA has named Randy Bresnik, Luca Parmitano, Frank Rubio, and Andre Douglas as the crew for Artemis III, which has been reworked from a moon-landing mission into a roughly two-week Earth-orbit test of lunar landers being built by SpaceX and Blue Origin. NBC News reports: Randy Bresnik, Luca Parmitano, Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas are expected to launch into Earth orbit next year, with the goal of testing two commercially developed lunar landers that are slated to carry astronauts to the surface of the moon during the Artemis IV mission in 2028. Bresnik will be the mission's commander, with Parmitano, an Italian astronaut with the European Space Agency, serving as the pilot. Douglas and Rubio will be mission specialists, and Bob Hines will train with the crew as a backup member. "This test flight will enable us to prove we can carry out highly choreographed operations with our partners across hardware interfaces, software propulsion systems and life support elements with crew in the high-stakes space environment," Jeremy Parsons, NASA's Artemis program manager, said during NASA's announcement on Tuesday. Bresnik has been to the International Space Station twice, most recently as commander of an expedition in 2017. A retired U.S. Marine colonel, he was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2004. Bresnik has helped oversee development and testing of spacecraft for the Artemis program as an assistant to the chief of the Astronaut Office, which manages astronaut training and operations. Parmitano has also done two stints on the ISS and served as commander of an expedition in 2019. He has completed a total of six spacewalks and also performed the first live DJ set in orbit. Before becoming an astronaut, Parmitano was a test pilot for the Italian air force. For Rubio, a physician with 28 years of service in the Army, Artemis III will be his second trip to space. From 2022 to 2023, he spent 371 days on the space station, breaking the record for longest-duration spaceflight by an American, according to NASA. Douglas is the only crew member making his spaceflight debut. An engineer who previously worked on space exploration and robotics at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, he became a NASA astronaut in 2022. Douglas was the backup crew member for the Artemis II mission around the moon earlier this year. He told NBC News in an interview after Tuesday's announcement that the role had at times been a challenge. "It was hard to figure out how do you balance getting ready to go, not go, all that stuff," he said. "But to go now is just fantastic."

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Nevada Attorney General Wins Democratic Nomination for Governor

NY Times - Tue, 06/09/2026 - 23:46
Aaron Ford easily outpaced a Washoe County commissioner, Alexis Hill, for the nod to take on Gov. Joe Lombardo in November.

FCC Wants To Kill Burner Phones By Forcing Telecoms To Get All Customers' IDs

SlashDot - Tue, 06/09/2026 - 23:30
An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wants to make it effectively impossible for people to buy what many call burner phones -- a phone not explicitly linked to your identity at the point of purchase -- which would impact privacy-conscious people, to domestic abuse survivors, to journalists, and many more. The FCC plans to do this by legally forcing the country's telecoms to store a wealth of personal information about essentially all phone customers, including a government issued identification number and their physical address, alarming privacy advocates and civil rights activists who compare the measures to those from authoritarian countries where it can be difficult to buy a mobile phone plan without giving up your identity. The proposed change would drastically shake up how people obtain phone plans in the U.S., and have all sorts of privacy and cybersecurity knock-on effects. The FCC is proposing the data collection partly as a way to combat scammers, with telecoms being required to collect other information on business and foreign customers like the intended use case of their bulk phone plan purchase and their IP address. But the changes would mean telecoms collect data on all new and renewing customers, and the FCC provides a long list of other things that the collected data could help authorities with. In a synopsis of the proposed changes, the FCC writes, "Specifically, we seek comment on requiring originating providers to, at a minimum, obtain and retain the name, physical address, government issued identification number, and an alternate telephone number of any new and renewing customer before granting access to its services." The goal of collecting this data, the FCC writes, is to deter some scammers from getting onto a telecom network in the first place, and so "enforcers will be better able to identify the scammers when they do." The FCC compares the changes to the sort of data collected by banks to prevent money laundering. One section stresses that the newly collected data would help "law enforcement to more easily identify callers that use the network to perpetuate crimes by ensuring that voice providers have accurate and complete customer information." It goes on to ask if the data would help identify people buying and selling illicit goods; the investigation of "fraud, espionage, or influence operations that undermine national security", and "address abuse in text messaging networks." "Criminals continue to leverage the anonymity provided by phone calls and texts to defraud Americans and exploit communications networks to further other crimes," one section reads. "For decades, civil libertarians have looked overseas at authoritarian countries where the government requires people to register to get a mobile phone to ensure they can be tracked. We never thought that would happen here," Jay Stanley, senior policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union's (ACLU) Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project told 404 Media in an email. "But make no mistake: with this rulemaking, the government is contemplating taking away people's ability to get a burner phone, which will hurt low-income people, domestic violence victims, and anyone else who cares about their privacy."

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Trump’s Sharp Turn on China: Embracing It as a Peer Power

NY Times - Tue, 06/09/2026 - 22:00
President Trump’s warming with Xi Jinping of China, a leader he admires, has ignited anxieties in Washington and across Asia.

Lindsey Graham Wins Republican Senate Primary in South Carolina

NY Times - Tue, 06/09/2026 - 21:46
Mr. Graham, a four-term incumbent, is the favorite to win the general election in a solidly Republican state.

Hannah Neeleman’s Ballerina Farm Store Draws Crowds in Utah

NY Times - Tue, 06/09/2026 - 21:41
Tourists are flocking to Midway, Utah. The Ballerina Farm Store, from the influencer whose brand revolves around motherhood and farm life, is a reason.

Blanche Was Once Seen as Tempering Trump’s Tactics. Now He’s All In.

NY Times - Tue, 06/09/2026 - 21:32
The ascendancy of Todd Blanche shows how the practices that were initially deemed out of bounds even in President Trump’s Justice Department seem to be the order of the day.

Sanders-Backed Progressive Advances in California Swing District Against Valadao

NY Times - Tue, 06/09/2026 - 21:02
Randy Villegas will face the incumbent, David Valadao, a Republican who has survived numerous challenges in a competitive district.

Navy Admiral Fired by Hegseth Advances to Runoff to Replace Mace

NY Times - Tue, 06/09/2026 - 20:55
Nancy Lacore would face a tough fall election in a district drawn in 2021 to be more Republican. She is seeking to replace Representative Nancy Mace, who ran unsuccessfully for governor instead of running for re-election.

Steve Hilton Wins Second Spot in California Governor Race, Beating Tom Steyer

NY Times - Tue, 06/09/2026 - 20:47
Steve Hilton, a Republican endorsed by President Trump, will face Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, in the general election. Tom Steyer, another Democrat, will not advance.

Rep. Kevin Kiley, Independent, to Face Richard Pan in California House Race

NY Times - Tue, 06/09/2026 - 20:04
Mr. Kiley dropped his Republican affiliation earlier this year. The newly drawn Sixth Congressional District is widely considered to be favorable for Democrats.

Meta A.I. Bug Allowed Hackers to Take Over Instagram Accounts

NY Times - Tue, 06/09/2026 - 19:51
The flaw, which Meta said it had fixed, allowed anyone to take over accounts using a bug in the company’s new artificial intelligence software.

House defies Johnson and passes Democratic-led labor bill

NY Times - Tue, 06/09/2026 - 19:30
Twenty G.O.P lawmakers broke with Speaker Mike Johnson and joined Democrats in backing a bill to amend the National Labor Relations Act.

US Labels BYD, Baidu, Alibaba and Other Tech Giants As Aiding China's Military

SlashDot - Tue, 06/09/2026 - 19:00
The Pentagon has added Alibaba, BYD, Baidu, Unitree, and other Chinese companies to its list of firms it says support China's military, barring them from U.S. defense contracts. The companies and China's embassy deny the allegations. The Associated Press reports: Created in 2021 by a congressional mandate, the list (PDF) seeks to identify Chinese companies that the Pentagon considers to have links to the Chinese military -- not only those directly controlled by the Chinese military and security forces but also those contributing to the country's defense industrial base. When updating the list last year, the Pentagon said the Chinese military sought to acquire advanced technologies and expertise developed by Chinese companies, universities and research programs that "appear to be civilian entities." The Chinese Embassy on Monday accused the U.S. of "overstretching the concept of national security and making discriminatory lists to go after Chinese companies." It said Chinese companies observe the laws and regulations of the countries where they do business. "The U.S. should stop its wrong practice and create a fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies," the embassy said in a statement. [...] The Chinese Embassy on Monday accused the U.S. of "overstretching the concept of national security and making discriminatory lists to go after Chinese companies." It said Chinese companies observe the laws and regulations of the countries where they do business. "The U.S. should stop its wrong practice and create a fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies," the embassy said in a statement.

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Air Canada Pilot Accused of Flying for 17 Years Without Proper License

NY Times - Tue, 06/09/2026 - 18:57
The pilot, who retired last year before the investigation, held some valid flight credentials, officials said, but not the one required to be a captain.

Everybody Is a Loser in This Middle East War

NY Times - Tue, 06/09/2026 - 18:39
None of the participants in the recent wars of the Middle East can claim victory. All are to blame.

House Passes G.O.P.’s $70 Billion Immigration Bill

NY Times - Tue, 06/09/2026 - 18:11
The vote gave final passage to Republicans’ megabill to fund immigration enforcement through the remainder of President Trump’s term, clearing it for his signature.

EU Orders Meta To Open WhatsApp To Rival AI Chatbots

SlashDot - Tue, 06/09/2026 - 18:00
The European Commission has ordered Meta to temporarily restore free WhatsApp Business API access for rival AI chatbots while it investigates whether Meta's ban on third-party assistants abuses its dominant position. Meta says it will appeal, calling the move "regulatory overreach" that would let major AI companies use a paid WhatsApp product for free. The BBC reports: The EU said it began its investigation, in December 2025, after Meta banned third-party general-purpose AI assistants from the WhatsApp for Business API. It said that appeared to be an abuse of Meta's dominant position in European markets. So, as an interim measure as its investigation continues, it has given Meta five working days to re-instate access for third-party general-purpose AI assistants to the WhatsApp for Business API under the same terms and conditions that were in place previously. "In rapidly evolving markets, competition can be lost long before a final decision is adopted," said Teresa Ribera, the Commission's executive vice-president for clean, just and competitive transition. "This is why these interim measures will remain in place for the duration of the investigation." She added the decision "preserved choice for citizens across Europe on the AI assistants they want to use with WhatsApp, without that decision being made for them." The Commission said if Meta failed to comply with its interim decision it could be fined up to 10% up of its total turnover. "The European Commission has decided that OpenAI and some of the largest companies in the world can use the paid-for WhatsApp Business product for free," it said in a statement. "This is regulatory overreach subsidized by the many European companies that pay. We will appeal."

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