Trump Is Promoting ‘Freedom Fuel’ for $3.47 a Gallon. Who’s Behind It?
The president has praised a network of 25 recently rebranded gas stations in the Philadelphia region that have been selling gas for considerably less than the national average.
New York Times Accuses Federal Employment Agency of Retaliation
A May lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claims the newspaper discriminated against a white male employee who did not get a promotion.
U.S. Employers Told to Dismiss Thousands of Immigrant Workers
Shifting deadlines are confusing businesses as the end of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and others looms, making them ineligible to live and work in the United States.
Flooding in Missouri Prompts State of Emergency and at Least 100 Rescues
Gov. Mike Kehoe declared a state of emergency after up to a foot of rain fell overnight in the southeastern part of the state. More storms are in the forecast.
Democrats Haunted by Biden-Harris Switch as They Replace Platner in Maine
The last-minute scramble to name a replacement reminds some in the party of the challenges they faced in 2024.
D.S.A. Members Blast Mamdani Adviser for Elevating Graham Platner
A letter circulated by Democratic Socialists of America members asked that candidates sever ties with Morris Katz, a consultant for Mr. Platner and Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Historian Kerri K. Greenidge and Her Book ‘The Grimkes’ Come Under Fire
Kerri K. Greenidge appeared to lose her professorship at Tufts University after scholars began scrutinizing her 2022 book, “The Grimkes,” which is no longer listed on its publisher’s website.
Buckling Manhattan High Rise Becomes Focus of Criminal Investigation
The inquiry, being conducted by the New York City Department of Investigation and the Manhattan district attorney’s office, was in an early stage, and its focus was unclear.
Brown Professor Suspects Majority of His Class Used AI To Cheat
Longtime Slashdot reader schwit1 shares a report from Inside Higher Ed: For the first time since he started teaching Welfare Economics and Social Choice Theory nearly two decades ago, Brown University economics professor Roberto Serrano gave his students a take-home midterm this spring. Quite a few students had expressed anxiety about being in a classroom after a gunman killed two students and injured nine in a December mass shooting at Brown, and so "it was appropriate," he said, to allow students to take their exams at home. But by the end of the semester, Serrano regretted the decision. Dozens of students in the class likely used artificial intelligence to cheat and earn perfect or near-perfect scores on their midterm, he said. Serrano in turn made the final exam in-person, which led more than a dozen students to drop the course and even more to fail it.
Administrators' response to the widespread cheating event has been "meek," he said, and the incident has raised questions about how universities can -- and should -- respond to AI-enabled cheating at scale. "I am not declaring [the midterm] void for now. I am going to give the class a chance to prove me wrong," he wrote. "That is, if the distribution of the final exam is roughly similar to the distribution of the midterm, I will count the midterm. Otherwise, which is of course what I expect to happen, I will declare the midterm void and reweigh the final accordingly." Serrano heard crickets from his students, but 18 of them subsequently dropped the class. Nine students remained enrolled but did not take the final exam. And Serrano said the results proved him right; three students earned a zero, and the average score on the final was 48.6 percent -- by far a historic low, he said. Previously, the average final exam score had never dropped below 65 percent. Only a few students scored similarly to how they did on the midterm.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Houston to Investigate How ICE Agent Came to Kill a Mexican Immigrant
The agency said Lorenzo Salgado Araujo tried to ram agents with a van before one shot him dead. A lawyer for his passengers said that was untrue.
Charlie Cunningham, Mountain Bike Innovator, Dies at 77
In the late 1970s, he built what is considered the first off-road bicycle with a frame that was aluminum rather than steel, one of his many inventions.
Strait of Hormuz Will Soon Be Declared Open to All Traffic, U.S. Officials Say
The officials said that Iranian negotiators blamed the recent ship attacks on rogue military units.
Russia Hacks Doorbell Cameras To Spy On NATO Bases
Dutch intelligence agencies say Russian hackers have been hijacking unsecured internet-connected cameras, including likely doorbell and security cameras, to spy on NATO military bases and transport routes used to move weapons to Ukraine. "Organisations with IP [internet protocol] cameras on these routes have now been warned so that they could take action," said the AIVD domestic security and MIVD military intelligence agencies. Targeted NATO member states include the Netherlands and Ukraine. The Telegraph reports: While the intelligence agencies did not specify the type of cameras hacked, the doorbell systems are frequently used by people to monitor their property from mobile phones. Hackers then use readily available apps to scan for devices that might be accessible. The Dutch investigation found that many of the cameras were unsecured, and "often have standard passwords, outdated firmware and standard configurations." They said: "When the IP camera is identified, the malicious party can attempt to access the IP camera via the internet. This is often relatively easy, because many IP cameras connected to the internet are insufficiently secure."
[...] The practice is now considered easier and cheaper than using drones and satellites to gather intelligence. It also aids operational surprise because most camera owners are blissfully unaware their devices have been penetrated by hackers. Ground-based cameras offer a unique perspective on the terrain, which isn't the case with conventional aerial-based spy kit.
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Trump Cuts Habitat Protections for Endangered Species
The rule change ends a safeguard that had been in place for 50 years and could hasten the demise of imperiled animals.
If Florida Slashes Property Taxes, Where Will the Money Come From?
Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed for a proposal to slash property taxes. But after some local Republican officials protested, he backpedaled, sort of.
Feds Demand Autonomous Vehicle Companies Stop Interfering With First Responders
NHTSA is ordering autonomous vehicle developers to explain by the end of the month how they will stop driverless cars from interfering with police, firefighters, and paramedics. TechCrunch reports: [NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison] noted in the letter (PDF) that the agency has "identified a clear pattern of driverless AVs interfering with law enforcement and other first responders," citing instances in which these vehicles drove into active emergency scenes, blocked the paths of ambulances and firefighters, or failed to recognize and respond to basic safety conditions like flashing lights, flares, smoke, fire, and traffic cones. The agency has demanded that AV developers present their "solutions" to this problem by the end of the month.
"Let me be clear: the inability to detect and appropriately respond to such situations represents a functional insufficiency," Morrison's letter reads. "Emergency scenes are not rare or extreme 'edge cases.' As such, NHTSA is today issuing a call to action for AV developers and operators to immediately focus their resources on fixing this issue." The agency doesn't explicitly call out any particular company in the letter; however, the details suggest it is directed at robotaxi operators like Waymo.
[...] The agency's letter to AV developers doesn't say what the consequences would be if the request is ignored. Nor does it outline what the acceptable solutions would be. But the agency does imply it would hold companies accountable, just as it does human drivers who impede law enforcement. "Every second matters when law enforcement officers, firefighters, or paramedics are answering a call because lives are on the line," the letter states. "That is why human drivers who impede these operations are subject to fines and even jail time."
The agency also noted in a press release accompanying the letter that it's making progress on updating Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) requirements, which govern vehicle design and equipment requirements. These proposed changes could help autonomous vehicle companies like Tesla and Zoox, which are developing vehicles without steering wheels, pedals, or other features required on human-driven cars. The agency has already proposed rules that would eliminate the need for windshield wipers, sun visors, defogging systems, and tire placards. The agency released a new 2026 Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda last week, outlining its proposals.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Mexico to File Criminal Complaints in U.S. Over Immigrant Deaths
The nation’s president vowed to go “beyond diplomatic notes” after a U.S. immigration agent fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican man, in Texas this week.
ICE Killing in Houston Puts Focus on Surge in Immigration Arrests
The shooting death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo occurred as immigration enforcement has ramped up across the country, with thousands being arrested daily.
NYC To Become First In US To Ban Deceptive Subscription Practices
On October 1st, New York City will become the first U.S. city to ban deceptive subscription practices, requiring companies to offer simple cancellation options or face fines of $525 per user subscription, back fees, and additional penalties. The Mamdani administration is also proposing a junk-fee rule requiring sellers, landlords, hotels, and other businesses to "advertise the total price for any good or service, including all mandatory additional charges and fees, up front." The Guardian reports: "People shouldn't have to wait on hold for half an hour or send a certified letter or show up to a store in person in order to cancel" a subscription, said Samuel AA Levine, the city's commissioner of consumer and worker protection, in an interview. The new measures are expected to be announced in a press conference on Friday morning.
The proposed fee rule could have an especially wide impact, sending ripples through New York's expensive housing market, where about 70% of residents rent. Apartment renters in the US face a rising tide of add-on fees such as "boiler management" and "lifestyle" charges from management companies, which make true rental costs hundreds of dollars higher than the price stated on real-estate company websites.
If the proposed renters rule passes after public comment and hearing, any mandatory fees, including annual ones, would need to be included in the stated monthly rental price, Levine said. The current situation creates "a scenario where rather than competing on price, companies are competing on their ability to hide the true price. That's the worst kind of incentive" -- and one that deeply distorts the market, Levine said.
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This Is a Lot More Worrying Than the Supreme Court’s Ruling on Executive Power
The White House is sidestepping Congress to make huge decisions for even the most important private industries.