Alexander Brothers Found Guilty on All Counts in Sex-Trafficking Trial
The verdict comes more than a month after the trial began in Federal District Court in Manhattan where the jury heard weeks of emotional and often graphic testimony.
Trump Threatens to Crowd Out Republicans’ Midterm Message
As the G.O.P. gathered in Miami for a party retreat where lawmakers hoped to focus on the economy, the president threatened to block his own party’s legislative agenda.
Epstein’s Remote Zorro Ranch Is Searched by New Mexico Investigators
Some of the disgraced financier’s victims have said they were trafficked at the property south of Santa Fe, where the nearest neighbors are miles away.
Casey Wasserman Agency Removes His Name From Company in Epstein Fallout
The sports and marketing agency is contending with the fallout from the Epstein files, and it is continuing to look for a buyer.
In Scathing Ruling, Judge Says 3 Trump Prosecutors Are in Unlawful Roles
The ruling found that the three-person leadership team in New Jersey’s federal prosecutor’s office was illegal, and sharply questioned President Trump’s priorities.
Lawmakers Pressure Hochul to Raise Taxes in New York
The State Assembly and Senate are each calling for the state to raise taxes, piggybacking on a push by Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York City.
EA Lays Off Staff Across All Battlefield Studios Following Record-Breaking Battlefield 6 Launch
Electronic Arts has laid off staff across multiple Battlefield studios despite Battlefield 6 being the best-selling game in the U.S. in 2025 and the "biggest launch in franchise history." According to IGN, the layoffs include workers at Criterion, Dice, Ripple Effect, and Motive Studios. From the report: Individuals are being informed that the layoffs are taking place as part of a "realignment" across the Battlefield studios, as the team continues its ongoing, live service support for Battlefield 6 following launch. All four studios will remain operational, though the layoffs seem to be impacting a variety of teams across multiple studios and offices.
IGN asked EA for comment on total number and types of roles impacted, as well as for the specific reasons for the layoffs. An EA spokesperson told IGN: "We've made select changes within our Battlefield organization to better align our teams around what matters most to our community. Battlefield remains one of our biggest priorities, and we're continuing to invest in the franchise, guided by player feedback and insights from Battlefield Labs."
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Talent Agent Ari Emanuel Launches His Own Podcast, ‘Rushmore’
Hollywood’s archetypical agent has been showing a very different side of himself as a host of a video podcast called “Rushmore.”
2 Teen Mariachi Musicians Released From ICE Detention
Representative Joaquin Castro of Texas led a delegation of Democrats to a South Texas detention center to press for the release of the brothers and their family.
Oil Prices Will Remain High as Iran War Continues
While officials look for ways to ease oil shocks, experts say higher prices will likely persist until traffic through the Strait of Hormuz returns.
Meteorite Crashes Through Roof in Germany After Fiery Light Show
The fireball from space was spotted by a network of sky-watching cameras in Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Germany.
O.S.U. President Walter Carter Jr. Resigns Over ‘Inappropriate Relationship’
The university said it was investigating a company owned by a podcaster after the president, Walter Carter Jr., said he had “made a mistake.”
Iran War Sends Tremors Through the Global Economy
Also, a giant mirror could soon be sent into space. Here’s the latest at the end of Monday.
Live Nation Avoids Ticketmaster Breakup By 'Open Sourcing' Their Ticketing Model
Live Nation reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice that avoids breaking up its dominant live events empire with Ticketmaster. Instead, the deal requires changes like "open sourcing" their ticketing model and divesting some venues. NBC News reports: The company and the Justice Department reached a settlement on Monday, following a week of testimony during an antitrust trial that threatened to potentially separate the world's largest live entertainment company. [...] On a background call with reporters Monday, a senior justice official said the deal will drive down prices by giving both artists and consumers more choice.
As part of the agreement, Ticketmaster will provide a standalone ticketing system that will allow third-party companies like SeatGeek and StubHub to offer primary tickets through the platform. The senior justice official described it as "open sourcing" their ticketing model. The company will also divest up to 13 amphitheaters and reserve 50% of tickets for nonexclusive venues. Ticketmaster is also prohibited from retaliating against a venue that selects another primary ticket distributor, among other requirements. Although a group of states have joined the DOJ in signing the agreement, other states can continue to press their own claims.
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Billionaires Made 19% of Federal Election Campaign Contributions in 2024
Billionaires made 19 percent of all reported federal campaign contributions in 2024, a Times analysis shows, and even more in some local elections. Wealthy donors are reaping the rewards.
An Amish Avatar and an A.I. Monk Are Pitching Supplements on Social Media
Influencers have long hawked supplements on platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Increasingly, the influencers are fake.
How AI Assistants Are Moving the Security Goalposts
An anonymous reader quotes a report from KrebsOnSecurity: AI-based assistants or "agents" -- autonomous programs that have access to the user's computer, files, online services and can automate virtually any task -- are growing in popularity with developers and IT workers. But as so many eyebrow-raising headlines over the past few weeks have shown, these powerful and assertive new tools are rapidly shifting the security priorities for organizations, while blurring the lines between data and code, trusted co-worker and insider threat, ninja hacker and novice code jockey.
The new hotness in AI-based assistants -- OpenClaw (formerly known as ClawdBot and Moltbot) -- has seen rapid adoption since its release in November 2025. OpenClaw is an open-source autonomous AI agent designed to run locally on your computer and proactively take actions on your behalf without needing to be prompted. If that sounds like a risky proposition or a dare, consider that OpenClaw is most useful when it has complete access to your entire digital life, where it can then manage your inbox and calendar, execute programs and tools, browse the Internet for information, and integrate with chat apps like Discord, Signal, Teams or WhatsApp.
Other more established AI assistants like Anthropic's Claude and Microsoft's Copilot also can do these things, but OpenClaw isn't just a passive digital butler waiting for commands. Rather, it's designed to take the initiative on your behalf based on what it knows about your life and its understanding of what you want done. "The testimonials are remarkable," the AI security firm Snyk observed. "Developers building websites from their phones while putting babies to sleep; users running entire companies through a lobster-themed AI; engineers who've set up autonomous code loops that fix tests, capture errors through webhooks, and open pull requests, all while they're away from their desks." You can probably already see how this experimental technology could go sideways in a hurry. [...] Last month, Meta AI safety director Summer Yue said OpenClaw unexpectedly started mass-deleting messages in her email inbox, despite instructions to confirm those actions first. She wrote: "Nothing humbles you like telling your OpenClaw 'confirm before acting' and watching it speedrun deleting your inbox. I couldn't stop it from my phone. I had to RUN to my Mac mini like I was defusing a bomb."
Krebs also noted the many misconfigured OpenClaw installations users had set up, leaving their administrative dashboards publicly accessible online. According to pentester Jamieson O'Reilly, "a cursory search revealed hundreds of such servers exposed online." When those exposed interfaces are accessed, attackers can retrieve the agent's configuration and sensitive credentials. O'Reilly warned attackers could access "every credential the agent uses -- from API keys and bot tokens to OAuth secrets and signing keys."
"You can pull the full conversation history across every integrated platform, meaning months of private messages and file attachments, everything the agent has seen," O'Reilly added. And because you control the agent's perception layer, you can manipulate what the human sees. Filter out certain messages. Modify responses before they're displayed."
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Chaos on Mamdani’s Doorstep: ‘We’ve Never Had Anything Like This Here’
For two hours, the streets around Gracie Mansion became the stage for a heated protest, reflecting a nation seething with angst and unease.
Locals in Other States Prepare for ICE With Lots of Rumors and Little Information
After the sprawling and chaotic federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota, jurisdictions in other states have been bracing for a range of scenarios.
Bluesky CEO Jay Graber Is Stepping Down
Bluesky CEO Jay Graber is stepping down after overseeing the platform's growth from a Twitter research project into a 40-million-user alternative to X. "As Bluesky matures, the company needs a seasoned operator focused on scaling and execution, while I return to what I do best: building new things," Graber wrote in a statement.
She will be transitioning to a new Chief Innovation Officer role while Venture capitalist Toni Schneider will serve as interim CEO until the board searches for a permanent replacement. Wired reports: Graber joined Bluesky in 2019, when it was a research project within Twitter focused on developing a decentralized framework for the social web. She became the company's first chief executive officer in 2021, when it spun out into an independent entity. She oversaw the platform's remarkable rise and the growing pains it experienced as it transformed from a quirky Twitter offshoot to a full-fledged alternative to X. Schneider tells WIRED that he intends to help Bluesky "become not just the best open social app, but the foundation for a whole new generation of user-owned networks."
Schneider, who will continue working as a partner at the venture capital firm True Ventures while at Bluesky, was previously CEO of the Wordpress parent company, Automattic, from 2006 to 2014. He also served as its CEO again in 2024 while top executive Matt Mullenweg went on a sabbatical. During that time, Schneider met Graber and became an adviser to Bluesky's leadership. In a blog post announcing his new role, Schneider said he plans to emphasize scaling, describing his job as "to help set up Bluesky's next phase of growth."
This isn't the end for Graber and Bluesky. She will transition to become the company's chief innovation officer, a role focused on Bluesky's technology stack rather than its business operations. The position was created for her. Graber, who began her career as a software engineer, has always sounded the most enthusiastic when discussing Bluesky's technology rather than its revenue streams. Bluesky's board of directors will appoint the next permanent CEO. The members include Jabber founder Jeremie Miller, crypto-focused VC Kinjal Shah, TechDirt founder Mike Masnick, and Graber. (Twitter founder Jack Dorsey was originally part of the board but quit in 2024.) This means Graber will have input on her successor. The talent search is still in early stages.
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