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Today — 26 June 2024Main stream

Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Biden Admin in Social Media Case

✇NYT: Technology
By: Adam Liptak
26 June 2024 at 10:32
The case, one of several this term on how the First Amendment applies to technology platforms, was dismissed on the ground that the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue.

© Eric Lee/The New York Times

Biden Officials Pressed Trans Medical Group to Change Guidelines for Minors, Court Filings Show

✇NYT: Science
By: Azeen Ghorayshi
25 June 2024 at 21:54
Newly released emails from an influential group issuing transgender medical guidelines indicate that U.S. health officials lobbied to remove age minimums for surgery in minors because of concerns over political fallout.

© Ramsay de Give for The New York Times

Staff for Adm. Rachel Levine, an assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, urged the World Professional Association for Transgender Health to drop proposed age limits from the group’s guidelines.
Before yesterdayMain stream

These Grieving Parents Want Congress to Protect Children Online

✇NYT: Technology
By: Cecilia Kang
22 June 2024 at 05:03
A group is using the Mothers Against Drunk Driving playbook, sharing personal tragedies, to lobby for the Kids Online Safety Act.

© Amanda Lucier for The New York Times

Kristin Bride, a member of ParentsSOS, next to an apple tree she planted after her son Carson’s suicide in 2020. The apple’s variety is Sweet Sixteen, Carson’s age when he died.

TikTok Lays Out Past Efforts to Address U.S. Concerns Over Potential Ban

✇NYT: Technology
By: Sapna Maheshwari
20 June 2024 at 16:43
The company said the disclosures support its argument that a law signed by President Biden in May is unconstitutional.

© Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times

TikTok creators gathered for a news conference with members of Congress in March. TikTok has said that a ban of the app would violate the First Amendment.

More Women in Africa Are Using Long-Acting Contraception, Changing Lives

✇NYT: Science
By: Stephanie Nolen and Natalija Gormalova
17 June 2024 at 17:32
Methods such as hormonal implants and injections are reaching remote areas, providing more discretion and autonomy.

Sandra Dadjan, left, administering a three-month contraceptive injection to her client Mary Amoako at Kwapong Health Centre in the Ahafo Region of Ghana.

Law Enforcement Unit Formed to Crack Down on Illegal E-Cigarettes

✇NYT: Science
By: Christina Jewett
10 June 2024 at 13:26
Agents from various federal agencies will focus on unauthorized candy-flavored and nicotine-laden vapes that have flooded the U.S. market from overseas.

© Mike Blake/Reuters

Disposable e-cigarette vape products on a California store shelf bearing flavors like “peach berry,” “pineapple strawberry” and “triple berry ice.”

How a Climate Backlash Influenced Campaigning in Europe

✇NYT: Science
By: Somini Sengupta
9 June 2024 at 12:15
After years of political consensus on the transition to cleaner energy, a ‘greenlash’ began bubbling up as prices rose and right-wing candidates gained ground.

© Kenzo Tribouillard/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The European Parliament in Brussels. Elections are being held through the weekend.

Israel Secretly Targets U.S. Lawmakers With Influence Campaign on Gaza War

✇NYT: Technology
By: Sheera Frenkel
6 June 2024 at 11:17
Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs ordered the operation, which used fake social media accounts urging U.S. lawmakers to fund Israel’s military, according to officials and documents about the effort.

© Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York Times, Kenny Holston/The New York Times

The campaign focused on more than a dozen members of Congress, including Representative Ritchie Torres, left, and Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader.

India’s Next Government Will Face Serious Climate Challenges

✇NYT: Science
By: Somini Sengupta
4 June 2024 at 13:59
Farmers have repeatedly protested over grievances tied to global warming, a major political and economic test given the importance of India’s rural economy.

© Arun Sankar/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Farmers near the Yamuna River in New Delhi. Tens of thousands of farmers have protested in the capital in recent years.

Fauci Grilled by Lawmakers on Masks, Vaccine Mandates and Lab Leak Theory

✇NYT: Science
By: Benjamin Mueller and Sheryl Gay Stolberg
3 June 2024 at 22:53
Dr. Fauci testified before a House panel investigating Covid’s origins. The panel found emails suggesting that his aides were skirting public records laws.

© Michael A. McCoy for The New York Times

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci during his last press briefing as the White House’s chief medical adviser on Covid-19, in 2022.

Elon Musk’s X to Host Election Town Hall With Donald Trump

✇NYT: Technology
By: Kate Conger
30 May 2024 at 18:34
The social media platform will produce video town halls with Mr. Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., extending its push into politics.

© David Swanson/Reuters

Elon Musk has used X to express his keen disapproval of President Joseph Biden, although he has stopped short of endorsing Mr. Trump.

Once a Sheriff’s Deputy in Florida, Now a Source of Disinformation From Russia

✇NYT: Technology
By: Steven Lee Myers
29 May 2024 at 10:00
In 2016, Russia used an army of trolls to interfere in the U.S. presidential election. This year, an American given asylum in Moscow may be accomplishing much the same thing all by himself.

© Alexander Zemlianichenko/Associated Press

John Mark Dougan, who has been granted asylum in Moscow, above, has become a key player in the Kremlin’s information operations against the West.

Saudi Arabia Eyes a Future Beyond Oil

✇NYT: Technology
By: Stanley Reed
29 May 2024 at 00:01
The kingdom is trying to juggle its still-vital petroleum industry with alternative energy sources like wind and solar as it faces pressure to lower carbon emissions.

© Iman Al-Dabbagh for The New York Times

Arrays of solar panels help power the Jazlah Water Desalination plant in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

Health Officials Tried to Evade Public Records Laws, Lawmakers Say

✇NYT: Science
By: Benjamin Mueller
28 May 2024 at 19:09
N.I.H. officials suggested federal record keepers helped them hide emails. If so, “that’s really damaging to trust in all of government,” one expert said.

© Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Dr. David Morens, a former adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci, speaking before the House subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic on May 22.

Elon Musk is Criticizing Biden On X More Ahead of 2024 Election

✇NYT: Technology
By: Kate Conger and Ryan Mac
24 May 2024 at 05:03
The billionaire owner of X has increasingly been using his social media platform to criticize President Biden for his health and immigration policies, according to a New York Times analysis.

© Alice Lagarde

Louisiana Lawmakers Vote to Make Abortion Pills Controlled Substances

✇NYT: Science
By: Emily Cochrane and Pam Belluck
23 May 2024 at 14:44
The legislation would make possession of the drugs without a prescription a crime in Louisiana, punishable with jail time.

© Jackie Molloy for The New York Times

The Food and Drug Administration does not consider the two medications to have potential for abuse or dependence, and years of research have shown both pills to be overwhelmingly safe.

New Star Wars Plan: Pentagon Rushes to Counter Threats in Orbit

✇NYT: Science
By: Eric Lipton
17 May 2024 at 18:31
Citing rapid advances by China and Russia, the United States is building an extensive capacity to fight battles in space.

© Craig Bailey/Florida Today, via Associated Press

A rocket carrying the Pentagon’s secretive X-37B crewless space plane launching last year from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Taiwan, on China’s Doorstep, Is Dealing With TikTok Its Own Way

✇NYT: Technology
By: Meaghan Tobin and Amy Chang Chien
16 May 2024 at 20:55
The island democracy was early to ban TikTok on government phones, and the ruling party refuses to use it. But a U.S.-style ban is not under consideration.

© An Rong Xu for The New York Times

For years, Taiwan has been one of the world’s top targets of online disinformation, much of it originating in China.

U.S. Suspends Funding for Group at Center of Covid Origins Fight

✇NYT: Science
By: Benjamin Mueller
15 May 2024 at 16:17
The decision came after a scorching hearing in which lawmakers barraged EcoHealth Alliance’s president with claims of misrepresenting work with Chinese virologists.

© Ting Shen for The New York Times

Peter Daszak, the president of EcoHealth Alliance, faced a barrage of questions during a congressional hearing this month.

Senators Propose $32 Billion in Annual A.I. Spending but Defer Regulation

✇NYT: Technology
By: Cecilia Kang and David McCabe
15 May 2024 at 05:00
Their plan is the culmination of a yearlong listening tour on the dangers of the new technology.

© Kenny Holston/The New York Times

From left, the senators behind a plan for federal legislation on artificial intelligence: Martin Heinrich, Todd Young, Chuck Schumer and Mike Rounds.

U.S. Awards $120 Million to Polar Semiconductor to Expand Chip Facility

✇NYT: Technology
By: Madeleine Ngo
13 May 2024 at 05:01
The grant is the latest federal award in a series stemming from the CHIPS and Science Act meant to ramp up domestic production of vital semiconductors.

© Kristoffer Tripplaar/Sipa USA, via Associated Press

The federal award will go toward a project to expand the Polar Semiconductor facility in Bloomington, Minn.

Biden Announces $3.3 Billion Microsoft AI Center at Trump’s Failed Foxconn Site

✇NYT: Technology
By: Erica L. Green
8 May 2024 at 16:27
The president’s visit to Wisconsin celebrated the investment by Microsoft in a center to be built on the site of a failed Foxconn project negotiated by his predecessor.

© Tom Brenner for The New York Times

President Biden at the Intel campus in Chandler, Ariz., in March. His “Investing in America” agenda has focused on bringing billions of private-sector dollars into manufacturing and industries such as clean energy and artificial intelligence.

TikTok Sues US Government Over Potential Ban

✇NYT: Technology
By: Sapna Maheshwari and David McCabe
7 May 2024 at 16:03
The social media company and its Chinese parent, ByteDance, sued to challenge the new law, saying it violated users’ First Amendment rights.

© Rozette Rago for The New York Times

TikTok’s office in Culver City, Calif. The company has said a new U.S. law requiring its sale is essentially a ban.

OpenAI Releases ‘Deepfake’ Detector to Disinformation Researchers

✇NYT: Technology
By: Cade Metz and Tiffany Hsu
7 May 2024 at 06:00
The prominent A.I. start-up is also joining an industrywide effort to spot content made with artificial intelligence.

© Jim Wilson/The New York Times

OpenAI’s offices in San Francisco. The company said that its new detector can identify 98.8 percent of images created by DALL-E 3, its own generator.

TikTok, Facing US Ban, Tells Advertisers It Won’t Back Down

✇NYT: Technology
By: Sapna Maheshwari
3 May 2024 at 14:04
Hundreds of marketers and ad agency types flocked to TikTok’s annual sales presentation after a new law put its future in question.

© Olivier Anrigo/Getty Images

Blake Chandlee, TikTok’s president of global business solutions, last June. In Manhattan Thursday, he said: “We believe the facts and the law are clearly on our side and that we will ultimately prevail.”

Campus Protests Give Russia, China and Iran Fuel to Exploit U.S. Divide

✇NYT: Technology
By: Steven Lee Myers and Tiffany Hsu
2 May 2024 at 16:32
America’s adversaries have mounted online campaigns to amplify the social and political conflicts over Gaza flaring at universities, researchers say.

© Amir Hamja/The New York Times

A protester with a Palestinian flag on a Columbia University building on Monday. So far, there is little evidence that U.S. adversaries have provided material or organizational support to the protests.

Republicans Step Up Attacks on Scientist at Heart of Covid Lab Leak Theory

✇NYT: Science
By: Benjamin Mueller
1 May 2024 at 18:54
A heated hearing produced no new evidence that Peter Daszak or his nonprofit, EcoHealth Alliance, were implicated in the Covid outbreak.

© Ting Shen for The New York Times

Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance, testifying during a hearing on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

UnitedHealth’s CEO Slammed Over Cyberattack

✇NYT: Science
By: Reed Abelson and Noah Weiland
1 May 2024 at 15:54
Several lawmakers questioned whether the company had become so large — with tentacles in every aspect of the nation’s medical care — that the effects of the hack were outsize.

© Ting Shen for The New York Times

Andrew Witty, the chief executive of UnitedHealth Group, acknowledged before the Senate Finance Committee that hackers had found a weakness in its cybersecurity that forced the shutdown of a vast billing and payments system.

Energy Dept. Releases New Efficiency Rules for Water Heaters and Other Appliances

✇NYT: Science
By: Hiroko Tabuchi
30 April 2024 at 16:59
The Biden administration is tightening efficiency rules for water heaters, stoves and other appliances, and conservative politicians are dialing up their criticisms.

© Beth Hall for The New York Times

The new rules will save nearly $1 trillion over 30 years, the D.O.E. said. Conservatives counter that machines will cost more up front.

TikTok Broke the Tech Law Logjam. Can That Success Be Repeated?

✇NYT: Technology
By: Cecilia Kang
25 April 2024 at 08:57
For years, federal lawmakers have tried to pass legislation to rein in the tech giants. The TikTok law was their first success.

© Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times

Experts on tech legislation say that the unique speed of the passage of the TikTok legislation is highly unlikely to be repeated.
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