UNITED STATES
Education cuts approved
A divided Supreme Court on Monday gave President Donald Trump the green light to resume dismantling the Department of Education. The conservative-dominated court, in an unsigned order, lifted a stay that had been placed by a federal district judge on mass layoffs at the department. The three liberal justices on the nine-member panel dissented. Trump pledged during his White House campaign to eliminate the education department, which was created by an act of Congress in 1979, and he moved in March to slash its work force by nearly half. About 20 states joined teachers’ unions in challenging the move in court, arguing that Trump was violating the principle of separation of powers by encroaching on Congress’ prerogatives. In May, District Judge Myong Joun ordered the reinstatement of hundreds of fired department employees. The Supreme Court lifted the judge’s order without explanation, just days after another ruling that cleared the way for Trump to carry out mass firings of federal workers in other government departments. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a dissent joined by justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, said in the education ruling that “only Congress has the power to abolish the Department... The majority is either willfully blind to the implications of its ruling or naive, but either way the threat to our Constitution’s separation of powers is grave.”
HONG KONG
Lee backs gay couples’ bill
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee (李家超) yesterday threw his weight behind a bill recognizing limited rights for same-sex couples, despite fears that opposition from pro-Beijing parties could sink it. Lee’s administration this month proposed legislation to recognize some rights for same-sex partners whose marriages are registered abroad. Despite LGBTQ activists arguing it does not go far enough, the proposal drew near-universal criticism from the pro-Beijing politicians that dominate the Legislative Council. The clash pitted Lee against conservative lawmakers from his own camp and led some to fear the proposal might be pulled. The territory’s top court ordered the government to create an “alternative framework” for LGBTQ couples when it quashed a bid to recognize same-sex marriage in 2023. Lee yesterday said that the government “must not act in violation” of the Court of Final Appeal’s judgement. “Otherwise, it will be against the rule of law... Violating the rule of law will mean serious consequences,” he told reporters. The government will respect the legislature’s final decision, he added.
UNITED STATES
Beyonce’s music stolen
Computer drives containing unreleased music by Beyonce and plans related to her concerts were stolen last week in Atlanta, police said on Monday, with a suspect still at large. The items were stolen from a rental car used by Beyonce’s choreographer and a dancer on Tuesday last week, two days before the pop icon started the Atlanta leg of her “Cowboy Carter” tour, a police incident report said. Choreographer Christopher Grant, 37, told police that he returned to the car to find its rear window smashed and their luggage stolen. Inside were multiple jump drives that “contained water marked music, some un-released music, footage plans for the show, and past and future set list [sic],” the report said. Also missing were an Apple MacBook, headphones and several items of luxury clothing. Atlanta Police said in an online statement that a warrant had been issued for an unnamed suspect’s arrest, but that the suspect remained at large.
ACTIONABLE ADVICE: The majority of chatbots tested provided guidance on weapons, tactics and target selections, with Perplexity and Meta AI deemed to be the least safe From school shootings to synagogue bombings, leading artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots helped researchers plot violent attacks, according to a study published on Wednesday that highlighted the technology’s potential for real-world harm. Researchers from the nonprofit watchdog Center for Countering Digital Hate and CNN posed as 13-year-old boys in the US and Ireland to test 10 chatbots, including ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Perplexity, Deepseek and Meta AI. Eight of the chatbots assisted the make-believe attackers in more than half the responses, providing advice on “locations to target” and “weapons to use” in an attack, the study said. The chatbots had become a “powerful accelerant for
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
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