Columbia University has reached an agreement with the Trump administration to settle federal investigations and restore collegiate research funding. The university will pay $200 million over three years to the U.S. government and an additional $21 million to resolve Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) claims related to antisemitic harassment of Jewish faculty and staff El […]
Amazon has acquired Bee, a San Francisco-based startup known for developing an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered wearable device—a wristband that continuously listens to conversations and uses that input to help users organize their lives. The acquisition marks Amazon’s latest move in the personal AI and wearable technology sector. What Bee’s Technology Does Bee’s wristband, priced at […]
On July 22, 2025, the Associated Press reported that the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) has effectively barred transgender women athletes from competing in women’s Olympic events. This policy change aligns with President Trump’s Executive Order 14201, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” and the federal Olympic statutes under the Ted Stevens Act […]
On July 22, 2025, the U.S. Department of State announced President Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from UNESCO by December 31, 2026, marking the third time (after 1984 and 2017) that the U.S. has exited the organization it helped create in 1945 AP News. The withdrawal follows a 2023 reentry under President Biden, […]
On July 20, 2025, Chinese Premier Li Qiang presided over a groundbreaking ceremony marking the beginning of construction on the Motuo Hydropower Station—poised to become the largest hydropower dam in the world—along the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet. The project, located in a remote region of the Tibetan Plateau, is estimated to cost 1.2 trillion […]
Just two days before Tomorrowland, Belgium’s renowned electronic dance music festival, was set to begin on July 16, 2025, the event’s iconic Orbyz Mainstage was devastated by a massive fire, destroying roughly 75% of its structure Instagram. Built of materials such as styrofoam, plywood, and polyurethane, the stage burned rapidly during a fireworks-test session, prompting […]
A recent AP News report highlights a sharp increase in ICE arrests at immigration court facilities across the U.S. Since May 2025, thousands of migrants—including asylum seekers, legal permanent residents, and those with minor immigration infractions—have been detained either just before or immediately after appearing for scheduled court proceedings AP News This intensified enforcement is […]
On July 18, 2025, reports including by The New York Times revealed that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is undertaking a sweeping restructuring under Administrator Lee Zeldin with strong backing from President Trump’s executive authority. The overhaul includes eliminating the EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) and reducing the agency’s workforce by approximately 23%, […]
As part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed July 4, 2025, the Trump administration has introduced a mandatory $250 Visa Integrity Fee on nearly all new non-immigrant U.S. visa applications. This includes categories such as tourist (B‑1/B‑2), student (F/M), work (H‑1B), and exchange (J‑1) visas, but excludes diplomatic visas (A/G) and travelers under […]
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Warns of AI Being Used for Voice Fraud in Banking
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has issued a stark warning about the growing risk of artificial intelligence being used for fraudulent purposes in the financial sector—particularly through synthetic voice fraud targeting banks. As voice authentication becomes more common in customer service and digital banking, malicious actors are exploiting generative AI tools to replicate voices and bypass […]