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In the latest sign that the The President administration isn’t so concerned about asbestos, the Food and Drug Administration this week withdrew a proposed rule that would have required testing for the toxic asbestos in talc-based cosmetics. The rule, which was proposed by the Biden administration less than a year ago, would have required manufacturers to test cosmetics for asbestos and keep records demonstrating compliance. Exposure to asbestos has been linked to lung cancer, mesothelioma, ovarian cancer, and laryngeal cancer, which is why various health agencies have determined there’s no “safe” level of exposure to this natural mineral. Johnson & Johnson has…

The The President administration has added seven countries, including five in Africa, to the list of nations whose passport holders are required to post bonds of up to $15,000 to apply to enter the United States. Thirteen countries, all but two of them in Africa, are now on the list, which makes the process of obtaining a U.S. visa unaffordable for many. The State Department last week quietly added Bhutan, Botswana, the Central African Republic, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Namibia, and Turkmenistan to the list. Those designations took effect on Jan. 1, according to a notice posted on the travel.state.gov website. It’s the latest effort by the The President administ…

The United States has agreed to allow South Korean workers on short-term visas or a visa waiver program to help build industrial sites in America, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. The announcement came weeks after South Korea flew home more than 300 of its nationals who had been detained in a massive immigration raid at a battery factory being built on Hyundai’s sprawling auto plant campus near Savannah, Georgia. The roundup, along with U.S. video footage showing Korean workers shackled at the hands, ankles and waist, fueled public outrage and a sense of betrayal in South Korea — a key U.S. ally that had pledged hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. investment…

The U.S. government on Thursday released a new crash test dummy design that advocates believe will help make cars safer for women. The Department of Transportation will consider using the dummy in the government’s vehicle crash test five star-ratings once a final rule is adopted, the agency said in a news release. Women are 73% more likely to be injured in a head-on crash, and they are 17% more likely to be killed in a car crash, than men. The standard crash test dummy used in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration five-star vehicle testing was developed in 1978 and was modeled after a 5-foot-9 (175-centimeter), 171-pound (78-kilogram) man. The fem…

The U.S. stock market is rising again on Monday, ahead of a week with shortened trading because of the Thanksgiving holiday. The S&P 500 climbed 1.4% and added to its jump from Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 221 points, or 0.5%, as of 12:30 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 2.4% higher. Stocks got a lift from rising hopes that the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate again at its next meeting in December, a move that could boost the economy and investment prices. The market also benefited from strength for stocks caught up in the artificial-intelligence frenzy. Alphabet, which has been getting praise for its newest…

The State Department says it will suspend the processing of immigrant visas for citizens of 75 countries whose nationals are deemed likely to require public assistance while living in the United States. The State Department, led by Secretary Marco Rubio, said Wednesday it had instructed consular officers to halt immigrant visa applications from the countries affected in accordance with a broader order issued in November that tightened rules around potential immigrants who might become “public charges” in the U.S. The suspension will not apply to applicants seeking non-immigrant, or temporary tourist or business visas. “The The President administration is bringing …

The U.S. government is taking a minority stake in Lithium Americas, a company that is developing one of the world’s largest lithium mines in northern Nevada. The Department of Energy will take a 5% equity stake in the miner, which is based in Vancouver. It will also take a 5% stake in the Thacker Pass lithium mining project, a joint venture with General Motors. Thacker Pass is considered crucial in reducing U.S. reliance on China for lithium, a critical material used to produce the high tech batteries used in cell phones, electric vehicles and renewable energy. Both Republicans and Democrats support the project and narrowing the production gap. China is the world’…

This story originally appeared in Global Voices. A decade after the first assessment, the 2025 Ranking Digital Rights Index: Big Tech Edition reveals a landscape of paradox. While some of the world’s most influential digital platforms demonstrate incremental improvements in transparency, particularly in governance disclosures from Chinese companies like Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent, the overall picture suggests a concerning inertia. In a world grappling with rising authoritarianism, the use of AI tools, and ongoing global conflicts, the report shows that many Big Tech companies are largely continuing with “business as usual,” failing to address critical issues. The…

O-1B visas are for immigrants of “extraordinary ability,” originally designed for acclaimed artists, musicians, athletes, and scholars, But increasingly they’re being handed out to people with a more modern definition of “extraordinary ability”: influencers and OnlyFans creators. Immigration lawyers say social media influencers now make up more than half of their O-1 visa applicants, according to a recent report by the Financial Times. These visas are intended for an individual who possesses “extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics,” or those who have “a demonstrated record of extraordinary achievement in the motion picture…

Want to visit the U.S.? Be prepared to cough up your social media history. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection filed a legal proposal today that will make it mandatory for many tourists to submit the last five years of their social media history as part of the application required to visit the country. The public has 60 days, until early February, to submit comments to this proposal. The social media requirement, if enacted, would apply to any visitor from the 42 different countries in the Visa Waiver Program. Rather than applying for a visa, these tourists must submit an application to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization and pay a $40 fee for visit…

Abu Dhabi carrier Etihad said Friday it is launching flights to Kabul, making it the latest airline to offer direct routes to the Afghan capital. Etihad, which announced a record $476 million profit in 2024, said the new service responded to “growing demand” for travel between the United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan and that the three weekly flights starting in December would support “trade, travel, and community ties.” “The UAE hosts one of the largest Afghan communities in the Gulf, with around 300,000 Afghans living and working in the country, according to the Afghan Business Council,” the airline said in a statement. “The new flights will further strengthen these e…

Two California Democrats have introduced a bill that would allow rideshare drivers to bargain with gig companies, including Uber and Lyft, for better pay and certain benefits. The measure, Assembly Bill 1340, is likely to face steep opposition from the gig companies that rely on thousands of independent workers to keep their services operating at an accessible price point. “The bill would empower rideshare drivers with the right to organize for better working conditions and establish a process for gig drivers to choose their union,” California’s Service Employees International Union, which is supporting the bill, said in a press release. “It would protect workers …

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is enthusiastic about the company’s pilot with Waymo. In Q1 prepared remarks, he said the launch in Austin has “exceeded our expectations,” noting that the 100 self-driving vehicles there were busier than 99% of the city’s human drivers. The strong performance has Uber looking ahead to its next Waymo rollout in Atlanta. But Waymo isn’t Uber’s only autonomous partner. Just hours before Khosrowshahi’s comments were released, Uber announced an expanded deal with WeRide, a global rival to Waymo. WeRide’s robotaxis will soon launch in 15 new cities outside the U.S. and China. While Waymo may be Uber’s marquee U.S. partner, the rideshare giant…

Uber is on Wednesday launching its own version of a bus system along busy routes, calling it its most affordable ride option yet. The rideshare company has introduced Route Share, a new service offering pickups every 20 minutes along busy corridors during weekday commute hours. Available from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. local time, the service will launch in New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Boston, and Baltimore Riders can select the Route Share option to see nearby routes and book a seat anywhere from seven days to 10 minutes before their intended pickup. They’ll then be prompted to walk to the set pickup area where the drive…

Uber is facing internal staff unrest as it attempts to implement a three-day-per-week return to office (RTO) mandate and stricter sabbatical eligibility. An all-hands meeting late last month descended into acrimony as staff flooded the online meeting chat with queries about why the mandate was being enacted. “How is five years of service not a tenured employee? Especially when burnout is rampant in the org,” read one message that was reviewed by CNBC. Following the meeting, Nikki Krishnamurthy, Uber’s chief people officer, issued a memo saying staff had “crossed an acceptable line” during the call. It’s unclear if there has been any disciplinary action to date. …

Uber said Wednesday that the San Francisco Bay Area will be the first market for its specially built autonomous taxi, which is expected to launch in late 2026. The San Francisco ride-hailing company said in July it was developing a robotaxi with the electric car company Lucid and the self-driving technology company Nuro Inc. The vehicle is exclusive to Uber but is based on the Lucid Gravity SUV. Uber said Lucid recently delivered test vehicles to Nuro and said it plans to have 100 test vehicles on the road in the coming months. Within six years, Uber plans to deploy 20,000 or more Lucid-based autonomous taxis in multiple locations. The vehicles will be availab…

Starting today, if you call an Uber in Austin you can match with a self-driving Waymo vehicle. The launch in the Texas capital is part of an expanded partnership between the two tech companies. Waymo’s autonomous vehicles are already available on the Uber platform in Phoenix, and the companies plan to launch next in Atlanta. “With Waymo’s technology and Uber’s proven platform, we’re excited to introduce our customers to a future of transportation that is increasingly electric and autonomous,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement. Austin riders who request an UberX, Uber Green, Uber Comfort or Uber Comfort Electric can be matched with a Waymo all-e…

The headache of planning a ski trip stands in sharp contrast to the freedom of effortlessly slicing down the slopes once you actually get up the mountain. If you’re tired of worrying about squeezing all of that gear into your car or wrestling with chains in the cold, Uber’s latest option for getting you to the slopes is one way to go. The company continues to broaden the services you can book through its app, and now Uber wants you to not only hail one of its rides up the mountain, but also book your ski pass on the way. Through a partnership with Vail Resorts, Uber is offering an option to buy an Epic Pass through the app. The Epic Pass, sold by Colorado ski gia…

Uber’s U.S. drivers and couriers have a new way to earn extra money. The ride-hail app announced on Thursday a new pilot program that will offer gig workers the opportunity to train artificial intelligence (AI) through so-called “digital tasks.” They include simple, quick tasks for workers such as uploading photos, recording themselves speaking in their native language, and submitting documents written in different languages—which are then fed into AI models. Uber already offers this for gig workers in India. “A lot of these tasks are digital, meaning you can do them from your phone . . . from anywhere, and at the same time create earnings opportunities,” Sac…