Alarm after Trump admin hires 2,000 gamers to fill air traffic controller jobs: ‘If they f*** up, people die’

The Trump administration is facing backlash after transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced 2,000 video gamers have been hired to serve as air traffic controllers.
Duffy first unveiled the plan to meet the national shortfall this spring and recently took to social media with an update revealing the recruitment drive had been a success.
“In April, we launched a NEW CAMPAIGN to recruit video gamers as air traffic controllers – and supercharged the entire hiring process to get the BEST & BRIGHTEST in faster. The results are HISTORIC.”
Duffy said the 2,000 appointments so far was the most in a single year, adding that a further 2,000 were “in the pipeline”. His post was accompanied by a video compilation of testimonials from some of the new hires expressing their excitement about passing their interviews and getting down to work.
open image in galleryTransportation Secretary Sean Duffy has announced that 2,000 new air traffic controllers have been hired this year after reaching out to..

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The 14 conditions Social Security has added to disability fast-track list

More than a dozen health conditions are set to be added to the Social Security Administration’s fast-track disability list.
The 14 ailments are being added to Compassionate Allowances, the list launched in 2008 to speed up disability claims for those with severe medical conditions or serious diseases.
“Social Security is strengthening our disability programs and making the disability determination process better, faster, and higher-quality to serve the American public,” SSA Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano said on Tuesday.
“The Compassionate Allowances initiative cuts through red tape and allows us to deliver support to individuals who experience life-changing diagnoses and need help fast.”
open image in galleryFourteen conditions are being added to the Social Security Administration’s fast-track disability list (Getty)With the extra conditions, the CAL now covers 314 illnesses. The additions include cancers primary cardiac sarcoma and Hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma as well as genetic di..

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Hong Kong’s subdivided flats are turning into heat traps. But what’s the fix?

Retiree Yang Fangxin’s 72 sq ft rooftop home, located on the ninth floor of a 62-year-old building in Sham Shui Po, has become a heat trap under Hong Kong’s scorching hot weather.
The temperature in her home was above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) at around 5pm on Tuesday, higher than the 33 degrees recorded at the Hong Kong Observatory’s monitoring station in the same district.
The temperature in her home only dropped slightly to 37.8 degrees after switching on two fans and an air…

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‘I’ll be first in line to buy your bonds’: how Zhu Rongji put steel in Hong Kong’s spine

AdvertisementHong Kong politicsHong KongPolitics‘I’ll be first in line to buy your bonds’: how Zhu Rongji put steel in Hong Kong’s spineTributes pour in for former premier Zhu Rongji from senior leaders in Hong Kong’s political and business circles
4-MIN READ4-MIN ListenLeopold ChenandSimpson CheungPublished: 10:10pm, 12 Aug 2026Updated: 10:20pm, 12 Aug 2026In late 2002, former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji visited Hong Kong and sought to put steel in the spine of the city’s establishment that was floundering under an economic slump and a ballooning deficit.
“Even if you spend all your fiscal reserves three years from now, what is there to fear?” he asked his dinner guests at Government House in a famously unscripted speech.
“If you issue 50-year long-term Hong Kong bonds on the mainland, I will be the first in line to buy them. I believe the mainland people will follow me and buy them too!”
As tributes from Hong Kong’s business and political figures, including by former chief executives ..

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Will NYPD cops go to Syria, Lebanon with Zohran Mamdani’s wife? Row over Rama Duwaji’s travel plan to meet family

NYC First Lady Rama Duwaji is scheduled to visit Syria and Lebanon in September, New York Post reported. NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani's wife Rama Duwaji has a trip to Syria and Lebanon on her schedule in September and that has triggered a major row as it is not clear whether she will be accompanied by NYPD security. New York Post reported that Duwaji requested NYPD security after she traveled overseas last month without police protection. But the countries that she intends to visit are on State Department's 'Do Not Travel' list for Americans.Mayoral spokesperson Dora Pekec confirmed to New York Post that Rama Duwaji's security detail will be joining her when she travel to visit family in Syria and Lebanon. But NYPD later denied it and said such a trip would never be approved.“The NYPD does not send officers to countries with level four travel advisories for discretionary reasons not linked to investigative work,” an NYPD spokesperson told Post, adding that this is ..

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Maryland’s first human composting facility offers an alternative to burial and cremation

Representative Image (AI-generated) Maryland is giving residents a new option for what happens to their bodies after death. According to WYPR, a public radio station serving Maryland, the state is now home to what is described as the nation's largest human composting facility: a 37,000-square-foot facility in Elkridge operated by Earth Funeral. The facility uses a process formally known as natural organic reduction, offering an alternative to conventional burial and cremation.Human composting may sound unusual, but the basic idea is rooted in the natural decomposition of organic material. Instead of placing a body underground or exposing it to the high temperatures of cremation, natural organic reduction uses a controlled environment to accelerate the body's natural breakdown and eventually produce soil-like material.How human composting worksThe process takes place inside specially designed vessels, where bacteria, fungi and organic materials such as mulch help break down th..

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Lebanon abolishes death penalty after historic parliament vote

Lebanon has become the first nation in the Arab world to abolish the death penalty, after its parliament voted on Tuesday to replace the punishment with life imprisonment alongside aggravated hard labour.
The tiny Mediterranean country has adhered to an unofficial moratorium on executions since January 2004. Nevertheless, courts have continued to issue dozens of death sentences over the intervening years, which were later suspended or commuted.
A majority of Lebanon's 128-member parliament supported the measure, with opposition coming from the parliamentary bloc of Hezbollah.
Justice Minister Adel Nassar, present during the session, hailed the decision as a “historic step” for the country.
open image in galleryThe vote comes amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East (AFP/Getty)Campaigners and human rights groups advocating for a permanent end to capital punishment also celebrated the vote.
Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon Researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the nation is “marking a fina..

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Karoline Leavitt tries to tell Americans the country is ‘more affordable’ because of Trump

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted the United States was “more affordable” under President Donald Trump, seemingly in an effort to push voters away from progressive Democratic candidates.
In a passionate rant on Fox News’ “Hannity” Monday evening, Leavitt claimed progressive liberal candidates, such as Abdul El-Sayed or Troy Jackson, would turn the U.S. into “a communist h***hole” with policies such as raising taxes or getting rid of private prisons.
“Thanks to President Trump and Republicans and common sense policies across the board, our country is safer, our country is more affordable,” Leavitt said.
But consumer price data – and the public’s general feelings toward the economy – indicates that the country is not more affordable than it was before the 2024 presidential election.
Consumer prices are up 3.5 percent from last year, a gallon of regular gasoline costs more than $4 and median home prices have risen for 36 months straight.
open image in galleryWhite Ho..

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