AI not yet a ‘revolutionary influence tool,’ US says

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washington — Russia, Iran and China are not giving up on the use of artificial intelligence to sway American voters ahead of November’s presidential election even though U.S. intelligence agencies assess the use of AI has so far failed to revolutionize the election influence efforts. The new appraisal released late Monday from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence comes just more than 40 days before U.S. voters head to the polls. It follows what officials describe as a “steady state” of influence operations by Moscow, Tehran and Beijing aimed at impacting the race between former Republican President Donald Trumpmore

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Biden proposes banning Chinese vehicles from US roads with software crackdown 

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Washington — The U.S. Commerce Department on Monday proposed prohibiting key Chinese software and hardware in connected vehicles on American roads due to national security concerns — a move that would effectively bar nearly all Chinese cars from entering the U.S. market. The planned regulation, first reported by Reuters, would also force American and other major automakers in the coming years to remove key Chinese software and hardware from vehicles in the United States. The Biden administration has raised serious concerns about the collection of data by Chinese companies on U.S. drivers and infrastructure through connected vehicles as well as about potentialmore

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Republicans in swing states say they see scant signs of groups door-knocking for Trump

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Lansing, Michigan — Republican activists in swing states say they have seen little sign of the teams tasked with knocking on doors and turning out infrequent voters on behalf of Donald Trump, raising concerns about the party’s presidential nominee relying on outside groups for an important part of his campaign operations. Trump and the Republican National Committee he controls opted to share get-out-the-vote duties in key parts of the most competitive states this year with groups such as America PAC, the organization supported by billionaire Elon Musk. It is difficult to demonstrate that something is not happening. But with fewer thanmore

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US to propose ban on Chinese software, hardware in connected vehicles, sources say

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Washington — The U.S. Commerce Department is expected on Monday to propose prohibiting Chinese software and hardware in connected and autonomous vehicles on American roads due to national security concerns, two sources told Reuters. The Biden administration has raised serious concerns about the collection of data by Chinese companies on U.S. drivers and infrastructure as well as the potential foreign manipulation of vehicles connected to the internet and navigation systems. The proposed regulation would ban the import and sale of vehicles from China with key communications or automated driving system software or hardware, said the two sources, who declined to bemore

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Trump campaigns in North Carolina without state’s top Republican candidate

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WILMINGTON, N.C. — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump returned to North Carolina on Saturday, stumping in the southern battleground state that both Democrats and Republicans are treating as increasingly critical to victory in November. But the former president campaigned in Wilmington, along the state’s southern coast, without Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, the Republican gubernatorial nominee and one of the former president’s top surrogates in the state, following a CNN report about his alleged posts on a pornography website’s message board. Robinson has denied writing the posts, which include lewd and racist comments, saying Thursday that he wouldn’t be forced out ofmore

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Harris steps up outreach to Mormon voters in battleground Arizona 

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PHOENIX — Vice President Kamala Harris is stepping up her efforts to win over voters who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, enlisting prominent members of the faith to make the case in pivotal Arizona that Donald Trump does not align with the church’s values. Her state campaign announced on Thursday an advisory committee to formalize the outreach to current and former members of the church, widely known as the Mormon church. With nearly 450,000 church members in Arizona, about 6% of the state’s population, Latter-day Saints and former church members could prove critical in what willmore

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Harris agrees to CNN debate, Trump rejects idea 

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Washington — U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has accepted an invitation from CNN to participate in another debate against Donald Trump on October 23 and urges her Republican rival to face her less than two weeks ahead of the November 5 presidential election, the Democratic candidate’s campaign said on Saturday.  “Vice President Harris is ready for another opportunity to share a stage with Donald Trump, and she has accepted CNN’s invitation to a debate on October 23. Donald Trump should have no problem agreeing to this debate,” Jen O’Malley Dillon, the chair of the Harris campaign, said in a statement.  Askedmore

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California governor signs law to protect children from social media addiction

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SACRAMENTO, California — California will make it illegal for social media platforms to knowingly provide addictive feeds to children without parental consent beginning in 2027 under a new law Governor Gavin Newsom signed Friday.  California follows New York state, which passed a law earlier this year allowing parents to block their kids from getting social media posts suggested by a platform’s algorithm. Utah has passed laws in recent years aimed at limiting children’s access to social media, but those have faced challenges in court.  The California law will take effect in a state home to some of the largest technology companiesmore

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Culture war in US education lurks as election issue

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U.S. presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have focused their campaigns mainly on hot-button issues such as immigration, abortion and the economy. But the culture clash over how to handle gender identity matters in elementary and secondary schools is also a campaign issue, with loud voices on all sides. VOA’s Laurel Bowman reports. Videographer: Saqib Ul Islam …

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Georgia State Election Board approves rule requiring hand count of ballots 

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atlanta — The election board for the U.S. state of Georgia on Friday voted to approve a new rule that requires poll workers to count the number of paper ballots by hand after voting is completed, a change that critics worry could delay the reporting of election night results. The board’s decision went against the advice of the state attorney general’s office, the secretary of state’s office and an association of county election officials. Three Republican board members who were praised by former President Donald Trump during a rally last month in Atlanta voted to approve the measure, while the lonemore

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Governor nominee vows to keep running after report on racial, sexual comments

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RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA — North Carolina Republican gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson vowed on Thursday to remain in the race despite a CNN report that he posted strongly worded racial and sexual comments on an online message board, saying he won’t be forced out by “salacious tabloid lies.” Robinson, the sitting lieutenant governor who decisively won his GOP gubernatorial primary in March, has been trailing in several recent polls to Democratic nominee Josh Stein, the current attorney general. “We are staying in this race. We are in it to win it,” Robinson said in a video posted Thursday on the social mediamore

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China-connected spamouflage impersonated Dutch cartoonist

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Washington — Based on the posts of an X account that bears the name of Dutch cartoonist Bart van Leeuwen, a profile picture of his face and short professional bio, one would think the Amsterdam-based artist is a staunch supporter of China and fierce critic of the United States. In one post, the account blasts what it calls Washington’s “fallacies against the Chinese economy,” accompanied by a cartoon from the Global Times — a Beijing-controlled media outlet — showing Uncle Sam aiming but failing to hit a target emblazoned with the words “China’s economy.” In another, the account reposts a Chinesemore

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Intelligence suggests Iran sought to ensnare Trump, Biden in hack-and-leak

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washington — Iran’s efforts to upend U.S. politics ahead of November’s presidential election by targeting the campaign of former President Donald Trump went well beyond a standard hack-and-leak operation. According to U.S. intelligence officials, Tehran sought to ensnare the campaign of Trump’s then-opponent, incumbent U.S. President Joe Biden. Information released late Wednesday by U.S. intelligence officials indicates Iranian cyber actors not only tried to leak stolen Trump campaign documents to media organizations but also tried to feed them to Biden campaign officials, hoping the Biden team might try to use them. “Iranian malicious cyber actors in late June and early Julymore

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Teamsters union declines to endorse Trump or Harris

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WASHINGTON — The International Brotherhood of Teamsters declined Wednesday to endorse Kamala Harris or Donald Trump for president, saying neither candidate had sufficient support from the 1.3 million-member union. “Unfortunately, neither major candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure the interests of working people are always put before big business,” Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said in a statement. “We sought commitments from both Trump and Harris not to interfere in critical union campaigns or core Teamsters industries — and to honor our members’ right to strike — but were unable to secure those pledges.” Harris metmore

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US targets second major Chinese hacking group

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Washington — The United States has identified and taken down a botnet campaign by China-directed hackers to further infiltrate American infrastructure as well as a variety of internet-connected devices. FBI Director Christopher Wray announced the disruption of what he called Flax Typhoon during a cyber summit Wednesday in Washington, describing it as part of a much larger campaign by Beijing. “Flax Typhoon hijacked Internet-of-Things devices like cameras, video recorders and storage devices — things typically found across both big and small organizations,” Wray said. “And about half of those hijacked devices were located here in the U.S.” Wray said the hackers,more

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