Latest news with #WashingtonPost
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Your security check at the airport might get faster — just need to scan your face first
Travelers in U.S. airports may be able to move through the security line a little faster now — if they're willing to let the government scan their faces. The Department of Homeland Security is now using facial recognition software in its TSA PreCheck Touchless ID lines. Those lanes are separate lanes from the typical PreCheck lanes, which have reportedly become slow as more travelers take advantage of the service, according to the Washington Post. The program started in 2021 at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, but is now available in 15 airports. Those airports include: Chicago O'Hare; Dallas-Fort Worth; Denver; Detroit Metropolitan; Harry Reid; Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta; JFK; LaGuardia; LAX; Newark; Portland International in Oregon; Ronald Regan; Salt Lake City; San Francisco and Seattle-Tacoma International Airports. Some lanes are only available with certain airlines at certain airports. Travelers hoping to jump into the supposedly faster lines should check before traveling if their airport and airline use the service. For travelers who don't mind letting the fed scan their faces, they have to first be a TSA PreCheck member with a valid Known Traveler Number and an active airline profile — like a loyalty program — as well as a valid passport. The facial recognition lanes can be faster than other security lines. For one, travelers don't have to stop to hand over their IDs to TSA officials. They simply walk through the line dividers until the reach the luggage X-ray machines. The other reason is that the line is relatively new and hasn't been inundated with travelers — yet. Reporters at the Washington Post that tried the new program reported that during one attempt the facial recognition machine was under maintenance, and during the second, a Touchless ID symbol did not print on their boarding pass, and they were not able to time how long going through the line without issue would take. The major question looming about facial recognition technology is Americans' privacy and how that data will be stored and used. Critics of the technology cited a 2019 incident in which a DHS data breach compromised the photos of American travelers. The information was accessed through one of the DHS's subcontractors, according to the Washington Post. The TSA said that its databases are encrypted and that traveler information is protected from breaches. A new bill in the Senate would allow for airport officials to scan travelers' faces, but only if they opt-in to the technology. It would ban using the tech for anything other than verifying people's identities, and require the agency to immediately delete the facial scans once the check is complete. Right now, travelers can opt out of facial recognition scanning by telling airport security you'd prefer a "standard ID check."
Washington Post
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Netanyahu's plan to take over Gaza City
Israel has announced a plan that could eventually allow it to take military control of the entire Gaza Strip. But the announcement has been met with widespread criticism inside and outside Israel. Foreign leaders and protesters say this approach lacks clarity and will prolong the suffering of Palestinian civilians and endanger hostages still held by Hamas. Host Colby Itkowitz speaks with Tel Aviv- based correspondent Shira Rubin about the consequences of this tactical shift and why Netanyahu has seemed unswayed by international pressure. Today's show was produced by Rennie Svirnovskiy with help from Sabby Robinson. It was edited by Maggie Penman and mixed by Sam Bair. Thank you to Lior Siroka and Alan Sipress. Subscribe to The Washington Post here, or check out our new one-week pass at
Washington Post
5 hours ago
- Washington Post
Kidnapping search near DCA delayed flights. Now police choppers have to wait.
After a search for a kidnapped child delayed several flights last week, air traffic controllers at Washington Reagan National Airport were instructed to stop letting police helicopter missions take priority over airline traffic, according to a memo obtained by The Washington Post.
Fox News
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Benny Johnson scolds White House reporters who 'lie' about D.C. being safe during press briefing
Conservative media commentator Benny Johnson scolded reporters who he accused of lying about how safe Washington, D.C. is during Tuesday's White House press briefing. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt kicked off the briefing by calling on Johnson, who sat in the new media seat established at the beginning of President Donald Trump's second term. "As a D.C. resident of 15 years, I lived on Capitol Hill. I witnessed so many muggings and so much theft, I've lost track," Johnson said. "I was carjacked. I have murders on my ring camera and mass shootings. I witnessed a woman on my block get held up at gunpoint for $20, and my house was set ablaze in an arson with my infant child inside." "And so, to any reporter that says and lies that D.C. is a safe place to live and work, let me just say this: Thank you," he said, turning to Leavitt. "Thank you for making the city safe. Because no parent should have to go through what my family went through, having the fire department rip open their door to save their infant child. And so, thank you for your work on securing this city." The YouTube host went on to ask Leavitt to respond to attacks made by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reacting to Trump's crackdown on crime in the nation's capitol. "Well, first of all, Benny, I'm so sorry that happened to you and your family," Leavitt responded. "There have been, unfortunately, far too many victims of crime in this city. And I know the majority of residents in the District of Columbia agree with you." Leavitt went on to cite a Washington Post poll taken in May 2024 showing "65%" of D.C. residents think crime is a serious problem, up from 56% from the year prior. "So it's quite funny how many of you in the media agreed with what the President was saying yesterday. But now, once the President says it, many of you are disagreeing with him," Leavitt chided the press. "So, the concern that you share with so many other residents in the District of Columbia is real, and that's why this President is taking action to address it." Leavitt called the Democratic Party pushback "despicable," saying it "should be a winning issue for all Americans." "I don't understand — it's just anything President Trump does, the Democrats want to disagree with," Leavitt said. "I think the President would love to work with Democrats on this issue to bring law and order to America's cities, but unfortunately, they have failed. And that's why he's taken this historic action to federalize the National Guard. And, as you're seeing from last night's numbers, we already have seen success. We are removing violent offenders, we are arresting criminals, and we are removing drugs and firearms off the streets of the city to make it safer for all of its residents." Johnson also asked Leavitt if the President would honor Edward "Big Balls" Coristine, a 19-year-old former DOGE staffer, who was attacked in D.C., by giving him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Leavitt said she hadn't spoken to Trump about it, but also said it could be something he'd consider.
Forbes
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Forbes
Russia Faces A Future Labor Shortage, Which War Makes More Complex
Russia has a dirty little secret. It faces a dire – perhaps even a fatal – population problem. For decades, the country has struggled under deeply adverse demographics, with deaths outpacing births and successive waves of mass emigration. Russian officials have tried desperately to mitigate this downward trajectory, but to little avail. Despite Kremlin programs to boost 'maternal capital' and President Vladimir Putin's focus on population growth as a national priority, the number of Russians has continued to decline. All this, moreover, has been made significantly worse over the past three-plus years by the Ukraine war. The conflict, and the Kremlin's ongoing need for new troops to fuel its fight, has propelled Russians out of the country at record-breaking rates. After the Kremlin's controversial 'partial mobilization' in autumn 2023, the Washington Post described the resulting exodus as 'a tidal wave on scale with emigration following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991.' The war is also contributing to a massive decline in working-age males; this summer, Russia passed the grisly milestone of one million killed or wounded as a result of the conflict. In fact, all the available data now paints a picture of a country in full-blown population crisis. Last Fall, Russia's official ROSSTAT agency published statistics showing that the country's birth rate is now at its lowest point in a quarter-century. Russia's Total Fertility Rate is roughly 1.4 births per woman – far below the 2.1 needed for a stable 'replacement' of the national population. The situation has gotten so dire that ROSSTAT recently stopped publishing official figures altogether in an effort to cover up the true state of affairs. But the problem persists, and the latest warning about its potential consequences comes from Russian Labor Minister Anton Kotyakov. At a mid-July cabinet meeting, Kotyakov reportedly told President Putin that the country is now facing an acute labor shortage. By 2030, he detailed, the Russian economy will need at least 2.4 million additional workers. (Other estimates put Russia looming labor deficit at even higher: three million workers or more.) The only real answer is for Moscow to rely more and more heavily on migrant workers. Russia currently has an abundance of those: 10 million or more, by some tallies, with most hailing from Central Asia. But the number has dropped in recent years, and Russia is now facing 'a massive shortfall in migrant labour,' Novaya Gazeta Europe reported last because Putin's increasingly nationalist, draconian governing style has made the country downright hostile for non-Russians. A recent survey by OpenMinds, a 'cognitive defense tech' firm, found a massive surge of online hate speech and negative media attention directed against migrants in the country. These souring sentiments have been matched by government action; in February, the Kremlin launched a 'controlledpeople' register that creates 'stricter measures for foreign nationals violating migration laws' – including shutting off access to jobs, expedited deportations and bank account freezes. All of which has cast an understandable pall over Russia as a labor Moscow might do about this is unclear. It's hard to imagine a kinder, gentler Kremlin policy toward migrants – one that rolls out the welcome mat for exactly the same foreign workers who are being mistreated currently. But even if it somehow does adopt such an open-door approach, Russia's growing international isolation, and mounting fears along its periphery that the conflict with Ukraine will be inevitably followed by more of the same elsewhere, are bound to keep Russian labor the heart of the matter is a stark reality: with his policies, Putin has virtually insured that fewer and fewer people outside of his small gang of loyalists have a real stake in the Russian national project. The consequences of that are bound to be ruinous.
