Cafes as workplacesgettyThe remote work revolution appears to have run its course. Lately, there has been a push from business leaders for a return to the office, forcing many workers to start commuting back to their workplaces. The Trump administration is wiping out remote work by federal employees. States from California to Texas have issued return to office orders, as have many private employers such as JPMorgan and Dell have mandated five-day-a-week workweeks in offices.Management control aside, theres some logic in these moves, in which onsite work encourages a greater esprit de corps and a feeling of family sometimes even closer than actually family members. Add to that the close-in communications, collaboration and the sharing of ideas.Still, remote work offers access to global talent, productivity, and innovation which should not be discounted. In his recently published book, titled The World is Your Office, Harvard professor Prithwiraj Choudhury urges employers to consider the profound advantages of what he terms as work-from-anywhere arrangements. Not only can a company position itself to better compete for distant talent, but by removing geographic limits, businesses can expand their hiring pools to capture a more diverse set of talent worldwide.To bring about a successful remote work culture, Choudhury offers the following guidance:Encourage active and continuous asynchronous communication. Choudhury points to the remote-work processes within GitLab, which eats its own dogfood with its asynchronous collaboration tool that it brings to market. Each worker is assigned a set of issues or basic tasks, which they complete and pass on to, or get input from, colleagues using what they call a merge request.Once a task is finalized, it is committed into the GitLab master file. This system runs entirely asynchronously. with one worker completing a task and then sending it for feedback from pers, supervisors, and even the public before that task is finalized.Encourage active knowledge-sharing. There are two levels to the knowledge-sharing key to supporting remote workers: organizational knowledge such as who handles what, and specific skills pertinent to jobs. "Critics worry that a distributed team workforce will struggle to learn, and remain up to date on, the information needed to complete their tasks," Choudhury relates. He urges adoption of knowledge codification, or the process of turning tacit but codifiable information into an organized and importantly, searchable resource."Knowledge codification starts with "writing down exactly how a company performs its key activities and creating a how-to document that remains online and accessible to all company employees." He even suggests a crowdsourcing approach to codification, in which each individual contributes to the core knowledge repository, in which the company as a whole is able to create a better overall documentation product than if one contributor or team were to try to and replicate this process on their own. This approach is beneficial to remote workers, and is a low price to pay for the flexibility they enjoy.Help remote workers deal with isolation. Remote workers risk being both professionally and socially isolated, Choudhury says. His research shows a hybrid work approach works best to address this. Those with intermediate levels of in-office work (one to two days per week on average) on average reported greater work-life balance, more job satisfaction, and lower isolation than colleagues who were in the office for either more time or less.Additional approaches especially for workers too far away to work hybrid include virtual watercoolers, which encourage greater social interactions online between employees. Dont confuse this with "Zoom happy hours" where the same people show up each week, however. Virtual watercoolers can be structured to mix different employees at each encounter, Choudhury says. Occasional offsite meetings can also help build relationships between remote workers and onsite teams. At the same time, be sure to arrange for workers with differing specializations or functions with the company to be brought together, he urges.Choudhury also makes this interesting observation: the biggest critics of remote work tend to be CEOs leading companies with an ethos of overwork and burnout. Constant presence, being seen by the manager or client, and overwork has been mistakenly considered to be a solution to the social and professional isolation problem when, in fact, they are merely replacing one challenge with another.The bottom line is remote work can work, and work spectacularly, if managed as the great opportunity it is. While some companies have drifted back to five-day-a-week in-office mandates, there are countless companies coming on board with mostly remote talent.

Forward-looking: Given the recent disaster that was the Ai Pin, it's easy to imagine that companies would want to steer clear of artificial intelligence wearables. But Apple is reportedly confident it can bring AI features to its smartwatches, thanks to new models that will feature cameras. According to Bloomberg's Apple expert Mark Gurman, the Cupertino giant is considering adding cameras to both its standard Series and Ultra model smartwatches, with plans for a 2027 launch.In the case of the standard Series of Apple Watches, the camera is expected to be placed inside the display, either under it or as a cutout. In the more expensive Ultra models, the camera will be on the side of the smartwatch, which would likely make it easier to point at objects.The addition of the cameras would allow the Apple Watches to support Visual Intelligence, the company's version of Google Lens. It uses cameras and AI to analyze images in real-time, offering helpful information about what the user is capturing in the snap.It's not just Apple Watches that could be getting cameras in the next couple of years. Gurman said Apple want to put Visual Intelligence at the core of its devices, including AirPods renowned Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo made the same prediction last year.Apple currently leverages OpenAI and Google for its Visual Intelligence feature, but it wants to move toward its own AI models in the future, Gurman writes. // Related StoriesIt's hard to imagine Visual Intelligence being the feature that convinces someone to buy an Apple Watch. The AI wearables market suffered a huge blow with Humane's disastrous Ai Pin. The device was slammed by reviewers upon release last year, and the company shut down the business in February following an acquisition by HP, bricking all the $700 devices in the process.There's also the underwhelming Apple Intelligence itself. The feature has been plagued by delays and criticized for generating incorrect summaries of news headlines. Apple is also facing a false advertising lawsuit for advertising the upgraded AI Siri and postponing the release until next year. The suit claims that Apple's advertisements created the expectation that the Apple Intelligence features would be available upon the iPhone 16's release.

Whether you pre-ordered The First Berserker: Khazan or bought the Digital Deluxe Edition, doing so entitles you to a set of in-game gear. Those who pre-ordered can obtain the Fallen Star armor set, while Deluxe Edition purchasers can score the Hero's Weapon and Armor set. Those who both pre-ordered and purchased the Deluxe Edition can earn both of these sets. But if you've started up the game and want to know when you can actually claim these bonuses, we've got the answer for you.Recommended VideosDifficultyModerateDuration2 hoursNexonStep 1: Before you can access your bonuses, you'll need to beat the first two main missions of The First Berserker: Khazan.Step 2: After completing the game's second mission, you'll be in the main hub known as The Crevice.RelatedStep 3: From the place you spawn head behind a large pillar in the center of the room to find a shiny barrel.Step 4: Interact with the shiny barrel to claim any pre-order or Deluxe Edition bonuses you're entitled to.Editors Recommendations

Atomfall is a completely open-ended RPG. After a quick intro, you are free to go and do almost anything you want within the zone to find a way out. Instead of quests, the game features investigations that require a lot more thought and observation to solve compared to other games that simply give you a quest marker to follow. Even some of the major items in the game, like the metal detector, can be completely missed if you dont happen to find one. This tool can help you grab a lot of valuable supplies in the wilderness, which you will constantly be in need of. We wont be as cryptic as Atomfall and give you specific directions on how to get and use the metal detector.RebellionThere are multiple ways to get almost everything ing Atomfall, including the metal detector. However, the first and easiest way to get one is to go to the village of Wyndham. Unless youve pissed off the wrong people, this is a peaceful location where you can find the majority of the games traders.Recommended VideosThe shop youre looking for is the Grendels Head, which is up the hill near the main building where you can talk to the general. Go inside and the shopkeep will have a metal detector you can barter for.RelatedOnce you have the metal detector, it will automatically alert you when you are in range of some buried treasure. When you are, the game will prompt you to equip the tool so you dont need to keep it out for it to be useful. Once you get the alert, equip the metal detector and aim it to point it at the ground. The red lights at the top show which direction you need to move to get closer to the treasure, and the meter on the bottom shows how close you are. When you are right on top of the treasure you can dig it up and get whatever loot was hidden beneath your feet.Editors Recommendations

Eyes in the sky Should we be concerned about the loss of weather balloons? Most of the time, not a big deal. But in critical times, the losses will be felt. Matt Lanza, The Eyewall Mar 24, 2025 1:31 pm | 25 A radiosonde with mailing instructions. Credit: NWS Pittsburgh A radiosonde with mailing instructions. Credit: NWS Pittsburgh Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreDue to staff reductions, retirements, and a federal hiring freeze, the National Weather Service has announced a series of suspensions involving weather balloon launches in recent weeks. The question is, will this significantly degrade forecasts in the United States and around the world?On February 27, it was announced that balloon launches would be suspended entirely at Kotzebue, Alaska, due to staffing shortages.In early March, Albany, N.Y., and Gray, Maine, announced periodic disruptions in launches. Since March 7, it appears that Gray has not missed any balloon launchesthrough Saturday. Albany, however,has missed 14 of them, all during the morning launch cycle (12z).The kicker came on Thursday afternoon when it was announced that all balloon launches would be suspended in Omaha, Neb., and Rapid City, S.D., due to staffing shortages. Additionally, the balloon launches in Aberdeen, S.D.; Grand Junction, Colo.; Green Bay, Wis.; Gaylord, Mich.; North Platte, Neb.; and Riverton, Wyo., would be reduced to once a day from twice a day.What are weather balloons?In a normal time, weather balloons would be launched across the country and world twice per day, right at about 8 am ET and 8 pm ET (one hour earlier in winter), or what we call 12z and 00z. Thats Zulu time, or noon and midnight in Greenwich, England. Rather than explain the whole reasoning behind why we use Zulu time in meteorology, heres a primer on everything you need to know. Weather balloons are launched around the world at the same time. Its a unique collaboration and example of global cooperation in the sciences, something that has endured for many years.These weather balloons are loaded up with hydrogen or helium, soar into the sky, up to and beyond jet stream level,getting to a height of over 100,000 feet before they pop. Attached to the weather balloon is a tool known as a radiosonde, or "sonde" for short. This is basically a weather-sensing device that measures all sorts of weather variables like temperature, dewpoint, pressure, and more. Wind speed is usually derived from this based on GPS transmitting from the sonde. Sunday mornings upper air launch map showing a gaping hole over the Rockies and some of the Plains. Credit: University of Wyoming Sunday mornings upper air launch map showing a gaping hole over the Rockies and some of the Plains. Credit: University of Wyoming What goes up must come down, so when the balloon pops, that radiosonde falls from the sky. A parachute is attached to it, slowing its descent and ensuring no one gets plunked on the head by one. If you find a radiosonde, it should be clearly marked, and you can keep it,let the NWS know you found it, or dispose of it properly. In some instances, there may still be a way to mail it back to the NWS (postage and envelope included and prepaid).How this data is usedIn order to run a weather model, you need an accurate snapshot of what we call the initial conditions. What is the weather at time = zero? Thats your initialization point. Not coincidentally, weather models are almost always run at 12z and 00z, to time in line with retrieving the data from these weather balloons. Its a critically important input to almost all weather modeling we use.The data from balloon launches can be plotted on a chart called a sounding, which gives meteorologists a vertical profile of the atmosphere at a point. During severe weather season, we use these observations to understand the environment we are in, assess risks to model output, and make changes to our own forecasts. During winter, these observations are critical to knowing if a storm will produce snow, sleet, or freezing rain.Observations from soundings are important inputs for assessing turbulence that may impact air travel, marine weather, fire weather, and air pollution. Other than some tools on some aircraft that we utilize, the data from balloon launches is the only real good verification tool we have for understanding how the upper atmosphere is behaving.Have we lost weather balloon data before?We typically lose out on a data point or two each day for various reasons when the balloons are launched. Weve also been operating without a weather balloon launch in Chatham, Mass., for a few years because coastal erosion made the site too challenging and unsafe.Tallahassee, Fla., has been pausing balloon launches for almost a year now due to a helium shortage and inability to safely switch to hydrogen gas for launching the balloons. In Denver, balloon launches have been paused since 2022 due to the helium shortage as well.Those are three sites, though, spread out across the country. We are doubling or tripling the number of sites without launches now, many in critical areas upstream of significant weather.Can satellites replace weather balloons?Yes and no.On one hand, satellites today are capable of incredible observations that can rival weather balloons at times. And they also cover the globe constantly, which is important. That being said, satellites cannot completely replace balloon launches. Why? Because the radiosonde data those balloon launches give us basically acts as a verification metric for models in a way that satellites cannot. It also helps calibrate derived satellite data to ensure that what the satellite is seeing is recorded correctly.But in general, satellites cannot yetreplaceweather balloons. They merely act to improve upon what weather balloons do. A study done in themiddle part of the last decadefound that wind observations improved rainfall forecasts by 30 percent.The one tool at that time that made the biggest difference in improving the forecast were radiosondes. Has this changed since then? Yes, almost certainly. Our satellites have better resolution, are capable of getting more data, and send data back more frequently. So certainly, its improved some. But enough? Thats unclear.An analysis done more recently on the value of dropsondes (the opposite of balloon launches; this time, the sensor is dropped from an aircraft instead of launched from the ground) in forecasting West Coast atmospheric rivers showed a marked improvement in forecasts when those targeted drops occur. Another study in 2017 showed that aircraft observations actually did a good job filling gaps in the upper air data network.Even with aircraft observations, there were mixed studies done in the wake of the COVID-19 reduction in air travel that suggested no impact could be detected above usual forecast error noise or that there was some regional degradation in model performance.But to be quite honest, there have not been many studies that I can find in recent years that assess how the new breed of satellites has (or has not) changed the value of upper-air observations. The NASA GEOS model keeps a record of what data sources are of most impact to model verification with respect to 24-hour forecasts. Number two on the list? Radiosondes. This could be considered probably a loose comp to the GFS model, one of the major weather models used by meteorologists globally.The verdictIn reality, the verdict in all this is to be determined, particularly statistically. Will it make a meaningful statistical difference in model accuracy? Over time, yes, probably, but not in ways that most people will notice day to day.However, based on 20 years of experience and a number of conversations about this with others in the field, there are some very real, very serious concerns beyond statistics. One thing is that the suspended weather balloon launches are occurring in relatively important areas for weather impacts downstream. A missed weather balloon launch in Omaha or Albany wont impact the forecast in California. But what if a hurricane is coming? What if a severe weather event is coming? Youll definitely see impacts to forecast quality during major, impactful events. At the very least, these launch suspensions will increase the noise-to-signal ratio with respect to forecasts. The element with the second-highest impact on the NASA GEOS model? Radiosondes. Credit: NASA The element with the second-highest impact on the NASA GEOS model? Radiosondes. Credit: NASA In other words, there may be situations where you have a severe weather event expected to kickstart in one place, but the lack of knowing the precise location of an upper air disturbance in the Rockies thanks to a suspended launch from Grand Junction, Colo., will lead to those storms forming 50 miles farther east than expected. In other words, losing this data increases the risk profile for more people in terms of knowing about weather, particularly high-impact weather.Lets say we have a hurricane in the Gulf that is rapidly intensifying, and we are expecting it to turn north and northeast thanks to a strong upper-air disturbance coming out of the Rockies, leading to landfall on the Alabama coast. What if the lack of upper-air observations has led to that disturbance being misplaced by 75 miles. Now, instead of Alabama, the storm is heading toward New Orleans. Is this an extreme example? Honestly, I dont think it is as extreme as you might think. We often have timing and amplitude forecast issues with upper-air disturbances during hurricane season, and the reality is that we may have to make some more frequent last-second adjustments now that we didnt have to in recent years. As a Gulf Coast resident, this is very concerning.I dont want to overstate things. Weather forecasts arent going to dramatically degrade day to day because weve reduced some balloon launches across the country. They will degrade, but the general public probably wont notice much difference 90 percent of the time. But that 10 percent of the time? Its not that the differences will be gigantic. But the impact of those differences could very well be gigantic, put more people in harms way, and increase the risk profile for an awful lot of people. Thats what this does: It increases the risk profile, it will lead to reduced weather forecast skill scores, and it may lead to an event that surprises a portion of the population that isnt used to be surprised in the 2020s. To me, that makes the value of weather balloons very, very significant, and I find these cuts to be extremely troubling.Should further cuts in staffing lead to further suspensions in weather balloon launches, we will see this problem magnify more often and involve bigger misses. In other words, the impacts here may not be linear, and repeated increased loss of real-world observational data will lead to very significant degradation in weather model performance that may be noticed more often than described above.This story originally appeared on The Eyewall.Matt Lanza, The Eyewall The Eyewall is dedicated to covering tropical activity in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico. The site was founded in June 2023 by Matt Lanza and Eric Berger, who work together on the Houston-based forecasting site Space City Weather. 25 Comments

Musk and the SEC Current SEC chair cast only vote against suing Elon Musk, report says SEC case over late disclosure of Twitter stock buy still moving ahead, for now. Jon Brodkin Mar 24, 2025 1:19 pm | 12 Credit: Getty Images | NurPhoto Credit: Getty Images | NurPhoto Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreA new report says that when the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Elon Musk less than a week before President Trump's inauguration, only one memberthe current chairmanvoted against filing the lawsuit.The vote behind closed doors was 41, with three Democrats and Republican Hester Peirce joining to support the lawsuit over Musk's late disclosure of a Twitter stock purchase in early 2022, Reuters reported today. The one dissent reportedly came from Republican Mark Uyeda, who was subsequently named acting SEC chairman by Trump.Uyeda also asked SEC enforcement staff "to declare that a case they wanted to bring against Elon Musk was not motivated by politics, an unusual request that the staffers refused," Bloomberg reported last month. Reuters said its sources confirmed that "staff refused to sign the pledge, as it is not typical SEC practice."Reuters reported that two of its sources "said Uyeda and his fellow Republican Peirce took issue with what the SEC wanted Musk to paygiving up $150 million in alleged unjust enrichment plus a penalty. Nonetheless, Peirce joined with the three Democrats in voting to sue."An SEC spokesperson declined to comment on the vote when contacted by Ars today. The three current commissioners are Uyeda, Peirce, and Democrat Caroline Crenshaw. Gary Gensler, a Democrat who was chair under Biden, left upon Trump's inauguration. Democrat Jaime Lizrraga also resigned from the SEC in January.SEC v. Musk still moving aheadBefore Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion, he purchased a 9 percent stake in the company and failed to disclose it within 10 days as required under US law. "Defendant Elon Musk failed to timely file with the SEC a beneficial ownership report disclosing his acquisition of more than five percent of the outstanding shares of Twitter's common stock in March 2022, in violation of the federal securities laws," the SEC said in the January 2025 lawsuit filed in US District Court for the District of Columbia. "As a result, Musk was able to continue purchasing shares at artificially low prices, allowing him to underpay by at least $150 million for shares he purchased after his beneficial ownership report was due."The SEC lawsuit against Musk is still moving forward, at least for now. Musk last week received a summons giving him 21 days to respond, according to a court filing.Enforcement priorities are expected to change under the Trump administration, of course. Trump's pick to replace Gensler, Paul Atkins, is waiting for Senate confirmation. Atkins testified to Congress in 2019 that the SEC should reduce its disclosure requirements.Trump last month issued an executive order declaring sweeping power over independent agencies, including the SEC, Federal Trade Commission, and Federal Communications Commission. Trump also fired both FTC Democrats despite a US law and Supreme Court precedent stating that the president cannot fire commission members without good cause.Another Trump executive order targets the alleged "weaponization of the federal government" and ordered an investigation into Biden-era enforcement actions taken by the SEC, FTC, and Justice Department. The Trump order's language recalls Musk's oft-repeated claim that the SEC was "harassing" him.Jon BrodkinSenior IT ReporterJon BrodkinSenior IT Reporter Jon is a Senior IT Reporter for Ars Technica. He covers the telecom industry, Federal Communications Commission rulemakings, broadband consumer affairs, court cases, and government regulation of the tech industry. 12 Comments

23andMe has navigated several obstacles in recent years, triggering concern from consumers. Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images 2025-03-24T18:07:48Z SaveSaved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? 23andMe has filed for bankruptcy and cofounder and CEO Anne Wojcicki is out.Its business floundered after a data hack, lawsuit, and tumbling stock prices.Here is how to delete your 23andMe data.Things have gone downhill for genetic testing company 23andMe.CEO Anne Wojcicki resigned and 23andMe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sunday roughly six months after its board resigned, citing disagreements on the company's strategic direction.Data hacks, a class action lawsuit, and leadership tension between Wojcicki and the board have left 23andMe's fate in the balance as it searches for a buyer.Many have expressed concern a takeover or sale of the company could mean the sale of user data. The director of cybersecurity at Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit focused on digital privacy, previously urged their 186,000 X followers to delete their data from 23andMe. That post garnered more than 531,000 views in three days.23andMe says the personal data it collects includes registration information like birth date, genetic information like a user's genotype, sample information like saliva, and self-reported information.Yet "beyond our contracted laboratory, with which we work to process a customer's sample and deliver their results, customer information will not be shared with any other entity unless they provide us with consent to do so," a 23andMe spokesperson previously told Business Insider.The spokesperson said the company doesn't share data with "employers, insurance companies, law enforcement agencies or any public databases."Users are still concerned, however, about their information."Data is data once it's out there, it's very hard to control," James Hazel, a biomedical researcher, told Business Insider in 2019.Here's how to ask 23andMe to delete your dataUsers who want their personal information removed from 23andMe can opt out in the "23andMe Data" section in Account Settings. But 23andMe says it is legally required to retain some information."While we will delete the majority of your Personal Information, we are required to retain some information to comply with our legal obligation," the company's website says."23andMe and/or our contracted genotyping laboratory will retain your Genetic Information, date of birth, and sex as required for compliance with applicable legal obligations... even if you chose to delete your account," the company's privacy statement says.The privacy statement says 23andMe will also retain some information associated with user accounts, like email addresses.For users who participated in 23andMe Research, their genetic data and self-reported information won't be used in future research projects."Customers always have the option to delete their account at any time, and once the request is confirmed, we will immediately and automatically begin the deletion process," the spokesperson said. "Deleting an account and associated data will permanently delete the data associated with all profiles within the account. If a customer asks us to store their genetic samples, they will be discarded."Here's what happened at 23andMe before its Chapter 11 filingAfter the direct-to-consumer genetic testing company launched in 2006, it appeared to be on a steady incline and a notable standout among Silicon Valley ventures. As of 2021, according to Crunchbase, it had raised over $1 billion from investors.The DNA testing firm just couldn't seem to clear a series of problematic hurdles kicked off by a 2023 data hack.News that hackers were selling user data which included birth details and names on the dark web broke that October. The company confirmed in December that hackers had accessed ancestry data for just under 7 million users. A data breach notification filing in January said it took 23andMe five months to realize hackers had stolen the data.The incident led to a class action lawsuit, which 23andMe settled this September for $30 million, according to Reuters.Less than a week later, the independent directors of 23andMe's board resigned in a letter addressed to Wojcicki.In their resignation letter, the directors said they "wholeheartedly support" 23andMe's mission, but "it is also clear that we differ on the strategic direction for the Company going forward."In November, 23andMe laid off about 40% of its staff due to cost cuts, and later in the same month said it had debts of $2.3 billion in an SEC filing. It will continue operating as it searches for a buyer. Anne Wojcicki is the cofounder and CEO of 23andMe. Steve Jennings/Getty Images/TechCrunch The Wall Street Journal reported that despite earning $299 million in revenue in 2023 and $219 million in 2024, the company never made a profit. Its stock price peaked in February 2021 but has steadily declined since.

A coalition of teachers sued the Trump administration over its dismantling of the Department of Education. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images 2025-03-24T17:54:26Z SaveSaved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? A coalition of teachers and unions filed the first lawsuit over Trump's plans to eliminate the Department of Education.The groups said that Trump does not have the authority to act on his plans without approval from Congress.Trump has already cut staff at the department and said he's transferring student loans to the SBA.President Donald Trump is facing his first legal challenges over his plans to eliminate the Department of Education.On Monday, advocacy group Democracy Forward filed a lawsuit on behalf of a coalition of teachers and unions including the American Federation of Teachers and the American Association of University Professors aimed at blocking Trump's efforts to dismantle the Department of Education."Defendants seek to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education," the complaint's opening sentence said. "The first step: fire the people that do the work of the Department."Trump signed an executive order last week directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to begin the process of eliminating the Department of Educationfired over 1,300 of its employees on March 11 as one of its first steps to gut the agency.The lawsuit said that Trump's actions are illegal because he cannot eliminate the Education Department without Congress, and firing staff impedes the department's congressionally mandated duties to operate various educational programs.The Department of Education is tasked with overseeing the $1.7 trillion student-loan portfolio, managing grants for low-income districts and students with disabilities, carrying out research on kids' educational progress, and overseeing civil rights investigations.McMahon previously said that the department's critical functions, like low-income grants and student-loan administration, will not be disturbed, even as Trump announced student loans will be transferred to the Small Business Administration.The lawsuit said that no other agency can take over the department's work without congressional approval and that attempting to do so would bring "enormous harm to borrowers; students hoping to go to college; higher education institutions across the country; teachers and professors; and the entire economy."This is the first legal challenge to Trump's plans; another group of teachers and advocates, including the National Education Association and the NAACP, also announced they would be filing a lawsuit on Monday challenging Trump's plan to eliminate the Education Department.The Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider on the lawsuits. Trump said during a meeting with his cabinet on Monday, "I think you're going to see a tremendous change very quickly having to do with education, and the process has already begun very strongly."Have a tip or story to share? Contact this reporter via Signal at asheffey.97 or via email at asheffey@businessinsider.com. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

The Supreme Court sent a rather unfortunate message during Mondays argument in a racial gerrymandering dispute called Louisiana v. Callais: Do not trust us.To understand where that message is coming from, its helpful to be familiar with a case the Court decided just two years ago that is nearly identical to Callais. In Allen v. Milligan (2023), the Court ruled that Alabamas congressional maps violated the Voting Rights Acts protections against racial gerrymandering, and that the state must draw an additional district with a Black majority to ensure Black citizens political power in the state wasnt illegally diluted. Now the Callais case places Louisiana in the same shoes Alabama wore in Milligan. Louisianas own lawyers concede that Callais presents the same question as Millligan.If the Supreme Court were the sort of institution that applies its own precedents in a consistent and predictable way, the outcome in Callais would be obvious. Since the Court recently decided a virtually identical case ordering the state of Alabama to draw a second Black-majority district, Louisiana should also be required to draw a second such district.Indeed, Louisiana appears to agree. After a legal battle, it eventually had its legislature draw new maps with two Black-majority districts.Nevertheless, at Mondays argument in Callais, all six of the Courts Republicans suggested the Court does not care about its recent precedent: They all appeared to be looking for a way to strike down these new maps. Four of those justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett dissented in Milligan, so their questions arent really surprising. But Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, both of whom joined the Milligan majority, also seemed highly skeptical of Louisianas new maps.Mondays argument did create some uncertainty about whether Kavanaugh will block Louisianas new maps in this case or whether he will wait until a different pending case reaches the Court before attempting a ruling that would blow up nearly four decades worth of voting rights law. Kavanaugh has made it clear hes not entirely sure that much of the Voting Rights Act is still necessary. In the Milligan case, Kavanaugh wrote a separate concurring opinion arguing that the Voting Rights Acts protections against racial gerrymandering must have a sunset date, and he repeatedly asked questions about whether he should impose such a date in Callais. He did, however, suggest at one point that this question may need to wait until a later date an outcome that could leave some of the Voting Rights Acts anti-gerrymandering safeguards in place, for now.So there is some uncertainty about whether, in the short term, the Court will strike down Louisianas new maps. However, all six of the Courts Republicans appear eager to abandon a voting rights decision they handed down less than two years ago and in the long run, that makes the durability of any decision the Court makes questionable.How did this messy dispute wind up before the justices in the first place?Callais is actually one of two cases involving Louisianas congressional maps. Before the Callais case was even filed, a federal district judge ruled in another case, known as Robinson v. Ardoin, that Louisianas original maps (which had only one Black-majority district) violated the Voting Rights Act as it was interpreted in the Supreme Courts seminal decision in Thornburg v. Gingles (1986). There have been many twists and turns in the Robinson case since then. Indeed, the Supreme Court briefly put the Robinson litigation on ice while it considered the virtually identical dispute in Milligan. Ultimately, however, Milligan rejected Alabamas arguments that the Court should effectively overrule Gingles and replace it with a new rule that would make racial gerrymandering suits under the Voting Rights Act virtually impossible to win.Then, after the Court decided Milligan, a federal appeals court agreed that the original maps at issue in Robinson are illegal. At that point, the state decided to give up the fight, convene its legislature, and draw new maps that complied with the Robinson order.Ordinarily, that would be the end of the dispute. The state had its chance to defend its old maps. It lost in multiple courts. And it made the entirely rational decision not to litigate the case any further because the Supreme Court had already signaled that it should lose in Milligan.But then a new set of plaintiffs challenged the states new maps (this is the Callais case) arguing that the state violated the Constitution because it paid too much attention to race when it drew the new maps. The state absolutely did consider race when it drew those maps it had to draw two Black-majority districts based on the Robinson court order but the Supreme Court held in Cooper v. Harris (2017) that a state may engage in race-based districting when it has a strong basis in evidence for concluding it must do so to comply with the Voting Rights Act.Theres no question that Louisiana had a strong basis to conclude that it had to draw a second Black-majority district when it drew its new maps, as two federal courts had ordered them to do so. But two members of the three-judge panel that heard Callais, the ones appointed by Donald Trump, nevertheless struck down Louisianas new maps. That left the state trapped between two competing court orders, one that forbids them from using the old maps, and another forbidding them from using the new maps.Now that Callais is before the Supreme Court, the only question that is legitimately before the justices is whether a state may comply with a court order requiring it to draw two Black-majority districts by drawing two Black-majority districts. Because the state decided not to continue fighting the lower courts conclusions in Robinson, the justices should not have the authority to question what happened in that case.But that didnt stop many of the Courts Republicans from trying to relitigate Robinson. Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch all peppered the lawyers defending Louisianas new maps with questions about whether, in Thomass words, the Court must accept Robinson as a given. (The correct answer to Thomass question is yes.)The Milligan dissenters already made their views clear when that case was decided, so Callais is unlikely to turn on their votes. The question is whether either Roberts or Kavanaugh have had a change of heart since Milligan was decided only two years ago. Many of their questions suggest that they have.Roberts and Kavanaugh appear eager to blow up four decades of voting rights lawThe Courts decision in Milligan was one of the most surprising developments in the Courts recent history. Although Milligan did nothing more than uphold existing law Robertss majority opinion said that Milligan was about Alabamas attempt to remake our [Voting Rights Act] jurisprudence anew the Courts Republican majority is normally very hostile to Voting Rights Act plaintiffs.Kavanaughs suggestion that racial civil rights laws must sunset at some point, for example, derives from Robertss majority opinion in Shelby County v. Holder (2013), which concluded that a key provision of the Voting Rights Act is now unconstitutional because the United States was less racist in 2013 than it was in the 1960s.Though Roberts asked few questions during the Callais argument, the handful of questions he did ask suggests that he wants to toss out Louisianas new maps. At one point, for example, he joined the Thomas/Alito/Gorsuch bloc in questioning whether Robinson was correctly decided. At another point, he suggested that the new maps are illegal because one of the districts resembles a snake.It is true that the Supreme Court has said that, during cases like Robinson, the plaintiffs must demonstrate that it is possible to draw an additional majority-minority district that is reasonably compact. But the plaintiffs met that burden while Robinson was being litigated. The state says that the legislature chose not to use the plaintiffs more compact maps when it drew the new districts because it wanted to protect a Republican incumbent who sits on the powerful House Appropriations Committee.Under existing law, the state is allowed to draw an uglier map than the one that was under consideration in Robinson. Indeed, the Courts gerrymandering decisions emphasize that redistricting is primarily the duty and responsibility of the State. So Louisiana should have been allowed to draw any map it wants, provided that it complied with the Robinson order.Still, Robertss skeptical questions about the snake-like district imply that he is looking for a reason to strike the new maps down.Kavanaugh, meanwhile, repeatedly brought up his claim in Milligan that the Voting Rights Acts anti-gerrymandering safeguards need an expiration date. He did, however, acknowledge that this issue was not raised by the Callais plaintiffs until fairly late in this litigation, and that there is another case making its way through the court system which raises this sunsetting issue more directly. So Kavanaugh may vote to uphold Louisianas new maps, with the understanding that he could potentially eliminate much of the Voting Rights Act once that other case reaches his Court.Even if Kavanaugh does stay his hand in Callais, however, that wont be enough to save Louisianas new maps. If Roberts joins the four Milligan dissenters, thats a majority.Ultimately, if Louisianas maps are struck down, one of the biggest losers will be the fairly basic proposition that the law should operate in a predictable way. Because of the Republican justices longstanding skepticism of the Voting Rights Act, few close observers of the Court expected it to do what it did in Milligan. But the ink on the Milligan opinion is barely dry, and lawyers and lawmakers should be able to rely on a Supreme Court decision that is less than two years old especially given the fact that no member of the Milligan majority has left the Court.If Mondays oral argument is any sign, however, then it may be that Americans cant even count on this Court to follow its own very recent decisions.See More:

Many are not even thinking of EA FC 26's Ultimate Team just yet with the current season yet to finish, but we may already know of a few FUT Heroes for the next gameTech16:53, 24 Mar 2025Updated 16:59, 24 Mar 2025EA FC 26 could add yet more Heroes(Image: Electronic Arts)EA FC 25 might be the current football sim we're playing, but as always, we've got one eye on this year's game.EA FC 26 likely won't be revealed until the Summer (and could even come to Switch 2), but one leaker has apparently unearthed some of the new Heroes coming to the game for you to spend your hard-earned EA FC Points on.Article continues belowIf this is your first season, EA FC's Ultimate Team mode is arguably the game's most popular, in part because it allows building the team of your dreams via Icons and Heroes classic players of yesteryear. Each year sees fresh Heroes and Icons added, but it's not often they leak this soon.Here's all we know about the latest crop of stars so far.Content cannot be displayed without consentOver on X (formerly Twitter), longtime EA FC leaker FUT Sherriff has been busy. They're revealed eight new stars apparently being added as Heroes, and four of them are Premier League stars.Ex-Arsenal midfielders Cesc Fabregas and Gilberto Silva are in, as well as former Manchester United duo Marouane Fellaini and Michael Carrick.Also reportedly joining the game are Serie A heroes Andrea Barzagli, Esteban Cambiasso, and Mario Mandzukic, while Jan Koller represents the Bundesliga.FUT Sherriff usually states when stats are predicted, but hasn't mentioned it here. If these are true, then Gilberto Silva's 89 overall makes him a great card for your midfield, but we'll find out nearer to the game's reveal.In case you're wondering, EA FC Heroes get chemistry bonuses if they play alongside players from their respective league.For example, Gilberto Silva will be a great player regardless, but stick him in a Premier League side and he'll have an even better understanding with his teammates.Icons, on the other hand, don't have leagues attached to them. FUT Sherriff hasn't revealed any of those as yet, though.Which of these Heroes are you most excited about? Any you'll be working towards? Let us know!Article continues belowFor the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.