U.S. immigration officials are asking the public and federal agencies to comment on a proposal to collect social media handles from people applying for benefits such as green cards or citizenship, to comply with an executive order from President Donald Trump.The March 5 notice raised alarms from immigration and free speech advocates because it appears to expand the governments reach in social media surveillance to people already vetted and in the U.S. legally, such as asylum seekers, green card, and citizenship applicantsand not just those applying to enter the country. That said, social media monitoring by immigration officials has been a practice for over a decade, since at least the second Obama administration and ramping up under Trumps first term.Below are some questions and answers on what the new proposal means and how it might expand social media surveillance.What is the proposal?The Department of Homeland Security issued a 60-day notice asking for public commentary on its plan to comply with Trumps executive order titled Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats. The plan calls for uniform vetting standards and screening people for grounds of inadmissibility to the U.S., as well as identify verification and national security screening. It seeks to collect social media handles and the names of platforms, although not passwords.The policy seeks to require people to share their social media handles when applying for U.S. citizenship, green card, asylum, and other immigration benefits. The proposal is open to feedback from the public until May 5.What is changing?The basic requirements that are in place right now is that people who are applying for immigrant and nonimmigrant visas have to provide their social media handles, said Rachel Levinson-Waldman, managing director of the Brennan Centers Liberty and National Security Program at New York University. Where I could see this impacting is someone who came into the country before visa-related social media handle collection started, so they wouldnt have provided it before and now theyre being required to. Or maybe they did before, but their social media use has changed.This fairly widely expanded policy to collect them for everyone applying for any kind of immigration benefit, including people who have already been vetted quite extensively, she added.What this points toalong with other signals the administration is sending such as detaining people and revoking student visas for participating in campus protests that the government deems antisemitic and sympathetic to the militant Palestinian group HamasLevinson-Waldman added, is the increased use of social media to make these very high-stakes determinations about people.In a statement, a spokesperson for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service said the agency seeks to strengthen fraud detection, prevent identity theft, and support the enforcement of rigorous screening and vetting measures to the fullest extent possible.These efforts ensure that those seeking immigration benefits to live and work in the United States do not threaten public safety, undermine national security, or promote harmful anti-American ideologies, the statement continued. USCIS estimates that the proposed policy change will affect about 3.6 million people.How are social media accounts used now?The U.S. government began ramping up the use of social media for immigration vetting in 2014 under then-President Barack Obama, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. In late 2015, the Department of Homeland Security began both manual and automatic screening of the social media accounts of a limited number of individuals applying to travel to the United States, through various non-public pilot programs, the nonpartisan law and policy institute explains on its website.In May 2017, the U.S. Department of State issued an emergency notice to increase the screening of visa applicants. Brennan, along with other civil and human rights groups, opposed the move, arguing that it is excessively burdensome and vague, is apt to chill speech, is discriminatory against Muslims, and has no security benefit.Two years later, the State Department began collecting social media handles from nearly all foreigners applying for visas to travel to the U.S.about 15 million people a year.How is AI used?Artificial intelligence tools used to comb through potentially millions of social media accounts have evolved over the past decade, although experts caution that such tools have limits and can make mistakes.Leon Rodriguez, who served as the director of USCIS from 2014 to 2017 and now practices as an immigration attorney, said while AI could be used as a first screening tool, he doesnt think were anywhere close to where AI will be able to exercise the judgment of a trained fraud detection and national security officer or that of someone in an intelligence agency.Its also possible that I will miss stuff, he added. Because AI is still very much driven by specific search criteria and its possible that the search criteria wont hit actionable content.What are the concerns?Social media is just a stew, so much different informationsome of it is reliable, some of it isnt. Some of it can be clearly attributed to somebody, some of it cant. And it can be very hard to interpret, Levinson-Waldman said. So I think as a baseline matter, just using social media to make high-stakes decisions is quite concerning.Then theres the First Amendment.Its by and large established that people in the U.S. have First Amendment rights, she said. This includes people who are not citizens. And obviously, there are complicated ways that that plays out. There is also fairly broad authority for the government to do something like revoking somebodys visa, if youre not a citizen, then theres steps that the government can takebut by and large, with very narrow exceptions, that cannot be on the grounds of speech that would be protected (by the First Amendment).Barbara Ortutay, AP Technology Writer

In Ugandas Mbale district, famous for its production of arabica coffee, a plague of plastic bags locally known as buveera is creeping beyond the city.Its a problem that has long littered the landscape in Kampala, the capital, where buveera are woven into the fabric of daily life. They show up in layers of excavated dirt roads and clog waterways. But now, they can be found in remote areas of farmland, too. Some of the debris includes the thick plastic bags used for planting coffee seeds in nurseries.Some farmers are complaining, said Wilson Watira, head of a cultural board for the coffee-growing Bamasaba people. They are concernedthose farmers who know the effects of buveera on the land, he said.Around the world, plastics find their way into farm fields. Climate change makes agricultural plastic, already a necessity for many crops, even more unavoidable for some farmers. Meanwhile, research continues to show that itty-bitty microplastics alter ecosystems and end up in human bodies. Scientists, farmers, and consumers all worry about how thats affecting human health, and many seek solutions. But industry experts say its difficult to know where plastic ends up or get rid of it completely, even with the best intentions of reuse and recycling programs.According to a 2021 report on plastics in agriculture by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, soils are one of the main receptors of agricultural plastics. Some studies have estimated that soils are more polluted by microplastics than the oceans.These things are being released at such a huge, huge scale that its going to require major engineering solutions, said Sarah Zack, an Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Great Lakes Contaminant Specialist who communicates about microplastics to the public.Why researchers want to study plastics in farm fieldsMicroparticles of plastic that come from items like clothes, medications, and beauty products sometimes appear in fertilizer made from the solid byproducts of wastewater treatmentcalled biosolidswhich can also be smelly and toxic to nearby residents depending on the treatment process used. Some seeds are coated in plastic polymers designed to strategically disintegrate at the right time of the season, used in containers to hold pesticides or stretched over fields to lock in moisture.But the agriculture industry itself only accounts for a little over 3% of all plastics used globally. About 40% of all plastics are used in packaging, including single-use plastic food and beverage containers.Microplastics, which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration defines as being smaller than five millimeters long, are their largest at about the size of a pencil eraser. Some are much smaller.Studies have already shown that microplastics can be taken up by plants on land or plankton in the ocean and subsequently eaten by animals or humans. Scientists are still studying the long-term effects of the plastic thats been found in human organs. Early findings suggest possible links to a host of health conditions including heart disease and some cancers.Despite significant research gaps, the evidence related to the land-based food chain is certainly raising alarm, said Lev Neretin, environment lead at the FAO, which is currently working on another technical report looking deeper into the problem of microplastic pollution in soils and crops.A study out this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that microplastics pollution can even impact plants ability to photosynthesize, the process of turning light from the sun into energy. That doesnt justify excessive concern but does underscore food security risks that necessitate scientific attention, wrote Fei Dang, one of the studys authors.Climate change making matters worseThe use of plastics has quadrupled over the past 30 years. Plastic is ubiquitous. And most of the worlds plastic goes to landfills, pollutes the environment, or is burned. Less than 10% of plastics are recycled.At the same time, some farmers are becoming more reliant on plastics to shelter crops from the effects of extreme weather. Theyre using tarps, hoop houses, and other technology to try to control conditions for their crops. And theyre depending more on chemicals like pesticides and fertilizers to buffer against unreliable weather and more pervasive pest issues.Through global warming, we have less and less arable land to make crops on. But we need more crops. So therefore the demand on agricultural chemicals is increasing, said Ole Rosgaard, president and CEO of Greif, a company that makes packaging used for industrial agriculture products like pesticides and other chemicals.Extreme weather, fueled by climate change, also contributes to the breakdown and transport of agricultural plastics. Beating sun can wear on materials over time. And more frequent and intense rainfall events in some areas could drive more plastic particles running into fields and eventually waterways, said Maryam Salehi, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Missouri.Can agriculture escape the plastic problem?This past winter, leaders from around the world gathered in South Korea to produce the first legally binding global treaty on plastics pollution. They didnt reach an agreement, but the negotiations are scheduled to resume in August.Neretin said the FAO produced a provisional, voluntary code of conduct on sustainable management of plastics in agriculture. But without a formal treaty in place, most countries dont have a strong incentive to follow it.The mood is certainly not cheery, thats for sure, he said, adding global cooperation takes time, but the problem does not disappear.Without political will, much of the onus falls on companies.Rosgaard, of Greif, said that his company has worked to make their products recyclable, and that farmers have incentives to return them because they can get paid in exchange. But he added its sometimes hard to prevent people from just burning the plastic or letting it end up in fields or waterways.We just dont know where they end up all the time, he said.Some want to stop the flow of plastic and microplastic waste into ecosystems. Boluwatife Olubusoye, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Mississippi, is trying to see whether biochar, remains of organic matter and plant waste burned under controlled conditions, can filter out microplastics that run from farm fields into waterways. His early experiments have shown promise.He said he was motivated by the feeling that there was never any timely solution in terms of plastic waste ending up in fields in the first place, especially in developing countries.Even for farmers who care about plastics in soils, it can be challenging for them to do anything about it. In Uganda, owners of nursery beds cannot afford proper seedling trays, so they resort to cheaply made plastic bags used to germinate seeds, said Jacob Ogola, an independent agronomist there.Farmers hardest hit by climate change are least able to reduce the presence of cheap plastic waste in soils. That frustrates Innocent Piloya, an agroecology entrepreneur who grows coffee in rural Uganda with her company Ribbo Coffee.Its like little farmers fighting plastic manufacturers, she said.Walling reported from Chicago.The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.Melina Walling and Rodney Muhumuza, Associated Press

We all know that military technology eventually trickles down to the consumer sector. GPS, microwaves, the internet, digital photography, and even duct tape all began with defense applications.One of these that's often overlooked is cargo pants. A British invention from 1938, they met World War II's need for British troops to carry maps, extra ammunition and medical supplies. American paratroopers adopted them shortly thereafter; because these soldiers jumped out of planes wearing anywhere from 70 to 160 pounds of kit, being able to distribute some of the load into leg pockets was a welcome innovation. Throughout the 1950s, '60s and '70s, cargo pants were something civilians could only find in an Army-Navy store. But in the 1980s they entered mainstream fashion, propelled by hikers, outdoorspeople and fashionistas seeking novelty. Here in 2025, we're now seeing the most extreme version of cargo pants yet. An Italian company called Minimal Organised Wear (MOW) acknowledges that "we've come to rely on expensive electronic devices that accompany us everywhere, yet we often lack the protection and organisation they demand," they write. The company's mission is to "embrace the challenges of water, weather, and unpredictability to design extreme waterproof solutions tailored to modern nomadism." MOW's solution is these Caligo All-Terrain Travel Adventure Pants. They feature no less than 18 freaking pockets, which can carry objects as large as camera lenses and 10-inch tablets. There's even an RFID-blocking pocket for carrying sensitive gear.The pants are lightweight and breathable, being made from ripstop nylon, and feature weatherproof YKK zippers. MOW says the pants are durable and can stand up to harsh weather conditions, and that they've both used recycled material to create the pants and that they are themselves fully recyclable. Here are some examples of the extreme stuff they can carry:Demand for these is startlingly high. They've been successfully Kickstarted with over $160,000 in pledges at press time, with 2 days left to pledge. Buy-in starts at 95 (USD $104) and they expect to ship in September.

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Office supplies have undergone a transformation in recent years, with manufacturers embracing warmer, more personalized designs to make workspaces feel inviting and homey. Gone are the days when corporate equipment prioritized pure functionality with cold, clinical aesthetics. Yet theres something oddly captivating about that stark utilitarian approachthe uncompromising focus on efficiency over comfort that defined traditional office environments for decades.For those who find beauty in minimalism and industrial design, theres a new aluminum stationery set that deliberately embraces the clinical, detached aesthetic of traditional office equipment. With its sharp angles, monochromatic palette, and unadorned surfaces, this brutalist collection would look right at home on the desks of Lumon Industries, the mysterious corporation from Apple TV+s hit sci-fi psychological thriller Severance, where employees undergo a surgical procedure that separates their work memories from their personal lives.Designer: Blanked StudiosFor those unfamiliar with Severance, the show depicts Lumon Industries as a shadowy megacorporation where selected employees undergo a controversial procedure that surgically divides their consciousness between work and personal life. Inside Lumons sterile, maze-like offices, workers navigate an environment thats simultaneously retro and futuristic, with stark brutalist architecture and minimalist design that creates an atmosphere of beautiful alienation, the perfect setting for this aluminum stationery collection.The desktop folder stands out as particularly intriguing, mimicking the literal shape of a paper folder while serving as a modern organizational tool. Its clean lines and metallic finish create a striking visual statement while providing practical storage for notebooks, documents, or digital devices. The design cleverly bridges analog and digital worlds, functioning as a physical manifestation of the computer folder icon and a tangible connection between traditional office culture and our increasingly digital workspace.The valet tray exemplifies precision craftsmanship, carved from a single aluminum block with meticulous attention to detail. Its compartments are thoughtfully sized to accommodate modern essentials like smartphones and tablets, creating a designated parking space that keeps your desk organized with military precision. The metals cool touch and substantial weight provide a satisfying tactile experience that mass-produced plastic organizers simply cannot match.Adding to the collections appeal are stackable aluminum coasters featuring subtle inward-curving edges. These seemingly simple objects demonstrate how brutalist design can achieve elegance through restraint, with each curve and angle precisely calculated for both visual impact and practical function. When not in use, they stack into a compact metallic tower that serves as a minimalist sculpture for your workspacefunctional art that celebrates industrial aesthetics.The industrial accent lamp introduces a slight deviation from the all-metal theme with its wooden center element. However, when positioned to face a wall, the light diffuses through only the metal components and reflections, maintaining the collections cohesive brutalist appearance. The contrast between warm illumination and cold metal creates a compelling visual tension that adds depth to the otherwise monochromatic palette, proving that even the most austere design philosophy can incorporate elements of warmth.While this stationery set isnt an official collaboration with the fictional Lumon Industries (that would require some serious interdimensional paperwork), it demonstrates how well-executed design can transcend specific contexts to become universally appealing. The collection speaks to our fascination with workspaces that prioritize order and efficiency, creating environments where everything has its place and purpose. For fans of Severance, minimalist design enthusiasts, or office workers seeking to make a bold statement, these aluminum pieces offer a compelling alternative to the softer, more approachable office supplies flooding todays market.The post Brutalist Aluminum Office Stationery Set Is the Perfect Prop for Severance first appeared on Yanko Design.

Theres something undeniably captivating about a Rimowa suitcase. Even for someone like me, who generally steers clear of luxury goods, especially when it comes to bags, a glimpse of that grooved aluminum or the sleek polycarbonate is enough to make me pause. Maybe its the classic, almost industrial aesthetic, or perhaps its the stories whispered by friends who swear by their Rimowas resilience through countless journeys.While the price tag often keeps these coveted pieces at arms length, a little window shopping never truly hurts, does it? And Rimowas latest announcement? Well, its a pleasant (and perhaps slightly tempting) dip into nostalgia.Designer: RimowaTheir 1988 suitcase design is getting a 2025 upgrade with the Holiday Hand-Carry Case. Originally aimed at a younger audience, this suitcase stood out for its minimalist aesthetic and bold color choices. Now, Rimowa is bringing back this retro charm with a limited-edition release that blends vintage style with modern functionality.The reissued cases are available in striking fire-engine red, sunshine yellow, and cobalt blue, all accented with crisp white details. These bold hues are sharply contrasted with clean white accents, giving the cases a fresh yet undeniably retro feel. Its the kind of luggage that doesnt just carry your belongings; it makes a statement.Staying true to Rimowas commitment to quality, these cases are built to last. They feature a lightweight yet sturdy polycarbonate shell, an anodized aluminum frame for added durability, reinforced corners to withstand the rigors of travel, and TSA-compliant locks for enhanced security.Inside, the Holiday Hand-Carry Case offers a surprisingly practical layout. A mesh divider on one side helps to neatly separate your belongings, while adjustable compression straps on the other work to keep everything securely in place, preventing shifting during your travels. Its a thoughtful balance of the streamlined exterior and organized interior.Now, its important to note the Hand-Carry in the name is quite literal. This isnt a roll-aboard suitcase; it doesnt feature any wheels. However, recognizing the need for versatility, Rimowa has included a detachable luggage strap. This allows you to sling the case comfortably over your shoulder, offering a different way to navigate your journey, especially when your hands are full. Priced at $1,200, this limited-edition release offers a unique opportunity to own a piece of Rimowas history, reimagined for the modern traveler. Its a stylish and functional way to make a statement on your next journey. The post Rimowa Revives Colorful 1988 Holiday Hand-Carry Case for 2025 first appeared on Yanko Design.

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