Archive for June 2025

In 2024, some 826,000 working people were dependent on benefits, or Bürgergeld (“citizen’s income”) as it is called in Germany. That represents an increase of around 30,000 since 2023 — the first time that the number of employed people receiving a top-up had increased since 2015.

My task force approved the inclusion of the new diagnosis, Asperger’s syndrome, which is much milder in severity than classic autism and much more common. In doing so, we were responding to child psychiatrists’ and pediatricians’ concerns for children who did not meet the extremely stringent criteria for classic autism, but had similar symptoms in milder form and might benefit from services.

There are many misconceptions about immigrants in Los Angeles, but none more disorienting than the canard — so popular among Trump administration representatives — that those immigrants who arrived without papers somehow live apart from the rest of the city. The role of these immigrants in the local economy is widely misunderstood and deliberately misrepresented. Above: Closed lanes to the Culver City Express Hand Car Wash and Detail where an ICE raid occurred

The wealth divide in this country has reached obscene, and plainly anti-democratic, proportions. It was not always this way. In fact, it’s never been this way.

The artificial intelligence boom runs on more than just code and compute power — it depends on a hidden, silenced workforce. Behind every AI model promising efficiency, safety, or innovation are thousands of data labelers and content moderators who train these systems by performing repetitive, often psychologically damaging tasks. Many of these workers are based in the Global South, working eight to twelve hours a day reviewing hundreds — sometimes thousands — of images, videos, or data points, including graphic material involving rape, murder, child abuse, and suicide. They do this without adequate breaks, paid leave, or mental health support — and in some cases, for as little as $2 an hour. Bound by sweeping nondisclosure agreements (NDAs), they are prohibited from sharing their experiences.

Mr Sheridan served as an MSP for Glasgow between 1999 and 2007 before later retraining as a social worker. He had applied to become a criminal justice social worker in Glasgow last year, but was rejected and told future applications would not be progressed.