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New York Times – U.S. News
nytimes.com
Summary
The U.S.-Mexico border wall on the outskirts of Eagle Pass, Texas, in February.
The U.S.-Mexico border wall on the outskirts of Eagle Pass, Texas, in February.
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Published by New York Times – U.S. News on nytimes.com
Some gig workers are using AI to craft evidence summaries and arguments as they fight companies' decisions to deactivate their accounts. Bloomberg/Getty Images Companies like Uber and Instacart often deactivate gig workers' accounts with little notice. Some workers are turning to AI to access their accounts again. Ride-hailing and delivery workers are asking chatbots to write letters and request arbitration. Gig workers fighting their deactivations on apps like Uber and Instacart say they have a new advocate: AI. The companies often kick ride-hailing and delivery workers off of their apps — sometimes for legitimate safety or fraud reasons, other times without fully explaining why. Workers who want to get back on the apps or reach some other settlement must contact the company and initiate an arbitration process. The procedure can be long and require parsing the contracts that bind the workers. Robert Bruno, a professor of labor and employment relations at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, said AI is still beneficial to gig workers who have few other options. "They're not locked out of being able to defend themselves because they lack the financial means to hire a very good labor attorney," he said.
Kyiv, Ukraine – Kyrylo, a wounded drone technician from eastern Ukraine, does not care much about the results of midterm elections in the United States. Tuesday’s vote brought on a “blue wave” of victories for the Democratic Party, which will control both houses in the new Congress and provide a check on President Donald Trump. But it means little to the Ukrainian servicemen. “We already learned how not to depend on America,” said the 37-year-old, who is recovering from a heavy contusion in a Kyiv hospital after a Russian glide bomb hit his bunker. He asked Al Jazeera to withhold his last name in accordance with wartime protocol. “Trump has let us down so many times, sold us to Russia and we’re still standing and kicking Russian [butt],” he said. “We no longer depend on American money and weaponry. The whole world wants to buy our drones now.” Under Trump, Washington gradually stopped footing much of Ukraine’s wartime bills. The Democrats have already signalled their readiness to issue subpoenas and force the disclosure of executive branch records, including the ones related to Ukraine, once they take control of Congress on January 3. “Ukraine’s positions may become stronger,” Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Kyiv-based Penta think tank, told Al Jazeera. “But we need to keep bipartisan support.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said of the midterm results, “We have bipartisan support.” He said he was “thankful to the Republicans, but Democrats very clearly state their support of Ukraine and providing aid to it.” But getting more backing from the US Congress is not going to be easy as several Republicans who supported Ukraine have lost their seats. The ambassador works with Congress and organises contacts with Kyiv and trips by lawmakers to Ukraine. “That’s why first of all a new ambassador has to be appointed,” Fesenko said. Now, before the new Congress takes office, Trump is likely to pressure Ukraine to accept a fast-tracked peace deal with Russia. “Because when Russia isn’t willing to concede, the fastest way to solve the matter – either through a truce or through freezing the war – is only possible if [Trump] twists Kyiv’s arms,” Kyiv-based analyst Igar Tyshkevych told Al Jazeera. “That’s why the next two months will be rather complicated for Ukraine,” he said. Because Trump at the moment has Republican majorities in both houses, he will “try to show the effectiveness of his policies to decrease the possible level of confrontation with the new Congress”, Tyshkevych said. The new Congress will have to deal with a dilemma rooted in allegations of corruption involving top Ukrainian officials and their purported embezzlement of US aid. “On the one hand, there’s a political conviction to keep supporting Ukraine and on the other hand the political necessity to put an end to questions, suspicions and accusations of Ukrainian leaders in corruption,” he said.
Subscribed with another email? Peskov shrugged off a question from reporters on whether the new Congress would challenge Mr. Trump also issued an executive order to put on hold sweeping new sanctions that clamped down on the Russian economy, telling Congress the pause was in the national interest. Trump would be less inclined to press Ukraine when a new Congress is seated. Gallyamov wrote in a commentary. “He thought that the time was on his side and wasn't in a hurry to use the window of opportunity that had opened after Trump's victory, and now this window is starting to close.” Some policy experts, however, cautioned against expectations of a dramatic shift. Trump over the diesel deal or Russia sanctions waivers, but hard limits on the President's power are unlikely, said Jorn Fleck, senior director of the Atlantic Council's Europe Center. “Even with a strong majority in both chambers of Congress, Democrats will struggle to impose meaningful limits on Trump's conduct of foreign policy, given his constitutional powers and willingness to push the envelope,” Mr. Trump's executive powers in the foreign policy sphere would allow him to pursue his course regardless of congressional opposition. Kosachev said. “Rather, they will face a more resolute one, who is no longer looking over his shoulder at upcoming elections.” For all the importance of Congress, "the U.S. President's role in foreign policy remains paramount — a fact Trump understands better than anyone else,” he said. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna struck a similar tone in an interview on Thursday (November 5) with The Associated Press , saying "the President is President Trump,” and he has the ability to dictate foreign and security policy. “Unpredictability” should be expected, he added.