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Zohran Mamdani, 33, a New York City assemblymember who was practically a political unknown prior to his campaign, is the presumptive winner of the New York mayoral primary. On Tuesday evening, Mamdani led the first-choice vote count with 44% of the vote. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo, trailing at 36%, conceded the race in a major upset. On Wednesday morning, Mamdani spoke to supporters in an emotional speech in which he quoted Nelson Mandela, saying, “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” New Yorkers have a city where they can do more than just struggle, one where those who toil in the night can enjoy the fruits of their labor in the day, where hard work is repaid with a stable life, he continued. The mayor will use their power to reject Donald Trumps fascism, to stop masked ice agents from deporting our mayor, and to govern our city as a model for the Democratic Party, a party where we fight for working people with no apology.” When will all the votes be counted? Due to New York City’s ranked voting system, which allows voters to cast five votes on their ballot, the final tally will take some time. Since none of the candidates received more than 50% of the vote on Tuesday night, ranked choice voting will determine the true winner (though Mamdani is the clear presumptive winner) until a candidate reaches that threshold.According to the Associated Press, ranked-choice tabulations won’t start until July 1, so the city has time to receive mail-in ballots. New Yorkers and other interested parties can stay up-to-date with the latest counts on the New York Times‘ live election result page. Find it here. What to know about Zohran Mamdani Tuesday night’s historic win makes Mandani the first Muslim candidate to ever win the mayoral primary in the state of New York. He did so by running his campaign on issues including making New York City an affordable place for residents, by freezing rent, making childcare free, and making public transportation accessible to everyone. He also wants to increase taxes on big corporations, as well as the wealthiest New Yorkers.Mamdani positioned himself as a candidate who will fight for the people to make their lives better and easiersomething many don’t feel their leaders are all that concerned with at present. He also proved during his campaign that he would not back down in the face of name-calling and propaganda. The young candidate managed to captivate New York voters, a population that’s heavily Jewish, while speaking up for Palestinian rights. In this contentious political climate, that’s not a small task. As the war between Israel and Hamas wages on in Gaza, pro-Palestine speech has been heavily politicized, and even deemed “hate speech” or anti-semetic in some cases. But Mamdani has repeatedly pushed back on the narrative that speaking out against the war is anti-semetic. What has the reaction to Zohran Mamdani’s win been? Mamdani’s presumptive win Tuesday has set off a massive reaction across the country and on social media. There seems to be a strong feeling that the candidate’s win could set off a firestorm of candidates with similar, socialist views being elected elsewhere in the nation.“Congratulations to @zohrankmamdani on an historic victory tonight,” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who endorsed Mamdani, posted on Instagram. “Its time we acknowledge that not all Democrats are the same. Weve got people, theyve got money.” While those who wanted to see the young candidate take the race are thrilled with the presumed victory, not everyone is so pleased. The historic results have sparked outrage among MAGA supporters. Conservative commentator Laura Loomer posted a series of tweets on X in which she floated the idea that a Muslim mayor could lead to attacks on NYC. “There will be another 9/11 in NYC and @ZohranKMamdani will be to blame,” she wrote.New Yorkers forgot all about the victims of 9/11 killed by Muslims,” Loomer continued. “Now a Muslim Communist will be the mayor of New York City. Get out while you can, Loomer wrote, adding the unfounded view that Mamdani is “literally supported by terrorists.” When is the NYC mayor general election? While Mamdani’s presumed win is a huge victory for Democratic socialists, he still has to win the general election. Mamdani will take on Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, the lone Republican who entered the race. Sliwa is the founder of The Guardian Angels, a nonprofit known for its volunteer crime-fighting patrols. It’s possible Andrew Cuomo will run again in the general election, too, facing off with Mamdani a second time. Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams and attorney Jim Walden will run as Independents. The general election will take place this November.
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A federal judge Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to release billions of dollars in funding for the build out of electric vehicle chargers in more than a dozen states.U.S. District Judge Tana Lin in Washington state partially granted a preliminary injunction that sought to free up the money approved under then-President Joe Biden that the Trump administration withheld earlier this year. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia sued over the move, arguing that the administration did not have the authority to block the congressionally approved funds. The program was set to allocate $5 billion over five years to various states, of which an estimated $3.3 billion had already been made available.Lin ordered that funding be released in 14 of the states, including in Arizona, California and New York. But she denied granting the preliminary injunction for D.C., Minnesota and Vermont, saying that they did not provide enough evidence that they would face “irreparable harm” if the money wasn’t immediately freed up.Lin said the Trump administration overstepped its constitutional authority when it froze the funding previously approved by Congress in 2021 as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.“When the Executive Branch treads upon the will of the Legislative Branch, and when an administrative agency acts contrary to law, it is the Court’s responsibility to remediate the situation and restore the balance of power,” she wrote.The order will go into effect July 2 unless the Trump administration appeals. The Federal Highway Administration did not immediately respond to an email request for comment on the decision.The Trump administration in February directed states to stop spending money for electric vehicle charging under the program. The move was part of a broader push by the Republican president to roll back environmental policies advanced by his Democratic predecessor.States suing the Trump administration said the decision to freeze funding halted projects midstream, requiring immediate court intervention.California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, said after the ruling that the Trump administration could not “dismiss programs illegally.”“We are pleased with today’s order blocking the Administration’s unconstitutional attempt to do so, and California looks forward to continuing to vigorously defend itself from this executive branch overreach,” he said in a statement.The Trump administration argued that it was working on new guidance for the program and was only pausing future funding in the meantime.The program was meant to assuage concerns about electric vehicles and build infrastructure along highway corridors first, then address gaps elsewhere once the state highway obligations were met.Some states with projects running under the program have already been reimbursed by the Biden-era federal funds. Others are still contracting for their sites. Still more had halted their plans by the time the Trump administration ordered states to stop their spending. Regardless, getting the chargers installed and operating has been a slow process with contracting challenges, permitting delays and complex electrical upgrades.It was expected that states would fight against the federal government’s efforts to slow the nation’s electric vehicle charger build out. New York, for example, which is part of the lawsuit, has been awarded over $175 million in federal funds from the program, and state officials say $120 million is currently being withheld by the Trump administration. Sudhin Thanawala and Sophie Austin, Associated Press
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Hackers backing Tehran have targeted U.S. banks, defense contractors and oil industry companies following American strikes on Iranian nuclear facilitiesbut so far have not caused widespread disruptions to critical infrastructure or the economy.But that could change if the ceasefire between Iran and Israel collapses or if independent hacking groups supporting Iran make good on promises to wage their own digital conflict against the U.S., analysts and cyber experts say.The U.S. strikes could even prompt Iran, Russia, China, and North Korea to double down on investments in cyberwarfare, according to Arnie Bellini, a tech entrepreneur and investor.Bellini noted that hacking operations are much cheaper than bullets, planes or nuclear armswhat defense analysts call kinetic warfare. America may be militarily dominant, he said, but its reliance on digital technology poses a vulnerability.“We just showed the world: You don’t want to mess with us kinetically,” said Bellini, CEO of Bellini Capital. “But we are wide open digitally. We are like Swiss cheese.” Hackers have hit banks and defense contractors Two pro-Palestinian hacking groups claimed they targeted more than a dozen aviation firms, banks and oil companies following the U.S. strikes over the weekend.The hackers detailed their work in a post on the Telegram messaging service and urged other hackers to follow their lead, according to researchers at the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks the groups’ activity.The attacks were denial-of-service attacks, in which a hacker tries to disrupt a website or online network.“We increase attacks from today,” one of the hacker groups, known as Mysterious Team, posted Monday.Federal authorities say they are on guard for additional attempts by hackers to penetrate U.S. networks.The Department of Homeland Security issued a public bulletin Sunday warning of increased Iranian cyber threats. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a statement Tuesday urging organizations that operate critical infrastructure like water systems, pipelines or power plants to stay vigilant.While it lacks the technical abilities of China or Russia, Iran has long been known as a “chaos agent” when it comes to using cyberattacks to steal secrets, score political points or frighten opponents.Cyberattacks mounted by Iran’s government may end if the ceasefire holds and Tehran looks to avoid another confrontation with the U.S. But hacker groups could still retaliate on Iran’s behalf.In some cases, these groups have ties to military or intelligence agencies. In other cases, they act entirely independently. More than 60 such groups have been identified by researchers at the security firm Trustwave.These hackers can inflict significant economic and psychological blows. Following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, for instance, hackers penetrated an emergency alert app used by some Israelis and directed it to inform users that a nuclear missile was incoming.“It causes an immediate psychological impact,” said Ziv Mador, vice president of security research at Trustwave’s SpiderLabs, which tracks cyberthreats.Economic disruption, confusion and fear are all the goals of such operations, said Mador, who is based in Israel. “We saw the same thing in Russia-Ukraine.” Collecting intelligence is another aim for hackers While Iran lacks the cyberwarfare capabilities of China or Russia, it has repeatedly tried to use its more modest operations to try to spy on foreign leaderssomething national security experts predict Tehran is almost certain to try again as it seeks to suss out President Donald Trump’s next moves.Last year, federal authorities charged three Iranian operatives with trying to hack Trump’s presidential campaign. It would be wrong to assume Iran has given up those efforts, according to Jake Williams, a former National Security Agency cybersecurity expert who is now vice president of research and development at Hunter Strategy, a Washington-based cybersecurity firm.“It’s fairly certain that these limited resources are being used for intelligence collection to understand what Israel or the U.S. might be planning next, rather than performing destructive attacks against U.S. commercial organizations,” Williams said. The Trump administration has cut cybersecurity programs and staff Calls to bolster America’s digital defense come as the Trump administration has moved to slash some cybersecurity programs as part of its effort to shrink the size of government.CISA has placed staffers who worked on election security on leave and cut millions of dollars in funding for cybersecurity programs for local and state elections.The CIA, NSA and other intelligence agencies also have seen reductions in staffing. Trump abruptly fired Gen. Timothy Haugh, who oversaw the NSA and the Pentagon’s Cyber Command.The Israel-Iran conflict shows the value of investments in cybersecurity and cyber offense, Mador said. He said Israel’s strikes on Iran, which included attacks on nuclear scientists, required sophisticated cyberespionage that allowed Israel to track its targets.Expanding America’s cyber defenses will require investments in education as well as technical fixes to ensure connected devices or networks aren’t vulnerable, said Bellini, who recently contributed $40 million toward a new cybersecurity center at the University of South Florida.There is a new arms race when it comes to cyberwar, Bellini said, and it’s a contest America can’t afford to lose.“It’s Wile E. Coyote vs. the Road Runner,” Bellini said. “It will go back and forth, and it will never end.” David Klepper, Associated Press
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Whos monitoring the situation right now? As headlines continue to be dominated by news of missile attacks, retaliations, and calls for ceasefire, there are no shortage of situations to monitor. And X users are responding to the call to arms. Me monitoring the situation with the boys, one X post reads. I bet hes texting other women, reads another. She doesnt know Im monitoring the situation. A third wrote: I never see you at the club. I never see you monitoring the situation. me monitoring the situation with the boys pic.twitter.com/eiLA7lrOUF— Memelord Technologies (@memelordtech) June 14, 2025 The meme speaks to the compulsion to continually refresh social media during times of political turmoilpulling down at the top of the scroll for the next update. Its not doomscrolling; its monitoring the situation. This isnt the first time the meme has surfaced on social media. The idea of monitoring the situation has been used in memes throughout the 2010s, making it hard to pin down exactly when the first known meme to use the phrase was uploaded online, Phillip Hamilton wrote on the website Know Your Meme. Now, its experiencing a resurgence on X following Israels military strikes against Iran, which were followed by U.S. strikes and, most recently, Irans missile attack on a U.S. base in Qatar. In the aftermath, Google searches for is the US going to war spiked nearly 5,000%, while World War III searches surged almost 2,000%, according to Google Trends. Reddit threads like Is WW3 slowly happening? and Do you think World War 3 is a real possibility? have been flooded with anxious users. Over on TikTok, users took a predictably unserious approach to the collective anxiety over global events. First war, whats the dress code, one post reads over footage of missiles flying overhead. When I get drafted into WW3 but they let me bring my AirPods, another viral post reads, soundtracked to Taylor Swift. @mikaelarellano RATATATATATA #taylorswift #swiftie #ww3 I Did Something Bad – Taylor Swift While the fears felt by people around the world as the situation continues to unfold are genuine and warrantedas those who grew up witnessing U.S. invasions in Iraq and Afghanistan can attestusing memes as a coping mechanism is nothing new. As one X user put it: Men will literally monitor the situation instead of going to therapy.”
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After experimenting with AI judges at the Winter X Games six months ago, Jeremy Bloom, CEO of the X Games, is launching an entirely new company based around the technology, and has pulled in some top-tier talent to lead it. Owl AI, an AI platform designed to judge and referee sporting events, is officially launching following an $11 million seed funding round, led by S32, with additional participation from Menlo Ventures and Susa Ventures. Josh Gwyther, the former Head of AI at Google Cloud, will be the new companys CEO, leaving Google after nearly a decade. Bloom, who is Owl AIs executive chairman and a former Olympic skier and NFL player, says that the companys creation was, in a word, accidental, as it was originally a sort of experiment between the X Games and Google cofounder Sergey Brin, who tasked Google AI engineers with developing AI judges for snowboarding competitions. That was enough to garner a whole lot of attention from athletes and sports leagues alike, and now that the technology has proven itself, the potential applications are far-reaching. When I initially reached out to Sergey, Bloom says, this idea had been on my mind since I was a competitor a couple of decades ago. Sergey was excited about it, too, and introduced me to Josh. They created the initial model in six weeks and deployed it at the Winter X Games in January. Now, with five more months to marinate, itll be used again at the Summer X Games in Salt Lake City this weekend. Ive been focused on generative AI for the last four and a half years, says Gwyther, and Owl AI blends two things that I love: sports and AI. So, making the move was a no-brainer. It was an easy decision to make. Owl AIs initial purpose was to judge athletes and assign them scores, removing the potential for bias or corruption that may exist with human judges. But theres more to it than that, as it can be used as a referee or judge, it can also score and coach individual athletes, and can also be used as a color commentator in nearly any language. Our macro goal is to make sure human error never decides the outcome of a game, competition, or sporting event ever again, says Bloom. These moments are hard for fans, devastating for athletes, and have monumental impacts for leagues. He notes some examples from the NFL, such as the notorious Fail Mary, or an instance in which a blown call cost the New Orleans Saints a potential berth in the Super Bowl. While Owl AI is not necessarily designed to replace human judges or referees, it can help them do their jobs, and hopefully, make better decisions on the field, the mountain, or on the baseball diamond. As such, other leagues are already talking to the company about potential partnerships. We have five or six ongoing conversations with pro leagues, says Bloom. While nothing is official, both Bloom and Gwyther are excited about the future of the company, especially given how far the technology has advanced in a short period of time. What we did in Aspen was only five months ago. What were doing in Salt Lake City couldnt have been done at that time, Bloom says, regarding how the AI tech has evolved with remarkable speed. Im excited.
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