15 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Gaby Del Valle

Gaby Del Valle

Policy Reporter

Policy Reporter

    More From Gaby Del Valle

    Gaby Del Valle
    Gaby Del Valle
    Senator Ron Wyden wants tougher export controls on spying and phone hacking tools.

    He asked the Commerce Department to strengthen rules designed to prevent repressive regimes from using US-made surveillance technology to spy on dissidents, journalists, and Americans.

    The proposed export controls will make it harder for regimes to engage in human rights abuses ranging from mass surveillance of their citizens to hacking into the phones of dissidents and independent journalists. However, I am concerned that the draft rules contain gaps that would allow autocratic governments to continue buying technologies and services from American companies to commit human rights abuses.

    Gaby Del Valle
    Gaby Del Valle
    Surprise, surprise.

    Elon Musk didn’t show up to a Philadelphia court hearing over his $1 million giveaways to swing state voters, which the city’s DA has called an illegal lottery.

    By not showing up, Musk risks being held in contempt of court and could face a fine — which probably won’t hurt him much.

    Tech leaders kiss the ringTech leaders kiss the ring
    Gaby Del Valle
    Gaby Del Valle
    Gaby Del Valle
    Italy’s political class is caught up in a massive hacking scandal.

    An IT consultant, Nunzio Samuele Calamucci, allegedly breached Italy’s Interior Ministry databases on behalf of Equalize, a private investigations company run by a former Italian police officer.

    Equalize used a computer virus to break into government databases, prosecutors claim.

    In wiretaps, Calamucci, who worked for Equalize, allegedly boasted of having hacked the information of 800,000 people.

    Several Italian politicians were among those who were hacked. And agents with Mossad, Israel’s spy agency, allegedly tried to buy information from Equalize.

    The grievance-driven blueprint for the next Trump administration

    The Verge’s guide to Project 2025.

    Gaby Del Valle
    The pragmatist’s guide to the 2024 presidential election

    Your vote matters. Here’s how it will change the future.

    Adi Robertson, Gaby Del Valle and 3 more
    Gaby Del Valle
    Gaby Del Valle
    Elon Musk’s $1 million America PAC giveaways may be over.

    Though Musk said he’d give $1 million away daily until the election, the PAC didn’t announce a winner in the sweepstakes today. The money was only available to registered swing state voters who signed the PAC’s petition — which critics said was a clear example of buying votes.

    Perhaps coincidentally, the DOJ recently warned that Musk’s lottery may be illegal.

    Gaby Del Valle
    Gaby Del Valle
    NYC’s AI-powered subway gun scanners didn’t find a single gun.

    The scanners, created by the weapon-detection company Evolv, were installed at 20 MTA stations as part of a pilot program.

    Of the 2,749 scans that were done since July, none involved a gun — though 118 of them were false positives. The scanners also had issues with false positives at a Bronx hospital.

    The Legal Aid Society called the pilot a “failure.”