Comment on This Week: Home sales, Caterpillar results, 4Q GDP

Designation as a hazardous substance under the Superfund law doesn’t ban the two chemicals. The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday designated two forever chemicals that have been used in cookware, carpets and firefighting foams as hazardous substances, an action intended to ensure quicker cleanup of the toxic compounds and require industries and others responsible for contamination to pay for its removal.

Backers of the bill, which recently cleared a key committee, say the lack of pet-friendly units is pushing renters to forgo housing or relinquish beloved pets to overcrowded shelters. California pet owners struggling to find a rental that accepts their furry, four-legged family members could have an easier time leasing new housing under proposed state legislation that would ban blanket no-pets policies and prohibit landlords from charging additional fees for common companions like cats and dogs.

Millions of people use X in Pakistan, and Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party relies on it especially heavily. An important ally of Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif demanded the government lift a two-month-old ban on the social media platform X, saying on Friday that it violates citizens’ right to speech and expression.

Russian-linked hack attacks against U. S. water utilities highlights yet another weakness in the sector. When the streets of Muleshoe, Texas, flooded with water in January, most people probably didn’t blame Russian hackers.

While cost effective and efficient, training AI models on social media carries some major risk. The unique relationship between social media and AI continues to develop in interesting ways, with Reddit’s recent deal with Google allowing their AI to train on its content, and tech companies’ sudden interest in once-popular social media sites like Photobucket.

The damages they are seeking are symbolic, about 23,000 yen ($150) per plaintiff. A group of Japanese doctors has filed a civil lawsuit against U. S. search giant Google, demanding damages for what they claim are unpoliced derogatory and often false comments.