Category: ESTA News

Oral arguments in federal court, which will determine whether to implement a congestion charge in Manhattan, have been postponed to the 28th of next month. Judge Louis Lehman, who is presiding over the Manhattan congestion charge lawsuit, decided on the 23rd that he would hear oral arguments on January 28th of next year at the Southern District of New York federal court.

Judge Lehman had initially planned to issue a ruling within the year, but the trial date has been delayed as he has set the oral arguments for early next year. The Manhattan congestion charge went into effect on January 5th after much controversy, but just over a month after its implementation, the Donald Trump administration attempted to abolish it by abruptly revoking the environmental impact statement approved by the previous administration. In response, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which implements the congestion tax, and the New York State government filed a lawsuit, claiming that the Trump administration’s revocation of the environmental impact assessment and its forced abolition of the congestion tax were unconstitutional.

Judge Lehman issued a preliminary injunction in May, temporarily blocking the Trump administration’s threat to suspend the congestion tax, allowing the tax to remain in effect. While Lehman has indicated that he intends to rule on the case this year, a decision will likely be announced early next year.

The MTA believes the Manhattan congestion tax, which is approaching its first anniversary, is a success. The MTA has noted significant improvements in traffic flow in Manhattan since the tax was implemented and anticipates achieving its initial target of $500 million in toll revenue this year. Furthermore, a recent study by Cornell University found that air quality in Manhattan improved between January and June of this year, when the congestion tax was implemented.

However, some drivers are complaining that the $9 daily toll charged to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street after the congestion charge was implemented has increased their financial burden.

President Trump announced last month that he would re-enact the suspension of the congestion charge in Manhattan.

Virginians support expanding mail-in voting while also supporting requiring government-issued photo ID, indicating a shared appreciation for both voting accessibility and election security.

According to a recent poll by Roanoke College’s Institute for Policy and Opinion (IPOR), 65% of 819 respondents supported mail-in voting, while 82% supported requiring ID.

Opinions on politicians like President Trump, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, and Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger were mixed. Sixty-three percent of respondents said they were dissatisfied with Trump’s performance, while outgoing Governor Youngkin’s approval rating stood at 53%, unchanged from 50% in a poll last summer.

Furthermore, Governor-elect Spanberger, who will take office in January, received a favorable rating of 56%, compared to President Trump and Governor Youngkin.

Trust in the federal government remained low. Fifty-six percent of respondents said they only sometimes trusted the federal government, and 25% said they did not trust it at all. Furthermore, a significant number of respondents expressed pessimism about the direction the United States is headed.

Seventy-four percent of respondents said the United States was headed in the wrong direction, marking the highest level of pessimism in the past two years.

Tolls on bridges and tunnels connecting New York and New Jersey will rise again in January.

On the 17th, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s Board of Directors finalized its $10.1 billion budget for fiscal year 2025-2026, which includes the toll increase.

Accordingly, starting January 4th, tolls on seven bridges and tunnels managed by the Port Authority connecting New York and New Jersey, including George Washington Bridge and the Lincoln-Holland Tunnel, will increase by 3% to reflect inflation, plus an additional 25 cents to offset revenue losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the EasyPass toll for passenger vehicles during peak hours (weekdays 6:00 AM to 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM, and weekends 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM) will rise from the current $16.60 to approximately $16.79.

Off-peak hours will increase from $14.60 to $14.79. For vehicles without an EZ-Pass, the toll billed by mail will increase from the current $22.38 to $23.30. The Port Authority also announced that it will phase out its $2 off-peak hour EZ-Pass toll discount for passenger cars and motorcycles starting in 2027. Accordingly, the off-peak hour discount will be phased out annually starting in January 2027 and will be eliminated completely by January 2030. In addition to the bridge and tunnel toll increases, the Port Authority also announced a phased increase in the FastLane fare connecting New York and New Jersey from the current $3 to $4 by 2029. According to the announcement, the fare will begin with a 25-cent increase in the summer of 2026 and increase by 25 cents every January from 2027 to 2029, ultimately reaching $4.

After January 2029, fare increases will be adjusted for inflation. Meanwhile, the Port Authority also approved a $45 billion, 10-year capital plan for 2026-2035 that includes airport expansion, a new Manhattan bus terminal, a new Hudson River train tunnel, and expanded FastLane service. As a result, airport pickup and drop-off fees charged to drivers of ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft travel between New York and New Jersey airports will increase from the current $2.50 to $5.

While her boyfriend was away, Borg assaulted his one-and-a-half-year-old son, causing his death.

Trinity Madison Poague, a beauty queen from Georgia, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2024 for the brutal murder of her boyfriend’s 18-month-old son. She burst into tears in court upon hearing the verdict. Prosecutors stated that the defendant’s desire to have a child with her boyfriend fueled her murderous intent. Furthermore, she had searched online for information such as “how to avoid detection of depressed skull fractures,” highlighting the brutality of her actions.

According to the New York Post, former beauty queen Trinity Pogge, 20, murdered her boyfriend Julian Williams’ 18-month-old son in January 2024 while he was a sophomore at Southwestern Georgia State University, taking advantage of his absence to buy pizza.

On the night of the incident, Borg texted her boyfriend that her son wasn’t breathing, prompting him to rush home. Williams, finding the child unresponsive, immediately drove him to the emergency room. Despite paramedics’ efforts to stabilize the child for immediate transport to Atlanta Children’s Hospital, Romeo could not be stabilized and ultimately died.

A week after the baby boy’s death, Borg was charged with murder. According to the investigation, Borg had searched for keywords such as “how to cause a brain hemorrhage” and “how a depressed skull fracture goes undetected” while in the hospital. She initially told investigators that the baby was eating potato chips before becoming unresponsive, but the medical examiner refuted this claim, confirming that the child had not eaten anything.

OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, has released a report showing that utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) can save an average of one hour of work time per day. In its “State of Enterprise AI” report published on the 8th, OpenAI surveyed 9,000 AI users across approximately 100 companies and revealed that 75% of respondents reported that AI usage improved work speed and quality. Users of its corporate service, ChatGPT Enterprise, reported saving an average of 40 to 60 minutes per day through AI.

Workers in the fields of data science, engineering, and communications said they saved about 20 minutes more, an average of 60 to 80 minutes a day, and some said they saved more than 10 hours of work per week by using AI. In addition to saving time, users also reported that AI helped them perform new tasks such as data analysis and coding. OpenAI also explained that the volume of ChatGPT conversations it collected itself increased eightfold compared to last year, and the consumption of “inference” tokens used by companies to solve complex problems increased 320fold.

Previously, Antropic also released a report that analyzed 100,000 conversations of its chatbot Claude and found that AI could reduce task completion time by 80%. Based on this, Antropic analyzed that the current generation of AI models could increase the annual growth rate of labor productivity in the United States by 1.8 percentage points over the next 10 years. However, Bloomberg News pointed out that these reports published by OpenAI and Claude “have not been peer reviewed (by other researchers).”

In August, MIT researchers released a report stating that most companies that invested in generative AI projects saw no returns, and in September, researchers at Harvard and Stanford concluded that the results they produced using AI were nothing more than meaningless “workslop.”

Regarding the academic research findings, Brad Lightcap, COO of OpenAI, countered, “There’s a lot of research claiming this or that, but it doesn’t match what we’re seeing in the field at all.” He added, “The pace of AI adoption in businesses is accelerating, just like the consumer market.”

OpenAI’s chief economist, Ronnie Chatterjee of Duke University, also pointed out, “Three out of four people say, ‘We can now do things we couldn’t do before,'” adding, “This is something that’s often overlooked in discussions about AI and work.”

A homeless man in his 50s was engulfed in flames after setting fire to a Manhattan subway car while sleeping. According to the New York Post, the suspect set the victim on fire on the 34th Street 3 train around 3:00 AM on the 1st, then fled. He was caught by police three days later the 4th.

The suspect, Hiram Carrero (18), a Harlem resident, is charged with attempted murder, assault, destruction of property, and arson.

The victim suffered severe burns to his legs and is reported to be in stable condition. A similar incident of a passenger being set on fire on the New York City subway occurred in December of last year, resulting in the death of a victim.

On December 20th of last year, a man killed a sleeping woman by dousing her with flammable liquid and setting her on fire on the F train at the Stillwell Avenue Station in Coney Island, Brooklyn.

After the crime, the man watched the woman burn before disappearing from the scene. He was later apprehended by police after a search.

President Donald Trump has criticized a prominent opposition lawmaker he pardoned for running for reelection as a Democrat, saying he lacks “loyalty.”

Trump wrote on the social media platform TruthSocial on the 7th about Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar (Texas, 11th term), “Just after I signed the pardon, Congressman Cuellar announced that he will run for reelection as a Democrat in the great state of Texas.”

He continued, “He will continue to work with the same radical left scum that just a few weeks ago wanted him and his wife to spend the rest of their lives in prison.” He then said, “This lack of loyalty is not going to be appreciated by Texas voters and his daughters,” and “Next time, there will be no more Mr. Nice Guy.” Although he pardoned an opposition lawmaker in an unusual move that drew criticism even from some of his own associates, this is interpreted as meaning that such a thing will not happen in the future.

President Trump announced on the 3rd that he would pardon Congressman Cuellar and his wife, Imelda, who are facing bribery charges. Congressman Cuellar was indicted in May of last year during the former Joe Biden administration on charges of receiving a total of nearly $600,000 (approximately 880 million won) from an energy company controlled by the Azerbaijani government and a bank headquartered in Mexico. Cuellar, who is classified as a centrist within the Democratic Party, has been a vocal opponent of the Democratic Party, advocating for hardline immigration policies.

President Trump believes that the Biden administration is politically motivated in indicting Cuellar for his courageous opposition to open border policies. President Trump repeatedly criticized the Democratic Party on this day, saying, “Under the crooked Joe Biden administration, the Democratic Party has used extreme coercion and prison sentences to destroy political opponents, including trying to put Congressman Cuellar and his wife Imelda in prison for 15 years.”

He added, “The Democrats were brutal because Henry strongly advocated for border security.” He continued, “What they did to Henry and his family was so unjust that his daughters sent me a beautiful letter about their parents, and after reading that letter, I decided, in the interest of justice and at their loving request, to grant them full and complete pardon.”

Immediately after being pardoned on the 3rd, Cuellar officially announced his re-election bid, saying, “Nothing has changed. I am a traditional conservative Democrat.” After President Trump’s pardon announcement, there was speculation that Cuellar might switch to the Republican Party or even retire, but Politico reported that Cuellar’s re-election bid as a Democrat has complicated the Republicans’ calculations as they were trying to reclaim a Texas congressional seat.

Concerns are rising that the NYPD’s security policies may be curtailed in the future as the “Committee on Community Safety” of New York City Mayor-elect Zoran Mamdani’s transition team, announced on the 24th, includes many anti-police figures.

The New York Post reported on the 26th that “Alex Vitale, a professor of sociology at Brooklyn College and author of ‘The End of Policing,’ is included on the list of members of Mamdani’s transition team,” adding that “He is a ‘police abolitionist’ and a prominent anti-police figure.”

‘The End of Policing’ is a book that criticizes the police’s ‘Broken Windows’ policy and argues for the ultimate abolition of the police and is criticized for containing statements such as “the problem lies with policing itself. The police are not there to protect you.”

The New York Post then classified the list of Korean-Americans on the transition committee for the safety committee, including Joo-hyun Kang, director of the Community Coalition for Police Reform (CPR), Jose Lopez, director; Dana Rachlin of the Brownsville Coalition for Safety; Tamika Mallory, a gun control activist; and Erica Ford, founder of the violence-ending nonprofit Life Camp, as anti-police figures.

The New York Post reported that “CPR director Joo-hyun Kang is an ardent advocate of NYPD budget cuts and has criticized the police union as an obstacle to police reform, saying that the union is synonymous with the police.” The Post also reported that CPR director Jose Lopez is an opponent of the “broken windows” policy of the police and has even led a campaign against it.

Analysis suggests that conservatives, who had expected pro-police policies after Mamdani appointed current NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch as the first police commissioner in his administration, are starting to worry about anti-police policies again with the list of members on the transition committee for the safety committee.

Meanwhile, the New York Post added that pro-police figures were also included, including Rodney Harris, a former NYPD officer and former Suffolk County Police Chief; Hassan Naveed, who previously headed the hate crimes unit; and Tom Harris, president of the Times Square Alliance.

Honduras, a Central American country with a population of 10 million (6.5 million eligible voters), held its presidential election on the 30th (local time) to elect a four-year term.

Voters began casting their ballots at polling stations at 7:00 AM that day, the opening time.

Of the six candidates who cast ballots, three are considered likely to win. Rixy Moncada (60), a candidate from the left-leaning Liberty and Reconstruction Party (Libre Party), served as Minister of Finance and Minister of Defense under the current administration of President Xiomara Castro before preparing for the presidency. He is also a founding member of the ruling party.

Salvador Nasralya (72), a centrist candidate from the Liberal Party, is a well-known TV host and a close associate of President Castro who has since parted ways politically. Including those who dropped out midway through the race, this will be his fourth presidential bid.

The other candidate is Nasri “Tito” Aspura (67), a businessman from the right-leaning National Party, who served as mayor of Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, from 2014 to 2022.These three candidates have shown a close race in various opinion polls before the election, each with approval ratings in the 20-30% range.

Therefore, the general view is that it will be difficult to predict a winner until the votes are counted, local media outlet La Prensa reported. El País, a Spanish-language media outlet, also pointed out that opinion polls conducted in Honduras in recent years have rarely matched the actual results.The differences between the left-wing candidates Moncada and Aspura are stark in their platform pledges.

For example, Moncada promised economic democratization to reduce the gap between rich and poor, while Aspura pledged to eradicate corruption rampant in politics and implement pro-business policies.

Regarding measures to reduce Central America’s highest crime rate, both candidates emphasized restoring the rule of law and strengthening the military and police. The Associated Press reported that during their campaigns, the candidates focused primarily on accusing their opponents of possible election fraud.

The Honduran presidential election drew international attention due to President Donald Trump’s controversial endorsement of right-wing candidate Tito Aspura in the final stages. On the 26th, President Trump wrote on TruthSocial, “I hope the Honduran people will vote for freedom and democracy and elect Tito Aspura as their president.” He then announced that he would pardon former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández (57), who served in the United States from 2014 to 2022 and is currently serving a 45-year sentence for drug trafficking.

Hernández was a member of the right-wing National Party and maintained a cooperative relationship with President Trump during his first term. Local media reported that there was favorable public opinion in Honduras toward various infrastructure projects during the Hernández administration.

On this day, Honduran voters will also elect 128 members of the National Assembly. The current parliamentary structure is dominated by a minority government, with the opposition coalition nearing ⅔ of the seats.

President Donald Trump has proposed using tariff revenue to provide $2,000 per person to everyone except the highest-income earners, but Republicans are responding lukewarmly.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and other outlets reported on the 19th that Republican lawmakers remain lukewarm to President Trump’s “$2,000 dividend” plan.

With the national debt soaring to record highs, there’s a widespread belief within the GOP that tariff revenue should be used to reduce the deficit or expand the health safety net.

President Trump’s tariff dividend plan is aimed at next year’s midterm elections. However, there are significant concerns within the Republican Party, which controls Congress, that the cash injection, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic, could lead to inflation.

The White House has been exploring various ways to utilize the increased tariff revenue.

While the White House plans to submit a tariff plan for congressional approval, it has yet to present a detailed plan to the Republicans.