Associate professors Magnus Fiskesjö, anthropology, and Allen Carlson, government, on China’s expected passage of a new law shifting policy away from regional ethnic autonomy.  

---

Allen Carlson, associate professor of government and an expert on Chinese foreign policy, says the episode illustrates how governments courting Beijing, amid frustration with Washington’s volatility, can find engagement with China difficult to manage.

---

Wellness influencer Casey Means advanced toward confirmation as U.S. surgeon general after a hearing before senators on Wednesday. She faced grilling on her stance on vaccines, past business entanglements and previous criticism of pesticides.

---

Rebecca Slayton, director of the Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, says the initiative is more political theater than actual peacebuilding.

---

Roger Figueroa, an assistant professor in social and behavioral science in nutrition, and Laura Bellows, an associate professor of nutritional sciences, weigh in on potential Head Start funding losses with the federal shutdown.

New York State

---

Fran Kozen and Larissa Shepherd, experts in fiber science and apparel design, say snow washing appeals because wool is prone to shrinkage and rugs and blankets can be difficult to launder, but note there are caveats to consider.

Anthropic’s co-founder Dario Amodei has voiced his fears over the development of artificial intelligence in a 19,000-word essay. He argues the world needs to “wake up” to the risks.

---

TikTok is testing a new setting that lets users choose how much AI-generated content they want to see in their “For You” feed. The change is rolling out over the coming weeks. 

---

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says Americans who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will go without their benefits come November 1 if the government shutdown holds.

---

Amazon says its services are recovering again after connectivity issues persisted on Monday. However, reports of problems with the company’s cloud computing services unit, AWS, continue.

---