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October 23: New Hampshire Voter ID Ruling and Hormuz Tanker Fires
In technology and energy
Anthropic says Claude uncovered hundreds of bugs in 123 open-source software libraries while working with verification firm Theorem. The team used mathematical proofs to check security properties of compiled code, with a separate tool checking those proofs. Anthropic says some flaws had survived years of automated testing. The guarantees cover only specified properties under defined conditions, and the work currently applies to single-threaded RISC-V programs in a modeled Linux environment.
Google, meanwhile, is expanding a deal with Voltus to pay homes and businesses to reduce electricity use during peak demand, freeing grid capacity for data centers. The program could provide up to 1,070 megawatts of capacity on the Mid-Atlantic PJM grid through measures including reduced air-conditioning use and switching to on-site batteries.
In England’s health care system
Children and young people are being hit hardest by rising NHS waiting times, according to the Care Quality Commission. The regulator says delays are making conditions harder to treat, with significant regional differences. Some adult waiting times have improved, but children’s services face rising demand and falling staff numbers.
In U.S. voting
A federal judge in California has blocked a Department of Homeland Security effort to identify noncitizens on voter rolls, less than two weeks before the midterm elections.
Separately, the Supreme Court has allowed New Hampshire to bar student IDs as supporting evidence of a voter’s identity. Lower courts had already allowed the state to reject them as stand-alone identification. The unsigned order said a lower court’s October 2 decision blocking the broader restriction came too close to Election Day. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, questioning the application of the principle against last-minute court changes to election rules.
At the Ethiopia-Kenya border
Hundreds of Ethiopians have crossed into Kenya to escape fighting between regional forces. The clashes followed a dispute over raising the flag of Ethiopia’s Somali Regional State.
In the Strait of Hormuz
Iranian state television reports that seven oil tankers caught fire or were damaged overnight Wednesday into Thursday after being targeted or striking naval mines.
Ukraine’s air defenses
Ukraine needs more air defenses against Russian drones and ballistic missiles. U.S.-made Patriot interceptors are especially valuable against ballistic threats, but years of use in Ukraine, along with use by the United States and its allies in the war with Iran, have depleted already limited stocks.
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