Will the Donald lose his shot at the presidential elections? He could, thanks to Colorado’s supreme court that ruled for scratching his name off the state’s primary Republican ballot. He owes this decision to his alleged involvement in the notorious 6 January 2021 attacks on the US Capitol by his followers, Reuters reports. The ruling does not bar him from the general election, though, but some hopefuls believe that this decision might create a domino effect in other states, the New York Times explains.

His team is taking their appeal to the US Supreme Court, anyway, where threeTrump-hired judges are present. Also anticipating a backlash, the Colorado supreme court has already held on to enforcing its decision until 4 January 2024 to make time for him to appeal. Should Trump’s people manage to make a move before then, the appeal will be extended to the highest court in the US leaving it to them to decide Trump’s fate and how the next presidential election will look like, shares Richard L. Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California as quoted in the times.

But other states with similar lawsuits were wary to come to the same decision.New Hampshire, a swing state, dismissed the lawsuit on “procedural grounds”. Another followed in Minnesota, a majority red state, and in Michigan, another swing state, where the judge stipulated that this lawsuit was a political matter and not for him to decide, added the times.

The story is still getting plenty of ink: Reuters | New York Times | Financial Times |Washington Post.

Thanks to new tech, the future of the airport screening process could be as simple as going to the supermarket’s self- checkout. The days of the pat-downs and manual baggage checking could be numbered, according to the latest step by The US’ Transportation Security Administration (TSA) experiment with a new self-service screening system which will be operational in January 2024 for certain passengers at Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport, the US Department of Homeland Security recently said.

This overhaul intends to give agency back to the passenger as they go through the screening process and cuts down on their waiting times — making traveling a lot less tedious. However, the tech employed by TSA’s project is powerful — as much as it will streamline the steps from airport gate to plane, it will not skimp on security as several multi-mn scanners and recognition systems will be used to ensure safety and efficiency. It also gives security personnel a chance to work on other more pressing issues in the airport.

Here’s what to expect: During the bag inspection, CT machines will display 3D images of a bag’s contents so there will be no need to take out your liquids or electronics. The TSA expects to install around 2.5k of these by 2040. E-gate walk-through scanners will be utilized for passengers to pass without raising their arms and the machine will also give them a chance to remove any forgotten coins, etc, from their pockets. Then for biometrics, a new facial recognition program will mean passengers can simply glance at a camera without pulling out their IDs or boarding passes, according to the Washington Post.

The caveat? It costs a pretty penny + people need to be trained to use it. Three orders of the CT scanners alone cost USD 1.3 bn — in 2022, the TSA planned to put USD 781 mn aside for the equipment, up from the previous year’s USD 198 mn. There’s also the issue of how travelers will adapt to the new tech. Travel nomads will have it down quickly, but novices might find the process daunting, which would mean more training and more time until the screening process is as seamless as it promises to be, Jeffrey C. Price, a professor of aviation and aerospace at Metropolitan State University of Denver told the post.

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