NYC parents’ childcare desires vary by race, income, location

NEW YORK -- As Mayor Zohran Mamdani launches universal childcare for 2-year-olds, with the ultimate goal of free care for all young children, what do New York City parents want for their toddlers and even infants?

The answer may not always be a formal daycare program, and seems to vary by geography, race and income, according to a new survey released Thursday, funded by Robin Hood, an anti-poverty organization in the city, with the help of the progressive think tank New America.

The percentage of families who want formal childcare at age 2 ranges from less than one-third of parents in East New York (School District 19) to just short of two-thirds of parents in Park Slope (School District 15), analysts found. Still, the vast majority of parents said they would at least be open to daycare if it were free.

The results suggest that as 2-K expands citywide over the next few years, demand for seats could be “uneven” across local school districts.

—New York Daily News

At the epicenter of AI, San Francisco Bay residents take on the technology

San Francisco Bay Area residents, living in the beating heart of the artificial intelligence boom, are just as conflicted about the technology as the rest of the country.

As OpenAI showed off its latest AI assistants in San Francisco last week, protesters outside — some dressed as killer robots —demanded it keep AI away from the military. Thirteen miles away in Oakland the following day, some senior citizens sat down with a group of students to address AI angst at a grassroots tech event.

Even as the clash between tech titans and anxious activists intensifies, the debate about AI is increasingly permeating community events, with the young and old grappling with the changes AI is bringing to their cities and the world.

Many are confused and want answers. Oakland resident Assata Olugbala, 81, asked for help removing Google's AI bot Gemini from her devices after it started offering help she hadn't requested. "I've never invited it into my space," she said. "But it starts talking to me and answering questions."

—Los Angeles Times

Trump calls Abdul El-Sayed 'Mohammed,' post labeled racist

LANSING, Mich. — Republican President Donald Trump called Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed "Mohammed El-Sayed" in an Oct. 7 social media post that was quickly denounced as racist by Arab-American leaders in Michigan.

Trump's message on Truth Social came a day before El-Sayed, who is Muslim and a former public health official, will participate in the first general election debate of his U.S. Senate race against Republican Mike Rogers.

"Mohammed El-Sayed is a terrible Candidate for the Dumocrats," Trump wrote in a post that appeared at about 11 p.m. "While his opponent, Mike Rogers, is an extremely good one, Mohammed goes back to the days of the Jihad.

"He is a RADICAL Extremist, Terrorist Sympathizer, and no different from his best friend, America Hating Hasan Piker." El-Sayed's full name is Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed. But he's generally gone by Abdul since kindergarten, according to his book "Healing Politics."

—The Detroit News

Canadian poet Anne Carson wins Nobel Prize in Literature

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — This year's Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to Canadian poet Anne Carson "for her bold and inventive oeuvre," the Swedish Academy in Stockholm announced on Thursday.

Carson's work "has created new forms for contemporary literature" in dialogue with classical tradition, said Ingrid Carlberg, the academy's permanent secretary.

"Anne Carson has, throughout her entire career, combined poetry writing with translation work and teaching at various universities," she added.

Born in Toronto in 1950 and educated at the city's university, Carson is a poet, essayist, translator and classicist. She has also taught at several universities in North America including McGill, Michigan, New York and Princeton.

—dpa