Los Angelinos are now faced with deciding to face bad LA traffic with another person or with an algorithm.

Happening in the World: Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing parliament has unanimously passed Article 23, a new security law. The new law allows for closed-door trials, gives police rights to detain subjects for up to 16 days without charge, life sentence penalties, etc. Western leaders, the UN, and human rights groups are raising concerns about Article 23’s possible damage to the rights and freedoms of Hongkongers. The US and the EU said it was “alarmed” by “sweeping and… vaguely-defined” provisions that could affect the city’s status as a business center. (BBC)

Happening in the US: Autonomous taxis owned by Alphabet, Google’s parent company, have arrived in Los Angeles. The cars called Waymo have already been operating in San Francisco and Phoenix and will soon be offering a paid service with prices comparable to those charged by Uber and Lyft. Certain residents, including local labor unions, passengers, and Mayor Karen Bass, are concerned about the safety and the tact of driverless vehicles in Los Angeles, a city notoriously hard to drive in. (NY Times)

Happening in NYC: Demand for free preschool seats for three-year-olds exceeds supply in nearly half of New York City Zip Codes, with uneven supply and demand between the five boroughs. Parts of southern Brooklyn, Parkchester in the Bronx, and central Staten Island faced a large shortage, while large swaths of northern Brooklyn and the Lower East Side saw a surplus of spaces. The stakes are high for parents who have a high price to pay if they cannot get into a free 3-K program. Mayor Eric Adams has criticized the 3-K program as mismanagement of federal funding and claims that he can save taxpayer money by redistributing seats. Adams is proposing to slash funding by 170 million, which concerns other government leaders. (The Gothamist)

Happening in Our Community: Join the Institute for Latin American Studies for a conversation with Dr. Austin Kocher, immigration researcher and assistant professor at the Transactional Research Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a research institute at Syracuse University that uses Freedom of Information Act requests to study the U.S. immigration enforcement apparatus. During the event, Dr. Kocher will unpack TRAC’s various methodologies, key research findings, and ongoing impact on public policy and popular discourse. (Click here to learn more)

Car via Wikimedia Commons