MicroWave

A new survey found that almost 40% of companies posted a fake job listing this year — and 85% of those companies interviewed candidates for fake jobs

…

Companies said they are posting fake jobs for a laundry list of reasons, including to deceive their own employees.

More than 60% of those surveyed said they posted fake jobs “to make employees believe their workload would be alleviated by new workers.”

Sixty-two percent of companies said another reason for the shady practice is to “have employees feel replaceable.”

Two-thirds of companies cited a desire to “appear the company is open to external talent” and 59% said it was an effort to “collect resumes and keep them on file for a later date.”

What’s even more concerning about the results: 85% of companies engaging in the practice said they interviewed candidates for the fake jobs.

Walgreens is set to close a substantial number of its roughly 8,600 locations across the United States as the company looks to reset the struggling pharmaceutical chain’s business.

The company didn’t announce a specific number of store closures, but it said Thursday that it is planning “significant” closures of underperforming stores across America as part of a multiyear optimization program.

Federal agents apprehended eight men from Tajikistan— a Central Asian nation that borders Afghanistan — because they were concerned the men could have been plotting a possible terrorist attack on U.S. soil, multiple sources familiar with the investigation told CBS News. 

The eight men residing in Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia were taken into custody earlier this month and charged with violating civil U.S. immigration law by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They remain in ICE custody and face removal proceedings, according to two of the sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the probe.

Multiple sources told CBS News there was no evidence to suggest that a specific targeted attack was planned, and U.S. officials said there was no imminent threat to the homeland.

The individuals — who sources said have ties to ISIS — crossed into the U.S. via the southwest border between 2023 and 2024 but at the time, immigration officials had no information connecting them to the terrorist group. The eight migrants were arrested by ICE when they entered the U.S. without proper documents and were subsequently released into the U.S. with notices to appear in immigration court, according to a senior official at the Department of Homeland Security.

Vermont has agreed to pay $175,000 to settle a lawsuit on behalf of a man who was charged with a crime for giving a state trooper the middle finger in 2018, the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union said Wednesday. 

The lawsuit was filed in 2021 by the ACLU of Vermont on behalf of Gregory Bombard, of St. Albans. It says Bombard’s First Amendment rights were violated after an unnecessary traffic stop and retaliatory arrest in 2018.

Trooper Jay Riggen stopped Bombard’s vehicle in St. Albans on Feb. 9, 2018, because he believed Bombard had shown him the middle finger, according to the lawsuit. Bombard denied that but says he did curse and display the middle finger once the initial stop was concluded.

• North Korean soldiers sent to aid Russia in Ukraine would be "cannon fodder," the Pentagon said.
• The two nations signed a new security pact, and some Korean units look set to go to Ukraine.
• Russia is known for treating its soldiers as highly disposable and has suffered high death tolls.

• A US Navy nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarine surfaced in the Norwegian Sea.
• It was accompanied by a guided-missile cruiser and two naval aircraft.
• The show of force came weeks after Russia sent a submarine and naval fleet to Cuba.

Tesla must fix air quality problems at its electric vehicle manufacturing facility in the San Francisco Bay Area after racking up more than 100 violations for allegedly releasing toxic emissions into the atmosphere over the last five years, an air quality board said Tuesday. 

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District planned to issue a written abatement order later this week after Tuesday’s announcement. Each of the 112 violations can emit hundreds of pounds of illegal air pollution, the board said.

The plant is in the city of Fremont, in the East Bay, and the agency’s independent hearing board pointed to the facility’s paint shop operations as a specific problem. The board has ordered Tesla to hire an independent consultant and develop a proposed implementation plan for approval, which it then must execute to stop the toxic emissions.

It’s a scenario that terrifies America’s auto industry.

Chinese carmakers set up shop in Mexico to exploit North American trade rules. Once in place, they send ultra-low-priced electric vehicles streaming into the United States.

As the Chinese EVs go on sale across the country, America’s homegrown EVs — costing an average of $55,000, roughly double the price of their Chinese counterparts — struggle to compete. Factories close. Workers lose jobs across America’s industrial heartland.

UPFs should also be heavily taxed due to impact on health and mortality, says scientist who coined term

Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are displacing healthy diets “all over the world” despite growing evidence of the risks they pose and should be sold with tobacco-style warnings, according to the nutritional scientist who first coined the term.

Prof Carlos Monteiro of the University of São Paulo will highlight the increasing danger UPFs present to children and adults at the International Congress on Obesity this week.

“UPFs are increasing their share in and domination of global diets, despite the risk they represent to health in terms of increasing the risk of multiple chronic diseases,” Monteiro told the Guardian ahead of the conference in São Paulo.

The US Supreme Court accidentally leaked a major opinion on abortion rights, appearing ready to overturn part of Idaho's near-total ban.

According to a document published on the court's website then quickly removed, justices will rule that Idaho cannot deny emergency abortions to women whose health is in danger.

The court said the opinion, initially obtained by Bloomberg, was "inadvertently and briefly" published, and that its final decision had "not been released" but would be presented in due course.

Its publication however comes two years after the leaking of the court's decision to overturn the national right to abortion access, known as Roe v Wade.

Hong Kong officials have singled out at least two schools for singing the Chinese national anthem "too softly".

Teachers at a third school have been asked to help students "cultivate habit and confidence" in singing it. 

Hong Kong has redoubled the emphasis on "patriotic" education since 2020 when China cracked down on the city's pro-democracy movement. 

Officials said students' voices at the Hong Kong and Macau Lutheran Church Primary School were "soft and weak" and "should be strengthened". At Yan Chai Hospital Lim Por Yen Secondary School, teachers were told to "help students develop the habit of singing the national anthem loudly in unison".

The bodies of three people were discovered near the summit of Mount Fuji with recovery efforts taking place. The mountain is a popular but challenging climbing destination due to extreme cold and altitude sickness risks.

Three bodies were discovered inside a crater at the summit of Japan's Mount Fuji, police said on Thursday.

One of the bodies was already brought down the iconic mountain, according to police officials.

Authorities said, efforts to retrieve the other two bodies will continue depending on weather conditions. On Thursday, the search was halted due to heavy rain forecasts.

The bodies were found several meters apart, making it unclear if they were climbing together. Authorities did not reveal the identities, including gender and age.

Rescue teams were searching for a 53-year-old man who was reported missing, when they found the bodies.