Oct 6 (Reuters) - Governments, courts and companies are considering restrictions and examining existing rules on smart glasses amid worries that the technology, brought to mainstream by Meta's Ray-Bans, could be used to photograph, film or audio-record confidential materials or people without their knowledge.
Here is a summary of what countries and regions are doing to protect people's privacy, in alphabetical order.
AUSTRALIA
The federal government said in September it was considering barring the use of camera-equipped smart glasses in government workplaces due to privacy and security concerns.
Public Service Minister Katy Gallagher asked the country's Public Service Commission for advice on whether their use should be prohibited and what exemptions might be required.
BRITAIN
Courts in England and Wales have prohibited the use of Meta smart glasses because of restrictions on taking images and videos in courts.
British cinema operators are also introducing policies to prohibit or restrict camera-enabled smart glasses, the UK Cinema Association said in August.
EUROPEAN UNION
Smart glasses have attracted scrutiny from European privacy regulators and some lawmakers, and the European Data Protection Board has commissioned a report into their "social acceptability".
Member of the European Parliament Veronika Cifrová Ostrihoňová also urged the European Commission, which has not proposed legislation specifically targeting smart glasses, to consider possible action.
NORWAY
The government said it planned to propose a temporary ban on the use of AI glasses in places where the public regularly gather, such as parks, beaches, museums, shopping centres and public events.
Norway's capital Oslo banned smart glasses in schools in August.
UNITED STATES
New York's Unified Court System banned smart glasses from all its court facilities from July 20. The rule covers prescription and non-prescription eyewear or headwear containing cameras, microphones, computers or other technology capable of recording video or audio. Visitors carrying them must hand them over to court personnel for safekeeping before entering.
(Reporting by Reuters bureaus; compiled by Mirko Miorelli and Cian Muenster in Gdansk; editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak.)
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President Donald Trump said Monday night that he will no longer use taxpayer funds to pay for a multimillion-dollar pro-Trump ad blitz ahead of the midterm elections, saying his super PAC will now pay for them.
While he dismissed criticism of the ads as "a rather standard thing to do," he said he had decided to run them on his own dime rather than that of the U.S. government in a post on his social media platform.
"I have decided to do the Patriotic Ads, among others, and pay for them myself, and with money I raised for MAGA, Inc," Trump wrote, referring to his super PAC.
Eric Lee/Reuters - PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks with media before boarding Marine One as he travels to Grand Island, Nebraska, on the South Lawn of the White House, Oct. 5, 2026.
The move comes after the U.S. government bankrolled a series of ads that aired nationally and heavily featured the president. One of the ads was a direct copy of a spot Trump's campaign ran in 2024.
A White House official confirmed to ABC News Monday night that MAGA Inc. will pay for ads moving forward but defended them as something previous administrations have used.
"Presidential Public service announcements are nothing new. Administrations of both parties have used public service announcements to explain policy and make the case for the nation’s direction," the official said.
Earlier Monday, Vice President JD Vance defended using taxpayer money to run the ads, claiming they are "public service announcements."
"They're not partisan. They're not -- you know, it's not like we're advocating for a particular candidate. We're trying to tell a story, I think, about how great the United States of America is," Vance said.
Trump defended the ads last week at an event in the Oval Office, saying they were "for the spirit of our country" and not a political endorsement for Republican candidates on the ballot this November or for his administration's policies.
"You have to understand; I'm not promoting a candidate. I'm not promoting myself because I'm not running for office. I'm promoting the country," Trump said.
"Now, if somebody said that that's wrong, I'll gladly pay the money. But these are ads for the country," he said.
U.S. Government - PHOTO: A fourth taxpayer-funded ad that promotes President Donald Trump’s policies ahead of the midterm elections shows scenes of Trump and the U.S. military amid the war in Iran as audio of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the president play over them.
Trump has implored Republican voters to "pretend" that he is on the ballot in the November midterm elections to boost voter turnout for GOP congressional candidates.
The federal government has spent at least $2.5 million to air the TV ads, according to an estimate from AdImpact, an advertising agency that analyzes ad spending across television.
A total of $20 million from the Department of Homeland Security's budget had been allocated for the effort.
Ethics watchdogs and several Congressional Democrats -- as well as some Republicans -- have said the ads are inappropriate. Some critics have said the ads could violate federal propaganda law.
Four ads have been aired over the last two weeks. One features Trump in monochrome, slowly walking down a hallway, describing "the final battle" against "the deep state," "the globalists," and "the sick political class that hates our country."
U.S. government video - PHOTO: The Trump administration appeared to run an ad on Fox News that has drawn criticism from Democrats as violating federal rules preventing the use of tax dollars for political purposes.
Another ad includes a montage of clips and images of Trump at events and rallies featuring onscreen text about the "largest tax cuts in history."
The latest ad, released last week, focuses on the U.S. war with Iran, now in its eighth month. Audio of Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth plays in the background as U.S. military footage, including unclassified strikes, is displayed.
The video in the ad appears to be the same as one played during the Republican midterm convention last month. And it played last Wednesday before Hegseth addressed 600 service members in his State of the Force speech at the Marine Corps base at Quantico, Virginia.
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in an Oct. 5 interview that "there’s no clear path forward" for legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent.
Thune's comments, made to Politico, come days after President Donald Trump appeared to give out Sen. Tom Cotton's phone number amid the senator's objections to the bill.
"The president feels strongly on it like he does a lot of issues," Thune told Politico. "It’s something we’re having conversations about, but there’s no clear path forward or consensus on it yet."
In July, the House of Representatives voted to allow states to enact year-round daylight saving time, but the bill has stalled in the Senate. Cotton emerged as one of the leaders of the opposition to the Sunshine Protection Act.
During an October 2025 Senate floor speech, Cotton pointed to when daylight saving was briefly made permanent by Congress in 1974 and said that "millions of Americans traveled to work and school in darkness."
He said that returning to permanent daylight saving would "again make winter a dark and dismal time for millions of Americans" and "push winter sunrises to an absurdly late hour, depriving Americans of morning sunshine that’s essential for our safety and well-being."
While Cotton drew the president's ire, Thune told Politico that opposition among Senate Republicans extended beyond Cotton.
Sen. Roger Wicker raised concerns similar to those of Cotton's in remarks to reporters on Capitol Hill on Oct. 5, according to Politico. He said he was mindful of "safety concerns in the more northern and rural states where children get on the school bus in very early hours."
Thune has opposed previous attempts to make daylight saving time permanent, Politico reported. "Your geography probably has as much to do with your position on that as anything," he said, according to the news outlet.
LONDON/WASHINGTON, Oct 5 (Reuters) - US President Donald Trump said on Monday that a threat linked to Iran had prompted the removal of American B-1 bombers from a British airbase.
The planes had been stationed at RAF Fairford, the preferred European base for US bombers, and had recently been used in US strikes on Iran. Last week, five British men were arrested near the base — which Iran's Revolutionary Guards previously said was a legitimate target — on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts.
"We had an idea that there might be a threat, and why would I leave them there? It costs very little money to move them," Trump told reporters on Monday. "So we had a threat, and if we're going to be threatened, we just move them, and that sort of alleviates that. And we actually know the people that made the threat."
When asked if they were linked to Iran, Trump responded: "They would be linked to Iran."
Earlier on Monday, Vice President JD Vance said the US moved the bombers out of an abundance of caution.
"We do feel with some confidence that the Iranians are, you know, they're trying to do what the Iranian state has done for 49 years, which is engaged in acts of terrorism against the United States (and others), so we are being extremely cautious, and that's all I'd say about that," Vance told reporters.
However, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there was no direct link between the sudden removal of the bombers and the suspected Iranian plot. He said the Pentagon is "constantly reallocating resources where they need to be."
A NATO military source had said on Monday: "It is still believed that Iran poses an acute threat to US assets in the UK."
While much about the incident remains unexplained, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said any plot was likely backed by Iran.
Iran has said accusations that it was involved in any plot are baseless, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi wrote on X: "I can confirm Iran's belief that releasing supposed terrorists working for foreign states really says it all. You're barking up the wrong tree."
KEY AIR BASE FOR US STRIKES
Rubio said on Monday the US had confidence in the security of all its bases.
Fairford, located 90 miles (145 km) west of London, is one of the most important European bases for the US, being one of only a few suitable for heavy bombers such as the B-1 aircraft. It has played a key role in previous US campaigns in the Middle East, although its bombers are not stationed there permanently.
During the current conflict, the US had permission to use Fairford only to strike Iranian missile sites that were attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz, or so-called defensive strikes. London had refused permission for the US to use British bases for offensive strikes on Iran.
That approach has strained ties between the US and Britain, typically one of Washington's closest allies.
A Pentagon official confirmed on Sunday that all US bombers that had been deployed to Fairford had headed to their home stations in the US.
The Pentagon said the US bomber force remained ready to deliver precision global strike capabilities "anywhere, anytime".
The New York Times, citing two US officials, said the US had rushed over the weekend to move the bombers after commanders received new threats about an Iran-backed plot. It said some of the planes had left while aerial refuelling aircraft were still being scrambled.
A US official declined to comment. The British government also declined to comment, although a spokesman for Burnham said the base was safe.
Christoph Bergs, research analyst at defence think tank the Royal United Services Institute, said the redeployment would in the short term reduce US capacity "to quickly surge sorties against Iran, reducing the threat level somewhat".
But he noted that use of Fairford was already limited given London's stipulation on defensive strikes. The aircraft could now potentially be sent to either Diego Garcia or bases in the Gulf, to reduce the need for more air-to-air refuelling to cover the additional distance, but that would depend on capacity availability, negotiations with allies and security, he added.
TRUMP SAID PLOT WAS FOR 'BIG DAMAGE'
In the early hours of September 27, five British men in their 20s were arrested after being seen running into fields from three white vans parked near the base. Police said no explosive devices were found but a quantity of petrol was present.
The men have since been released on bail. A sixth man, a dual UK-Iranian national arrested on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts four days later, has also been released on bail.
Trump said at the time of the first arrests that the plot had planned "big damage" and that it might have been connected to Iran. Trump later said he would not have released the suspects on bail.
A senior NATO military official said the removal of the bombers would have no impact on the alliance: "NATO's defensive agility towards any aggression remains unchanged and unmatched thanks to the unity, strength, and combined capabilities of 32 nations."
The Wall Street Journal first reported the removal of the US bombers.
(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss in New York, Kate Holton and Sarah Young in London, Sabine Siebold in Germany, Jonathan Landay and Daphne Psaledakis in Washington; writing by Sarah Young and Kate Holton; Editing by Nia Williams, Hugh Lawson, Gareth Jones, Andrew Heavens and Sanjeev Miglani)
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Jane Doe’s lawsuit has sparked uproar and criticism of Cornell University and the DA’s handling of her allegations. (Heather Ainsworth for NBC News)
A Cornell University student gave campus police leads in the alleged rape of Jane Doe in 2024 but expressed dismay over how the authorities handled the case.
The student, who spoke to NBC News on Sunday on condition of anonymity over concerns about repercussions, said she first heard about allegations that Doe was raped as a rumor on campus about 24 to 48 hours after the incident. Doe, who filed a lawsuit last month, claimed she was plied with alcohol and ketamine and gang-raped at the Chi Phi fraternity house the night of Oct. 19-20.
The student recalled rumors that Doe was planning to have a threesome but that it had “gone off the rails,” and she remembers being “really horrified by it.”
“From that night, I think, we just kind of started, like, hearing more,” the student said.
Talk of the alleged sexual assault became widespread on campus after the school issued a crime safety alert about a report of a sexual assault at a fraternity.
“The thing I think we all feel, like, betrayed in regards to is that, like, it wasn’t handled,” she said. “When we got the police report, I think we all assumed it was being, you know, it would be, like, handled properly, yeah, and it was, like, in good hands.”
The student, who discussed details corroborated by documents reviewed by NBC News, said she and a friend initially gave a tip to authorities after the crime alert was issued. Police later called her and asked her to come in and speak with them days after Doe reported the incident to Cornell police on Nov. 8.
Police records obtained by NBC News showed that Cornell police spoke to multiple witnesses and fielded anonymous tips about the allegations of a gang rape at the Chi Phi fraternity house — but that the information wasn't referred to the local prosecutor for review in his deciding whether to bring charges. (Heather Ainsworth for NBC News)
The student said she decided to go to police after she saw screenshots of a Chi Phi group message on Snapchat and because “it felt like the right thing to do if we could help this girl.” Doe’s lawsuit included a screenshot of a Chi Phi Snapchat group message that said there was “free p----” in a room in the frat house where Doe was the night she alleges she was assaulted.
“That was, like, when I kind of internally made the decision. OK, like, I’m taking this all in, and then I’m going to the police tomorrow,” the student said.
She recalled sitting with one or two officers for about half an hour during her interview with police.
“They seemed fairly competent. It seemed like a normal interview process to me,” she said.
She said she walked them through everything she knew, including that fraternity members were messaging about the events of that evening with Doe and about potential witnesses.She also gave police secondhand information about drug use at Chi Phi and said she is familiar with the frat house and believed she knew where ketamine was alleged to be kept.
“I guess I assumed that, like, I wasn’t enough,” the student said.
Cornell did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday on the student’s account to police. In a video statement Saturday, President Michael I. Kotlikoff called the allegations “deeply disturbing” and said they raise questions about the investigations that were conducted. He said he welcomes an independent review of how the university handled the matter, which will be conducted by an outside law firm.
Police records obtained by NBC News showed that Cornell police spoke to multiple witnesses and fielded anonymous tips about the allegations of a gang rape at the fraternity house — but that the information was not referred to the local prosecutor for review in his deciding whether to bring charges.
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten told NBC News on Friday that the interviews that were flagged “were each of the frat members declining to speak on the advice of their attorney.” He did not respond to a follow-up request asking whether he was told about interviews with other fraternity members in addition to tips from callers.
Van Houten ultimately determined the allegations did not warrant charges because of a lack of criminality.
Doe’s suit has sparked uproar and criticism of Cornell and Van Houten’s handling of her allegations. Van Houten has since agreed to reopen his inquiry into Doe’s allegations, but New York Gov. Kathy Hochul last week named state Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor in the matter.
The student who spoke with campus police criticized how the department handled the matter. While students believed there was an active investigation into Doe’s claims, people continued going to Chi Phi, including the room at the center of the allegations.
Within Greek life at Cornell, “rumors spread fast,” the student said, and even if you did not know Doe or the men, “you knew someone who did.”
Doe’s lawsuit named Cornell, Chi Phi and the seven fraternity brothers among the defendants. None of the seven has been criminally charged. The fraternity was suspended from campus, and it remains barred.
Cornell said in a statement Sept. 28 that it conducted a thorough, monthslong Title IX investigation that handed down “a range of sanctions which included expulsions and suspensions” from the university.
Attorneys for two of the seven men have denied to NBC News that they sexually assaulted Doe. An attorney for a third man denied the allegations to ABC News. NBC News has not received responses to requests for comment from the five other men.
Chi Phi’s national fraternity condemned sexual assault and drug and alcohol abuse in a statement Wednesday. It said that the fraternity members Doe named were kicked out of the organization and that the national fraternity permanently expelled the chapter.
“At every level of Chi Phi, we will take steps like these whenever they are needed to protect the integrity of our fraternity and the safety of our communities,” said Trey Robb, the national fraternity’s interim executive director.
Some of the men faced backlash as talk spread on campus.
Two of the Chi Phi brothers named in the suit were kicked out of their rugby club after the allegations came to light, a former teammate told NBC News.
“We kicked [them] off the team immediately before the school expelled them,” said the teammate, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
The teammate said he has participated in discussions among a group of current and former rugby players about responding publicly to Doe’s lawsuit.
“As a team, it was important for us to support this victim,” he said. “We are extremely, extremely distraught.”
Cornell Rugby said in a statement that it was “deeply disturbed” by the allegations and that its thoughts were with Doe.
“Players who were known to be connected with the alleged events were permanently removed from the team and alumni network as soon as their affiliation with the incident was established,” it said.
No current members of the team have been affiliated with Chi Phi, the statement said.
As news of the allegations spread, some discussions were supportive of Doe, but others shamed her in conversations, a former member of Doe’s sorority, Delta Delta Delta, told NBC News.
“Some people were sympathizing with Jane Doe, but also, people didn’t know details,” said the former member, who has graduated and requested anonymity out of a concern for privacy.
Another student and former member of Tri Delta told NBC News that she recalled learning about the incident through rumors and described the student body as “really pissed off about it.”
That student said that she was at the same sorority-hosted event the evening of Oct. 19 that Doe attended and which was referred to in her lawsuit but that Doe disappeared during the evening.
A few days later, the student said, Doe said people were spreading rumors about her and she was not sure what to make of it, “and it just seemed like everybody was very confused at the moment.”
A third former Tri Delta member told NBC News that the campus learned of the incident from the university alert and described students feeling “shock” and “really appalled.”
She, too, is critical of how Cornell handled the matter.
“I think that shows a lack of respect for their female students and kind of makes it less enticing to attend the university,” she said.
Today, within the sorority there is a resounding wave of support for Doe, she said, as well as “frustration and anger.”
Tri Delta said in a statement on behalf of its national organization and its Cornell chapter, “As an organization, we are committed to supporting women and victims of sexual violence.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. The hotline, run by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), can put you in contact with your local rape crisis center. You can also access RAINN’s online chat service at https://ift.tt/qUglrML.
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The State Department is monitoring reports of a suspected fatal pneumonic plague case in Russia and is urging Moscow to share accurate information quickly as details remain unconfirmed.
A State Department official told Fox News that the U.S. is aware of reports of a death in Irkutsk Oblast, a region in southeastern Siberia, and is watching the situation closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal agencies. The official stressed that many details have not been confirmed and called on Russian authorities to reveal what they know.
Former CIA officer Dan Hoffman told Fox News Digital that the U.S. intelligence community is likely to be collecting all-source intelligence on the incident.
FILE - A man has his nose swabbed. The State Department is monitoring reports of a suspected fatal pneumonic plague case in Russia.
"I would also expect our embassy in Moscow to be engaging with their diplomatic counterparts at an official level because we might have people in Russia who might be at risk," Hoffman warned.
"Washington will be speaking to all of our allies and partners in the region and sharing what we know."
Plague bacteria (Yersinia pestis) causes bubonic plague and is carried in the pathogen of rats and there are still many regions of the world where the disease occurs.
Pneumonic plague can be treated with common antibiotics, especially when treatment begins early, the official said. Appropriate therapy should begin as soon as plague is suspected, and patients can be treated with intravenous or oral antimicrobials depending on the severity of illness and other factors, according to the CDC.
FILE - A State Department official says the U.S. is tracking reports of a suspected fatal pneumonic plague case in Russia while pressing Moscow for timely, accurate information.
Cases of pneumonic plague occur naturally in many parts of the world, according to the State Department official.
The official said the safety and security of U.S. citizens remains the department’s top priority and encouraged Americans traveling overseas to enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, or STEP, to receive updates.
Immigration, gun rights and climate change are on the Supreme Court docket (Stefani Reynolds)
The US Supreme Court opens its new term on Monday with the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, gun rights and the fate of climate change lawsuits on the docket.
The session opens one month ahead of a crucial midterm vote that could see President Donald Trump's Republican Party lose its majority in the House of Representatives and possibly even the Senate.
Losing control of Congress would force the president to have to rely even more on the conservative-dominated top court to push through his policies.
Not that it has always been in lockstep with Trump.
Trump suffered stinging defeats this year over his tariffs and bid to restrict birthright citizenship, sparking tirades by the president against the court, particularly the three justices he appointed during his first White House term.
"I gave them the position of a lifetime, and they vote against me often," he told Time magazine in a recent interview.
At the same time, the 6-3 conservative majority has allowed Trump to vastly expand his executive powers and handed him a number of victories on what is known as the emergency docket, where cases are fast-tracked without oral arguments.
At the end of September, for example, in an immigration case in which the three liberal justices dissented, the court allowed the administration to continue for the time being to deport undocumented migrants to countries that are not their own.
The court will hear oral arguments in that case during the fall term and a ruling in the administration's favor could open the floodgates to more so-called "third country" deportations.
More than 25,000 people have been sent to third countries since Trump returned to office after reaching secret agreements with some 35 nations, most of them in Latin America and Africa.
- 'Concerned about the future' -
In another immigration case, the court will weigh a new practice of automatically detaining undocumented migrants -- even those who have lived in the United States for years -- instead of releasing them while their cases are being adjudicated.
"The Trump administration is interpreting that mandatory detention statute in a way that no administration has ever done in the 30 years since that statute was enacted," said Cecillia Wang, the national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). "It's to pressure people to, as the government puts it, self-deport."
The opening case of the term may decide whether climate suits brought by local governments against oil companies for their role in global warming can proceed or whether federal law should prevail.
On the election front, the Supreme Court will take up an Arizona law requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
Trump and fellow Republicans have baselessly claimed for years that many non-citizens vote in US elections but studies have shown the actual number is insignificant.
Gun ownership returns to the court in a case challenging state or local bans on certain semi-automatic weapons such as AR-15s.
The role of religion in public education will be tested when the justices hear a case involving a Catholic preschool in Colorado that denies admission to children of LGBTQ+ parents.
The question in the case is "whether they have a right to receive taxpayer dollars without following the non-discrimination rules that apply to everyone else," said Dan Mack, director of the ACLU's Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief.
On the eve of the new term, Justice Samuel Alito, a staunch conservative, gave a rare public interview in which he told Fox News Sunday he was "concerned about the future of the court."
"There has been a concerted effort to intimidate the court and justices on the court to try to influence us to decide cases," the 76-year-old Alito said.
A recent Gallup survey found that Americans' views of the Supreme Court are at their least positive since the organization began polling on the institution in 1972.
Only 34 percent of US adults approve of the job the court is doing, essentially unchanged from the record-low 33 percent approval tallied in July, Gallup said.
sst/cl/sla
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