qq jili casino By DAVID BAUDER Time magazine gave Donald Trump something it has never done for a Person of the Year designee: a lengthy fact-check of claims he made in an accompanying interview. Related Articles National Politics | Trump’s lawyers rebuff DA’s idea for upholding his hush money conviction, calling it ‘absurd’ National Politics | Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time National Politics | Ruling by a conservative Supreme Court could help blue states resist Trump policies National Politics | A nonprofit leader, a social worker: Here are the stories of the people on Biden’s clemency list National Politics | Nancy Pelosi hospitalized after she ‘sustained an injury’ on official trip to Luxembourg The fact-check accompanies a transcript of what the president-elect told the newsmagazine’s journalists. Described as a “12 minute read,” it calls into question 15 separate statements that Trump made. It was the second time Trump earned the Time accolade; he also won in 2016, the first year he was elected president. Time editors said it wasn’t a particularly hard choice over other finalists Kamala Harris, Elon Musk, Benjamin Netanyahu and Kate Middleton. Time said Friday that no other Person of the Year has been fact-checked in the near-century that the magazine has annually written about the figure that has had the greatest impact on the news. But it has done the same for past interviews with the likes of Joe Biden, Netanyahu and Trump. Such corrections have been a sticking point for Trump and his team in the past, most notably when ABC News did it during his only debate with Democrat Kamala Harris this fall. There was no immediate response to a request for comment on Friday. In the piece, Time called into question statements Trump made about border security, autism and the size of a crowd at one of his rallies. When the president-elect talked about the “massive” mandate he had received from voters, Time pointed out that former President Barack Obama won more electoral votes the two times he had run for president. The magazine also questioned Trump’s claim that he would do interviews with anyone who asked during the campaign, if he had the time. The candidate rejected a request to speak to CBS’ “60 Minutes,” the magazine said. “In the final months of his campaign, Trump prioritized interviews with podcasts over mainstream media,” reporters Simmone Shah and Leslie Dickstein wrote. David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.

NoneFormer Congressman Steve King said he received a letter from Summit Carbon Solutions that demanded he refrain from making false statements about the company and its proposed carbon dioxide pipeline system. The conservative firebrand is among at least six people who were recipients of Summit's cease and desist letters in the past month. At least one of the allegedly defamatory statements dates back to last year, and it's unclear why the company is threatening legal action now. A Summit spokesperson did not respond to a request to comment about the matter. Ex-U.S. Rep. Steve King campaigns for Vivek Ramaswamy Thursday Jan. 11, 2024, at the Columbus Club in Davenport. "These are just simply threats that say, 'Shut up or we'll sue you because we don't like the truth and what it does to damage our business model,'" King told radio host Jeff Stein on the Eastern Iowa KXEL radio station Friday. King did not mention what specific comments of his the letter targeted but said it will not deter him from speaking against the company's proposed five-state pipeline system. The system would transport captured carbon dioxide from ethanol plants to North Dakota for underground storage. Indeed, King spent most of his airtime Friday lambasting the project as "the biggest boondoggle the world has ever seen." He said it would wrongly be funded by billions of dollars of federal tax incentives for carbon sequestration and the production of low-carbon fuels, and would erode landowners' rights if allowed to use eminent domain to force people to host the pipe. "Why do they think that somebody who has faced as much criticism as I have is going to be intimidated by a silly letter?" King said. King was a longtime congressman who represented conservative northwest Iowa and was known for making inflammatory remarks that drew the ire of liberals. But some of those comments eventually led House Republicans to strip him of his committee assignments, and Congressman Randy Feenstra defeated him in a 2020 primary. In the Friday radio interview, King criticized Summit's cofounder, Bruce Rastetter, for allegedly using his political connections and wealth to get the project approved. King also sought to link Erik Helland — the chairperson of the Iowa Utilities Commission that approved a permit for the project — to the company because he started a business in Alaska with a similar name. State records show Helland formed 49th Summit Solutions in 2016 and that the company offered Medicaid mediation services. Five other people have received letters that claim their statements against Summit's project "exposed you to significant legal liability," King said. The Gazette has confirmed these five other recipients: Jess Mazour, of the Sierra Club of Iowa; Trent Loos, a Nebraska farmer and podcaster; Barb Kalbach and Tom Mohan, of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement; and Robert Nazario, who with King is part of the Free Soil Foundation. The letter Nazario received — which he provided to The Gazette — includes a newspaper quote from Nazario about the potential for carbon dioxide plumes to kill people. "There is no proof that Summit Carbon Solutions' pipeline — or any CO2 pipeline — has ever caused death," the letter says. At least two of the anti-Summit statements that were a subject of the letters were published by the Iowa Information newspaper group. The company's president did not respond to a request to comment for this article. Summit's letters demand that their recipients retract the statements and "refrain from making false and defamatory statements about Summit Carbon Solutions." The letters threaten "alternative legal remedies" and allude to lawsuits. The company has obtained route permits in Iowa, Minnesota and North Dakota. Summit has reapplied for a permit in South Dakota, which rejected its initial proposal last year. 2024 is set to be the hottest year on record, with global average temperatures exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service. Extreme weather events, including droughts, floods, heatwaves, and cyclones, have devastated regions worldwide. Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels remain the primary driver of global warming, with emissions projected to reach record highs this year despite green pledges. Scientists warn that even a potential cooling from a La Nina event in 2025 won't reverse the long-term warming trend. How sustainable is an electric vehicle whose manufacturing process depends heavily on natural gas? How "green" can a LEED-certified building be when it is constructed with materials with major carbon footprints such as glass and concrete? Even when creating sustainable products, industrial activities like construction and manufacturing contribute greatly to pollution. These activities account for nearly a third of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Addressing climate change is one of President Joe Biden's top priorities, and his administration has taken aim at some of these unsustainable industrial practices in part of his executive order to achieve net-zero carbon emissions throughout the U.S. economy by 2050. Machinery Partner researched the U.S. government's commitments to reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions resulting from manufacturing industry processes over the past few years. Between the executive order and funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, there has been substantial activity to reduce U.S. industrial pollution. This has taken the form of direct investments into research and technologies to reduce pollution in manufacturing, as well as using the purchasing power of the federal government to prioritize products with lower carbon footprints. In addition to protecting Earth from the devastating effects of climate change, these efforts also support the U.S. manufacturing industry. By focusing investments in American-made low-emission products, the federal government can prop up domestic companies and grow jobs in an industry that has been struggling for several decades. The Department of Energy allocated more than $6 billion in funding for clean manufacturing technology projects in March 2023. With this funding, the federal government will pay for up to half of the costs for the chosen early-stage, private-sector projects that would reduce emissions in industrial processes that utilize a lot of energy. The program, called the Industrial Demonstrations Program, will select projects and finalize awards by spring 2024. In June 2023, a smaller DOE program provided $135 million for 40 projects to research, develop, and pilot-scale methods of reducing energy consumption and emissions in the industrial sector. The projects—taking place at national laboratories, universities, and companies across the U.S.—focus on reducing emissions in cement and concrete, food and beverages, chemicals, petroleum refining, and iron and steel. The month after, the DOE also announced $100 million in grants for state and local governments and public utilities to procure and use products made with converted carbon emissions. These grants will cover up to half the cost of these materials for awardees, creating further demand for these low-emission products in the economy. In addition to these direct funding opportunities, federal agencies have begun to demand lower-emissions materials for their infrastructure projects. Biden's 2021 executive order created the Buy Clean Initiative , which prioritizes using low-carbon, American-made construction materials in federal projects. Putting $630 billion in annual federal spending on the line—plus even more in state government spending—has pressured greener practices among U.S. manufacturing companies. After years of developing and testing low-emissions material requirements, the General Services Administration released official standards in December 2023 for asphalt, concrete, glass, and steel. The month before, the agency also announced plans to invest $2 billion across more than 150 federal projects utilizing these lower-emission products. The GSA estimates that incorporating these lower-carbon materials will reduce the carbon emissions from these projects by tens of thousands of metric tons. Throughout 2023, the GSA and other agencies announced several high-profile projects using low-carbon procurement standards, including the Department of Homeland Security's new headquarters and the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House in New York City. The GSA set the first "Buy Clean" standards for concrete and asphalt in March 2022; by December, it had awarded a concrete contract based on the new concrete standards. GSA drafted more comprehensive requirements by May 2023, setting standards for carbon emissions for concrete/cement, asphalt, steel, and glass. Following the release, the agency ran a six-month pilot program applying the requirements to 11 federal projects, including new construction, land port of entry, modernization, and paving projects. The value of affected materials across these projects totaled around $300 million. In fall 2022, the Department of Transportation released its Buy Clean policies, another major feat considering that transportation comprises another near-third of greenhouse gas emissions. By October, the department had distributed $7.1 million to state DOTs to identify ways to reduce emissions in highway construction, with a focus on sustainable pavements. Other agencies, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, have also readily incorporated low-carbon materials into their projects. By encouraging green manufacturing and creating demand for low-emission materials, these federal programs are forging the way to greener U.S. industrial production. Story editing by Shannon Luders-Manuel. Copy editing by Paris Close. This story originally appeared on Machinery Partner and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio. 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Texas' abortion pill lawsuit against New York doctor marks new challenge to interstate telemedicine Texas has sued a New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills to a Texas woman via telemedicine. It appears to be the first challenge in the U.S. to a state shield law that's intended to protect prescribers in Democratic-controlled states from being punished by states with abortion bans. Prescriptions like these, made online and over the phone, are a key reason that the number of abortions has increased across the U.S. even after state bans started taking effect. Most abortions in the U.S. involve pills rather than procedures. Anti-abortion groups are increasingly focusing on the rise of pills. Syrians cheer end of 50 years of Assad rule at first Friday prayers since government fell DAMASCUS (AP) — Exuberant Syrians observed the first Friday prayers since the ouster of President Bashar Assad, gathering in the capital’s historic main mosque, its largest square and around the country to celebrate the end of half a century of authoritarian rule. The newly installed interim prime minister delivered the sermon at the Umayyad Mosque, declaring that a new era of “freedom, dignity and justice” was dawning for Syria. The gatherings illustrated the dramatic changes that have swept over Syria less than a week after insurgents marched into Damascus and toppled Assad. Amid the jubilation, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with allies around the region and called for an “inclusive and non-sectarian” interim government. US military flies American released from Syrian prison to Jordan, officials say WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military has brought an American who was imprisoned in Syria for seven months out of the country. That's according to two U.S. officials, who said Friday that Travis Timmerman has been flown to Jordan on a U.S. military helicopter. The 29-year-old Timmerman told The Associated Press earlier Friday he had gone to Syria on a Christian pilgrimage and was not ill-treated while in a notorious detention facility operated by Syrian intelligence. He said he was freed by “the liberators who came into the prison and knocked the door down (of his cell) with a hammer.” New Jersey governor wants more federal resources for probe into drone sightings TOMS RIVER, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has asked the Biden administration to put more resources into the ongoing investigation of mysterious drone sightings being reported in the state and other parts of the region. Murphy, a Democrat, made the request in a letter Thursday, noting that state and local law enforcement remain “hamstrung” by existing laws and policies in their efforts to successfully counteract any nefarious drone activity. Murphy and other officials say there is no evidence that the drones pose a national security or a public safety threat. A state lawmaker says up to 180 aircraft have been reported to authorities since Nov. 18. Nancy Pelosi hospitalized after she 'sustained an injury' from fall on official trip to Luxembourg WASHINGTON (AP) — Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been hospitalized after she “sustained an injury” during an official engagement in Luxembourg, according to a spokesman. Pelosi is 84. She was in Europe to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. Her spokesman, Ian Krager, did not describe the nature of her injury or give any additional details, but a person familiar with the incident said that Pelosi tripped and fell while at an event with the other members of Congress. The person requested anonymity to discuss the fall because they were not authorized to speak about it publicly. Russia targets Ukrainian infrastructure with a massive attack by cruise missiles and drones KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia has launched a massive aerial attack against Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia fired 93 cruise and ballistic missiles and almost 200 drones in Friday's bombardments. He says it is one of the heaviest bombardments of the country’s energy sector since Russia’s full-scale invasion almost three years ago. He says Ukrainian defenses shot down 81 missiles, including 11 cruise missiles that were intercepted by F-16 warplanes provided by Western allies earlier this year. Zelenskyy renewed his plea for international unity against Russian President Vladimir Putin. But uncertainty surrounds how the war might unfold next year. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to end the war and has thrown into doubt whether vital U.S. military support for Kyiv will continue. Trump’s lawyers rebuff DA's idea for upholding his hush money conviction, calling it 'absurd' NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers are again urging a judge to throw out his hush money conviction. In a court filing Friday, they balked at the prosecution’s “absurd” idea for preserving the verdict by treating the case the way some courts do when a defendant dies before sentencing. The Manhattan district attorney’s office is asking Judge Juan M. Merchan to “pretend as if one of the assassination attempts against President Trump had been successful,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in a blistering 23-page response. In court papers made public Tuesday, District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office proposed an array of options for keeping the historic conviction on the books after Trump’s lawyers filed paperwork earlier this month asking for the case to be dismissed. Some in seafood industry see Trump as fishermen's friend, but tariffs could make for pricier fish PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump is likely to bring big changes to seafood, one of the oldest sectors of the U.S. economy. Some in the industry believe the returning president will be more responsive to its needs. Economic analysts paint a more complicated picture, as they fear Trump’s pending trade hostilities with major trading partners Canada and China could make an already pricy kind of protein more expensive. Conservationists also fear Trump’s emphasis on deregulation could jeopardize fish stocks already in peril. But many in the commercial fishing and seafood processing industries said they expect Trump to allow fishing in protected areas and crack down on offshore wind expansion. OpenAI's legal battle with Elon Musk reveals internal turmoil over avoiding AI 'dictatorship' A 7-year-old rivalry between tech leaders Elon Musk and Sam Altman over who should run OpenAI and best avoid an artificial intelligence ‘dictatorship’ is now heading to a federal judge as Musk seeks to halt the ChatGPT maker’s ongoing conversion into a for-profit company. Musk, an early OpenAI investor and board member, sued the artificial intelligence company earlier this year. Musk has since escalated the dispute, adding new claims and asking for a court order that would stop OpenAI’s plans to convert itself into a for-profit business more fully. OpenAI is filing its response Friday. Paula Abdul settles lawsuit alleging sexual assault by 'American Idol' producer Nigel Lythgoe LOS ANGELES (AP) — Paula Abdul and former “American Idol” producer Nigel Lythgoe have agreed to settle a lawsuit in which she alleged he sexually assaulted her in the early 2000s when she was a judge on the show. Abdul filed a notice of settlement in a Los Angeles court Thursday. The lawsuit filed nearly a year ago had also accused Lythgoe of sexually assaulting Abdul after she left “American Idol” and became a judge on Lythgoe’s other show “So You Think You Can Dance.” Lythgoe said at the time that the allegations were “an appalling smear.” Both sides said in statements Friday that they were glad to put the case behind them.

Unique among ‘Person of the Year’ designees, Donald Trump gets a fact-check from Time magazine

A 7-year-old rivalry between tech leaders Elon Musk and Sam Altman over who should run OpenAI and prevent an artificial intelligence "dictatorship" is now heading to a federal judge as Musk seeks to halt the ChatGPT maker's ongoing shift into a for-profit company. Musk, an early OpenAI investor and board member, sued the artificial intelligence company earlier this year alleging it had betrayed its founding aims as a nonprofit research lab benefiting the public good rather than pursuing profits. Musk has since escalated the dispute, adding new claims and asking for a court order that would stop OpenAI’s plans to convert itself into a for-profit business more fully. The world's richest man, whose companies include Tesla, SpaceX and social media platform X, last year started his own rival AI company, xAI. Musk says it faces unfair competition from OpenAI and its close business partner Microsoft, which has supplied the huge computing resources needed to build AI systems such as ChatGPT. “OpenAI and Microsoft together exploiting Musk’s donations so they can build a for-profit monopoly, one now specifically targeting xAI, is just too much,” says Musk's filing that alleges the companies are violating the terms of Musk’s foundational contributions to the charity. OpenAI filed a response Friday opposing Musk’s requested order, saying it would “debilitate OpenAI’s business” and mission to the advantage of Musk and his own AI company and is based on “far-fetched” legal claims. A hearing is set for January before U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California. At the heart of the dispute is a 2017 internal power struggle at the fledgling startup that led to Altman becoming OpenAI's CEO. Musk also sought to be CEO and in an email outlined a plan where he would “unequivocally have initial control of the company” but said that would be temporary. He grew frustrated after two other OpenAI co-founders said he would hold too much power as a major shareholder and chief executive if the startup succeeded in its goal to achieve better-than-human AI known as artificial general intelligence , or AGI. Musk has long voiced concerns about how advanced forms of AI could threaten humanity. “The current structure provides you with a path where you end up with unilateral absolute control over the AGI," said a 2017 email to Musk from co-founders Ilya Sutskever and Greg Brockman. “You stated that you don't want to control the final AGI, but during this negotiation, you've shown to us that absolute control is extremely important to you.” In the same email, titled “Honest Thoughts,” Sutskever and Brockman also voiced concerns about Altman's desire to be CEO and whether he was motivated by “political goals.” Altman eventually succeeded in becoming CEO, and has remained so except for a period last year when he was fired and then reinstated days later after the board that ousted him was replaced. OpenAI published the messages Friday in a blog post meant to show its side of the story, particularly Musk's early support for the idea of making OpenAI a for-profit business so it could raise money for the hardware and computer power that AI needs. It was Musk, through his wealth manager Jared Birchall, who first registered “Open Artificial Intelligence Technologies, Inc.,” a public benefit corporation, in September 2017. Then came the “Honest Thoughts” email that Musk described as the “final straw.” “Either go do something on your own or continue with OpenAI as a nonprofit,” Musk wrote back. OpenAI said Musk later proposed merging the startup into Tesla before resigning as the co-chair of OpenAI's board in early 2018. Musk didn't respond to emailed requests for comment sent to his companies Friday. Asked about his frayed relationship with Musk at a New York Times conference last week, Altman said he felt “tremendously sad” but also characterized Musk’s legal fight as one about business competition. “He’s a competitor and we’re doing well,” Altman said. He also said at the conference that he is “not that worried” about the Tesla CEO’s influence with President-elect Donald Trump. OpenAI said Friday that Altman plans to make a $1 million personal donation to Trump’s inauguration fund, joining a number of tech companies and executives who are working to improve their relationships with the incoming administration. —————————— The Associated Press and OpenAI have a licensing and technology agreement allowing OpenAI access to part of the AP’s text archives. This story has been updated to correct the name of the company registered in 2017. It was Open Artificial Intelligence Technologies, Inc., not Open Artificial Technologies Technologies, Inc.

No injuries or damage reported as quake sparks California tsunami warningX owner Elon Musk has delivered a brutal takedown of an Australian newspaper, predicting they will lose their readership over “relentless lying”. The hit targeted Nine Entertainment’s Sydney Morning Herald after it published an opinion piece on Sunday featuring a prediction that irked the billionaire. The outlet published an article by technology editor David Swan in which he shared his predictions for the industry in 2025. One prediction was that Mr Musk would leave electric car manufacturer Tesla to focus on Government work with US President-elect Donald Trump. Mr Swan suggested that the world’s richest man would have too much on his plate. “To be juggling leadership roles at X (formerly Twitter), Tesla, SpaceX, xAI, the Boring Company and Neuralink was already unsustainable,” the SMH article read. “Musk now has wormed his way into Trump’s inner circle, and will jointly lead the president-elect’s DOGE – Department of Government Efficiency – in a bid to slash billions in government expenditure. “After constant controversies and distractions, it will all come to a head in 2025, and Musk will be forced to hand over the reins at Tesla, a company many mistakenly think he founded.” The prediction over Mr Musk’s resignation was not appreciated by the world’s richest man. Replying to a screenshot of the opinion piece, Mr Musk delivered his own prediction for 2025, aimed directly at the publisher of the article. “I predict that the Sydney Morning Herald will continue to lose readership in 2025 for relentlessly lying to their audience and boring them to death Mr Musk’s smackdown was shared with his 209 million followers on the X social media platform. “Easy prediction to make, any legacy media continuing to lie to their readers will face significant decline,” one user added to Mr Musk’s prediction. “Australia, Ireland and the UK are stuck in the woke nightmare, and I feel for them,” said another. “They are becoming more and more irrelevant,” a third added. One user shared a screenshot of Nine Entertainment’s share price, which has been in decline since 2022. Back on the Sydney Morning Herald website, Mr Swan appeared to strike a chord with some readers. “I’d love to see Musk on a one-way trip to Mars and stop teaching me how to live my life,” one person commented. “Musk quits Tesla and becomes de facto President of the USA!” wrote another. Mr Musk agreed with one user commenting on his post who said that “legacy media is in a doom spiral”. Mr Swan appeared to brush off the attack on his own X profile, writing, “Damn, roasted” in a post accompanied by a retweet of Mr Musk’s clap back. However, the reaction to Mr Swan’s was split on his profile. “You need to frame this,” one wrote. “How about so-called journalists try and get their dignity back by not reporting lies and gearing the audience towards clickbait,” said another. The controversy ended a week that the Sydney Morning Herald may want to put behind them. On Friday, the newspaper issued an apology after incorrectly identifying Adelaide barrister Ian Roberts as the South Australian fatality in the Sydney to Hobart race. Mr Roberts was not killed in the tragic accident, instead, South Australian Nick Smith lost his life when he was struck by a boom during dangerous weather. “The Sydney Morning Herald incorrectly named Adelaide barrister Ian Roberts as one of the victims in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race,” the Sydney Morning Herald wrote. “This was incorrect. We apologise to Mr Roberts and his family.”