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Unique among ‘Person of the Year’ designees, Donald Trump gets a fact-check from Time magazineFORT WORTH, Texas — David Seymour’s job over the next couple of weeks is to make sure that American Airlines flights take off on time and fly safely during one of the busiest travel periods of the year. Seymour is American’s chief operating officer, which means he oversees flight and airport operations for a carrier that figures to make about 6,500 flights a day between now and New Year’s Day. A West Point graduate and former U.S. Army infantry officer, Seymour joined America West Airlines in 1999. America West became US Airways, then merged with American in 2013. Seymour has held a variety of operations-related jobs and was promoted to his current post in 2020. Seymour spoke with The Associated Press recently about managing huge passenger numbers during the holidays and preventing people from getting on a plane before their boarding group is called. The answers have been edited for length and clarity. Q. How are you going to make sure American flights run on time during the holidays? A: There are many thousands of people running the airline every day. My job, honestly, over this period isn’t so much about managing the chaos, it’s managing really all the challenges, and we’ll call it the headwinds that come our way. And I would say the vast majority of those are the uncontrollable. Q. Such as? A: What’s going on the (air-traffic control) system around us. If there weren’t weather that we have to deal with and other complications that sometimes arise, running an airline would be pretty easy. Q. How will you recover from disruptions? A: Before the pandemic, we would have a big storm in the DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth) area or the Charlotte (North Carolina) area, and it would take us a couple of days (to recover). We set about coming through the pandemic and coming out that we are going to recover better than any carrier out there. Q. And how will you do that? A: By anticipating the weather. My team looks out constantly at what the weather is, looking at multiple weather forecasts to understand what’s coming, what could it do, and how are we prepared for that. Q. How much do you learn from big cancellation events? And how much do you learn from meltdowns at other airlines? A: The team here, they do an after-action review. We will look at it and say, ‘What could we have done better?’ And we archive that information. Now, to your other question about competitors. I’m not inside the other competitors’ operations centers and looking at how they do that. Their networks are set up differently than ours. We do ask ourselves, ‘OK, if something similar were to happen to us, what would we do?’ Q. With Christmas travel, what what are the big things you’re looking for? Is it weather? Air-traffic control problems? A: Weather is always a tough thing to predict. That’s really going to be one of the largest things because it has the potential for having the most impact. Controller-wise, we stay in touch with (the Federal Aviation Administration). We have a team out here that is in constant communication with the FAA, looking at what’s happening in the system, and we’re building contingency plans if they think there are going to be some challenges. Q. You need to deice planes. A: The only difference between summer and now is we have to deal with winter weather in some locations. So, deicing. But we’re ready for that. The technology we have right now with the deicing vehicles ... we’ve been able to reduce our throughput time on deicing by half and still meeting all the requirements that we need to in terms of adequately deicing the aircraft, but having one person do it. Q. Are the delays in deliveries of new planes from Boeing affecting your holiday season planning? A: No. Boeing needs to be successful, they need to be able to deliver quality aircraft, but we haven’t built our schedule for the holiday period that is dependent on getting any deliveries. We have enough buffer built in. Q. American recently expanded the rollout of technology to catch people who try to board the plane before their boarding group is called. What went into that decision? A: Our frequent and premium travelers look at (the technology to catch line-jumpers) as a benefit of being loyal to American Airlines. It’s a huge plus for our gate agents because they do like order. Q. Were people boarding out of order slowing down the boarding process? A: No. We just want a steady stream (of passengers) going in. The ability to get overhead bin space ... has gotten a lot better with some of the upgrades that we’ve done with larger overhead bins on the vast majority of our aircraft. We’re going to finish up the rest of the fleet in the next couple years with the large overhead bins. So that won’t be the issue, but that used to be a bit of that driver there.jili super ace background 。

What to know about the ‘special drone-detection tech' requested for N.J. and N.Y.Opinion: B.C.’s business disadvantage about to get worse Investors eye America’s expedited approvals as B.C. grapples with red tape Jordan Bateman Dec 13, 2024 3:30 PM Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message B.C. Premier David Eby File photo: Submitted Premier David Eby made his annual visit to the B.C. business community this week, but if you were looking for specifics and good news, you were left grasping at straws. Paper straws, which fall apart pretty much right away. As evidence that he’s turned a page with the business community, Eby cited fast-tracking nine wind energy projects. There will be more examples, he promised vaguely, with no hint of what industries or projects he may be favouring. Or why. Or how. Or when. So it’s fair to say Eby is not exactly throwing caution to the wind to attract more investment into B.C. – which is seeing the conclusion of a $100 billion burst in energy infrastructure construction , and virtually nothing in line to replace it. B.C. Chamber of Commerce president Fiona Famulak tried her best to coax a commitment to natural resources out of Eby, asking a question that cited the Mining Association of B.C.’s analysis that it takes 12-15 years to permit a mine in this province. Pushing back, Eby claimed his government had reduced the timeline for mining permits by 40 per cent, but offered no corroborating evidence. Even if we take the premier at his word, that means the 12-15-year review period has been cut to seven to nine years. That’s some thin gruel. And even thinner when one considers it came just minutes after U.S. president-elect Donald Trump put this out on his Truth Social: “Any person or company investing ONE BILLION DOLLARS, OR MORE, in the United States of America, will receive fully expedited approvals and permits, including, but in no way limited to, all Environmental approvals. GET READY TO ROCK!!!” Or, put another way: “Drill, baby, drill!” How does that affect Canada? It’s better understood that Trump’s proposed 25 per cent tariffs would be incredibly harmful. For example, the softwood lumber tariff has resulted in $9 billion paid by Canadian producers since 2017. That’s by one industry on one product, at a rate less than half of what Trump is threatening. And yet this policy of “fully expedited approvals” could be even more damaging to the B.C. economy. If you’re an investor in oil, natural gas, tech, automobile manufacturing, mining, battery plants, pipelines, large development projects or other big-ticket items, why would you ever come to B.C., when you could get to work in any American state far faster and cheaper? Where your jobs and investment would be welcomed with open arms and the removal of regulatory barriers? By contrast, the BC NDP government has slathered cost and red tape on to business since 2017: multiple tax hikes, anti-employer rhetoric, WorkSafe regulations skewed completely to labour. And their soft-on-crime and drug-friendly policies have ramped up petty crime, again harming business. “When you have a near-death experience as a politician, it focuses the mind,” Eby said at the end of his speech, turning the focus back to himself. That’s all well and good. But it’s our provincial economy and our businesses that are having a near-death experience right now, as the provincial deficit and debt rush out of control, government hiring and costs far outpace the corporate sector that has to pay for them, and both private sector payroll and hiring are falling . America’s arms are wide open. But despite his political near-death experience, B.C.’s premier seems as unfocused and as unhelpful as ever. Jordan Bateman is vice-president of communication at the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association. See a typo/mistake? Have a story/tip? This has been shared 0 times 0 Shares Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message Get your daily Victoria news briefing Email Sign Up More Economy, Law & Politics B.C. NDP government, Greens forge confidence agreement with 'shared priorities' Dec 13, 2024 2:02 PM S&P/TSX down more than 100 points, U.S. markets mixed ahead of rate decision Dec 13, 2024 1:50 PM Ottawa to remove 30% investment cap for Canadian pension funds Dec 13, 2024 1:45 PM

One side-effect of the polarising effect of nationalism and populism around the world in recent years has been a decrease in the political stability and mandate enjoyed by incumbent regimes. From the erosion of nationalist hegemony in Malaysia or India to the rise of populism in the United States and pockets of Europe, swings in both directions have led to fragile coalitions, divided legislatures and a rise in uncertainty. One of the few silver linings to emerge from this cloud of political uncertainty was Sri Lanka’s spritely Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who, at age 55, became the youngest president elected by Sri Lankans in 30 years in a runoff to a closely contested election in October. Dissanayake, colloquially known as AKD, and his National People’s Power (NPP) went before the electorate once more the following month and secured a two-thirds majority in Sri Lanka’s parliament, sweeping the polls and for the first time erasing the ethnic and xenophobic calculations that have plagued Sri Lanka since the island’s independence. The resounding majorities secured by Dissanayake across Lankans young and old, male and female, Buddhist, Christian or Hindu, and Sinhalese, Tamil or Muslim, are the first ever sign that Sri Lankans are eager to put populism, nationalism and sectarianism in the rearview mirror and unite on the painful journey of rebuilding their proud island nation. This week, President Dissanayake will be in India for his first State visit, including bilateral talks with another politician who came up from the grassroots and surpassed all political expectations, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Having just secured his third term through a coalition arrangement, Modi has dealt with four Sri Lankan presidents since taking the reins of India in May 2014. However, in meeting President Dissanayake this week, Prime Minister Modi will for the first time come face to face with a Sri Lankan head of state who can credibly speak to the concerns and aspirations of every constituency in the country, who leads a Sri Lanka that less than three years after declaring insolvency is fast emerging as the most stable democracy in South Asia. In sweeping the Parliamentary polls with a two-thirds majority, AKD proved that he has his finger on the pulse of not just a single ethnic group or constituency, but of all Sri Lankans. Prime Minister Modi and President Dissanayake face many similar geopolitical challenges today. India remains a political football, with the United States and Russia each vying to bring India closer in a way that very much resembles the tussle Sri Lanka often finds itself in between the competing interests of India and China. During Modi’s tenure at the helm of India, his government has been careful not to pick sides. He and his right hand for foreign affairs, S. Jaishankar deftly played up India’s value to the United States as an economic and strategic regional counterweight to China, forcing successive US administrations to turn a blind eye to the erosion of liberties in Modi’s India, while tolerating India’s warm relations with Russia. For its part, Russia, eager to retain a market for their sanctioned oil and military surplus, trades more oil and military technology with India than it would with any other country that retains such close nuclear, military and intelligence ties to the US. This week, Modi will learn that under AKD’s tenure, Sri Lanka too will seek to strike the right balance of partnerships between India, China and other global powers, in a manner that is ultimately calibrated towards the best long-term interests of Sri Lanka. Dissanayake has the savvy to appreciate the importance of maintaining strong ties with India, but is extremely unlikely to compromise his principles in doing so. The most recent example of this was how the President handled the controversy around the academic qualifications of AKD’s close political ally, Speaker Asoka Ranwala. When challenged about whether or not he could prove he had earned a doctoral degree, Ranwala first asserted that he would need a few weeks to produce the evidence. As a longtime senior JVP member with deep connections in Parliament, he had every reason to expect that at minimum, his comrades would help him stall for time and shield him from any attempt to remove him from office. However, just hours after the President made a thinly veiled reference to his party’s intolerance for even the appearance of impropriety, Ranwala voluntarily stepped down, leaving no doubt that his party has zero appetite for distraction as it sets about to fulfil its ambitious mandate. Ranwala knew as well as any senior member of the NPP does, just how serious President Dissanayake is about his vision for a ‘Clean Sri Lanka’ program, seeking to drive Sri Lankans to aspire to not just environmental, but also social and ethical ‘cleanliness’. This vision was the cornerstone of his electoral campaign. By the time President Dissanayake leaves office, he has made it clear that he wants to leave Sri Lankans with pride in keeping their country tidy, orderly and free of corruption. As Prime Minister Modi seeks Sri Lanka’s support with India’s priorities, this initiative can serve as a blueprint for collaboration between the countries in a way that could set India apart among Sri Lanka’s other strategic allies. India is uniquely positioned to support Sri Lanka, whether from coming to the table to address the concerns raised in the Sri Lankan courts on India-backed wind energy projects or to support the President in building the infrastructure and incentives required to drive the rest of the program forward. It would be a mistake to presume that Dissanayake’s way of governing is not here to stay. Despite his own left wing populist roots, AKD’s most surprising achievement was building confidence among respected private sector luminaries and entrusting them with some of the most significant levers of power in his Government. The momentum that his leadership team have established to lift Sri Lanka out of the doldrums is unlike anything we have seen in Sri Lanka’s history. Never has Sri Lanka had a leader who seemed so loved by the masses while also being feared by those who would seek to exploit or manipulate those masses. There is an opportunity for India to proactively recognise this trend and bring his Government to the table to help Dissanayake drive towards a cleaner Sri Lanka. If Modi can convince President Dissanayake that his Government will support Sri Lanka’s domestic priorities, that would be the clearest opportunity to build up trust in our ‘big brother’ across the Palk Strait.

NYT Connections: Game #554 hints and answers for December 16, 2024: If you are struggling to come up with something to say for today's Connections, you might want to review these concepts and recommendations. NYT Connections: Game #554 hints and answers for December 16, 2024: Are you currently experiencing problems with NYT Connexions? Here are some advice to assist you get through it, so don’t worry! You must choose four sets of sixteen words each, each with varying degrees of difficulty, for this practice. The process is cautious and slow. It gets a little harder with each step you take. Here’s how to accomplish it: As a result, you might start with the simpler phases and work your way up to the more challenging ones. The yellow one is among the simplest, while the green, blue, and purple ones are the most difficult. The work of today isn’t very difficult, but it does require concentration and a deep understanding of social dynamics. Don’t make snap decisions without careful consideration. I won’t go into too much depth, but the following tips should help you get started. Enjoy yourself and remember that it’s quite acceptable to take a vacation to a different location. NYT Connections hints today Continue reading if you believe you can handle it. Try beginning each category with one of the following words: YELLOW – AM GREEN – FOOD BLUE – DEVIL DOG PURPLE – BAR NYT Connections Clues for December 16 (#554): Yellow Category: TYPES OF RADIO Green Category: KINDS OF PLAY FIGHTS Blue Category: SNACK CAKES Purple Category: CLASSIC JOKE STAPLES NYT Connections Hints for December 16 (#554): YELLOW – Forms of radios used for communication or entertainment. GREEN – Different kinds of playful skirmishes involving objects. BLUE – Iconic sweet snack cakes known for their unique names. PURPLE – Common setups or themes found in traditional jokes. If you’ve tried everything, don’t give up; there’s always another way to locate the answers. The following are some examples of modern solutions that make use of the NYT Connexions: NYT Connections Answers for December 16 (#554): Yellow Category: AM, HAM, SATELLITE, WALKIE-TALKIE Green Category: FOOD, PILLOW, SNOWBALL, WATER BALLOON Blue Category: DEVIL DOG, DING DONG, HOHO, YODEL Purple Category: BAR, CHICKEN, KNOCK-KNOCK, LIGHT BULB Click for more latest Gaming news . Also get top headlines and latest news from India and around the world at News9. Pragya is an accomplished journalist known for in-depth reporting and a keen eye for detail. Delivers insightful and well-researched content that informs and engages readers.As Dissanayake visits, India must embrace Sri Lanka’s new dawnThe newly appointed head of the Civil Service, Sir Chris Wormald, has urged officials to embrace change and improve the way government operates. In his first address as Cabinet Secretary, Sir Chris called for a more effective collaboration across Whitehall departments and a better use of technology. He commended civil servants for their "incredible contribution" but emphasised the need for a "rewiring" of governmental processes. The push for reform aligns with Prime Minister's ambitions to enhance productivity and break down departmental barriers in pursuit of his government's "missions". Sir Chris stated in an email to staff: "As Cabinet Secretary, it is my role to support the Prime Minister and government to deliver for the country." He added: "The Prime Minister has been clear that he wants a rewiring of the way the Government works to deliver his recently announced plan for change." Sir Chris' remarks come after Sir Keir Starmer criticised some Whitehall attitudes, accusing them of being content with a "too many people in Whitehall are comfortable in the tepid bath of managed decline" earlier this month. Before taking up his new position as head of the Civil Service, Sir Chris was the senior official at the Department of Health and Social Care. He expressed his deep honour in assuming the role of Cabinet Secretary.

Irish-language film Kneecap has won seven British Independent Film Awards (BIFA), including the top honor - Best British Independent Film. Kneecap, which is based on a semi-fictionalised account of how the west Belfast rap trio was formed, also took Best Debut Screenwriter for Rich Peppiatt and Best Joint Lead for trio Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, Naoise Ó Cairealláin and JJ Ó Dochartaigh. The film dominated the awards with 14 nominations. The winners of the 27th British Independent Film Awards were announced during a ceremony in London's Roundhouse on Sunday evening. Rap group Kneecap was formed in 2017 by three friends who go by the stage names of Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí. The three-piece have faced disapproval for their politically-charged lyrics and ease with controversy - they've previously admitted they like "to get people riled up". The idea for a film was first conceived in 2019 when director Rich Peppiatt watched the group perform in Belfast. Filmed in Belfast and Dundalk, Peppiatt previously told BBC News NI: "It's definitely more controversial than the usual movies that come out of Northern Ireland." Set in west Belfast in 2019, the film is a dramatised, comedic account of how the group was formed. It became the first Irish-language film to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the NEXT audience award. The film met rave reviews upon its premiere , external with The Hollywood Reporter describing it as "gleefully irreverent". The Irish Film & Television Academy has selected Kneecap to represent Ireland in the International Feature Film category at the upcoming 97th annual Academy Awards.

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

Beta Phase Concludes, Formerly Launching Market Influence Platform FAIR LAWN, N.J. , Dec. 23, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Rosica Communications, a national PR agency specializing in education, animal health, nonprofits, and healthcare, has completed beta-testing of its comprehensive tool for assessing thought leadership, now called the Thought Leadership Measurement MatrixTM. This innovative tool utilizes a unique, weighted algorithm to measure and analyze 20 marketing, online, and public relations factors or activities that impact thought leadership and influence industry reputation and standing. This PR thought leadership measurement system provides both qualitative and quantitative assessments of an organization's market influence, pinpointing strengths and uncovering opportunities for advancing thought leadership. After nearly two years of development and retaining an analytics specialist and mathematician in 2024 to advance its thought leadership scoring tables, Rosica's Thought Leadership Measurement MatrixTM is now ready for prime time. Formerly launched by Rosica as the "Thought Leadership Index," this is the only tool that thoroughly measures 20 distinct variables affecting thought leadership. It allows organizations to gauge their leadership presence through an in-depth analysis of performance indicators, SEO, content marketing (owned media), speaking engagements, website traffic and user experience (UX), and influencer or KOL advocacy. "Completing the beta phase with our clients created insights that shaped the final PR and thought leadership measurement platform we're now officially introducing. The Thought Leadership Measurement MatrixTM is the most comprehensive tool available to measure earned, owned, social, and paid media, plus a number of additional online and traditional marketing, PR, and communications activities that move the needle for organizations to impact of their thought leadership," said Chris Rosica , CEO and president of Rosica Communications. "Rosica goes beyond traditional web metrics to deliver a tool that tracks the broader scope of an organization's thought leadership activities. This tool doesn't just measure visibility, it quantifies influence, helping organizations not only get noticed but also become recognized leaders in their industries," said Analytics Specialist Dan Scheuermann . For more information, visit http://www.rosica.com Media Contact Micah Carroll , Rosica Communications, 201-843-5600, [email protected] , www.Rosica.com SOURCE Rosica CommunicationsChina will turn Washington's technology weapons on its Asian neighbours in 2025. US curbs on imports of semiconductors and other goods have hobbled advances in artificial intelligence in the world's second-largest economy. The People's Republic is starting to retaliate. Its leverage over corporate giants in Japan and South Korea makes them prime hostage targets. In 2022, outgoing US President Joe Biden introduced sweeping measures to block China's access to cutting-edge chips and chipmaking technology. Since then, Washington has expanded the controls to cover a broader array of equipment and materials, including machines and tools made by Dutch giant ASML and Japan's Tokyo Electron. In December, the Biden administration added more than 100 Chinese entities to its trade restriction list as part of its new package of controls. The tightening restrictions have prompted Beijing to respond. In mid-2023, the government started requiring export licences for gallium, germanium, graphite and antimony – materials vital for making batteries, semiconductors, fibre optics and weapons. But a closer look at the trade flows did not show Chinese authorities systematically denied export licences, according to Cory Combs, a researcher from analysis firm Trivium China. That is about to change. In response to Washington's latest controls, the Chinese government announced an outright ban on some of these materials being exported to the United States – its strongest tit-for-tat measure yet. Further retaliation is likely as China falls further behind in AI. Local technology giants like Tencent and Baidu are running down their stockpiles of now-banned Nvidia chips and will have no choice but to turn to domestic alternatives to train their AI models. But the latest chip designed by local semiconductor darling Huawei, the country's best answer to Nvidia's coveted graphics processing units, is three generations behind the $3.3 trillion US market leader, Bloomberg reported. Against this backdrop, Beijing has been quietly laying the groundwork to weaponise its near monopoly on rare earths and critical minerals. In June, the government unveiled a raft of regulations aimed at protecting the country's rare earth supplies; these rules cover mining, smelting and trading and establish state ownership of rare earths resources. The latest export ban from China's Ministry of Commerce follows an overhaul of existing rules. Whereas past curbs on gallium and germanium have been piecemeal, the new unified regime grants stricter government oversight on technologies and goods that can be used for civilian and military purposes. Businesses selling certain types of graphite, used in electric-vehicle batteries, must first disclose details about their overseas customers and the end use of the materials. Taking a page out of Washington's sanctions playbook, China will also have a "control list" of foreign companies which are subject to extra restrictions and licences. Yet targeting American firms like Micron Technology or Tesla at a time when the struggling Chinese economy needs trading partners, foreign investment and tech know-how could be self-defeating. In 2023, Chinese infrastructure companies were banned from buying certain memory chips from Micron. Even so, a year later, the Idaho-based firm's ties to China have strengthened, with Chief Executive Sanjay Mehrotra meeting with the Minister of Commerce and breaking ground on a new factory in the country in 2024. Meanwhile, carmaker Tesla's China sales are on track to grow by 14 percent to $23 billion in 2025, per Visible Alpha forecasts. Instead, Beijing holds far more leverage over US allies in Asia. A Japanese government white paper found that the country relies on China for nearly a third of its imports, compared to 13 percent for the United States. These goods range from machinery to organic chemicals to electrical equipment. And despite official efforts to diversify supply chains away from China, a separate study found South Korea's dependence on the People's Republic for five out of six raw materials necessary for chipmaking actually increased in 2023. That puts Tokyo and Seoul's corporate champions in a vulnerable position. Toyota has privately voiced concerns that China would cut off the $220 billion carmaker's access to critical minerals, Bloomberg reported in September, citing sources. In addition to supply chains, it also has factories on the mainland. South Korea's memory chip giants SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, as well as battery specialists LG Chem and SK On, are in a similar boat. Just a threat of export controls might be sufficient for those countries to think twice about joining the tech war against China. Beijing has plenty of weapons to fight back. In 2025 it will train them on US allies. China will turn Washington's technology weapons on its Asian neighbours in 2025. US curbs on imports of semiconductors and other goods have hobbled advances in artificial intelligence in the world's second-largest economy. The People's Republic is starting to retaliate. Its leverage over corporate giants in Japan and South Korea makes them prime hostage targets. In 2022, outgoing US President Joe Biden introduced sweeping measures to block China's access to cutting-edge chips and chipmaking technology. Since then, Washington has expanded the controls to cover a broader array of equipment and materials, including machines and tools made by Dutch giant ASML and Japan's Tokyo Electron. In December, the Biden administration added more than 100 Chinese entities to its trade restriction list as part of its new package of controls. The tightening restrictions have prompted Beijing to respond. In mid-2023, the government started requiring export licences for gallium, germanium, graphite and antimony – materials vital for making batteries, semiconductors, fibre optics and weapons. But a closer look at the trade flows did not show Chinese authorities systematically denied export licences, according to Cory Combs, a researcher from analysis firm Trivium China. That is about to change. In response to Washington's latest controls, the Chinese government announced an outright ban on some of these materials being exported to the United States – its strongest tit-for-tat measure yet. Further retaliation is likely as China falls further behind in AI. Local technology giants like Tencent and Baidu are running down their stockpiles of now-banned Nvidia chips and will have no choice but to turn to domestic alternatives to train their AI models. But the latest chip designed by local semiconductor darling Huawei, the country's best answer to Nvidia's coveted graphics processing units, is three generations behind the $3.3 trillion US market leader, Bloomberg reported. Against this backdrop, Beijing has been quietly laying the groundwork to weaponise its near monopoly on rare earths and critical minerals. In June, the government unveiled a raft of regulations aimed at protecting the country's rare earth supplies; these rules cover mining, smelting and trading and establish state ownership of rare earths resources. The latest export ban from China's Ministry of Commerce follows an overhaul of existing rules. Whereas past curbs on gallium and germanium have been piecemeal, the new unified regime grants stricter government oversight on technologies and goods that can be used for civilian and military purposes. Businesses selling certain types of graphite, used in electric-vehicle batteries, must first disclose details about their overseas customers and the end use of the materials. Taking a page out of Washington's sanctions playbook, China will also have a "control list" of foreign companies which are subject to extra restrictions and licences. Yet targeting American firms like Micron Technology or Tesla at a time when the struggling Chinese economy needs trading partners, foreign investment and tech know-how could be self-defeating. In 2023, Chinese infrastructure companies were banned from buying certain memory chips from Micron. Even so, a year later, the Idaho-based firm's ties to China have strengthened, with Chief Executive Sanjay Mehrotra meeting with the Minister of Commerce and breaking ground on a new factory in the country in 2024. Meanwhile, carmaker Tesla's China sales are on track to grow by 14 percent to $23 billion in 2025, per Visible Alpha forecasts. Instead, Beijing holds far more leverage over US allies in Asia. A Japanese government white paper found that the country relies on China for nearly a third of its imports, compared to 13 percent for the United States. These goods range from machinery to organic chemicals to electrical equipment. And despite official efforts to diversify supply chains away from China, a separate study found South Korea's dependence on the People's Republic for five out of six raw materials necessary for chipmaking actually increased in 2023. That puts Tokyo and Seoul's corporate champions in a vulnerable position. Toyota has privately voiced concerns that China would cut off the $220 billion carmaker's access to critical minerals, Bloomberg reported in September, citing sources. In addition to supply chains, it also has factories on the mainland. South Korea's memory chip giants SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, as well as battery specialists LG Chem and SK On, are in a similar boat. Just a threat of export controls might be sufficient for those countries to think twice about joining the tech war against China. Beijing has plenty of weapons to fight back. In 2025 it will train them on US allies.

5 takeaways from Trump's 'Meet the Press' interview

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.

President of fractious teachers union pulling plug after single termLet’s cut right to the chase: What the analysis made public yesterday by the Chief Actuary of Canada shows is that if Alberta were to split from the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) it would only be entitled to 20 to 25 per cent of the CPP investment fund, or about $120 billion to $150 billion. In other words, the 2023 report by the Lifeworks consulting firm commissioned and heavily promoted by the United Conservative Party Government that concluded Alberta would be entitled to walk away with 53 per cent of the $575-billion investment fund, about $334 billion, turns out to be just as it appeared, too good to be true. So the complaint by Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner’s spokesperson that “we received their interpretation of the legislation, but it did not contain a number or even a formula for calculating a number” turns out to be not completely accurate. Yes, the government received the report. And, yes, the report didn’t do the math for readers. Nevertheless, upon reading it, Alberta Finance Department experts should have had no difficulty coming up with the conclusions above. Now that the Office of Chief Actuary Assia Billig has publicly released the report , Alberta voters can read it for themselves. Its title may not be all that riveting, but the conclusions of Chief Actuary Position Paper – Subsection 113(2) of the Canada Pension Plan are both clear and persuasive. Section 113(2) of the legislation that created the Canada Pension Plan , by the way, “outlines the calculation that the Minister of Finance shall apply in determining the amount that would be transferred to the Government of Alberta,” the position paper explains. So figuring out what it means, quite literally, is the money question! A very helpful commentary was posted yesterday afternoon on social media by University of Calgary economics professor Trevor Tombe, who is cited in the report as being one of many experts Billig’s staff consulted who reached similar conclusions. In particular, the report pointedly endorses the conclusion published by Dr. Tombe in December 2023 , that the LifeWorks estimate of Alberta’s entitlement was wrong, and the right number is in the 20- to 25-per-cent range. If the same approach were applied to both Alberta and Ontario, Dr. Tombe noted in that 2023 paper, “then it would result in more assets being paid out than actually exist within the CPP.” Needless to say, such an outcome would not just strain Confederation, it would be politically impossible in Canada outside of Quebec, which with its own grandfathered pension has no dog in this fight. “The Chief Actuary’s position, although independently developed, is consistent with the findings of the IAP and the method presented in Dr. Tombe’s paper,” the position paper states – the IAP being the Independent Advisory Panel of actuaries created by her office to gather independent views. While it may not seem completely reassuring, it is said here the Finance Minister’s press secretary can probably be forgiven for not properly understanding the position paper, which, while clearly written, requires a certain level of actuarial expertise not typical of political staffers. Anyway, the Chief Actuary sided with the majority of experts when it came to rejecting the LifeWorks claim the province would be entitled to as much interest as it would have collected if it had set up its own pension plan in 1966. This does not mean the UCP’s pension scheme is not viable, Dr. Tombe noted in his Bluesky commentary, but it does indicate the much smaller contribution rates claimed by the government are not possible. Responding to a commenter, Dr. Tombe concluded that “reading carefully the various pieces of analysis now publicly available would lead to the conclusion that the LifeWorks interpretation will not withstand careful judicial review.” This is an opinion, but obviously a well-informed and important one. Mount Royal University political science professor Duane Bratt weighed in on Bluesky with the opinion that “the Smith government will quietly abandon the APP when there is a change in the federal government. The APP rears its head when there are Liberals in Ottawa, and buries its head when the Conservatives are in office.” I am not so sure. The UCP brain trust has been singularly focused on the huge sums that could become available to prop up Alberta’s oil and gas sector if it got its paws on CPP assets, so don’t expect this divisive scheme to go away any time soon. Support rabble today! We’re so glad you stopped by! Thanks for consuming rabble content this year. rabble.ca is 100% reader and donor funded, so as an avid reader of our content, we hope you will consider gifting rabble with a donation during our summer fundraiser today. Nick Seebruch, editor Whether it be a one-time donation or a small monthly contribution, your support is critical to keep rabble writers producing the work you’ve come to rely on as a part of a healthy media diet. Become a rabble rouser — donate to rabble.ca today. Nick Seebruch, editor Support rabble.ca