By KELVIN CHAN, Business Writer LONDON (AP) — Looking for a new social media platform because X, Threads and Mastodon just aren’t cutting it? You could try Bluesky . People seeking to avoid chaos, noise and political bluster in the aftermath of the U.S. elections are noticing a different mood on the Bluesky social platform, where the vibe is seemingly welcoming and there are noticeably fewer trolls. The site announced it had rapidly added more than a million new users in the week after Election Day, and has emerged as one of the fastest growing rivals to Elon Musk’s X and similar platforms. If you’re tempted to check out the new space, here’s a guide on how Bluesky works: Maybe you’re not ready to commit to adding yet another social media account. No problem — you can still look around on Bluesky without signing up because all posts and profiles are public. You might get a sense of deja vu because the platform’s look and feel are very similar to X. That should be no surprise because Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey was an early Bluesky champion. (Dorsey’s no longer involved with Bluesky, which is owned and run by its executive team as a public benefit corporation.) If you take the plunge and get an account, you’ll need a username. You’ll notice Bluesky handles are a little bit different because they end by default in the site’s domain, .bsky.social. You can personalize your handle to make it more memorable, by using your own website’s domain or buying a custom one through Bluesky. But it might not be something most newbie users need or want to do right away. Bluesky boasts that it gives users “algorithmic choice” to tailor the content they’re shown instead of leaving it up to the whims of a centralized system. “Our online experience doesn’t have to depend on billionaires unilaterally making decisions over what we see,” it says . What it means is that you can follow custom feeds set up by other users, or design your own. If you tap #Feeds in the menu on the left, you’ll see some default offerings like Cat Pics and Gardening. My Bangers is a list of your most popular posts by likes and Catch Up shows the site’s most popular posts from the past 24 hours. You can find more by doing a search and tapping the Feeds button. There’s also the usual “Discover” feed of suggested posts and a chronological feed of accounts that you follow. To help new users settle in, Bluesky has starter packs of recommended feeds and accounts to follow, which anyone can create and share. They don’t show up in Bluesky’s search results but can be found in directories online . Or someone might share one with you. After I signed up, a colleague pointed me to one for major news outlets . There are tens of thousands of starter packs, ranging from broadly appealing topics like Taylor Swift to niche interests like cargo bikes or U.K. comedians . You can follow the whole pack or scroll down the list to choose individual accounts. What about people you followed on X? There’s a browser extension tool called Sky Follower Bridge that will help you find X users who’ve migrated to Bluesky. But check before clicking the follow button to make sure it’s not a different user using the same display name or handle. Ready to join the conversation? You can write posts or reply to others but keep it short because there’s a limit of 300 characters — 20 more than on X. You can also upload photos and videos, though videos can’t be longer than 60 seconds. GIFs and emojis are, of course, available too. You can still @ people by typing in their username, like posts by tapping a heart icon or use hashtags to highlight a theme. Bluesky has added a menu to hashtags, so when you click on one you’ll get different options for seeing, or muting, posts on that topic. Bluesky’s decentralization ethos extends to the content control options it offers. For starters, users can choose in their settings menu whether to see replies, reposts or quote posts in their feed. Specific words or tags can be muted temporarily, or forever, while accounts can be muted or blocked individually, or in bulk by adding them a moderation list. You can even fine tune the level of adult content that shows up in your feed. Bluesky has a team of content moderators to police the site for material that’s illegal or breaks the rules. But it’s also taking a different approach by open sourcing its content moderation system in an attempt to resolve problems with traditional moderation services which it says “lack transparency and user control.” So, individuals or groups can set up their own content filters, or labelers, that go beyond what Bluesky offers. These labelers can be used to categorize content or users, which can then be blocked or hidden. But they could also be used for informational or creative purposes, like curating or verifying content. There are labelers to identify images generated by artificial intelligence or to fact check news posts. You can find lists of labelers online. After I subscribed to a U.S. politics labeler, some posts in my feeds were flagged “!Donald Trump” or “!Democrat politician” and hidden unless I click Show. Follow Kelvin Chan on Bluesky Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.MNS' rout means party going unrepresented in Maharashtra assembly
Taylor Swift shares excitement on baby news following boyfriend Travis Kelce opening up on fatherhoodOn a scale of one to 10, just how desperate do you think Kim Kardashian is for attention? Judging by the billionaire’s weirdly sexual photoshoot with a robot, the answer may be an 11. The entrepreneur and influencer, who is a big Tesla fan, recently posed with the company’s Optimus bot in a Tesla Cybercab (a self-driving taxi ) for a series of photos which might be described as avant-garde if you’re being polite, and dystopian thirst traps if you’re not. She also posted some rather less sultry videos of her interacting with the humanoid robot. The photoshoot has ignited something of a debate online about whether Kardashian is deliberately aligning herself with Elon Musk, who runs Tesla, and outing herself as a Trump supporter. Which is a bit of a stretch really as I’m not sure that – with the exception of an admirable stint working on criminal justice reform – Kardashian has ever pretended to be a leftist. Kardashian is a billionaire who has been sued for unfair labor practices and who announced, back in 2018, that she has “ nothing bad to say ” about Trump. Her Tesla-themed photoshoot was hardly a radical new direction for her. It is, however, a sign of the “autonomous everything” direction in which we’re headed. The world’s most famous influencer cozying up to a robot in a self-driving taxi is yet another example of how AI-powered autonomous technology is slowly marching into our lives. When it comes to Tesla’s Optimus robot, of course, the operative word here is slowly. The robot, which isn’t available for sale to the general public yet, may look flashy but it isn’t clear just how sophisticated it actually is yet. The Optimus robots were a major part of Tesla’s Cybercab reveal in October, serving drinks to the crowd and even chatting with them – as it turns out, however, these “cutting-edge” robots were actually being remotely controlled by humans . Which is a step up, I suppose, from when Musk unveiled plans for a “Tesla Bot” in 2021 by bringing out a human in a robot suit who proceeded to breakdance to electronic music. Musk has been talking a big game about human-replacement robots for a long time , saying they’re being designed to do “ boring, repetitious and dangerous ” work. The tech billionaire, who has a habit of wildly overpromising what he is capable of, also keeps telling us they’re going to be released any day now. In 2021, for example, he suggested the “Tesla bot” would launch in 2022 . Earlier this year he claimed Tesla will produce “genuinely useful” humanoid robots to start working in its factories next year and plans to roll them out to other companies in 2026. I wouldn’t hold your breath that this will actually happen. Which is not to say, however, that development of these sorts of robots is a long way away. Robotic dogs, made by Boston Dynamics, are already being deployed by police departments and one has been guarding Trump at Mar-a-Lago . Deadlier versions of these dogs are also in the works: the US army has reportedly sent at least one “robot dog” armed with an artificial intelligence-enabled gun turret to Saudi Arabia for testing. More generally, military use of AI-enabled weaponry is booming , fundamentally changing the nature of warfare. Gaza is currently a real-life testing field for some of this tech: earlier this year, one Israeli intelligence officer told the Guardian that powerful AI systems “made it easier” to kill people and destroy homes. And while robot dogs may not be in Gaza yet, numerous eyewitnesses have said that the Israeli military is using sniper drones – quadcopters with rifles attached to them – and they’re shooting civilians and children. Are the people developing autonomous weapons kept up at night with worry about how their technology might be abused? Palmer Luckey , the billionaire founder of Anduril , the artificial intelligence weapons company, certainly doesn’t seem to be. In a recent conversation with Pepperdine University’s president, Jim Gash, Luckey enthused about how society needs a “warrior class that is enthused and excited about enacting violence on others in pursuit of good aims”. So this is what you should think about when you see cutesy photoshoots with robots like the one Kardashian just did. You should think about how these robots are going to be used by the self-proclaimed “warrior class”. I have a feeling that we’re going to see versions of Optimus being deployed to crack down on protesters well before the Tesla robots are cooking us all dinner and doing our drudge work. Georgia officials have dismissed all members of a state committee charged with investigating deaths of pregnant women. Why? Because ProPublica did a little investigating itself and, back in September, got hold of internal documents which found Amber Thurman and Candi Miller died preventable deaths as a result of a state abortion ban. McBride recently became the first openly transgender person to be elected to the US House of Representatives. Cue vicious bullying from her future colleagues. This week the South Carolina representative Nancy Mace filed a motion to ban McBride and other trans women from women’s bathrooms in the Capitol. “If you think this bill is about protecting women and not simply a ploy to get on Fox News, you’ve been fooled,” wrote Natalie Johnson, Mace’s former communications director. She added, a real effort to protect women would involve “a bill to bar Matt Gaetz, a sexual predator with an affinity for underage girls, from ever walking those halls again”. Sign up to The Week in Patriarchy Get Arwa Mahdawi’s weekly recap of the most important stories on feminism and sexism and those fighting for equality after newsletter promotion “OnlyFans says it empowers content creators, particularly women, to monetize sexually explicit images and videos in a safe online environment,” a Reuters Investigation notes . “But [we] found women who said they had been deceived, drugged, terrorized and sexually enslaved to make money from the site.” The word “squaw” is thought to have originally just meant “woman” in the Algonquin language but eventually morphed into a misogynistic and racist term. It will now be removed from more than 30 geographic features in California by 2025. Thaslima Begum’s Guardian article helped bring attention to Mazyouna Damoo’s family’s struggle to evacuate her from Gaza. After the Israeli authorities repeatedly blocked requests for her urgent medical evacuation she was finally allowed out to get help in the US . Police in Japan managed to crack the Mystery of the Disappearing Shoes and figure out why footwear was disappearing from a kindergarten. The culprit? It was ... a weasel . The Guardian has a video of the shoe thief in action, and this fun linguistic nugget: “[T]he musky scent of the Japanese weasel gave rise to the saying itachi no saigo-pei . That literally translates as ‘the weasel’s final fart’, but is used to refer to the last word or act of an unpopular or dislikable person.”
A trip to the Indian subcontinent would mark a significant boost in the King’s health as he continues his recovery from cancer. It may also signal a resumption of his plans to visit India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, which had to be abandoned after the Queen’s death in September 2022. Number 10 is keen on drafting in Charles and Camilla to launch a charm offensive as Britain seeks to establish significant economic links in a post-Brexit world . A source said: “It’s hugely encouraging to be able to make such plans for the King and Queen given the year the monarch has had, but it’s very much full steam ahead. A tour of the Indian subcontinent is in the offing, which will be of huge political and cultural significance for Britain on the world stage. The King and Queen are the perfect ambassadors at such a time.” Foreign Office officials have been given the green light to open discussions with potential host nations for royal visits, and proposals for tours of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are being drafted. Indian PM Narendra Modi is understood to have expressed his desire to host the King and Queen Camilla after they had to cancel their trip last time. However, there are concerns about a visit to the country due to Mr Modi’s growing closeness with Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin . The pair met at the BRICS summit of world leaders last month and on Tuesday, Putin hailed Russia ’s “strategic partnership” with India. However, Mr Modi has insisted Moscow’s illegal war in Ukraine should be “ended peacefully”. As Prince of Wales, Charles visited Pakistan with Camilla in 2006 for a week. He told wellwishers: “It has taken me very nearly 58 years to reach you and it’s not from want of trying, I can tell you.” The couple also visited in 2019 to further improve the ties between the two countries. In November that year, Charles took his 10th official trip to India, focusing on climate change, sustainability and social finance. He visited the Meteorological Department in New Delhi, rode in an electric rickshaw and met environmentalist Sunita Narain. And last month, the King and Queen stopped off in the country for a spa break after their tour of Australia and Samoa. Sources said Charles would “relish” the opportunity to return officially as monarch. Palace officials said last month he was preparing to embark on a full overseas tour schedule after the trip to Australia and Samoa proved the “perfect tonic”. The Mirror revealed this month the couple are preparing for a tour to Italy in spring, as the government seeks to strengthen ties with Europe. Italy will be celebrating a holy Jubilee year in 2025, that begins on Christmas Eve and lasts until Epiphany 2026. It is a major event for the Catholic Church and a time of celebration, leading to speculation the royals could meet the Pope. The Palace did not comment last night.North Korea's Kim vows toughest anti-U.S. policy before Trump takes office
CleanSpark Reports Record-Breaking FY 2024 Results: Outpacing Halving and DifficultyLeaked recordings reveal secretive church pushing physical punishment of children
Biden did what many fathers would do: Save his child
Geordie Shore star Charlotte Crosby said she has been admitted to hospital but her baby is “all fine” after masked men attempted to rob her home this week. Her Bolton born fiance Jake Ankers announced on social media that a group of men carrying a machete entered their home on Thursday evening while they were in the house with their two-year-old daughter. Crosby, who is nearly eight months pregnant, thanked those who have sent their support to the couple in an Instagram Story post on Saturday. The reality TV star, 34, wrote: “I’m typing this I’m laid in hospital. Baby is all fine, thank you for all the messages!” She added: “This month has had misfortune after misfortune. I want to thank you all for your kind messages about the break-in the other night. READ MORE: Charlotte Crosby and Bolton fiance back on screens Geordie Shore's Charlotte Crosby shows fans around her Bolton home “Still something I’m really struggling to come to terms with.” Ankers also posted a photo of Crosby lying in a hospital bed to his Instagram Story, saying she had been “rushed in to hospital” as the TV star had been experiencing “serious pains in her stomach”. The businessman thanked their followers for reaching out and their local community for being “fantastic” since the burglary attempt. Ankers, who appeared with the reality star on BBC Three reality show Charlotte In Sunderland, previously said the thieves “tried to rob my house with my two-year-old and my partner who is nearly eight months pregnant, armed with a machete”. He said one of the four men “had a red balaclava on” and was carrying the weapon at the top of the stairs. Durham Constabulary were alerted at 7pm on Thursday to reports of an aggravated burglary in Houghton-le-Spring, a town in the Sunderland area. A spokeswoman for the force said: “Officers attended the area however the suspects left the scene before their arrival. “Nobody was injured in the incident and no items are believed to have been taken.” She added that an investigation is under way and anyone with information is asked to contact police. Crosby is best known for appearing in the MTV reality series Geordie Shore and winning the 12th series of Celebrity Big Brother in 2013. She and Ankers got engaged in October 2023 after she gave birth to their first child in 2022.St Catherine defeat JC on penalties for historic Manning Cup final appearanceWhile they might not be producing a wealth of offense, the Kings have been penurious defensively of late and will take that stinginess northward to San Jose for a matchup with the Sharks on Monday. They surrendered just one goal in each contest during their three-game homestand and no five-on-five markers, most recently restraining the Seattle Kraken in a 2-1 win. Seattle had won five of its past six games, whereas San Jose has dropped six of its past seven. David Rittich, who has made three straight starts since Darcy Kuemper sustained his second lower-body injury of the young campaign during a loss in Colorado, has posted six one-goal-allowed efforts in 11 starts, with five of those performances being wins. The sixth was a 1-0 loss to Buffalo on Wednesday, which coach Jim Hiller said he thought gave the Kings additional motivation against Seattle. “I think we played really well the last couple (games), but (against Seattle) we did something extra with obviously scoring goals, which gives us the opportunity to win,” Rittich said. Individual Kings had plenty of motivation, too. Their second-period power-play goal represented the first point in seven games for Kevin Fiala and the first goal in six for Quinton Byfield, as well as the first power-play goal by any King against a goalie in the past seven games. Byfield’s scoring woes have been longer-standing. Byfield said he’d like to better integrate the physical side of his game into his offense, but for now was pleased to have broken through, and with an authoritative snipe, no less. “It’s obviously tough. You do think about it, but you’ve got to stay positive. I’ve learned from the best, Kopi, all the time he’s just even keel,” said Byfield, referring to Kings captain Anze Kopitar. “I try to be happy, that’s just my personality. I don’t want to bring anyone else down around me. It always comes eventually, and hopefully it’ll pile up.” Saturday also marked Byfield’s 200th career game, and he joined seven other players who have crossed that threshold from his 2020 draft class. He accumulated those games across parts of five seasons, some of which saw him bounce between the NHL and AHL while he also battled serious injuries and illnesses. “It was tough. There was a lot of adversity and a lot of challenging moments in those 200 games,” Byfield said. There might not be a ton of adversity ahead for the Kings in San Jose, given that the Sharks remain in a half-decade-long rebuild still waiting to take off and have been mired in a funk lately, too. But the Kings managed to lose to them and another bottom-dweller, the Chicago Blackhawks, in the same week, and their 4-2 loss in San Jose on Oct. 29 featured an 0-for-6 display on the power play. Five days earlier, the Kings had beaten the Sharks, 3-2, in L.A. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft, Macklin Celebrini, did not compete in either meeting for San Jose. He’ll be healthy Monday and has scored seven points in 10 games, production spearheaded by three multi-point outings. Veteran Mikael Granlund’s 24 points are eight more than any other Shark has contributed this season.By BILL BARROW, Associated Press PLAINS, Ga. (AP) — Newly married and sworn as a Naval officer, Jimmy Carter left his tiny hometown in 1946 hoping to climb the ranks and see the world. Less than a decade later, the death of his father and namesake, a merchant farmer and local politician who went by “Mr. Earl,” prompted the submariner and his wife, Rosalynn, to return to the rural life of Plains, Georgia, they thought they’d escaped. The lieutenant never would be an admiral. Instead, he became commander in chief. Years after his presidency ended in humbling defeat, he would add a Nobel Peace Prize, awarded not for his White House accomplishments but “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” The life of James Earl Carter Jr., the 39th and longest-lived U.S. president, ended Sunday at the age of 100 where it began: Plains, the town of 600 that fueled his political rise, welcomed him after his fall and sustained him during 40 years of service that redefined what it means to be a former president. With the stubborn confidence of an engineer and an optimism rooted in his Baptist faith, Carter described his motivations in politics and beyond in the same way: an almost missionary zeal to solve problems and improve lives. Carter was raised amid racism, abject poverty and hard rural living — realities that shaped both his deliberate politics and emphasis on human rights. “He always felt a responsibility to help people,” said Jill Stuckey, a longtime friend of Carter’s in Plains. “And when he couldn’t make change wherever he was, he decided he had to go higher.” Defying expectations Carter’s path, a mix of happenstance and calculation , pitted moral imperatives against political pragmatism; and it defied typical labels of American politics, especially caricatures of one-term presidents as failures. “We shouldn’t judge presidents by how popular they are in their day. That’s a very narrow way of assessing them,” Carter biographer Jonathan Alter told the Associated Press. “We should judge them by how they changed the country and the world for the better. On that score, Jimmy Carter is not in the first rank of American presidents, but he stands up quite well.” Later in life, Carter conceded that many Americans, even those too young to remember his tenure, judged him ineffective for failing to contain inflation or interest rates, end the energy crisis or quickly bring home American hostages in Iran. He gained admirers instead for his work at The Carter Center — advocating globally for public health, human rights and democracy since 1982 — and the decades he and Rosalynn wore hardhats and swung hammers with Habitat for Humanity. Yet the common view that he was better after the Oval Office than in it annoyed Carter, and his allies relished him living long enough to see historians reassess his presidency. “He doesn’t quite fit in today’s terms” of a left-right, red-blue scoreboard, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who visited the former president multiple times during his own White House bid. At various points in his political career, Carter labeled himself “progressive” or “conservative” — sometimes both at once. His most ambitious health care bill failed — perhaps one of his biggest legislative disappointments — because it didn’t go far enough to suit liberals. Republicans, especially after his 1980 defeat, cast him as a left-wing cartoon. It would be easiest to classify Carter as a centrist, Buttigieg said, “but there’s also something radical about the depth of his commitment to looking after those who are left out of society and out of the economy.” ‘Country come to town’ Indeed, Carter’s legacy is stitched with complexities, contradictions and evolutions — personal and political. The self-styled peacemaker was a war-trained Naval Academy graduate who promised Democratic challenger Ted Kennedy that he’d “kick his ass.” But he campaigned with a call to treat everyone with “respect and compassion and with love.” Carter vowed to restore America’s virtue after the shame of Vietnam and Watergate, and his technocratic, good-government approach didn’t suit Republicans who tagged government itself as the problem. It also sometimes put Carter at odds with fellow Democrats. The result still was a notable legislative record, with wins on the environment, education, and mental health care. He dramatically expanded federally protected lands, began deregulating air travel, railroads and trucking, and he put human rights at the center of U.S. foreign policy. As a fiscal hawk, Carter added a relative pittance to the national debt, unlike successors from both parties. Carter nonetheless struggled to make his achievements resonate with the electorate he charmed in 1976. Quoting Bob Dylan and grinning enthusiastically, he had promised voters he would “never tell a lie.” Once in Washington, though, he led like a joyless engineer, insisting his ideas would become reality and he’d be rewarded politically if only he could convince enough people with facts and logic. This served him well at Camp David, where he brokered peace between Israel’s Menachem Begin and Epypt’s Anwar Sadat, an experience that later sparked the idea of The Carter Center in Atlanta. Carter’s tenacity helped the center grow to a global force that monitored elections across five continents, enabled his freelance diplomacy and sent public health experts across the developing world. The center’s wins were personal for Carter, who hoped to outlive the last Guinea worm parasite, and nearly did. As president, though, the approach fell short when he urged consumers beleaguered by energy costs to turn down their thermostats. Or when he tried to be the nation’s cheerleader, beseeching Americans to overcome a collective “crisis of confidence.” Republican Ronald Reagan exploited Carter’s lecturing tone with a belittling quip in their lone 1980 debate. “There you go again,” the former Hollywood actor said in response to a wonky answer from the sitting president. “The Great Communicator” outpaced Carter in all but six states. Carter later suggested he “tried to do too much, too soon” and mused that he was incompatible with Washington culture: media figures, lobbyists and Georgetown social elites who looked down on the Georgians and their inner circle as “country come to town.” A ‘leader of conscience’ on race and class Carter carefully navigated divides on race and class on his way to the Oval Office. Born Oct. 1, 1924 , Carter was raised in the mostly Black community of Archery, just outside Plains, by a progressive mother and white supremacist father. Their home had no running water or electricity but the future president still grew up with the relative advantages of a locally prominent, land-owning family in a system of Jim Crow segregation. He wrote of President Franklin Roosevelt’s towering presence and his family’s Democratic Party roots, but his father soured on FDR, and Jimmy Carter never campaigned or governed as a New Deal liberal. He offered himself as a small-town peanut farmer with an understated style, carrying his own luggage, bunking with supporters during his first presidential campaign and always using his nickname. And he began his political career in a whites-only Democratic Party. As private citizens, he and Rosalynn supported integration as early as the 1950s and believed it inevitable. Carter refused to join the White Citizens Council in Plains and spoke out in his Baptist church against denying Black people access to worship services. “This is not my house; this is not your house,” he said in a churchwide meeting, reminding fellow parishioners their sanctuary belonged to God. Yet as the appointed chairman of Sumter County schools he never pushed to desegregate, thinking it impractical after the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board decision. And while presidential candidate Carter would hail the 1965 Voting Rights Act, signed by fellow Democrat Lyndon Johnson when Carter was a state senator, there is no record of Carter publicly supporting it at the time. Carter overcame a ballot-stuffing opponent to win his legislative seat, then lost the 1966 governor’s race to an arch-segregationist. He won four years later by avoiding explicit mentions of race and campaigning to the right of his rival, who he mocked as “Cufflinks Carl” — the insult of an ascendant politician who never saw himself as part the establishment. Carter’s rural and small-town coalition in 1970 would match any victorious Republican electoral map in 2024. Once elected, though, Carter shocked his white conservative supporters — and landed on the cover of Time magazine — by declaring that “the time for racial discrimination is over.” Before making the jump to Washington, Carter befriended the family of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., whom he’d never sought out as he eyed the governor’s office. Carter lamented his foot-dragging on school integration as a “mistake.” But he also met, conspicuously, with Alabama’s segregationist Gov. George Wallace to accept his primary rival’s endorsement ahead of the 1976 Democratic convention. “He very shrewdly took advantage of his own Southerness,” said Amber Roessner, a University of Tennessee professor and expert on Carter’s campaigns. A coalition of Black voters and white moderate Democrats ultimately made Carter the last Democratic presidential nominee to sweep the Deep South. Then, just as he did in Georgia, he used his power in office to appoint more non-whites than all his predecessors had, combined. He once acknowledged “the secret shame” of white Americans who didn’t fight segregation. But he also told Alter that doing more would have sacrificed his political viability – and thus everything he accomplished in office and after. King’s daughter, Bernice King, described Carter as wisely “strategic” in winning higher offices to enact change. “He was a leader of conscience,” she said in an interview. Rosalynn was Carter’s closest advisor Rosalynn Carter, who died on Nov. 19 at the age of 96, was identified by both husband and wife as the “more political” of the pair; she sat in on Cabinet meetings and urged him to postpone certain priorities, like pressing the Senate to relinquish control of the Panama Canal. “Let that go until the second term,” she would sometimes say. The president, recalled her former aide Kathy Cade, retorted that he was “going to do what’s right” even if “it might cut short the time I have.” Rosalynn held firm, Cade said: “She’d remind him you have to win to govern.” Carter also was the first president to appoint multiple women as Cabinet officers. Yet by his own telling, his career sprouted from chauvinism in the Carters’ early marriage: He did not consult Rosalynn when deciding to move back to Plains in 1953 or before launching his state Senate bid a decade later. Many years later, he called it “inconceivable” that he didn’t confer with the woman he described as his “full partner,” at home, in government and at The Carter Center. “We developed a partnership when we were working in the farm supply business, and it continued when Jimmy got involved in politics,” Rosalynn Carter told AP in 2021. So deep was their trust that when Carter remained tethered to the White House in 1980 as 52 Americans were held hostage in Tehran, it was Rosalynn who campaigned on her husband’s behalf. “I just loved it,” she said, despite the bitterness of defeat. Reevaluating his legacy Fair or not, the label of a disastrous presidency had leading Democrats keep their distance, at least publicly, for many years, but Carter managed to remain relevant, writing books and weighing in on societal challenges. He lamented widening wealth gaps and the influence of money in politics. He voted for democratic socialist Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton in 2016, and later declared that America had devolved from fully functioning democracy to “oligarchy.” Yet looking ahead to 2020, with Sanders running again, Carter warned Democrats not to “move to a very liberal program,” lest they help re-elect President Donald Trump. Carter scolded the Republican for his serial lies and threats to democracy, and chided the U.S. establishment for misunderstanding Trump’s populist appeal. He delighted in yearly convocations with Emory University freshmen, often asking them to guess how much he’d raised in his two general election campaigns. “Zero,” he’d gesture with a smile, explaining the public financing system candidates now avoid so they can raise billions. Carter still remained quite practical in partnering with wealthy corporations and foundations to advance Carter Center programs. Carter recognized that economic woes and the Iran crisis doomed his presidency, but offered no apologies for appointing Paul Volcker as the Federal Reserve chairman whose interest rate hikes would not curb inflation until Reagan’s presidency. He was proud of getting all the hostages home without starting a shooting war, even though Tehran would not free them until Reagan’s Inauguration Day. “Carter didn’t look at it” as a failure, Alter emphasized. “He said, ‘They came home safely.’ And that’s what he wanted.” Well into their 90s, the Carters greeted visitors at Plains’ Maranatha Baptist Church, where he taught Sunday School and where he will have his last funeral before being buried on family property alongside Rosalynn . Carter, who made the congregation’s collection plates in his woodworking shop, still garnered headlines there, calling for women’s rights within religious institutions, many of which, he said, “subjugate” women in church and society. Carter was not one to dwell on regrets. “I am at peace with the accomplishments, regret the unrealized goals and utilize my former political position to enhance everything we do,” he wrote around his 90th birthday. Pilgrimages to Plains The politician who had supposedly hated Washington politics also enjoyed hosting Democratic presidential contenders as public pilgrimages to Plains became advantageous again. Carter sat with Buttigieg for the final time March 1, 2020, hours before the Indiana mayor ended his campaign and endorsed eventual winner Joe Biden. “He asked me how I thought the campaign was going,” Buttigieg said, recalling that Carter flashed his signature grin and nodded along as the young candidate, born a year after Carter left office, “put the best face” on the walloping he endured the day before in South Carolina. Never breaking his smile, the 95-year-old host fired back, “I think you ought to drop out.” “So matter of fact,” Buttigieg said with a laugh. “It was somehow encouraging.” Carter had lived enough, won plenty and lost enough to take the long view. “He talked a lot about coming from nowhere,” Buttigieg said, not just to attain the presidency but to leverage “all of the instruments you have in life” and “make the world more peaceful.” In his farewell address as president, Carter said as much to the country that had embraced and rejected him. “The struggle for human rights overrides all differences of color, nation or language,” he declared. “Those who hunger for freedom, who thirst for human dignity and who suffer for the sake of justice — they are the patriots of this cause.” Carter pledged to remain engaged with and for them as he returned “home to the South where I was born and raised,” home to Plains, where that young lieutenant had indeed become “a fellow citizen of the world.” —- Bill Barrow, based in Atlanta, has covered national politics including multiple presidential campaigns for the AP since 2012.
Upon closing, the transaction would secure global IP rights for NKGen. NKGen and its partners can begin to commercialize troculeucel in Korea, Japan and other markets where natural-killer (“NK”) cell therapy is already legal. NKGen proposal included up to $18 million in committed funding. Closing expected in 1Q 2025. SANTA ANA, Calif., Dec. 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NKGen Biotech, Inc. (Nasdaq: NKGN) (“NKGen” or the “Company”), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative autologous and allogeneic natural killer cell therapeutics, today announced it has been selected as the preferred stalking horse bidder for NKMax Co., Ltd. (“NKMax”) in NKMax’s court-managed rehabilitation process in South Korea. NKMax filed for rehabilitation in South Korea, roughly similar to Chapter 11 in the US, on April 18, 2024, and currently holds an approximate 25% equity interest in NKGen. NKGen’s proposal included up to $18 million in committed funding from a third-party investor. As is typical in US bankruptcies, there will now be a public offering process, with NKGen having final right of first refusal on any other qualified offers, with the final decision and ultimate rehabilitation plan approved by NKMax’s creditors and the court expected in February 2025 and closing thereafter (the “Acquisition”). NKGen and its financing partners expect to hold a majority of the equity of NKMax at closing. NKMax currently holds master global rights to the intellectual property (“IP”) for troculeucel (formerly known as SNK01) and other proprietary IP that is licensed to NKGen for markets outside Asia. Such an acquisition is expected to put global rights under the control of NKGen. Prior to entering into the rehabilitation process, NKMax announced plans and commenced initial groundwork to commercialize the troculeucel treatment for Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases in Japan and South Korea, where such NK cell treatment is legal already. Additional production capacity at NKMax’s GMP facility will be an added benefit which could help accelerate production for US trials. “ As we have made tremendous progress in our clinical program especially with the launch of our phase II trial for moderate stage Alzheimer’s disease, we felt that it was essential for us to preserve the very close scientific and clinical partnership with the NKMax team, rather than have NKMax acquired by someone without any cell therapy knowledge or experience”, commented Paul Y. Song, MD, Chairman and CEO of NKGen Biotech. “As we continue to work towards US FDA approval, we will be able to begin to commercialize troculeucel in countries like Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Mexico and others where an autologous non-genetically modified cell therapy is considered as a legal treatment and already readily available. We believe that we will be much stronger and will deliver more value for our patients and shareholders when operated as one global team.” NKGen does not believe the NKMax rehabilitation process has had any material negative impact on NKGen’s business or prospects. About Troculeucel Troculeucel is a novel cell-based, patient specific ex vivo expanded autologous natural killer (“NK”) cell, immunotherapeutic drug candidate. NKGen is developing troculeucel for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders and a broad range of cancers. Troculeucel is the International Nonproprietary Name (“INN”) for SNK01 assigned by the World Health Organization (“WHO”). The WHO INN approval of troculeucel establishes a universally recognized nonproprietary drug name for SNK01 and marks a significant step on our journey toward bringing this therapy to market. About NKMax Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, NKMax Co., Ltd. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on advancing immune cell therapies. In addition to its therapeutic innovations, NKMax develops and commercializes bioreagents and immunodiagnostic kits, with revenues derived from these products as well as health supplements. In 2016, NKMax completed its GMP-certified manufacturing facility, and obtained approval from the Korean MFDS (Ministry of Food and Drug Safety) in 2018, strengthening its capabilities in high-quality cell therapy production. Listed on the KOSDAQ, a South Korean stock exchange, NKMax's trading has since been suspended during the course of ongoing rehabilitation efforts. About NKGen Biotech NKGen is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative autologous and allogeneic NK cell therapeutics. NKGen is headquartered in Santa Ana, California, USA. For more information, please visit www.nkgenbiotech.com . Forward-Looking Statements Statements contained in this press release may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “could”, “continue”, “expect”, “estimate”, “may”, “plan”, “outlook”, “future” and “project” and other similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside of the Company’s control, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such statements include, but are not limited to, the closing of the Acquisition, which may not close on the terms or timing anticipated, or at all, the satisfaction or waiver of any conditions to the closing of the Acquisition, the anticipated impacts or benefits of the Acquisition, the closing of the expected funding for the Acquisition, the risk of shareholder litigation in connection with the Acquisition, including resulting expense or delay; the risk that NKMax’s business will not be integrated successfully or that such integration may be more difficult, time-consuming or costly than expected, the successful and timely completion and the commercialization of troculeucel, statements regarding the Company’s plans and expected timing for developing troculeucel and SNK02, including the expected timing of completing and announcing further results from its ongoing clinical studies; and the Company’s expected timing for developing its product candidates and potential benefits of its product candidates. Risks that contribute to the uncertain nature of the forward-looking statements include: the Company’s ability to execute its plans and strategies; risks related to performing clinical studies; the risk that initial and interim results of a clinical study do not necessarily predict final results and that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as patient enrollment continues, following more comprehensive reviews of the data, and as more patient data become available; potential delays in the commencement, enrollment and completion of clinical studies and the reporting of data therefrom; the risk that studies will not be completed as planned; the risk that the abstract will not be published as planned including delays in timing, format, or accessibility; and NKGen’s ability to raise additional funding to complete the development of its product candidates. These and other risks and uncertainties are described more fully under the caption “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in the Company’s filings and reports, which may be accessed for free by visiting the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website at www.sec.gov and on the Company’s website under the subheading “Investors—Financial and Filings”. Investors should take such risks into account and should not rely on forward-looking statements when making investment decisions. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date on which they were made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made, except as required by law. Internal Contact: Denise Chua, MBA, CLS, MLS (ASCP) SVP, Corporate Affairs 949-396-6830 dchua@nkgenbiotech.com External Contacts: Chris Calabrese Managing Director LifeSci Advisors, LLC ccalabrese@lifesciadvisors.com Kevin Gardner Managing Director LifeSci Advisors, LLC kgardner@lifesciadvisors.com
Inventus Mining Corp. ( CVE:IVS – Get Free Report ) fell 21.1% on Friday . The company traded as low as C$0.08 and last traded at C$0.08. 118,000 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 26% from the average session volume of 93,681 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$0.10. Inventus Mining Stock Down 21.1 % The company has a quick ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 41.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is C$0.06 and its 200-day moving average price is C$0.05. The stock has a market capitalization of C$12.60 million, a PE ratio of -7.00 and a beta of 0.83. Insider Buying and Selling at Inventus Mining In other news, Director Glen Alexander Milne bought 577,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of C$0.06 per share, for a total transaction of C$31,735.00. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 1,952,000 shares of company stock worth $99,235. 31.70% of the stock is owned by insiders. About Inventus Mining Inventus Mining Corp. engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties in Canada. The company explores for gold and base metals. It holds 100% interests in the Pardo Paleoplacer gold project covering an area of 3.8 square kilometers block of mineral leases and 180 square kilometers of mineral claims; and Sudbury 2.0 project totaling an area of 240 square kilometers of mineral claims located in Sudbury Mining Division, Ontario. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Inventus Mining Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Inventus Mining and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
Stocks on Fire: Nvidia and Palantir! Which One Wins the AI Race?WORCESTER – It took a couple of overtime periods, but Oliver Ames is back on top for the third straight season. Senior captain Jackson Mercieri delivered the lone goal as he hit home the game-winner in the 102nd minute during the second overtime period to lift No. 3 Oliver Ames over No. 4 Hingham in the Div. 2 state boys soccer final at Worcester State University on Saturday. “All joking aside, I’d like to thank the Lord for keeping (our kids) safe and healthy all year because we were very thin at times,” said Oliver Ames coach John Barata. “So, I do thank God that we were healthy and that he was able to help navigate this season, which was a very long season.” With Hingham (19-3-1) turning its offensive pressure up during the end of regulation and the overtime periods, Oliver Ames (18-2-2) used a timeout to collect itself after a near game-ender by Hingham’s Aadam Healey. After that timeout, the Tigers pushed the ball up field and Mercieri was able to finish it off before heading towards the Oliver Ames fans to celebrate. “I just said, ‘Let’s finish this damn thing. Let’s stick to the game plan to get the ball to Jackson,’ ” Barata said about what he told his team during the timeout. “We’ve been here. (Hingham) is nervous as hell. You can tell because they settled with four guys back the whole game. So, they kind of helped us. ... We didn’t want to go to PKs.” Over the first 80 minutes, there were only two shots on net before each team traded shots on goal in the second overtime period. “It’s the winning culture,” said Mercieri about being part of a three-peat. “It’s what we strive for. We keep ourselves to such high standards that we want to have nothing less. We want nothing less than to win every single game we play. We just believe in the bottom of our hearts. We just believe. It’s just the culture we have and it’s in the blood of OA.”
Jimmy Carter: Many evolutions for a centenarian ‘citizen of the world’
Leaked recordings reveal secretive church pushing physical punishment of childrenST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — PGA Tour rookie Patrick Fishburn played bogey-free for an 8-under 64 for his first lead after any round. Joel Dahmen was 10 shots behind and had a bigger cause for celebration Friday in the RSM Classic. Dahmen made a 5-foot par putt on his final hole for a 2-under 68 in tough conditions brought on by the wind and cold, allowing him to make the cut on the number and get two more days to secure his PGA Tour card for next year. He is No. 124 in the FedEx Cup. "I still got more to write this weekend for sure," said Dahmen, who recently had said his story is not yet over. "But without having the opportunity to play this weekend, my story would be a lot shorter this year." Fishburn took advantage of being on the easier Plantation course, with trees blocking the brunt of the wind and two additional par 5s. He also was helped by Maverick McNealy, who opened with a 62 on the tougher Seaside course, making two bogeys late in his round and having to settle for a 70. Fishburn, who already has locked up his card for next year, was at 11-under 131 and led McNealy and Lee Hodges (63) going into the weekend. Michael Thorbjornsen had a 69 and was the only player who had to face Seaside on Friday who was among the top five. What mattered on this day, however, was far down the leaderboard. The RSM Classic is the final tournament of the PGA Tour season, and only the top 125 in the FedEx Cup have full status in 2025. That's more critical than ever with the tour only taking the top 100 for full cards after next season. Players like Dahmen will need full status to get as many playing opportunities as they can. That explains why he felt so much pressure on a Friday. He didn't make a bogey after his opening hole and was battling temperatures in the low 50s that felt even colder with the wind ripping off the Atlantic waters of St. Simons Sound. He made a key birdie on the 14th, hitting a 4-iron for his second shot on the 424-yard hole. Dahmen also hit wedge to 2 feet on the 16th that put him on the cut line, and from the 18th fairway, he was safely on the green some 40 feet away. But he lagged woefully short, leaving himself a testy 5-footer with his job on the line. "It was a great putt. I was very nervous," Dahmen said. "But there's still work to do. It wasn't the game-winner, it was like the half-court shot to get us to halftime. But without that, and the way I played today, I wouldn't have anything this weekend." His playing partners weren't so fortunate. The tour put three in danger of losing their cards in the same group — Zac Blair (No. 123), Dahmen and Wesley Bryan (No. 125). The cut was at 1-under 141. Blair and Bryan came to the 18th hole needing birdie to be assured of making the cut and both narrowly missed. Now they have to wait to see if anyone passes them, which is typically the case. Thorbjornsen in a tie for fourth and Daniel Berger (66 at Plantation) in a tie for 17th both were projected to move into the top 125. Dahmen, indeed, still has work to do. Fishburn gets a weekend to see if he can end his rookie year with a win. "I've had a lot of experience playing in cold growing up in Utah, playing this time of year, kind of get used to playing when the body's not moving very well and you've got to move your hands," said Fishburn, who played college golf at BYU. "Just pretty happy with how I played." Ludvig Aberg, the defending champion and No. 5 player in the world competing for the first time in more than two months because of knee surgery, bounced back with a 64 on Plantation and was back in the mix. Aberg played with Luke Clanton, the Florida State sophomore who looks like he belongs each week. Clanton, the No. 1 player in the world amateur ranking who received a sponsor exemption, had a 65 at Plantation and was two shots off the lead. Clanton already has a runner-up and two other top 10s since June. "Playing with him, it's pretty awesome to watch," Clanton said. "We were kind of fanboying a little it. I know he's a really good dude but to be playing with him and to see what he's done over the last couple years, it's pretty inspirational." Get local news delivered to your inbox!Physical editions of Alien: Romulus launched today, December 3. There are four editions to choose from, including a Limited-Edition 4K Blu-ray with a steelbook case for $55 . If you want that edition, you probably don't want to wait long to order. Walmart has stock ready to ship right now, but Amazon estimates orders placed today won't arrive for up to two months . Amazon also happens to be sold out of the non-steelbook 4K Blu-ray, standard Blu-ray, and DVD. Once again, all four are available at Walmart and available to ship now. If you don't care about steelbook cases, the best value is the 4K Blu-ray for $30 at Walmart. You're saving $25 compared to the Limited Edition Steelbook. Alien: Romulus at Walmart Alien: Romulus Limited-Edition Steelbook (4K Blu-ray) -- $55 ( $66 ) Alien: Romulus on 4K Blu-ray -- $30 ( $50 ) Alien: Romulus on Blu-ray -- $25 ( $41 ) Alien Romulus on DVD -- $26.83 ( $35 ) Alien Romulus at Amazon Alien: Romulus Limited-Edition Steelbook (4K Blu-ray) -- $55 ( $66 ) | 1-2 month wait Alien: Romulus on 4K Blu-ray -- $37 ( $50 ) | Sold out Alien: Romulus on Blu-ray -- $31.77 ( $41 ) | Sold out Alien Romulus on DVD -- $26.83 ( $35 ) | Sold out Alien: Romulus on Prime Video -- $25 to rent, $30 to buy More Alien Franchise Movies Amazon and Walmart have some nice deals on more films in the Alien franchise, including the Ultimate Collector's Edition of Aliens , which released on 4K Blu-ray earlier this year, and Alien: 40th Anniversary Edition on 4K Blu-ray . Aliens: Ultimate Collector's Edition (4K Blu-ray) -- $25 ( $35 ) Alien Quadrilogy 4-Film Collection (Blu-ray) -- $27 ($45) Alien: 40th Anniversary Edition (4K Blu-ray) -- $23 ( $27 ) Prometheus (4K Blu-ray) -- $24.74 ( $31 ) Alien: Covenant (Blu-ray) -- $16 ( $25 )
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday signed a law that allows those who sign up to fight in Ukraine to write off unpaid debts worth almost $100,000, the government announced. The new legislation will be a strong motivation for some to join up, experts said, as Russia seeks new ways to recruit fighters for the nearly three-year conflict grinding through troops. The new legislation will allow those who sign a one-year contract to fight in Ukraine after December 1 to free themselves of existing bad debts. It also covers their spouses. The law concerns debts where a court order for collection was issued and enforcement proceedings began before December 1, 2024. The total amount of unpaid debt that can be covered is 10 million rubles, around $96,000 at current rates. Parliament approved the bill earlier this month. The legislation will largely concern younger Russians of fighting age, since those in their 30s and younger are most likely to have loans. Russia has extremely high interest rates for loans and many Russians have almost no cash savings, although the proportion of home owners is relatively high. "Previously (for those fighting) there was only provision for taking repayment holidays on loans," Sergei Krivenko of advocacy group Citizen Army Law told Vazhniye Istorii Telegram channel. The new legislation applies to those who are conscripted for national service and those mobilised for the so-called "special military operation", Krivenko said. Conscripts cannot be sent to the front line but can choose to sign a contract to join the professional army and be sent to fight in Ukraine. Russian authorities "are strengthening the motivation to sign a contract," political analyst Georgy Bovt wrote on Telegram. The legislation provides "another way to get rid of an unbearable burden of credit, at least for several hundred thousand people," Bovt wrote. Over 13 million Russians have three or more loans, according to a central bank report released last month covering the first two quarters. This was up 20 percent on the same period last year. The average amount owed by those with three or more loans is 1.4 million rubles ($13,400 at current rates). Many start with a bank loan and then apply for further loans from microfinance organisations. Russians serving on the front line are already paid far more than the national average. Ukraine also has legislation allowing those fighting to get preferential terms for loans and in some cases to write off debts. bur/twJustice Department announces sweeping reforms to curb suicides in federal prisons and jailsFounder of failed crypto lending platform Celsius Network pleads guilty to fraud chargesTrump’s Cabinet And Key Jobs: DEA Pick Chad Chronister Withdraws