In the evolving landscape of film and television, cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence are playing an increasingly significant role in shaping the future of storytelling. Recently, the inaugural AIGC Director Co-creation Program in China launched its university tour, marking a groundbreaking initiative in the industry. The program not only showcases the fusion of creativity and technology but also introduces a new platform for aspiring filmmakers to explore innovative possibilities in their craft.

Meanwhile, the supercomputer forecasts that both Manchester City and Real Madrid will have to settle for a place in the playoff round to secure their spot in the knockout stages. Guardiola's Man City, who have been consistent performers in recent seasons, are facing stiff competition in their group and will need to navigate through the playoff round to progress. On the other hand, Zinedine Zidane's Real Madrid, a perennial contender in the Champions League, is also expected to face a challenging road ahead.The moment Li Yunrui revealed his toned arms and defined chest, the audience was left speechless. Gasps of admiration and whispers of disbelief filled the air as spectators marveled at the sight before them. It was as if time stood still, with all eyes fixed on this mesmerizing display of physical perfection.In the morning trading session of the A-share market, the three major indexes opened on a positive note, with a slight surge followed by a sharp decline. Investors witnessed a volatile start to the trading day, as the market struggled to find direction amidst ongoing uncertainties.

Long battery life is essential for uninterrupted listening sessions. The Samsung Galaxy Buds3 series offers up to 8 hours of playtime on a single charge, with an additional 21 hours provided by the charging case. With quick charging capabilities, you can enjoy hours of music playback with just a short charging time.

Words on ammo in CEO shooting echo common phrase on insurer tactics: Delay, deny, defend A message left at the scene of an insurance executive’s fatal shooting echoes a phrase commonly used to describe insurer tactics to avoid paying claims. The words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” were written on the ammunition used to kill UnitedHealthcare's CEO. That's according to two officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday. The words are similar to the phrase “delay, deny, defend.” That's how attorneys describe insurers denying services and payment, and the title of a 2010 book critical of the industry. Police haven’t officially commented on the words. But Thompson’s shooting and the messages on the ammunition have sparked outrage on social media and elsewhere, reflecting frustration Americans have over the cost and complexity of getting care. Bitcoin has surpassed the $100,000 mark as the post-election rally continues. What's next? NEW YORK (AP) — Bitcoin has topped the $100,000 mark, extending a rally in the world’s most popular cryptocurrency sparked by the election of Donald Trump. The milestone comes just hours after the president-elect signaled a lighter regulatory approach to the crypto industry with his choice of crypto advocate Paul Atkins to be the next chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Bitcoin has soared to unprecedented heights since Trump won the election Nov. 5. The cryptocurrency has climbed dramatically from $69,374 on Election Day and rose to more than $103,000 before falling back below $100,000 by Thursday afternoon. US judge rejects Boeing's plea deal in a conspiracy case stemming from fatal plane crashes DALLAS (AP) — A federal judge has rejected a deal that would have let Boeing to plead guilty to a felony conspiracy charge and pay a fine for misleading U.S. regulators about the 737 Max jetliner before two of the planes crashed and 346 people died. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Texas said that diversity, inclusion and equity or DEI policies in the government and at Boeing could result in race being a factor in picking an official to oversee Boeing’s compliance with the agreement. His ruling on Thursday creates uncertainty around the criminal prosecution of the aerospace giant. The judge gave Boeing and the Justice Department 30 days to tell him how they plan to proceed. McKinsey subsidiary will pay $122M for scheme to bribe South African officials, US says WASHINGTON (AP) — An African subsidiary of the consulting firm McKinsey & Company Inc. will pay a criminal penalty of more than $122 million to resolve a U.S. Justice Department investigation into a yearslong scheme to bribe South African government officials. The Justice Department says the scheme involved bribes to officials with South Africa’s state-owned and state-controlled custodian of ports, rails, and pipelines, as well as its state-controlled energy company. It netted McKinsey Africa and its parent company $85 million in profits between 2012 and 2016, officials said. McKinsey said in a statement that it “welcomes the resolution of these matters and the closure of this regretful situation.” EPA hails 'revitalized' enforcement efforts as Biden administration heads to exit WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency says it concluded more than 1,850 civil cases this year, a 3.4% increase over 2023, and charged 121 criminal defendants, a 17.6% increase over the previous year. The agency also issued $1.7 billion in financial penalties, more than double last year's total. Thursday's report was the final one account of Biden-era enforcement actions before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January. Enforcement efforts included first-ever criminal charges for a California man accused of smuggling climate-damaging air coolants into the United States. Engine maker Cummins Inc. paid more than $2 billion in fines and penalties after it was found to use illegal software to skirt diesel emissions tests. Work-life balance isn't working for women. Why? NEW YORK (AP) — About half of working women reported feeling stressed “a lot of the day,” compared to about 4 in 10 men, according to a Gallup report published Wednesday. The report suggests that competing demands of work and home comprise part of the problem: working women who are parents or guardians are more likely than men who are parents to say they have declined or delayed a promotion at work because of personal or family obligations, and mothers are more likely than fathers to “strongly agree” that they are the default responders for unexpected child care issues. But changing workplace culture and prioritizing well-being can improve the problem, according to Karen Guggenheim, creator of the World Happiness Summit. From outsider to the Oval Office, bitcoin surges as a new administration embraces crypto NEW YORK (AP) — Bitcoin burst on the scene after trust had withered in the financial system and Washington’s ability to protect people from it. Now, it’s Washington’s embrace of bitcoin that’s sending it to records. Bitcoin briefly surged above $103,000 after President-elect Donald Trump said he will nominate Paul Atkins, who's seen as friendly to crypto, to be the Securities and Exchange Commission's next chair. The crypto industry, meanwhile, did its part to bring politicians friendly to digital currencies into Washington. It's a twist from bitcoin's early days, when it was lauded as a kind of electronic cash that wouldn’t be beholden to any government or financial institution. Stock market today: Wall Street edges back from its records as bitcoin briefly pops above $100,000 NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks edged back from their records as Wall Street counted down to a big jobs report that’s coming on Friday. The S&P 500 fell 0.2% Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 0.2% from its own all-time high. The crypto market had more action, and bitcoin briefly burst to a record above $103,000 before falling back toward $99,000. It's climbed dramatically since Election Day on hopes President-elect Donald Trump will be more friendly to crypto. Airline stocks were strong, while Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market. Key members of OPEC+ alliance are putting off production increases amid slack crude prices FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Eight members of the OPEC+ alliance of oil exporting countries have decided to put off increasing oil production as they face weaker than expected demand and competing production from non-allied countries — factors that could keep oil prices stagnant into next year. The OPEC+ members decided at an online meeting to postpone by three months production increases that had been scheduled to take effect Jan. 1. The plan had been to start gradually restoring 2.2 million barrels per day over the course of 2025. That process will now be pushed back to April 1, 2025 and production increases will gradually take place over 18 months until October 2026. Eli Lilly invests $3B to expand Wisconsin factory to help meet demand for Mounjaro, Zepbound Eli Lilly is spending another $3 billion to bulk up manufacturing as the drugmaker seeks to stoke production of some blockbuster drugs and future products. Lilly said Thursday it will expand a Kenosha County, Wisconsin, factory it bought early this year. The investment will help meet growing demand for injectable products like its diabetes and obesity drugs, Mounjaro and Zepbound. Those drugs brought in a combined $4.4 billion in sales for Lilly in this year’s third quarter. The drugmaker plans to start construction of the expansion next year.

DOGE wants to trim a $500 billion list of federal ‘zombie’ programs that includes veterans’ healthcare, Pell grants, and NASA

As the situation at the Alibaba Cloud data center is now under control, the company continues to work on assessing the root cause of the fire and implementing any necessary preventive measures. Alibaba remains committed to upholding its reputation as a reliable and trustworthy provider of cloud services, ensuring the integrity and resilience of its data centers.Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg Leads Suit Against South Coast Air Quality Management District's Effective Ban on Certain Gas Appliances

and Vivek Ramaswamy are eyeing recommendations to trim a list of that include veterans' healthcare, childcare grants, and NASA. The leaders of President-elect Donald Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, wrote in a Wednesday opinion piece that the commission will target that's "unauthorized by Congress or being used in ways that Congress never intended." The opinion piece provided few details on the exact programs DOGE will cut; however, DOGE posted a link to a from the Congressional Budget Office on X confirming that the commission would aim to cut funding for a range of programs with lapsed funding authorization. The CBO report included 491 such programs totaling about $516 billion. Most of that money goes to two dozen big-ticket items, including medical care for veterans, housing assistance vouchers for low-income renters, college Pell Grants, the National Institutes of Health, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and NASA's major initiatives. The programs' funding authorizations have lapsed because they were established or renewed by legislation authorizing Congress to allocate funds for a set number of years. However, Congress still allocated funding to these programs during the annual budget process after that period ended, even though the original authorization expired. "If the spending isn't authorized, then we shouldn't be spending it," Ramaswamy on X on Thursday. "That shouldn't be controversial." The above programs with at least $4 billion each in 2024 appropriations together total $391 billion, or about three-quarters of the $516 billion total. Some of the programs specifically highlighted by Musk and Ramaswamy in their op-ed involve much smaller sums, such as the $525 million in funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and $286 million for grants to organizations like Planned Parenthood for family planning services and education. NASA's budget for space exploration, one of the programs that CBO identified as having a lapsed authorization, clocks in at about $7.7 billion. NASA's planned human moon lander, the first of which is contracted to be built by , is one of the major components of that program, according to a from The Planetary Society. This is not the first attempt to tackle unauthorized government spending. GOP Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers introduced in 2016 — the USA Act — which would sunset what she called "zombie government spending programs" in three years and establish a commission to review all mandatory spending programs. "What all of this means is that too much of the federal government is on autopilot, and it is preventing the American people from exercising their authority to review, rethink, and possibly eliminate government programs," McMorris Rodgers in a 2016 opinion piece. Data from the Treasury Department showed that the US government spent a total of $6.75 trillion in fiscal year 2024, with allocated to the Social Security Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Treasury Department. The implications of DOGE could be widespread if Musk and Ramaswamy fulfill their goals of eliminating government agencies, which would lead to layoffs for thousands of federal workers. The two commission leaders said in their opinion piece that impacted employees and severance payments to allow for a "graceful exit." "Employees whose positions are eliminated deserve to be treated with respect, and DOGE's goal is to help support their transition into the private sector," they wrote. Read the original article onTitle: The Shrinking Benefits of Tencent Video Membership and the Crackdown on Account Sharing by Youku and iQIYI

In conclusion, the case of Bu and the male master's student is a reminder of the thin line that separates compassion from complicity and the importance of upholding the principles of justice and accountability. As the investigation moves forward and more details come to light, it is crucial that all parties involved be held accountable for their actions. Only then can justice be served, and the truth be brought to light in this troubling and contentious case.

Recovery of testing for heart disease risk factors post-COVID remains patchySnowflake EVP Christian Kleinerman sells $2.7 million in stock

Trump’s latest tariff plan aims at multiple countries. What does it mean for the US?As the trend towards mixed office continues to grow, companies must prioritize sustainability and environmental responsibility to ensure a greener future for all. Through initiatives like the ESG "Chasing Green Movement," Ricoh China, PConline, and Rock Park are setting a positive example for the industry and inspiring others to join the movement towards a more sustainable workplace.

Chiefs president Mark Donovan remembers when the organization practically begged the NFL for a prime piece of broadcast real estate. In 2010, the Chiefs wanted to show off a renovated Arrowhead Stadium with a “Monday Night Football” appearance for the opening game. “We lobbied hard, and the NFL came back and said no initially,” Donovan said. “It was going to be the biggest thing for the franchise. We had to have that.” The Chiefs got the game, but how things have changed. Now, as one of the NFL’s most watched teams , the Chiefs have become a top choice for not only the networks but for streaming services that have recently entered the sports-rights market. Two remaining games will be streamed: Friday’s contest at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium against the Las Vegas Raiders will be on Prime Video. It’s the second year for a Black Friday contest on the streaming service, following the Miami Dolphins-New York Jets matchup last season. On Christmas, Netflix will show its first NFL game: the Chiefs at the Pittsburgh Steelers. Netflix is the world’s largest streaming service with some 283 million subscribers. Amazon Prime is next at 230 million. Both games will be broadcast locally on network television. KSHB (Channel 41) will carry Friday’s game. The Christmas game will be on KCTV (Channel 5). The Chiefs were the first team to appear on a streaming service. Two years ago, Prime Video became the first service with exclusive rights to the NFL when it took over “Thursday Night Football” for $1 billion annually through 2033. The Chiefs defeated the L.A. Chargers that night in a thriller that turned on Jaylen Watson’s 99-yard interception return for a touchdown. In 2023, the Chiefs were involved in the first playoff game that was streamed, when they defeated the Miami Dolphins on Peacock. Call the Chiefs ... the NFL’s stream team? “It’s a compliment, but it’s also a credit to what our culture has created and what our fans have created,” Donovan said. “Think about how the NFL has grown, going from radio to television, to “Monday Night Football” to cable and now streaming. “I don’t think people understand the power of being on a worldwide broadcast.” The franchise that has won consecutive Super Bowls — and three championships in the past five seasons — takes a 10-1 record into Friday. In beating the Carolina Panthers last weekend, the Chiefs became the third team in NFL history to post double-digit victories in at least 10 consecutive seasons. This Chiefs golden era has been shaped by quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce and head coach Andy Reid, who have become the faces not only of the franchise but of the league and whatever commercial is being shown during a game. It’s all helped grow the brand, and has coincided with streaming services entering the NFL. “The (NFL) looks at this and says, ‘Here’s an opportunity, here’s an opportunity,’” Donovan said. “For us, as a franchise, the timing of the consistent success, all of it is a wave we’re riding and we’re trying to be strategic in taking advantage of it.” Even if it means playing games on six different days of the week, which the Chiefs are doing this year. The Christmas game is on a Wednesday. With the Chiefs and Steelers playing the previous Saturday, the teams will have three off days between games instead of the usual six. But next year, Christmas is on a Thursday, then a Friday and a Saturday. Perhaps the Chiefs could become something of a streaming fixture on that date. “Over the next few years, we can be to Christmas what Dallas and Detroit are to Thanksgiving,” Donovan said. To Donovan, no team is better positioned to take advantage of the technology. “It’s an amazing opportunity, and an important responsibility,” Donovan said. “If we don’t take advantage of everything we can capitalize on right now, we’ll look back 20 years from now and say we missed.” This story was originally published November 26, 2024, 11:55 AM.When President Donald Trump first considered Pete Hegseth for a Cabinet position in 2017 and 2018, he marveled at a soldier who seemed straight out of central casting. The telegenic Fox News host, a decorated combat veteran with a chiseled jaw who spoke forcefully about standing up for his fellow servicemembers, appealed to Trump as he searched for his next secretary of veterans affairs. But behind his public facade, Hegseth’s life at the time was in turmoil. He had recently left leadership of a nonprofit advocating for veterans amid allegations that he mismanaged funds and was regularly intoxicated at work events. He was going through an acrimonious divorce with his second wife after having an affair and a child with a Fox News co-worker. And a woman accused him of sexually assaulting her at a Republican conference where he spoke, an allegation he denied and authorities declined to bring charges on. Hegseth’s personal troubles barely made the news at the time. Even after Trump went with other candidates for VA secretary, Hegseth stayed close to the president, dining at the White House and discussing military issues with him. Since Trump announced Hegseth as a surprise pick for secretary of defense in his second term last month, however, those troubles have broken out into public view. Now, concerns about Hegseth’s treatment of women and use of alcohol are threatening to derail his spot in the Cabinet. While Hegseth has attacked the criticism he’s faced as unfounded, Trump is already mulling other candidates to replace him as defense secretary. A CNN review of court records, Hegseth’s writings and public statements, and interviews with people close to him show how the tumultuous period of late 2015 through 2017, when Hegseth’s public profile was reaching new heights, set the stage for his struggles over the last few weeks. Hegseth’s attorney, Timothy Parlatore, told CNN that the allegations his client has faced about his personal life are “not accurate” and “all fairly ancient history.” In comments to reporters Thursday between meetings with the senators who will vote on his confirmation, Hegseth said he was “a different man than I was years ago, and that’s a redemption story that I think a lot of Americans appreciate.” But several key Republican senators have still declined to endorse Hegseth’s nomination, including Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, a veteran who’s spoken publicly about being a survivor of sexual assault. “I think for a number of our senators, they want to make sure that any allegations have been cleared,” Ernst told Fox News on Thursday. “And that’s why we have to have a very thorough vetting.” Shaped by military service Hegseth grew up in a Minneapolis suburb, where he was a star athlete and high school valedictorian. Growing up in a conservative Christian household, Hegseth wrote in his first book, “I made sure to zealously avoid all forms of sin—especially sex, alcohol, and cursing.” But that wouldn’t stick. He went to college at Princeton University and, after working briefly on Wall Street, served in the Minnesota Army National Guard. He was deployed to the US detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and then volunteered for a deployment to Baghdad and Samarra, Iraq, where he saw combat while serving as an infantry platoon leader. One of Hegseth’s military superiors in Iraq, who asked not to be named to speak candidly about him, said that “before Pete arrived, we all thought, just what we need, a Princeton smart mouth who’s never served in combat.” But Hegseth was impressive, showing strong leadership and staying deliberate even as he faced dozens of memorial services for his fellow troops over the course of a few months. “Pete was quick on his feet, and he always put his soldiers first,” the former colleague said. After he returned from his time in Iraq, Hegseth wrote in his 2016 book, he dropped that “pious caricature I had carefully crafted” in his earlier years. Now, “I barely trust someone who doesn’t enjoy a few drinks and won’t drop a well-placed F-bomb,” Hegseth wrote. “Not because I think drinking and swearing are good things—but because I think moral lines are better served elsewhere.” Those moral lines around drinking – as well as his treatment of women – seemed to trip Hegseth up over the years. His first wife, his high school sweetheart, filed for divorce in 2008, and court records show that a judge wrote he had been unfaithful to her. He has also acknowledged that he struggled with the transition from military to civilian life, and that he was drinking heavily in the years after he returned from his deployments. “It was a couple weeks between being in combat to sitting in a Manhattan apartment with my cat,” Hegseth said in a 2021 appearance on “The Will Cain Show.” “I’d look around at 10 o’clock and be like, ‘what am I going to do today, how about I drink some beers. How about I go have lunch and have some beers. How about I meet my one or two buddies and have some beers.’ And one beer leads to many.” Looking for a renewed sense of purpose, Hegseth joined a nonprofit group, Vets for Freedom, where he has said he got “an absolute baptism in advocacy.” During the 2008 election, the group spent millions on ads attacking then-presidential candidate Barack Obama over his policy on the Iraq War. But the campaign fell flat, and the organization ended that year in debt, according to tax records. Margaret Hoover, a Republican political consultant and CNN commentator who was an adviser to Vets for Freedom between 2008 and 2010, said Hegseth’s leadership of the small nonprofit makes her doubt his ability to manage the far larger budget and staff of the Pentagon. “He mismanaged funds and was not fully transparent about it,” Hoover said. Others have defended Hegseth’s role with Vets for Freedom. David Bellavia, co-founder of the nonprofit, called the notion that Hegseth mismanaged funds “absurd” and told CNN the group spent money heavily and strategically to try to sway public thinking. The organization eventually merged with another group, and Hegseth moved on. He briefly ran for Minnesota’s US Senate seat in 2012, before dropping out after a rival candidate won the Republican Party’s nomination. He also volunteered for another deployment to Afghanistan, where he worked to train Afghan security forces. He was awarded a second Bronze Star Medal in 2012, after earning his first for his service in Iraq. Hegseth’s experiences serving abroad shaped him more than anything, he said in his Will Cain interview. “Nothing has left a bigger imprint on my heart or on my life or on my perspective of humanity than strapping on boots and walking out the gates with guys you love who you know are just as human as you,” Hegseth said. “It teaches you a lot about yourself.” A growing public profile Hegseth’s public profile grew in 2014, when he was hired as a Fox News contributor. He was also leading another nonprofit, Concerned Veterans for America, that advocated for changes to the Department of Veterans Affairs amid criticism over its mismanagement of health care for servicemembers returning from the Middle East. Some employees of the group questioned Hegseth’s financial management. Tax records show that while Hegseth oversaw a rise in the nonprofit’s annual revenue from just over $1 million to nearly $16 million, the group spent more than it received in three of the five years in which he served as CEO. In the fiscal year ending September 2016, Hegseth’s last in leadership, the group took in about $437,000 less than it spent and ended up about $37,500 in debt. Under Hegseth, CVA also hired his younger brother, Philip, straight out of college, and paid him a total of more than $125,000 between 2014 and 2017, according to tax records. An executive for the organization told American Public Media in 2018 that the younger Hegseth did not report directly to his brother, and that he was “an outstanding employee who made significant contributions” to the group. During his leadership, some employees of the group voiced concern about what they described as Hegseth’s excessive drinking and misbehavior as CEO, The New Yorker reported this week . Several employees wrote a memo to another CVA executive laying out multiple examples of Hegseth becoming so intoxicated that he had to be carried away from events and accusing him of overlooking at least one allegation of sexual misconduct by another staff member, according to the magazine. CNN has not reviewed the memo. In another letter, the magazine reported, an employee said that Hegseth had drunkenly chanted “Kill all Muslims!” multiple times at an Ohio bar while on a bus tour for the group in 2015. Hegseth has denied the allegations, with his lawyer saying they are “outlandish claims” pushed by “a petty and jealous disgruntled former associate of Mr. Hegseth’s.” Other coworkers at the group remembered Hegseth as a strong leader. Brandon Davis, who worked as an operations analyst at CVA, said Hegseth was always willing to “go to bat” for his employees and would listen to everyone. Davis said that he hadn’t seen Hegseth drink excessively or act inappropriately toward anyone. “He would attend after-parties with us, but he wasn’t out as late as some of us,” Davis told CNN. “He maintained his professionalism.” Hegseth left the group in January 2016. The New Yorker reported that he resigned under pressure, although a letter from the group’s trustee said Hegseth voluntarily resigned his position and “provided strong leadership” to the group. Hegseth received a $156,000 severance payment between October 2016 and September 2017 and total compensation of more than $172,000 over that period, according to the tax documents, even though he had left the organization months before. Allegations of alcohol abuse and assault In December 2016, as Trump prepared to enter the White House, he first considered Hegseth for secretary of veterans affairs. While Hegseth was one of the finalists for the position, some veterans’ groups opposed his candidacy due to his advocacy for allowing vets to seek health care in the private sector, and Trump eventually went with David Shulkin, an under-secretary under Obama. But even being considered helped boost Hegseth’s profile. And Trump, an avid Fox News viewer, continued to call Hegseth personally to discuss military issues and goings-on at the network. At Fox, Hegseth was receiving more airtime, and was months away from being promoted to co-host of the weekend “Fox & Friends” show. But his behavior was also raising some red flags. Hegseth caused a disturbance at Fox’s Christmas party in 2016, which led to a discussion with the network’s human resources department, a person with knowledge of the incident said on condition of anonymity. The disturbance was rooted in the fact that Hegseth, who was married to his second wife, was having an affair with Fox executive producer Jennifer Rauchet, who was also married. The New York Times was first to report on Hegseth’s discussion with HR. “We all knew about it, and we all knew we just couldn’t say anything about it,” one of Hegseth’s former fellow Fox hosts told CNN about the affair. Parlatore, Hegseth’s attorney, told CNN that an attendee reported Hegseth being “handsy” with Rauchet at the party, and that their interaction was consensual. At the time, Fox sources said, Rauchet showed favoritism toward Hegseth, much to the chagrin of other personalities at the network. “She kept putting Pete on TV,” an executive said. After Rauchet got pregnant with Hegseth’s child, the couple disclosed their relationship to Fox management, and Rauchet was moved to a different show. She later left Fox altogether. In an interview during Trump’s first term in office, years before Hegseth became Trump’s pick to run the Pentagon, one longtime Fox News producer told CNN that Hegseth also had a drinking habit that was an “open secret” on the set of “Fox & Friends.” The producer said he sometimes noticed beer cans in the trash can inside Hegseth’s office, and once asked his boss, “Does Pete drink before he goes on the air every day?” In another interview several years ago, Hegseth’s former fellow host described him as “the life of the party at Fox,” noting that people swarmed around him at company gatherings and female staffers sometimes flirted with him. Parlatore denied that Hegseth had any drinking problem at Fox, pointing to public statements from his colleagues supporting him. Rauchet gave birth to Hegseth’s baby in August 2017, which appeared to be the last straw for his second wife, Samantha. She filed for divorce a month later. Records from the divorce case in Minnesota show the couple accused each other of saying hurtful things to their children about the other parent. A court-appointed parenting consultant chastised Hegseth in one letter for his conduct around his sons, writing that he had shown “hostile and degrading communication” toward Samantha. In another filing, Samantha claimed that Hegseth had called her a “f***ing b****” in front of their sons. She said they told her Hegseth had them miss their “first day of online school” for something related to Fox News, which led one of the boys to have an anxiety attack. Hegseth stated in a court filing that he thought the court-appointed consultant’s letter was “heavy handed,” though he committed to learning from his mistakes. Parlatore said that the proceedings were typical for divorce cases, noting that Hegseth has a great relationship with his kids and adding that “this is why people get divorced – because they fight.” As the acrimonious divorce proceedings went on, Hegseth traveled to Monterey, California, in October 2017 to speak at the convention of a decades-old Republican women’s group. After his speech, he was seen drinking in a hotel bar with a woman associated with the group. That woman later told police that Hegseth sexually assaulted her in his hotel room, recounting that she remembered “saying ‘no’ a lot” and seeing his dog tags “hovering over her face,” according to a police report . She said she had only hazy memories of the alleged attack, and told a hospital nurse that she thought someone might have put something in her drink. Hegseth strongly denied assaulting her, saying the encounter was fully consensual. The local district attorney declined to file charges. Still, Hegseth later came to a financial settlement with his accuser that included a confidentiality clause, which his lawyer has said was due to fears he would be fired from Fox News amid the #MeToo movement. Just two weeks after the alleged assault, Hegseth attended a small private dinner with Trump in the White House’s East Wing along with Rauchet, the mother of his baby, according to a social media photo . It’s unclear whether the president had any idea what was going on in Hegseth’s personal life at the time. In March 2018, as Trump planned to remove Shulkin as VA secretary, he again considered Hegseth for the job. He eventually went with Robert Wilkie, a Defense Department official in his administration. Around the same time, Hegseth’s mother wrote him an email accusing him of mistreating Samantha and other women, The New York Times reported . She said that she regretted sending the letter, arguing this week that her son is a changed man. By 2019, Hegseth appeared to be putting the turmoil in his life behind him: The Monterey case was closed, he had finalized his divorce with Samantha, and he married Rauchet in August 2019 in a ceremony at a Trump golf club in New Jersey. Hegseth has described his latest marriage as transformative. He said in an interview with journalist Megyn Kelly this week that he could have previously been characterized as a serial cheater but that he “truly was changed by Jen and my lord and savior Jesus Christ, and I mean that.” He added, “Do I regret those things? Yes. But is it who I am today? No.” Cabinet nomination in limbo While Hegseth had avoided the skeletons in his closet spilling into public view during his first two rounds being considered for Trump’s Cabinet, that didn’t hold true after Trump announced him as his pick for secretary of defense last month. Within days, CNN and other news outlets reported on the Monterey sexual assault allegation. Reports from The New Yorker , The New York Times , Vanity Fair and other outlets detailed the claims about his abuse of alcohol, financial mismanagement, and bitter divorces. As he’s crisscrossed the Senate over the last two weeks holding meetings with the senators who will decide the fate of his nomination, Hegseth has faced a barrage of questions over the controversies. In recent days, he’s broken his public silence to mount a more forceful defense of his record, telling Kelly that “we’re not backing down one bit.” But while Hegseth said Wednesday that Trump had voiced support for him in their conversations, the president-elect has already been considering other candidates to replace Hegseth, potentially including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or Ernst, the Iowa senator – either of whom would likely have a far easier time in the Senate. If Hegseth holds on, he will face a bruising confirmation hearing that could include testimony from women in his past, disapproving colleagues from his nonprofits, or other critics. In a gambit to save his nomination, Hegseth has told senators that he would avoid alcohol if he became defense secretary. While he maintained that he had never had a drinking problem, Hegseth said in his interview with Kelly that “this is the biggest deployment of my life, and there won’t be a drop of alcohol on my lips while I’m doing it.” That commitment echoed the promise made by John Tower, President George H. W. Bush’s nominee for the job, in 1989, who also faced criticism over his drinking and treatment of women. Tower was rejected by the Senate – a major surprise, considering he himself had served as a senator from Texas for more than two decades. James Riddlesperger, a political science professor at Texas Christian University who has written about the Tower nomination, said that Tower’s personal struggles undermined his chances to join the Cabinet even though he had a decadeslong record overseeing military policy. That’s in contrast to Hegseth, someone who has “no experience in the Pentagon, no experience in major-level policy-making for the Defense Department,” he said. Hegseth’s nomination, Riddlesperger said, is “only conceivable in a presidency of Donald Trump.” CNN’s Natasha Bertrand, Andrew Kaczynski, Sara Murray, Jim Sciutto, and Em Steck contributed to this report.

Snowflake EVP Christian Kleinerman sells $2.7 million in stock

Providence, Oklahoma hope key players are back in BahamasREDWOOD SHORES, Calif. , Dec. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg LLP (RJLF) has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a coalition of manufacturers, businesses, affordable housing interests, and workers seeking to prevent enforcement of South Coast Air Quality Management District regulations that effectively ban certain gas appliances. The plaintiffs, representing thousands of California residents, businesses, and workers, include Rinnai America Corporation , Noritz America Corporation , National Association of Homebuilders , California Manufacturers & Technology Association , California Restaurant Association , California Hotel & Lodging Association , and California Apartment Association , all represented by RJLF and Sean Kneafsey of the Kneafsey Law Firm . Californians for Homeownership is represented by Matt Gelfand , Restaurant Law Center is represented by Angelo Amador , and the California State Pipe Trades Council by McCracken, Stemerman & Holsberry . The coalition's suit asserts that the District's zero-NOx emissions rule for certain appliances, which effectively bans those gas appliances, is preempted by the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) and should be blocked. The District's rule not only effectively mandates the use of electric appliances in new buildings but also forces costly retrofits to electric in existing buildings when appliances are replaced. This rule threatens the reliability and affordability of energy for millions of Californians, will impose enormous costs and disruption on businesses and workers, and will reduce the availability of affordable housing. Earlier this year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that Berkeley, California's ban on gas piping in new buildings was preempted by EPCA ( California Restaurant Association v. City of Berkeley , 89 F.4th 1094 (9th Cir. 2024)) . The District's rule is legally indistinguishable, and the same result applies. "This case is pivotal to reinforcing the federal and state roles in setting national energy policy," said Sarah Jorgensen , lead counsel for the plaintiffs at RJLF. "The District's mandate for electric appliances in both new construction and forced retrofits not only jeopardizes our clients' work, business, and interests but also disregards established federal law. California must comply with the law." The case is Rinnai America Corp. et al. v. South Coast Air Quality Management District , No. 2:24-cv-10482 , in the United States District Court for the Central District of California . About Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg LLP Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg LLP (RJLF) is a national trial firm that handles high-stakes energy, commercial, intellectual property, and white collar disputes. The firm is majority women-owned, reinventing the practice of law without the billable hour in favor of fee arrangements that align client interests. RJLF's attorneys are diverse, exceptionally credentialed, and passionate about trial advocacy. From offices in Silicon Valley, New York , Washington, D.C. , Austin , and Atlanta , the firm tries cases and argues appeals throughout the country. For more information, visit www.reichmanjorgensen.com . Contact Sarah Jorgensen sjorgensen@reichmanjorgensen.com (650) 623-1403 View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/reichman-jorgensen-lehman--feldberg-leads-suit-against-south-coast-air-quality-management-districts-effective-ban-on-certain-gas-appliances-302324441.html SOURCE Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg LLPAs US President- elect Donald Trump eventually prepares for his return to the White House, he is facing requests for pardons from various convicted felons which include high-profile figures involved in significant legal controversies, reported Independent. According to Independent, among those seeking clemency is Joseph Biggs , who is the leader of the Proud Boys and was convicted of seditious conspiracy related to the January 6 Capitol riots. His attorney argues that a pardon would help heal national divisions stemming from the 2020 US Presidential Elections. Also Read : Did Brad Pitt faint on track at F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix? here's what happened Joe Exotic , the infamous star of ‘Tiger King’ has also reached out to Donald Trump from prison while requesting a pardon and even a position as Federal Fish and Wildlife director, asserted Independent. He also cites support for Donald Trump during his first term as a reason for leniency. Other notable individuals include Larry Householder , who is the former Ohio House Speaker and is convicted of racketeering and reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who are eventually serving time for bank fraud, noted Independent. All of them are reportedly optimistic about receiving pardons, with their daughter actively maintaining ties with Donald Trump. 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FAQs: While returning to the White House for the second time, what are the requests that Donald Trump is facing? As US President- elect Donald Trump eventually prepares for his return to the White House, he is facing requests for pardons from various convicted felons which include high-profile figures involved in significant legal controversies. Which renowned star has reached out to US President- elect Donald Trump from prison requesting a pardon? Joe Exotic, the infamous star of ‘Tiger King’ has also reached out to Donald Trump from prison while requesting a pardon and even a position as Federal Fish and Wildlife director. (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel )