Furthermore, the current market dynamics suggest that the bull market in bonds is likely to persist in the near term. With central banks around the world maintaining accommodative monetary policies and inflation expectations remaining subdued, the demand for long-term bonds is expected to remain strong. This favorable backdrop provides traders with the confidence to continue accumulating these securities in anticipation of further price appreciation.RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina Democratic Party sued on Friday to block the potential removal of tens of thousands of ballots tallied in an extremely close state Supreme Court race, saying state election officials would be violating federal law if they sided with protests initiated by the trailing Republican candidate. The lawsuit filed in Raleigh federal court comes as attorneys for Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin also went to state courts on Friday to attempt to force the State Board of Elections to act more quickly on accusations contained in the protests. The board tentatively planned to hold a public hearing on the protests next Wednesday, according to a board email provided with Griffin's motion. Griffin wants a final decision from the board earlier. Democratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs leads Griffin by 734 votes following a machine recount of over 5.5 million ballots cast in their Nov. 5 election. A partial hand recount began this week and is nearly complete. But Griffin, joined by three other GOP state legislative candidates, contend that well over 60,000 ballots shouldn't have counted, casting doubt on election results. Among their complaints: voter registration records of some voters casting ballots lack driver’s license or partial Social Security numbers, and overseas voters never living in North Carolina have run afoul of state residency requirements. The Democratic Party's lawsuit said that some of the protests represent “systematic challenges to voter eligibility” that counter a federal law's prohibition of what's essentially removing people from voter registration lists retroactively after an election. The lawsuit wants a judge to declare federal law and the Constitution prevents the votes from being discarded and to order the election board — a majority of its members Democrats — to comply. “No North Carolinian deserves to have their vote thrown out in a callous power grab,” state party Chair Anderson Clayton said in a written statement. According to state law, a board considering an election protest could correct a ballot tally, direct another recount or order a new election. Griffin's attorneys filed requests Friday for judges to demand that the board issue final rulings by late Tuesday afternoon. They were filed in Wake County Superior Court and at the Court of Appeals — the same court where Griffin serves. Usually three members on the 15-judge court — second only to the Supreme Court in state's jurisprudence — hear such motions. “Public trust in our electoral processes depends on both fair and efficient procedures to determine the outcome of our elections. By failing to give a timely decision, the State Board continues to undermine the public interest,” Griffin attorney Troy Shelton wrote. Attorneys for Riggs separately on Friday also responded to Griffin's actual protests before the board, saying they should all be denied. Griffin led Riggs — one of two Democrats on the seven-member court — by about 10,000 votes on election night, but that lead dwindled and flipped to Riggs as tens of thousands of qualifying provisional and absentee ballots were added to the totals through the canvass. Riggs has declared victory. The three Republican legislative candidates joining Griffin's protests all trailed Democratic rivals after the machine recounts. One is GOP Rep. Frank Sossamon, who trails Democratic challenger Bryan Cohn by about 230 votes. Should Cohn win, Republicans would fall one seat short of retaining its current veto-proof majority in both chambers. That would give more leverage to Democratic Gov.-elect Josh Stein in 2025. The Associated Press has not called the Supreme Court race and two of the three legislative races highlighted in the protests. Gary D. Robertson, The Associated PressBLAINVILLE, Que. - Sam Oliver scored a hat trick to give him a league-leading 28 goals on the season and the Drummondville Voltigeurs kept rolling with a 6-2 win over the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada in Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League action Sunday. Ethan Gauthier, Adam Cavallin and Maxime Lambert all scored for Drummondville (22-5-3), who are 7-0-1 over their last eight games and lead the QMJHL with 47 points. Voltigeurs netminder Riley Mercer stopped 46 of 48 shots. Olivier Lemieux and Jonathan Fauchon scored for Blainville-Boisbriand (16-12-1). Armada goaltender Rémi Delafontaine kicked out 18 of 23 shots. —- ISLANDERS 4 HUSKIES 3 (SO) CHARLOTTETOWN — Alexis Michaud scored the shootout winner as the Islanders defeated Rouyn-Noranda. Egor Goriunov had two goals while Owen Conrad scored once for Charlottetown (11-15-3) in regulation. Islanders goaltender Nicolas Ruccia stopped 39 of 42 shots. Ty Higgins, Evan Courtois and Lars Steiner all scored for Rouyn-Noranda (16-6-7). Huskies goaltender Samuel Carreiras made 25 saves. —- WILDCATS 3 SEA DOGS 2 SAINT JOHN, N.B. — Gabe Smith scored the game-winning goal at 17:00 in the third period as Moncton edged the Sea Dogs. Juraj Pekarcik and Markus Vidicek also scored for Eastern Conference-leading Moncton (22-5-2). Wildcats netminder Rudy Guimond stopped 37 of 39 shots. Zachary Morin scored twice for Saint John (14-16-0), while Sea Dogs netminder Justin Robinson kicked out 36 of 39 shots. —- TITAN 2 MOOSEHEADS 1 (OT) BATHURST, N.B. — Dawson Sharkey scored in overtime period as the Acadie-Bathurst Titan edged Halifax. Liam Arsenault also scored for Acadie-Bathurst (18-11-0). Titan netminder Joshua Fleming stopped 35 of 36 shots. Lou Lévesque scored for Halifax (10-14-5). Mooseheads netminder Mathis Rousseau made 23 saves. —- EAGLES 5 FOREURS 3 SYDNEY, N.S. — Cam Squires scored three goals as the Cape Breton Eagles topped Val-D’Or. Émile Ricard and Luke Patterson also scored for Cape Breton (13-13-3). Eagles netminder Jakub Milota kicked out 28 of 31 shots. Noah Reinhart scored all three goals for Val-D’Or (9-17-3). Foreurs netminder Cédric Massé saved 29 of 34 shots, —- CATARACTES 3 OLYMPIQUES 1 GATINEAU — Mathys Fernandez made 32 saves and Kody Dupuis scored the game-winner as Shawinigan downed the Olympiques. Félix Lacerte and Matvei Gridin and Kody Dupuis also scored for Shawinigan (16-12-1). Julien Paillé scored once for Gatineau (6-18-6). Olympiques goaltender Nathan St-Pierre stopped 25 of 28 shots. This roundup was generated automatically with a CP-developed application. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 8, 2024.
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The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) on Monday said it approved the $3.3 billion deal between the country’s three largest energy firms, paving the way for plans to establish what is considered to be the most extensive liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Batangas to move forward. The government’s competition watchdog said it approved last Dec. 20 the transaction that involves Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen), Aboitiz Power Corp., and San Miguel Global Power Holdings Corp. (SMGP), with certain conditions set under a period of five years to prevent collusion or unfair practices. Last March, MGen and AboitizPower said they will invest in SMGP’s 1,278-megawatt (MW) Ilijan gas-fired power plant and a new 1,320-MW facility slated for completion by the end of the year. READ: Vires Energy drops LNG hub project in Batangas The three companies will then acquire nearly 100 percent of the LNG import and regasification terminal owned by Linseed Field Power Corp., a local unit of global infrastructure firm Atlantic, Gulf & Pacific Co. The three partners said that the facility will be used to receive, store and process LNG for the two power plants that supply electricity to Luzon. “Key safeguards include PCC oversight of the competitive selection process to ensure power supply agreements are awarded through a transparent and competitive bidding process,” the PCC said in a statement. “The acquired companies must also operate independently of their parent companies, with strict measures to separate information technology systems, offices and management to prevent coordination or undue influence,” it added. Additionally, the PCC said that the boards of directors will also include independent members, and that internal trading units will operate independently of affiliates. Further, power plants must submit reports on unplanned outages to the PCC within seven days of reporting to the Department of energy. Moreover, competitive retail electricity market reports must also be shared with the PCC, the agency said. “The parent companies are also required to appoint a competition compliance officer to monitor the fulfillment of these commitments,” the PCC said. —Alden M. Mozon Subscribe to our daily newsletter By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy .A 7-year-old rivalry between tech leaders Elon Musk and Sam Altman over who should run OpenAI and prevent an artificial intelligence "dictatorship" is now heading to a federal judge as Musk seeks to halt the ChatGPT maker's ongoing shift into a for-profit company. Musk, an early OpenAI investor and board member, sued the artificial intelligence company earlier this year alleging it had betrayed its founding aims as a nonprofit research lab benefiting the public good rather than pursuing profits. Musk has since escalated the dispute, adding new claims and asking for a court order that would stop OpenAI’s plans to convert itself into a for-profit business more fully. The world's richest man, whose companies include Tesla, SpaceX and social media platform X, last year started his own rival AI company, xAI. Musk says it faces unfair competition from OpenAI and its close business partner Microsoft, which has supplied the huge computing resources needed to build AI systems such as ChatGPT. “OpenAI and Microsoft together exploiting Musk’s donations so they can build a for-profit monopoly, one now specifically targeting xAI, is just too much,” says Musk's filing that alleges the companies are violating the terms of Musk’s foundational contributions to the charity. OpenAI is filing a response Friday opposing Musk’s requested order, saying it would cripple OpenAI’s business and mission to the advantage of Musk and his own AI company. A hearing is set for January before U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland. At the heart of the dispute is a 2017 internal power struggle at the fledgling startup that led to Altman becoming OpenAI's CEO. Musk also wanted the job, according to emails revealed as part of the court case, but grew frustrated after two other OpenAI co-founders said he would hold too much power as a major shareholder and chief executive if the startup succeeded in its goal to achieve better-than-human AI known as artificial general intelligence , or AGI. Musk has long voiced concerns about how advanced forms of AI could threaten humanity. “The current structure provides you with a path where you end up with unilateral absolute control over the AGI," said a 2017 email to Musk from co-founders Ilya Sutskever and Greg Brockman. “You stated that you don't want to control the final AGI, but during this negotiation, you've shown to us that absolute control is extremely important to you.” In the same email, titled “Honest Thoughts,” Sutskever and Brockman also voiced concerns about Altman's desire to be CEO and whether he was motivated by “political goals.” Altman eventually succeeded in becoming CEO, and has remained so except for a period last year when he was fired and then reinstated days later after the board that ousted him was replaced. OpenAI published the messages Friday in a blog post meant to show its side of the story, particularly Musk's early support for the idea of making OpenAI a for-profit business so it could raise money for the hardware and computer power that AI needs. It was Musk, through his wealth manager Jared Birchall, who first registered “Open Artificial Technologies Technologies, Inc.”, a public benefit corporation, in September 2017. Then came the “Honest Thoughts” email that Musk described as the “final straw.” “Either go do something on your own or continue with OpenAI as a nonprofit,” Musk wrote back. OpenAI said Musk later proposed merging the startup into Tesla before resigning as the co-chair of OpenAI's board in early 2018. Musk didn't immediately respond to emailed requests for comment sent to his companies Friday. Asked about his frayed relationship with Musk at a New York Times conference last week, Altman said he felt “tremendously sad” but also characterized Musk’s legal fight as one about business competition. “He’s a competitor and we’re doing well,” Altman said. He also said at the conference that he is “not that worried” about the Tesla CEO’s influence with President-elect Donald Trump. OpenAI said Friday that Altman plans to make a $1 million personal donation to Trump’s inauguration fund, joining a number of tech companies and executives who are working to improve their relationships with the incoming administration. —————————— The Associated Press and OpenAI have a licensing and technology agreement allowing OpenAI access to part of the AP’s text archives.Through his journey of love and ice cream entrepreneurship, Liang taught us that sometimes, the greatest rewards come from taking risks and following our hearts. His story inspired many to believe in the power of love and the resilience of the human spirit.
Multi-level Market Forecasted for Strong Growth from 2024 to 2032The sentencing of the two individuals to 10 years in prison serves as a clear message that acts of espionage and betrayal of national trust will not be taken lightly. It is crucial for both the academic and intelligence communities to remain vigilant and ensure that proper security measures are in place to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
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