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 sought to be CEO and in an email outlined a plan where he would “unequivocally have initial control of the company” but said that would be temporary. He grew frustrated after two other OpenAI co-founders said he would hold too much power as a major shareholder and chief executive if the startup succeeded in its goal to achieve better-than-human AI known as artificial general intelligence , or AGI. Musk has long voiced concerns about how advanced forms of AI could threaten humanity. “The current structure provides you with a path where you end up with unilateral absolute control over the AGI," said a 2017 email to Musk from co-founders Ilya Sutskever and Greg Brockman. “You stated that you don't want to control the final AGI, but during this negotiation, you've shown to us that absolute control is extremely important to you.” In the same email, titled “Honest Thoughts,” Sutskever and Brockman also voiced concerns about Altman's desire to be CEO and whether he was motivated by “political goals.” Altman eventually succeeded in becoming CEO, and has remained so except for a period last year when he was fired and then reinstated days later after the board that ousted him was replaced. OpenAI published the messages Friday in a blog post meant to show its side of the story, particularly Musk's early support for the idea of making OpenAI a for-profit business so it could raise money for the hardware and computer power that AI needs. It was Musk, through his wealth manager Jared Birchall, who first registered “Open Artificial 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.Trump’s “Border Czar” Says the Admin Will Bring Back Migrant Family DetentionMQ INVESTOR DEADLINE: The Marqeta, Inc. February 7 Securities Fraud Deadline is Approaching – Contact BFA Law if You Lost Money (NASDAQ:MQ)Stock market today: Wall Street drifts to a mixed close in thin trading following a holiday pause
Canadians must hold fossil fuel sector accountableReeves, 60, plays Shadow in the latest film adaption of the Sega video game, which will see Sonic, Knuckles and Tails battle him to protect the planet. Speaking at the movie’s London premiere on Tuesday, the Canadian star said: “I’m a big fan, I mean, I really enjoyed the first two films. “I really liked the character of Shadow, so I was really excited to try to be a part of it.” The Matrix actor went on to speak about the differences between voice acting and appearing on screen. He added: “It’s fun to play pretend, I love acting, so it’s fun to try and inhabit another character. “There’s an intensity to doing voice work and specificity, it’s kind of more like doing, it’s its own thing, because it’s kind of like theatre, but no audience. “So it’s like doing radio, and it’s just fun.” Canadian-American actor Jim Carrey co-stars as villain Doctor Eggman, a role he told the PA news agency it was “great” to be playing again. Carrey told PA: “I do like to play a character filled with disdain here and there, the Grinch was that. “But there were other characters like The Truman Show, he’s somebody who loves the world and believes in the world, and believes in the people in his life, and believes in his neighbours, and he’s just a good-hearted soul that finds out there’s something more in the world than what he knows and something beyond his own neighbourhood. “So it’s a lovely story, but they’re all different characters, they all have different desires, and you have to do something special with each one.” He added: “I just let it rip when they say action, it’s just a perfect excuse to be an obstreperous bloviating bag of ill will. “And then of course they say cut, and all of that horrible politeness and needing to be loved seeps back in.” Sonic The Hedgehog 3 will be released in UK cinemas on Friday December 20.
BRASILIA, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Harley Sandoval, an evangelical pastor, real estate agent and mining entrepreneur, was arrested in July 2023 for illegally exporting 294 kilos of gold from Brazil's Amazon to the United States, Dubai and Italy. On paper, the gold was sourced from a legal prospect Sandoval was licensed to mine in the northern state of Tocantins. But police said not an ounce of gold had been mined there since colonial times. Using cutting-edge forensic technology, along with satellite imagery, Brazil's Federal Police said it was able to establish that the exported gold did not come from the Tocantins prospect. Instead, it had been dug up from three different wildcat mines in neighboring Pará, some on protected Indigenous reservation lands, according to previously unreported court documents dated November 2023 seen by Reuters. The prosecution is one of the first in Brazil using the new technology to tackle clandestine trading that may account for as much as half of the gold output of Brazil, a major producer and exporter of the precious metal. Illegal gold mining has surged at thousands of sites in the Amazon rainforest, bringing environmental destruction and criminal violence to the region. Seizures of illegally mined gold have surged seven-fold in the past seven years, according to Federal Police records obtained exclusively by Reuters. Sandoval, who has been released pending trial and continues to preach with his wife at a Pentecostal Evangelical church in the central Brazilian city of Goiania, denies the allegations. He maintains there is no way to establish where the gold was mined once it is melted down into ingots for export. "That's impossible. To export gold one always has to melt it down," he told Reuters by telephone. Historically, gold is notoriously difficult to trace, especially once metal from different sources has been melted together, erasing the original signatures. After that, it can easily be traded as a financial asset or be used in the jewelry industry. But investigators say that's starting to change. A police program called "Targeting Gold" is creating a database of samples from across Brazil that are examined with radio-isotope scans and fluorescence spectroscopy to determine the unique composition of elements. The technique, long used in archaeology, was pioneered in mining by University of Pretoria geologist Roger Dixon to help distinguish between legal and stolen gold. The program developed in partnership with university researchers includes the use of powerful light beams from a particle accelerator at a Sao Paulo lab to study nano-sized impurities associated with gold, be it dirt or other metals like lead or copper, that help trace its origins. Humberto Freire, director of the Federal Police's recently-created Environment and Amazon Department, said the technology allows scientists to analyze "the DNA of Brazilian gold." "Nature has marked the gold with isotopes and we can read these unique fingerprints with radio-isotope scans," Freire said. "With this tool we can trace illegal gold before it gets refined for export." The program has helped fuel an increase in gold seizures since leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office last year — up 38% in 2023 from 2022, according to government numbers seen by Reuters. New Brazil central bank gold market regulations, including mandatory electronic tax receipts for all trades and tightened monitoring of suspect transactions, have also helped, according to Freire. "We estimate that around 40% of the gold that is extracted in the Amazon is illegal," he told Reuters. Brazil exported 110 tonnes of gold in 2020 worth $5 billion, according to official data, ranking among the world's top 20 exporters. Last year, exports were 77.7 tonnes, a drop the government attributes to improved enforcement of illegal mining. Lula's predecessor, far-right President Jair Bolsonaro weakened environmental controls in the Amazon. That triggered a new gold rush in Brazil, spurred by record world gold prices that were driven up by geopolitical tensions and central bank purchases , led by China. Prices have continued to new highs, trading at around $2,650 per ounce on Friday. Gold rushes have been a hallmark of mineral-rich Brazil from its Portuguese colonial past. But the latest surge in wildcat mining beginning during Bolsonaro's administration has been unprecedented. Satellite images show there are some 80,000 such prospects today in the Amazon rainforest, more than ever registered before. Once dominated by prospectors with gold pans, artisanal mining in Brazil has become an industrial-scale activity with heavy excavating machinery and million-dollar river dredgers. Criminal organizations fly people, equipment and gold into and out of the region with helicopters and planes that land at clandestine airstrips. Their excavations often leave behind gaping ponds of sludge contaminated with mercury , used to separate the gold from dirt and other minerals. Last year, thousands of miners who invaded the Yanomami territory, the country's largest Indigenous reservation on the northern border with Venezuela, brought violence and disease that caused malnutrition and a humanitarian crisis among the tribe, prompting Lula to send in troops. But many returned this year after the military pulled out. Lula, who has pledged to stamp out illegal gold mining, tried to fight back by deploying special forces of the environmental protection agency Ibama into Indigenous reservations and forest conservation parks. Police say cracking down on the organized crime gangs that back the wildcat miners is the next step in staunching an illegal trade that feeds the jewelry and watch industry in Switzerland, which buys 70% of Brazil's exported gold, according to government trade data. Amazon neighbors, including Colombia and French Guiana, are considering adopting the Brazilian gold analysis method to deal with their illegal gold trade and European governments have shown interest, including Switzerland and Britain, the top importers from Brazil after Canada, police and diplomats said. Brazil accounts for just 1% of gold imported by Switzerland, a global trade hub for the metal, and "measures are in place to import only legally mined gold," a Swiss embassy statement said. The embassy said it has set up a working group with other importing countries to study traceability and anti-counterfeiting tools. A 2022 study by non-profit watchdog Instituto Escolhas found that 52% of the gold exported from the Amazon was illegal, nearly all from protected Indigenous reservation lands or national conservation parks. A vibrant lobby for informal gold mining has survived Bolsonaro in Brazil's Conservative Congress, where pending bills propose legalizing wildcat mining. For now, though, gold samples from across Brazil are being added to a database with the help of scientists at the Federal Police's criminology institute lab in Brasilia, where forensic expert Erich Moreira Lima oversees microscopic scanning of gold nuggets that are kept in a safe. "Now that we have a team set up, we hope to analyze the 30,000 gold samples the Brazilian Geological Service has collected. In a few years, we should have mapped all Brazil's 24 gold producing regions," he told Reuters. Geologist Maria Emilia Schutesky and her team at the National University of Brasilia's geosciences lab conduct mass spectrometry scans on gold samples to identify associated molecules, such as lead, to place the gold's origins. "We researchers seek a 100% ability to trace gold, but that is more than what the police needs to prove a crime, which is just to establish that the gold does not come from where a suspects claims it is from," Schutesky said. Sign up here. Reporting by Ricardo Brito and Anthony Boadle; Editing by Christian Plumb and Claudia Parsons Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab Thomson Reuters Anthony has covered Brazilian politics since 2012, the narrow 2022 election of leftist President Lula following four years of right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, and the turbulence faced by Brazilian democracy. He has reported from Chile under General Pinochet and from Havana under Fidel Castro. He has also covered U.S.-Latin American affairs from Washington 1995-2002. Anthony holds an M.A. in Politics from Essex University.
Israel strikes Houthi rebels in Yemen's capital while the WHO chief says he was meters away JERUSALEM (AP) — A new round of Israeli airstrikes in Yemen have targeted the Houthi rebel-held capital of Sanaa and multiple ports. The World Health Organization’s director-general said the bombardment on Thursday took place just “meters away” as he was about to board a flight in Sanaa. He says a crew member was hurt. The strikes followed several days of Houthi attacks and launches setting off sirens in Israel. Israel's military says it attacked infrastructure used by the Houthis at the international airport in Sanaa, power stations and ports. The Israeli military later said it wasn’t aware that the WHO chief was at the location in Yemen. An uneasy calm settles over Syrian city of Homs after outbreak of sectarian violence HOMS, Syria (AP) — Syria’s new security forces checked IDs and searched cars in the central city of Homs a day after protests by members of the Alawite minority erupted in gunfire and stirred fears that the country’s fragile peace could break down. A tense calm prevailed Thursday after checkpoints were set up throughout the country’s third-largest city, which has a mixed population of Sunni and Shia Muslims, Alawites and Christians. The security forces are controlled by the former insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which led the charge that unseated former President Bashar Assad. The US says it pushed retraction of a famine warning for north Gaza. Aid groups express concern. WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say they asked for — and got — the retraction of an independent monitor's warning of imminent famine in north Gaza. The internationally Famine Early Warning System Network issued the warning this week. The new report had warned that starvation deaths in north Gaza could reach famine levels as soon as next month. It cited what it called Israel's “near-total blockade” of food and water. The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Jacob Lew, criticized the finding as inaccurate and irresponsible. The U.S. Agency for International Development, which funds the famine-monitoring group, told the AP it had asked for and gotten the report's retraction. USAID officials tell The Associated Press that it had asked the group for greater review of discrepancies in some of the data. Trump has pressed for voting changes. GOP majorities in Congress will try to make that happen ATLANTA (AP) — Republicans in Congress plan to move quickly in their effort to overhaul the nation’s voting procedures, seeing an opportunity with control of the White House and both chambers of Congress. They want to push through long-sought changes such as voter ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements. They say the measures are needed to restore public confidence in elections. That's after an erosion of trust that Democrats note has been fueled by false claims from Donald Trump and his allies of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. Democrats say they are willing to work with the GOP but want any changes to make it easier, not harder, to vote. Americans are exhausted by political news. TV ratings and a new AP-NORC poll show they're tuning out NEW YORK (AP) — A lot of Americans, after an intense presidential election campaign, are looking for a break in political news. That's evident in cable television news ratings and a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The poll found nearly two-thirds of Americans saying they've found the need recently to cut down on their consumption of political and government news. That's particularly true among Democrats following President-elect Donald Trump's victory, although a significant number of Republicans and independents feel the same way. Cable networks MSNBC and CNN are really seeing a slump. That's also happened in years past for networks that particularly appeal to supporters of one candidate. New York to charge fossil fuel companies for damage from climate change ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Large fossil fuel companies would have to pay fees to help New York fight the effects of climate change under a bill signed by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. The governor signed the new law Thursday. It requires companies responsible for substantial greenhouse gas emissions to pay into a state infrastructure fund for repairs or projects that help avoid future damage from climate change. Lawmakers approved the bill earlier this year. It's meant to make big oil and gas companies contribute to the cost of repairs after extreme weather events or for resiliency projects. Such projects may include restoring coastal wetlands or upgrading roads, bridges and water drainage systems. Legal challenges to the new law are expected. Aviation experts say Russia's air defense fire likely caused Azerbaijan plane crash as nation mourns Aviation experts say that Russian air defense fire was likely responsible for the Azerbaijani plane crash the day before that killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured. Azerbaijan is observing a nationwide day of mourning on Thursday for the victims of the crash. Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it was diverted for reasons yet unclear and crashed while making an attempt to land in Aktau in Kazakhstan. Cellphone footage circulating online appeared to show the aircraft making a steep descent before smashing into the ground in a fireball. Ukraine's military intelligence says North Korean troops are suffering heavy battlefield losses KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's military intelligence says North Korean troops are suffering heavy losses in Russia's Kursk region and face logistical difficulties as a result of Ukrainian attacks. The intelligence agency said Thursday that Ukrainian strikes near Novoivanovka inflicted heavy casualties on North Korean units. Ukraine's president said earlier this week that 3,000 North Korean troops have been killed and wounded in the fighting in the Kursk region. It marked the first significant estimate by Ukraine of North Korean casualties several weeks after Kyiv announced that North Korea had sent 10,000 to 12,000 troops to Russia to help it in the almost 3-year war. How the stock market defied expectations again this year, by the numbers NEW YORK (AP) — What a wonderful year 2024 has been for investors. U.S. stocks ripped higher and carried the S&P 500 to records as the economy kept growing and the Federal Reserve began cutting interest rates. The benchmark index posted its first back-to-back annual gains of more than 20% since 1998. The year featured many familiar winners, such as Big Tech, which got even bigger as their stock prices kept growing. But it wasn’t just Apple, Nvidia and the like. Bitcoin and gold surged and “Roaring Kitty” reappeared to briefly reignite the meme stock craze. Why this Mexican American woman played a vital role in the US sacramental peyote trade MIRANDO CITY, Texas (AP) — Amada Cardenas, a Mexican American woman who lived in the tiny border town of Mirando City in South Texas, played an important role in the history of the peyote trade. She and her husband were the first federally licensed peyote dealers who harvested and sold the sacramental plant to followers of the Native American Church in the 1930s. After her husband's death in 1967, Cardenas continued to welcome generations of Native American Church members to her home until her death in 2005, just before her 101st birthday.
Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time
Ship Suspected Of Damaging Cables Off Finland Part Of Russia's 'Shadow Fleet,' European Commission SaysThere are 4 types of emotionally immature parents, from reactive to critical. Here's how they impact you as an adult.Mohamed Salah’s landmark goal pulls Liverpool clear in Champions League
The public naming of Jay-Z as the mysterious celebrity accused in an anonymous civil lawsuit of raping a 13-year-old girl with Sean “Diddy” Combs came after weeks of behind-the-scenes battling between the star’s lawyer and the Texas attorney representing the woman. Since Combs was charged by federal prosecutors in a salacious sex trafficking probe, numerous civil lawsuits have been filed from people claiming they were victimized by the entertainer. There have also been suggestions that other big names will be swept into the scandal. But the Jay-Z case offers a window into the machinations and big money behind such cases that could be a preview of the potential fallout involving other civil litigation that’s been filed against Combs. In October, Jay-Z received a demand letter from Texas-based attorney Tony Buzbee making allegations of misconduct and suggesting a meeting. Legal experts said such letters are a common way to begin settlement discussions. But this letter included picture of a ticking clock and Jay-Z came out swinging. The music mogul responded by filing his own anonymous lawsuit against the attorney in Los Angeles. On Sunday, Jay-Z’s name was made public as the celebrity in the suit, and he responded by blasting Buzbee on social media as a “deplorable human” and an “ambulance chaser in a cheap suit.” Jay-Z has denied any wrongdoing, calling the claims “idiotic.” Buzbee told The Times on Monday that he “won’t be deterred or intimidated,” but wouldn’t commit to whether other celebrities might be named. Jay-Z’s attorney, Alex Spiro, on Monday sent a letter to a judge in the case asking to either dismiss the allegations against his client or disclose the accuser’s identity. Federal prosecutors have not named any co-conspirators. However, they have repeatedly emphasized their investigation remains ongoing. In a sprawling indictment unsealed earlier this year, they allege Combs for decades used his empire to coerce his victims into sex in gatherings known as “freak-offs.” Combs, who has denied any wrongdoing, was arrested in September after nearly a year of investigation by federal authorities. Jay-Z has not been charged with any crimes and it is unclear whether federal authorities are pursuing this allegation. Legal experts said it’s hard to assess the claims without knowing more about the evidence the plaintiffs have and how Jay-Z and any other celebrities ultimately named can rebut the allegations. “I think [Buzbee] knew there was going to be a fight,” added Laurie L. Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School. “By the time he names them, he better have all of his witnesses, all of the evidence in order because the minute that the name goes out the fight really escalates.” The war between Jay-Z and Buzbee began in October when the attorney filed a lawsuit in New York on behalf of a woman, identified only as Jane Doe, who says she was 13 when she was raped by Combs and an anonymous male celebrity at a party after the MTV Video Music Awards in 2000. The woman, who had been outside Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Sept. 7, 2000, trying to talk her way into the awards ceremony, was invited to an after-party hosted by Combs. A driver took her to a large white house with a gated U-shaped driveway and, once inside, she was told to sign a nondisclosure agreement, the suit says. A luxurious party was unfolding inside. Waitstaff carried trays of drinks, loud music blasted throughout the house and partygoers were snorting cocaine and using marijuana, according to the lawsuit. After finishing one drink — a concoction of orange juice, cranberry juice and something bitter — she says she began to feel lightheaded and found an empty bedroom to rest. Combs walked into the room with two celebrities, a man and a woman. He approached her “with a crazed look in his eyes, grabbed her and said ‘You are ready to party!’” the lawsuit states. The lawsuit alleges the male celebrity — identified Sunday by Buzbee as Jay-Z— raped the girl, while Combs and an unidentified female celebrity allegedly watched. Combs then raped the girl as the other two celebrities watched, according to the lawsuit. Before filing the lawsuit, Buzbee wrote Jay-Z a demand letter in which he accused the celebrity of raping “multiple minors, both male and female, who had been drugged at parties hosted by Combs,” according to a lawsuit filed by Jay-Z. The lawyer said that if Jay-Z did not agree to a confidential mediation then he would “take a different course,” according to a lawsuit. Jay-Z responded by filing his own anonymous lawsuit against the attorney last month alleging the lawyer tried to extort a payout in return for not identifying him as a sexual abuser tied to Combs. Attorneys representing Jay-Z said the demand letters included “wildly false horrific allegations.” Buzbee fired back by amending his October civil complaint on Sunday to add Jay-Z, whose given name is Shawn Carter, as a defendant. Jay-Z’s attorney then sent a memo to the judge asking her to either dismiss the case or disclose the accuser’s identity. “Mr. Carter deserves to know the identity of the person who is effectively accusing him — in sensationalized, publicity-hunting fashion — of criminal conduct, demanding massive financial compensation, and tarnishing a reputation earned over decades,” Spiro wrote in the memo. David Ring, a lawyer who has represented victims of sexual assault in high-profile civil cases including against Harvey Weinstein, said it’s not unusual for attorneys to send letters as a way to negotiate with a defendant before filing a case. “Jay-Z here called the lawyer’s bluff and so the victim’s attorney named him in the court filing,” Ring said. Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, said Buzbee either tried to leverage his belief that Jay-Z would want to keep the allegations private or his client didn’t want to be the first person to accuse such a high profile public figure. “This is why I don’t like demand letters in these types of cases and prefer to immediately file a lawsuit. Don’t bark if you’re not going to bite,” Rahmani said. Still, Rahmani said celebrities with connections to Combs are likely on edge. “If I were a celebrity who attended one of Diddy’s ‘freak-offs,’ I would ... have my lawyer on speed dial,” Rahmani said. In a statement issued Sunday by Roc Nation, Jay-Z’s entertainment company, he addressed Buzbee directly saying that the attorney had “made a terrible error in judgment thinking that all celebrities are the same.” “I’m not from your world. I’m a young man who made it out of the project of Brooklyn. We don’t play these types of games. We have very strict codes and honor. We protect children, you seem to exploit people for personal gain,” he wrote. Buzbee responded on Instagram by posting a picture of himself in the Marines, saying that despite what he called a “coordinated and aggressive” effort to intimidate and harass him by people following him and his family, and contacting his clients and former employees, he won’t be backing down. “I also won’t allow anyone to scare my clients into silence,” he wrote. “Sunlight is the best disinfectant and I am quite certain the sun is coming.”
( MENAFN ) President-elect Donald Trump's social media stock had been rapidly declining following a brief post-election rise this week. Then, with a single post on Truth Social, he helped increase the stock again, increasing his net worth by half a billion dollars. At Fridays market start, shares of trump Media and Technology Group had plunged 42 percent from their previous high immediately after Wednesdays open, in what appeared to be a classic "buy the rumor and sell the news" strategy. Traders frequently acquire a stock in anticipation of a beneficial occurrence for a company, and then sell to benefit from their investment. After that, 30 minutes into trading Friday, when shares declined again, Trump shared a Truth Social post about the firm’s stock: “There are fake, untrue, and probably illegal rumors and/or statements made by, perhaps, market manipulators or short sellers, that I am interested in selling shares of Truth. THOSE RUMORS OR STATEMENTS ARE FALSE. I HAVE NO INTENTION OF SELLING!” MENAFN14122024000045016953ID1108992987 Legal Disclaimer: MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.South Africa Making Strides in Its Space Program With Suborbital Launch Facility Test