In an interview with USA Today, Joe Biden, in his final hours in the White House, emphatically reaffirms that he would have been able to beat Trump and that he considered himself best placed to do so.
President Biden insisted in a new interview out today that he could have beaten Trump in the 2024 election, even as he admitted he was unsure that he had the stamina for another term.
When a USA Today reporter asked Joe Biden if he thought he could have won the election in November, he replied that he found it presumptuous to say so, but that he thought so, based on the polls he had before he withdrew from the race, despite the enormous pressure he was under at the time.
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Asked by the reporter about his ability to serve the country for a second four-year term, Joe Biden candidly replied that he wasn’t sure.
He explained that when Trump ran for re-election, he genuinely thought he was in the best position to beat him, but said he had never considered being president at 85 or 86.
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Biden also mentioned raising the idea of passing the baton, without going into detail, adding that it was impossible to predict whether he could have been president for another term.
“So far, so good,” he asserted, before concluding:
“But who knows what I’ll be like at 86?”
Despite his low popularity rating and the many questions about his physical and mental health, Biden remains confident in his abilities.
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He does, however, seem to feel some regret at having given way to his vice-president, who suffered a crushing defeat to Trump in the election.
Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s former lawyer and deposed ex-mayor of New York, is back in the headlines after being found in contempt of court in a defamation suit.
Rudy Giuliani was held in contempt of court for failing to cooperate in the handover of $11 million of his personal assets to Georgia poll workers he falsely accused of helping to steal the 2020 presidential election. nyti.ms/40mT4CB
He had been convicted of repeatedly defaming two election workers after the 2020 elections.
The two Georgia election workers, a mother and daughter, repeatedly falsely accused by Rudy Giuliani of contributing to the alleged theft of the 2020 presidential election, have won a $148 million judgment in their defamation suit against Donald Trump’s former lawyer.
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A battle ensued in an attempt to seize Rudy Giuliani’s assets in order to execute the verdict against him. For months, he evaded attempts to locate him, making collection difficult. He was finally spotted thanks to a live video he had broadcast for his birthday.
This marked the beginning of a new phase in the case, with several weeks of intensive efforts to seize his assets, including his residence on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, a Mercedes-Benz convertible, rare Yankee collectibles and a collection of 26 luxury watches.
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But now, a federal judge found Rudy Giuliani in contempt of court on Monday for his refusal to cooperate in the transfer of $11 million of his personal property, including those mentioned above.
The consequences of Rudy Giuliani’s contempt of court remain uncertain and could include fines or even jail time. According to the New York Times, his Florida condo, valued at $3.5 million, could also be at risk. Giuliani, however, seems to be doing everything in his power to protect this property from the verdict.
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In November, one of Rudy Giuliani’s lawyers, also a long-time friend, withdrew from the case for initially unknown reasons.
A recently posted letter reveals that Giuliani was refusing to cooperate in the disclosure process regarding his Florida condo and was blocking access to his electronic devices. These refusals to cooperate add to his multiple attempts at delay and avoidance that have been going on for months.
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Giuliani will have to appear in court on January 16, a date he had tried to postpone in order to attend events related to Trump’s inauguration as president. There, he will seek to demonstrate that his Palm Beach condo, being his primary residence, should be exempt from foreclosure, a potentially valid argument under Florida law.
Rudy Giuliani could also face separate contempt of court charges on January 10, as he is accused of violating an order prohibiting him from repeating false claims against the women who won the defamation suit against him.
Meta has decided to discontinue its fact-checking program on its social networking platforms.
With this decision, the company seems to be aligning itself with the example set by X, renouncing the need to verify information disseminated and choosing to transfer this responsibility to its community, via annotations or corrections.
Breaking News: Meta said it would end its fact-checking program and rely instead on Facebook and Instagram users to add notes or corrections to posts. The move is likely to please the incoming Trump administration and its conservative allies.
Until now, misinformation on Facebook, Instagram and Threads has been moderated by the company.
Zuckerberg tried to justify his decision by declaring that it was time to “get back to our free speech roots” and claiming that his company was making “too many mistakes and exercising too much censorship”.
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This sudden change seems to be a direct response to Trump’s arrival at the presidency, especially as Meta has recently integrated several influential figures close to Trump into its ranks.
Mark Zuckerberg, through his company Meta, also recently donated $1 million to Donald Trump’s inauguration fund for his inauguration scheduled for January 20.
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This initiative is part of a series of actions aimed at strengthening ties between Meta and the Trump administration. These include the appointment of Dana White, president of the UFC and close to Trump, to Meta’s board of directors, and the promotion of Joel Kaplan, an influential Republican, to director of global policy.
These decisions reflect a clear desire by Meta and Zuckerberg to align themselves more closely with the Trump administration.
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Zuckerberg also acknowledged that this regulatory change would likely lead to an increase in “problematic content” on its platforms, while claiming that it would “reduce the number of innocent posts and accounts deleted by mistake”.
The move comes as Republicans, including Kaplan, recently appointed to Meta, accuse social networks and fact-checking sites of political bias.
According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Matthew Livelsberger, a U.S. Army Special Forces Master Sergeant, meticulously orchestrated the explosion of a Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas last week.
He also reportedly refined his plan and made adjustments “in real time” over several days using ChatGPT.
The active-duty US Army Green Beret who authorities say exploded a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas last week used artificial intelligence to plan the blast, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
At the most recent press briefing regarding the investigation into the Cybertruck explosion outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, authorities revealed disturbing details about how the suspect, who died just before the blast, meticulously developed his plan.
Investigators discovered a “six-page manifesto” on his cell phone, in which he explained every step of his project in detail.
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Livelsberger allegedly carefully orchestrated the explosion, triggered by a combination of fireworks, gas tanks and a large quantity of camping fuel placed in the vehicle’s body, all activated via a device he controlled.
At the press briefing, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department showed surveillance footage where the camping fuel can clearly be seen spilling onto the ground after the vehicle involved passed.
He reportedly clarified every detail with ChatGPT, from the materials used to the exact quantities needed to achieve the desired effect.
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In his manifesto, Livelsberger, who committed suicide shortly before the explosion, claimed to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), while admitting to regular drug use and large quantities of alcohol, revealing serious mental health problems combined with political grievances.
According to investigators, in his manifesto Livelsberger expresses his intention to be “as detailed as possible” to facilitate investigations and allow focus on “the task at hand”.
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He describes this task as “eliminating Democratic Party elements in the current administration, the remaining generals in the army, as well as members of the Joint Chiefs” of Staff, whom he visibly perceived as undesirable political influences within the administration and military hierarchy.
He also claims to have believed he was being followed for most of his journey from Colorado to his final destination, outside the Trump International Hotel.
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Authorities clarified, however, that the suspect had no criminal history and was not under surveillance by the FBI or the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department prior to the events.
Authorities expressed deep concern at the accuracy with which ChatGPT answered Livelsberger’s questions in planning this forward, claiming that the use of AI was a real “turning point” in this event.
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For their part, OpenAI representatives told CNN they were “saddened by this incident” and reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring responsible use of AI tools, adding that their models “are designed to reject harmful instructions and minimize harmful content”.
A few days after the announcement of the sudden death of 47-year-old writer-director Jeff Baena on January 3, his wife, actress Aubrey Plaza, broke her silence in a brief statement.
Aubrey Plaza has shared her first statement since the death of her husband, writer and director Jeff Baena.
Married since 2021 and a couple since 2011, the shock and grief are evident in the actress’ brief message, which calls the loss of her husband an “unimaginable tragedy”.
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Recall that, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner, Jeff Baena’s death has been confirmed as a suicide.
According to TMZ, he was found dead in his Los Angeles home by an assistant on the morning of January 3.
Jeff Baena, screenwriter and director, distinguished himself with his unique style blending comedy and drama. Known for films such as Life After Beth and The Little Hours, he explored original narratives often tinged with dark humor. Frequently collaborating with Aubrey Plaza, he has left a significant mark on independent cinema.
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The actress asks that her privacy and that of her family be respected at this difficult time, while expressing her gratitude to all those who offered their support after the tragedy.
The latest ICE data reveals that the Biden administration carried out a significant number of deportations in the last fiscal year, with exactly 271,484 immigrants deported.
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This figure far exceeds that of the first two years of the Biden presidency, which were heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, while remaining higher than the levels recorded during Trump’s first term in office, which promises mass deportations of immigrants as soon as he returns to power next January.
This ICE report, which covers the period from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024, reveals that those deported from the US came from around 200 different countries, the majority having crossed the US-Mexico border illegally.
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ICE primarily targeted immigrants representing a risk to public safety, national security or border security.
The agency carried out specific operations, and of the 271,484 deportations carried out between October 2023 and November 2024, over 30% involved immigrants with criminal records.
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Under the Biden administration, immigrant deportations increased after a slowdown due to the pandemic, rising from 59,000 in 2021 to 72,000 in 2022. They then jumped to 180,000 in 2023, reaching a record of over 271,000 in 2024.
Under the Trump administration, deportations reached 226,000 in 2017, 256,000 in 2018, and a peak of 267,000 in 2019, before dropping to 185,000 in 2020 due to the pandemic.
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Deportation data for Trump’s first term is well below that of Obama’s presidency, during which around 2.5 million immigrants were deported between 2009 and 2014, with a record of over 400,000 deportations in 2012 and 2014.
Apple’s AI has been strongly criticized by Reporters Without Borders for generating false information attributed to the BBC.
The organization is calling on Apple to withdraw this new AI feature from its devices.
The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders is urging Apple to remove its newly introduced artificial intelligence feature that summarizes news stories after it produced a false headline from the BBC.
The false information behind Reporters Without Borders’ request dates back to last week.
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Apple’s artificial intelligence had produced and distributed a notification erroneously summarizing a BBC report, claiming that Luigi Mangione, a suspect in the murder of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare in New York, had committed suicide with a firearm.
The BBC could not confirm whether the iPhone manufacturer had responded to their complaint, according to CNN, lodged to express their concerns and request a resolution to the problem with this feature.
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The head of the technology and journalism desk at Reporters Without Borders expressed clear criticism of AI.
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Although AI has become an indispensable tool in technology and in most media, it is still far from being totally reliable without human fact-checking.
Rex Heuermann, the serial killer from Gilgo Beach on Long Island, New York, arrested in 2023, has been charged with a seventh murder: that of Valerie Mack, a 24-year-old woman whose remains were discovered in November 2000.
BREAKING: The suspect in the Gilgo Beach serial killings has been charged in the death of a seventh woman, new indictment says
In 2000, an emergency 911 call was made after a dog alerted hunters to the discovery of a plastic bag containing incomplete human remains in a wooded area near Manorville.
The rest of these remains were discovered several years later, in 2011, east of Gilgo Beach in Suffolk County, not far from where the remains of another Heuermann victim were found.
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These remains remained unidentified until 2020, when, thanks to a genetic genealogical analysis, it was established that they belonged to Valerie Mack.
The link between Rex Heuermann and the victim was established when human hair found on Valerie Mack’s remains enabled prosecutors to identify the DNA profiles of Heuermann’s wife and daughter.
This now brings to six of his seven alleged victims the cases in which hair belonging either to Heuermann or to members of his family has been found.
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The murders with which Rex Heuermann has been charged to date date back to 1993. In June 2024, he was charged with second-degree murder in the deaths of Sandra Costilla in 1993 and Jessica Taylor in 2003.
However, Heuermann is best known for his alleged involvement in the murders of four women, dubbed the “Gilgo Four”: Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Amber Costello and Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
The remains of these victims were discovered in 2010 in the Gilgo Beach area.
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Investigators were able to establish a DNA link thanks to a sample taken from a pizza box abandoned by Heuermann in New York and matching DNA found at the scene where the bodies were discovered.
The next hearing concerning this seventh official victim of the Gilgo Beach serial killer is scheduled for January 15.
With 45.6 million units sold, the Nintendo Switch has officially overtaken the legendary PlayStation 2, becoming the second best-selling video game console in the US, behind the Nintendo DS.
This success marks the end of the era dominated by the PlayStation 2 in the field of non-portable consoles, hailed for its exceptional sales and widely recognized as one of the best of its era.
Nintendo Switch has now outsold the PS2 to become the second best-selling console ever in the US 🎮
The PlayStation 2 (PS2), marketed between 2000 and 2013, was launched in North America in October 2000, and was until then the second best-selling video game console in the United States, with 46.5 million units sold.
It was behind the Nintendo DS, which dominated the ranking with 53.8 million units sold in the United States between its launch in 2004 and the end of its commercialization in 2014.
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However, the Nintendo Switch, launched in March 2017 and still in production, has now narrowly surpassed the PlayStation 2.
Thanks to its revolutionary concept of a hybrid console, combining living room and portable, the Nintendo Switch has recorded exceptional sales, becoming Nintendo’s best-selling console.
It surpassed sales of the Xbox 360, which sold 42.7 million units between 2005 and 2016, as well as those of the Wii, marketed from 2006 to 2013 with 41.7 million units sold.
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This success has once again reaffirmed Nintendo as the world leader in the video game sector.
However, while many video game fans are eagerly awaiting the next generation of Nintendo consoles, the Switch 2, rumored for release in 2025, the Switch’s popularity is experiencing a slight decline, with sales down 3%, probably due to the anticipation generated by this much-anticipated new console.
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The Nintendo Switch has truly set itself apart from its competitors, at a time when the best-selling video game consoles were in the early 2000s.
By way of comparison, the Xbox Series X/S have sold just 14.5 million units since their release in 2020, while Nintendo’s previous console, the Wii U, recorded only modest sales of 5.3 million units in the US.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the world’s leading stock market indicator, recently recorded its longest losing streak in 46 years, since 1978, with nine consecutive downward closes.
This marks the end of a particularly remarkable year for the Dow, as well as the additional momentum generated by Trump’s election victory.
The Dow ends the day lower, suffering its longest losing streak since the Carter administration.
While the overall decline remains moderate and does not affect other major indices such as the Nasdaq and S&P 500, the Dow has, for its part, recorded a 3% loss over the last eight trading days.
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The losses are mainly concentrated on the Dow, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 are more resilient.
Despite this recent decline, the Dow is still up over 15% year-to-date, testifying to an exceptional year for stock markets.
It also remains more than 3% above its level recorded during the presidential election, reflecting positive expectations for the next administration.
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A recent headline-grabbing event, the assassination of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO on December 4 in New York, has had a major impact on the Group’s market value, which has fallen by 18% since the tragedy.
