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President-elect Trump appeared to agree with Elon Musk in support of H-1B visas for skilled workers in the U.S., as the right spars on the ongoing immigration debate. "I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them," Trump told the New York Post Saturday. Trump said that he recognizes the visas on his properties, saying, "I've been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program." MUSK INFLAMES X WITH PROFANE MOVIE QUOTE IN DEFENSE OF H1-B VISA Trump's comments come as the right clashes over immigration and the place of foreign workers in the U.S. labor market. Musk  and Vivek Ramaswamy,  who have been tapped by Trump to lead his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), argued earlier this week that American culture has not prioritized education enough, and therefore that foreign workers are needed for tech companies like Musk’s SpaceX and Tesla.  Many tech companies have embraced...

Jon Levine / New York Post : Trump supports H-1B visas, saying “I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I've been a believer in H-1B”, siding with Musk in the MAGA debate on the issue   —  President-elect Trump told The Post Saturday he supports immigration visas for highly skilled workers …

Michelle Obama provoked a wave of online criticism Friday after she shared a New Year's message with her followers on Instagram. The former first lady posted a video wishing her followers "Happy Holidays" and highlighting the work of the Obama Presidential Center as 2024 comes to a close. But critics noted with disapproval that her video begins on a sour note.  "Happy holidays, everyone. I know it's been a difficult few months for so many of us, and that folks are feeling a little bit anxious and uncertain," Obama says in the video. "But even during these tough times, there are plenty of reasons to stay hopeful," she adds, before mentioning programs operated by the Obama Foundation. ‘GREATER RECKONING’: OBAMA'S SPOT IN THE DEMOCRATIC SUN FADING AFTER HARRIS LOSS Hundreds of Instagram users commented on Obama's video within hours after it went live. While many thanked her for the message and showed support for the Obama Foundation, se...

Matt Burgess / Wired : Finland, Canada, the US, and other countries are testing tech for passport-free travel, including facial recognition and a “digital travel credential”   —  Smartphones and face recognition are being combined to create new digital travel documents.  The paper passport's days are numbered—despite new privacy risks.

Greg Otto / CyberScoop : The US says it has identified a ninth telecom company impacted by the Salt Typhoon hacks, and the number of individuals directly impacted is “less than 100”   —  In an update Friday, the White House says nine telecom companies were impacted by the Chinese espionage effort.  —  Learn more.

Guatemala may accept more foreign nationals deported from the United States by the incoming Trump administration in an effort to strengthen ties to the U.S., according to a report. Officials who spoke to Reuters said Guatemala is willing to receive deported citizens of other Central American countries – such as Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti – which have strained relationships with the U.S. and have not accepted deportees in the past.  "There has to be a regional response," one Guatemalan official told Reuters. "And we want to be part of the solution." The expectation is that Trump will keep his campaign promise to begin the largest mass deportation of illegal immigrants in American history, and Guatemala wants to be in the president's favor throughout that process. The officials are bracing for deportations to increase in the fall, reasoning that it will take time for the Trump administration ramp up its operations, according to Reuters.  BORDER CZAR TOM H...

Shivaune Field / Forbes Australia : Sydney-based Sitemate, which offers no-code software tools for industries like infrastructure and utilities, raised a AU$27.5M Series A at a ~AU$150M valuation   —  Sydney-founded Sitemate is making an impact on solar renewable sites in New Zealand, nuclear projects in Switzerland, and electric vehicle production in Detroit.

Shubham Sharma / VentureBeat : DeepSeek unveils DeepSeek-V3, a mixture-of-experts model of 685B total parameters, with 37B activated per token, claiming it outperforms top open-source models   —  Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, known for challenging leading AI vendors with its innovative open-source technologies, today released a new ultra-large model: DeepSeek-V3.

Tom Homan, President-elect Trump's "border czar," floated the idea of putting the children of illegal immigrants in halfway homes as part of the incoming administration's mass deportation plan.  "As far as U.S. children — children, that’s going to be a difficult situation, because we’re not going to detain your U.S. citizen children, which means, you know, they’re going to be put in a halfway house," Homan told NewsNation on Thursday, The Hill reported . CALIFORNIA GOV. NEWSOM'S TEAM CONSIDERING WAYS TO HELP ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AHEAD OF SECOND TRUMP ADMIN: REPORT "They can — or they can stay at home and wait for the officers to get the travel arrangements and come back to get the family," he added. As part of his plan to address the border crisis, Trump has said he plans to deport large numbers of illegal immigrants. One of the administration's priorities will be to find the hundreds of thousands of migrant children unaccounted for in ...

Tom Dotan / Wall Street Journal : Microsoft adds Copilot to Microsoft 365 in Australia and Southeast Asia and raises 365's price, a sign of how it aims to turn a profit from its AI investments   —  The tech company has made Copilot part of its 365 subscription service in several markets and raised prices

Congressional Democrats are pushing for federal policies mandating that gyms and fitness centers in the U.S. be accessible for Americans with disabilities.  Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Calif., introduced a bill "to promote the provision of exercise machines and equipment, and exercise and fitness classes and instruction, that are accessible to individuals with disabilities" earlier this week, the Congressional Record shows. It appears to be a companion bill to the "Exercise and Fitness For All Act" introduced in the upper chamber by Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., earlier this year. JOHNSON BLASTS DEM ACCUSATIONS HE VOWED TO END OBAMACARE AS 'DISHONEST' The legislation would direct the U.S. Access Board , a federal agency regulating accessibility for people with disabilities, to create new rules for fitness facilities across the country. It would mandate "that exercise or fitness instruction offered by the exercise or fitness service provider are access...

Ashley Capoot / CNBC : Analysis: roughly two-thirds of 39 public digital health companies have lost value in 2024, while the Nasdaq is up 32%   —  If the Covid era marked a boom time for digital health companies, 2024 was the reckoning.  —  In a year that saw the Nasdaq jump 32%, surpassing 20,000 for the first time this month …

As a change in presidential administrations approaches, President-elect Trump and President Biden both marked the Christmas holiday, with Biden acknowledging that it would be his last time as president to wish the nation a merry Christmas. Trump, who will be sworn in on Jan. 20, exclaimed in a post on Truth Social, "MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!" In another post he shared a photo of himself and his wife Melania — the photo bore the message "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" In a post on the @POTUS presidential X account, Biden said: "For the last time as your president, it's my honor to wish all of America a very Merry Christmas. My hope for our nation, today and always, is that we continue to seek the light of liberty and love, kindness and compassion, dignity and decency. May God bless you all." A post on the @JoeBiden X account that features a photo of the president and first lady Jill Biden reads, "Merry Christmas, everyone!" THE TOP FIVE ABSURD TIPS FROM...

President Biden’s age — and whether he should stay or go — nearly tore Democrats apart this summer. In fact, a decision for the president to bow out earlier — and give other candidates, along with Vice President Kamala Harris, the chance to run for the Oval Office — may have salvaged the election for the party. The divide between old and new and the direction of the party is threatening to drive a wedge through the Democratic coalition. In fact, the race between Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., to serve as the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee represented a microcosm of that skirmish. The 74-year-old Connolly, recovering from esophageal cancer, bested the 35-year-old Ocasio-Cortez for the high-profile spot in the Democratic Caucus recently. The ranking Democrat on that panel will duel daily with Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky. Connolly is also expected to serve as the party’s lead attack dog for looming tangles wit...

The Block : Analysis: Coinbase International saw its total trading volume grow 124% week-over-week to $119B+ this past week; it averaged just $2.5B per day in November 2024   —  - The weekly total is 124% higher than the previous week's total.  — The following is an excerpt from The Block's Data and Insights newsletter.

FIRST ON FOX: A top diplomat of the Chinese Communist Party , who recently replaced a controversial official with deep ties to top New York Democrats, recently touted his relationship with an American university president and former top education official in New Jersey.  Chen Li, who assumed the role of consul general of the People’s Republic of China in New York last month, took to social media last week to praise the "warm hospitality" he received from Kean University President Lamont Repollet. "Absolutely overwhelmed by the warm hospitality from President Repollet. I truly felt at home on this campus," Li wrote on X . "The commitment to bilateral educational exchange and people to people connections is key to the success of Wenzhou-Kean University, a Chinese-American joint institution." Repollet, who served as New Jersey's commissioner of education under Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy for more than two years, was seen smiling in two of the photos ...

Jody Godoy / Reuters : Filing: Apple asks to participate in Google's upcoming US search antitrust trial, saying it can't rely on Google to defend their revenue-sharing agreements   —  Apple (AAPL.O) has asked to participate in Google's upcoming U.S. antitrust trial over online search, saying it cannot rely on Google …

FIRST ON FOX: Two top aides to President-elect Donald Trump are joining a key outside group ahead of his second term, as the organization preps to garner public support for his MAGA agenda.  One of Trump's campaign managers in the 2024 election, Chris LaCivita , along with his campaign's chief pollster Tony Fabrizio are joining 501c4 Building America’s Future (BAF) as senior advisers.  SENATE PASSES BILL TO STOP SHUTDOWN, SENDING IT TO PRESIDENT BIDEN'S DESK "We are pleased to be joining BAF who in the 2024 cycle was a valuable and key ally in promoting President Trump’s agenda and his candidacy," LaCivita and Fabrizio said in a statement. "We look forward to helping guide BAF and their efforts to promote President Trump’s America First agenda so their efforts compliment and augment the President’s team’s efforts."  The two will provide strategic counsel to the group as it looks to energize support for Trump's policy proposals during his presi...

Reuters : Sources: Microsoft is working on adding more internally developed and 3rd-party AI models to power 365 Copilot, to reduce reliance on OpenAI amid cost concerns   —  Microsoft (MSFT.O) has been working on adding internal and third-party artificial intelligence models to power …

The inmates on federal death row whose lives were spared by President Biden after he commuted their sentences have killed victims across all facets of American society, ranging from a sailor to children as young as 8 years old.  Biden announced Monday that he commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 inmates on federal death row to life in prison without the possibility of parole because he is "more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level."  "Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss," Biden added. "In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted."  Among those who have been spared are Jorge Avila-Torrez, a Marine veteran found guilty of killing Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Amanda Snell inside of her barracks in Arlington, V...

Gene Maddaus / Variety : The Animation Guild ratifies a contract with big studios, without AI demands such as letting members opt out of using AI or having AI train on their work   —  The Animation Guild has ratified its contract with the major studios, despite concerns from some about protections against artificial intelligence.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., says he hopes President-elect Trump is successful, and spoke out against those who feel otherwise.  Fetterman appeared Sunday on ABC'S "This Week." His more than 10-minute sit-down segment was pre-recorded with co-anchor Jonathan Karl.  "I'm not rooting against him," the Democratic senator said. "If you're rooting against the president, you are rooting against the nation. And and I'm not ever going to be where I want a president to fail. So, country first. I know that's become maybe like a cliche, but it happens to be true." The senator told Karl he never believed Trump's movement was about fascism, while noting that it was Vice President Kamala Harris' "prerogative" to call Trump a fascist during her campaign. FETTERMAN MEETS WITH TRUMP NOMINEES, PLEDGES 'OPEN-MIND AND AN INFORMED OPINION' FOR CONFIRMATION VOTES "Fascism, that's not a word that regular people use, yo...

Financial Times : Sources: Palantir and Anduril are in talks with OpenAI, SpaceX, and more to form a consortium to bid for US defense contracts and plan to announce it in January   —  Consortium likely to include Elon Musk's SpaceX in move to grab a bigger slice of $850bn US defence budget

Bloomberg : A look at the challenges facing Crunchyroll, as current and ex-staffers say its management is out of touch, amid Disney and Netflix's expansion into anime   —  Disney and Netflix are expanding in the popular Japanese cartoon genre  —  At first glance, Sony Group Corp.'s $1.2 billion acquisition …