Judge to rule on Diddy bail hearing MondayMegan Thee Stallion 's go-to producer, LilJuMadeDaBeat , appears to have an issue with Spotify and everyone's love for the streaming platform. As the platform unveiled its highly anticipated year-end stats on Wednesday (Dec. 4), LilJu took to social media to express his frustration with the streaming giant’s payout practices. “I hate that y’all actually use Spotify instead of literally ANY other streaming service. They pay us the least,” he wrote on X. Before the producer, the late Nipsey Hussle advised artists to promote the one-time Jay-Z -owned Tidal streaming platform to fans as the streaming service paid the most out of the others in royalties. Spotify’s year-end data dominated conversations, revealing its most-streamed global artists of 2024. Apple Music and Spotify have been trending, with Drake filing a lawsuit against Universal Music Group over "Not Like Us." While Drake shined on Spotify, Kendrick Lamar seized the upper hand on Apple Music. A part of the iconic beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar, “Not Like Us” emerged as the platform’s most-played song worldwide for 2024. Before his beef with Kendrick, Drake and Megan Thee Stallion exchanged disses, with LilJuMadeDaBeat being mentioned. Read more: TWICE & Megan Thee Stallion Have A New Video On The Way The spotlight on “Not Like Us” intensified in recent weeks following a legal dispute between Drake and Universal Music Group (UMG). At the center of the controversy, Drake accused UMG of artificially inflating the track’s popularity through streaming bots and payola. He also alleged defamation, claiming the company knowingly released a song accusing him of being a pedophile. UMG, which oversees both Drake’s label Republic and Kendrick’s home at Interscope, has not publicly addressed the allegations. Since Drake’s legal filings on Nov. 25, “Not Like Us” has seen a surge in popularity. According to Talk of the Charts , sales of the track skyrocketed by 440%, with streaming numbers rising by 20%. The diss song has also climbed 16 spots on Spotify’s Global chart, cementing its place as one of the year’s most polarizing and talked-about releases.
Former President at the age of 100. The 39th president of the United States was a Georgia peanut farmer who sought to restore trust in government when he assumed the presidency in 1977 and then built a reputation for tireless work as a humanitarian. He earned a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. Carter died Sunday, coming up on two years after entering hospice care, at his home in Plains, Georgia. At age 52, Carter was sworn in as president on Jan. 20, 1977, after defeating President Gerald R. Ford in the 1976 general election. Carter left office on Jan. 20, 1981, following his 1980 general election loss to Ronald Reagan. Here's the latest: Carter's state funeral will be Jan. 9 President Joe Biden has scheduled a state funeral in Washington for former President Jimmy Carter on Jan. 9. Biden also declared Jan. 9 as a National Day of Mourning across the U.S. Carter, the longest-lived former president, died Sunday at his home in Plains, Georgia. He was 100. Biden also ordered U.S. flags to fly at half-staff for 30 days from Sunday. Guterres' remembrance focuses on Carter's contributions to peace United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Sunday praised Carter for his significant contributions to international peace through the Camp David Accords, the SALT II Treaty and the Panama Canal treaties. “President Carter’s commitment to international peace and human rights also found full expression after he left the presidency,” Guterres said in a statement. "He played a key role in conflict mediation, election monitoring, the promotion of democracy, and disease prevention and eradication. These and other efforts earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 and helped advance the work of the United Nations. “President Carter will be remembered for his solidarity with the vulnerable, his abiding grace, and his unrelenting faith in the common good and our common humanity,” Guterres said. Reflections from King Charles III King Charles III joined leaders from around the world in issuing their condolences and sharing their reflections on the former president. “It was with great sadness that I learned of the death of former President Carter," the king said in a public statement. “He was a committed public servant, and devoted his life to promoting peace and human rights. His dedication and humility served as an inspiration to many, and I remember with great fondness his visit to the United Kingdom in 1977." Biden remembers Carter for his decency President Joe Biden broke from his family vacation in the U.S. Virgin Islands to remember Carter, recalling his predecessor as a role model and friend. America and the world lost a “remarkable leader” with Carter’s death, Biden said, adding that he had spoken to several of the former president's children and was working with them to formalize memorial arrangements in Washington. Speaking for roughly 10 minutes, Biden remembered Carter as a humanitarian and statesman, someone he couldn't imagine walking past a person in need without trying to help them. He represented “the most fundamental human values we can never let slip away,” Biden said. The president repeatedly praised Carter's “simple decency” and his values, saying some will see him as a man of honesty and humility from a bygone era. “I don’t believe it’s a bygone era. I see a man not only of our time, but for all times,” Biden said. “To know his core, you need to know he never stopped being a Sunday school teacher at that Baptist church in Plains, Georgia.” Egyptian president notes historic Camp David Accords Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said on X that Carter's significant role in achieving the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel "will remain etched in the annals of history.” He went on to say Carter's “humanitarian work exemplifies a lofty standard of love, peace, and brotherhood.” Carter will be remembered as “one of the world’s most prominent leaders in service to humanity,” el-Sissi said. Biden to speak on Carter's death President Joe Biden will speak about Carter Sunday evening. The president will make his address from a hotel in St. Croix, from the U.S. Virgin Islands, where he is on a holiday vacation with his family. Carter’s relationship with his wife Rosalynn spanned a near-lifetime Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter had one of the and political partnerships in U.S. presidential history. The former president sometimes called his wife, who died Nov. 19. 2023, “Rosie,” which is a good way to remember how her name actually is pronounced. It is “ROSE-uh-lyn,” not, repeat NOT, “RAHZ-uh-lyn.” They were married more than 77 years but their relationship went back even further. Jimmy’s mother, “Miss Lillian,” delivered Eleanor Rosalynn Smith at the Smith home in Plains on Aug. 18, 1927. The nurse brought her eldest child back a few days later to visit, meaning the longest-married presidential couple met as preschooler and newborn. She became his trusted campaign aide and White House adviser, surprising Washington by sitting in on Cabinet meetings. Then they traveled the world together as co-founders of The Carter Center. Most of the nation saw the former president for the last time at Rosalynn Carter’s funeral. Grandson Jason Carter says Plains kept his grandparents humble Jason Carter is now the chairman of The Carter Center’s board of governors. He said his grandparents “never changed who they were” even after reaching the White House and becoming global humanitarians. He says their four years in Washington were just one period of and that the center his grandparents founded in Atlanta is a lasting “extension of their belief in human rights as a fundamental global force.” Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter traveled the world advocating for democracy and fighting disease, but Jason Carter said they weren’t motivated by pity, or arrogance that a former American president had all the answers — they ventured to remote places because they could “recognize these people.” They too were from “a 600-person village” and understood that even the poorest people “have the power ... the ability ... the knowledge and the expertise to change their own community.” President Biden mourns his predecessor As reaction poured in from around the world, President Joe Biden mourned Carter’s death, saying the world lost an “extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian” and he lost a dear friend. Biden cited Carter’s compassion and moral clarity, his work to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless and advocacy for the disadvantaged as an example for others. Biden said he is ordering a state funeral for Carter in Washington. Pelosi says Carter’s life ‘was saintly’ in devotion to peace Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is remembering Carter as a man steeped “in devotion to public service and peace.” The California Democrat said in a statement Sunday that Carter was committed to “honoring the spark of divinity within every person,” something she said manifested in “teaching Sunday school in his beloved Marantha Baptist Church, brokering the landmark Camp David Accords to pave the way to peace or building homes with Habitat for Humanity.” Pelosi also said Carter led “perhaps the most impactful post-presidency in history.” Historical praise from the United Kingdom British Prime Minister Keir Starmer noted in a post on X the special contribution Carter made by brokering the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt and through his work with the Carter Center. “Motivated by his strong faith and values, President Carter redefined the post-presidency with a remarkable commitment to social justice and human rights at home and abroad,” Starmer said. Commemoration in New York City To commemorate Carter’s death, officials with the Empire State Building said in a post on social media that the iconic New York City landmark would be lit in red, white and blue on Sunday night, “to honor the life and legacy” of the late former president. The Obamas recall Carter's Sunday services In a statement issued Sunday, former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama said Carter’s beloved Maranatha Baptist Church “will be a little quieter on Sunday,s” but added that the late former president “will never be far away -- buried alongside Rosalynn next to a willow tree down the road, his memory calling all of us to heed our better angels.” Noting the “hundreds of tourists from around the world crammed into the pews” to see the former president teach Sunday school, as he did “for most of his adult life,” the Obamas listed Carter’s accomplishments as president. But they made special note of the Sunday school lessons, saying they were catalysts for people making a pilgrimage to the church. “Many people in that church on Sunday morning were there, at least in part, because of something more fundamental: President Carter’s decency.” A somber announcement The died Sunday, more than a year after entering , at his home in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, who , spent most of their lives. “Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia,” The Carter Center said in posting about his death on the social media platform X. It added in a statement that he died peacefully, surrounded by his family. A Southerner and a man of faith In his 1975 book “Why Not The Best,” Carter said of himself: “I am a Southerner and an American, I am a farmer, an engineer, a father and husband, a Christian, a politician and former governor, a planner, a businessman, a nuclear physicist, a naval officer, a canoeist, and among other things a lover of Bob Dylan’s songs and Dylan Thomas’s poetry.” A moderate Democrat, as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad smile, outspoken Baptist mores and technocratic plans reflecting his education as an engineer. After he left office and returned home to his tiny hometown of Plains in southwest Georgia, Carter regularly at Maranatha Baptist Church until his mobility declined. Those sessions drew visitors from around the world. Former Vice President Gore remembers Carter for life "of purpose” Former Vice President praised Jimmy Carter for living “a life full of purpose, commitment and kindness” and for being a “lifelong role model for the entire environmental movement.” Carter, who left the White House in 1981 after a landslide defeat to Ronald Reagan. concentrated on conflict resolution, defending democracy and fighting disease in the developing world. Gore, who lost the 2000 presidential election to George W. Bush, remains a leading advocate for action to fight climate change. Both won Nobel Peace Prizes. Gore said that “it is a testament to his unyielding determination to help build a more just and peaceful world” that Carter is often “remembered equally for the work he did as President as he is for his leadership over the 42 years after he left office.” During Gore’s time in the White House, President Bill Clinton had an uneasy relationship with Carter. But Gore said he is “grateful” for “many years of friendship and collaboration” with Carter. The Clintons react to Jimmy Carter's death Former President former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, remember Carter as a man who lived to serve others. “Hillary and I mourn the passing of President Jimmy Carter and give thanks for his long, good life. Guided by his faith, President Carter lived to serve others — until the very end." The statement recalled Carter's many achievements and priorities, including efforts “to protect our natural resources in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, make energy conservation a national priority, return the Panama Canal to Panama, and secure peace between Egypt and Israel at Camp David." After he left office, the Clinton statement said, Carter continued efforts in "supporting honest elections, advancing peace, combating disease, and promoting democracy; to his and Rosalynn’s devotion and hard work at Habitat for Humanity — he worked tirelessly for a better, fairer world,” the statement said.Drought, fires and deforestation battered Amazon rainforest in 2024Chimezie's late layup lifts Boston University past Maine 59-56None
Spring Valley Wind, a wind farm in Eastern Nevada, was built on federal land near Great Basin National Park.. David Becker/ZUMA Wire This story was originally published b y High Country News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration . In 2021, President Joe Biden signed an executive order on the climate crisis that, among other things, directed the secretary of the Interior to review the potential for clean energy on public lands. Later that year, he set aggressive national targets on green energy: 80% renewable energy generation by 2030 and 100% carbon-free electricity by 2035. Then came the passage of the historic Inflation Reduction Act, which showered the clean energy industry with federal incentives and encouraged private investors to cash in on its explosive growth. Since Biden’s inauguration, his administration has approved a steady stream of solar, geothermal, and transmission projects across the West. In April, the Interior Department announced that it had permitted more than 29 gigawatts of renewable energy on public lands —an amount nearly equivalent to the total capacity of Washington or Arizona. In the following months, it released a suite of new agency rules and a regional plan aimed at boosting regulatory certainty for clean energy development for years to come. “2024 felt like the year where all the pieces finally came together,” said Rachael Hamby, policy director for the Center for Western Priorities, a nonprofit that advocates for clean energy and conservation in the West. “A lot of that groundwork has been laid over the past four years, and we’re seeing the culmination of all of that progress.” But former President Donald Trump’s win in November casts a cloud of doubt over the future of those changes. It’s unclear how the incoming administration will treat existing permits and policies favorable to clean energy. Some experts, however, wager that some of this year’s developments—particularly those that benefit the energy industry at large—could survive; they were, in fact, carefully built to last. Here are a few of this year’s major developments in public-land clean energy, along with some thoughts on how they might fare in the next four years: The Western Solar Plan designated more than 31 million acres of public land for potential utility-scale solar development. In August, the Bureau of Land Management published the final version of a West-wide plan that opens large swaths of federal land to industrial-scale solar permits while protecting the rest for its cultural or ecological significance. Environmental groups had hoped the BLM would keep the map more limited to protect natural landscapes; after all, meeting the nation’s climate goals requires only 1 million acres of public land . The final version, however, opened roughly four times as much land as environmental groups recommended, including part of the proposed Bahsahwahbee National Monument in Nevada. By opening up such a large area, the administration seemed to favor industry, which will benefit from greater flexibility for siting projects. John Leshy, a professor at UC Law San Francisco and former general counsel for Interior during the Clinton years, said the plan reflects a careful balance between stakeholder groups, adding that Trump’s pick for Interior secretary, North Dakota’s Republican Gov. Doug Burgum, may choose to keep the plan intact. (Burgum pledged an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy for his home state, which receives a third of its energy from wind power, and he may well do the same at the national level.) Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director for the Center for Biological Diversity, believes that Biden’s plan is the opposite of balanced; he said it exposes far too much of the nation’s natural resources to development. Still, he said, in some regions it was an improvement on the previous permitting framework, which focused primarily on southern Nevada. In any case, he added, “That plan is not going to last. It’ll be gone by summer; that’s my prediction.” New transmission lines are set to unlock massive energy expansion in the West. In 2024, the BLM advanced three major transmission lines in Nevada, including Greenlink North , which cuts horizontally across the center of the state; Greenlink West , which runs along its diagonal southern edge; and the Cross-Tie transmission line , which connects substations in Nevada and Utah. Together with the Western Solar Plan, these transmission lines boost the likelihood that Nevada’s public lands will host numerous utility-scale solar projects, a stark reality that has alarmed local leadership . Transmission lines are critical for the clean energy industry because they allow providers to allocate power more efficiently across regions. In practice, however, these lines frequently transfer both clean energy and fossil fuel-derived power, making them appealing to both sectors of the industry. This year, the Biden administration also sped up permitting times for transmission projects, possibly paving the way for even more construction in the future. Clean energy manufacturing relies on a steady supply of critical minerals. After decades of growing reliance on other countries, bringing clean energy supply chains back to the United States—thereby increasing the nation’s energy independence—was a central pillar of the Biden administration’s climate goals. In 2024, the Interior Department pushed ahead on several major critical mineral projects, including a lithium mine and processing facility in Nevada, a gold and antimony mine in Idaho , and a zinc and manganese mine in Arizona . Some mines, however, come at a great cost to ecosystems and tribal cultural sites: According to members of the Western Shoshone and environmental groups, the Nevada lithium mine would destroy a fifth of the critical habitat designated for an endangered wildflower, the Tiehm’s buckwheat, and also harm the Cave Spring sacred site. Next year, the Trump administration is expected to slash funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, reducing financial incentives for domestic mining projects. However, securing critical minerals—which are key to military and technology equipment as well as to clean energy—will likely remain a priority throughout his term. This year, the Interior Department finalized three major policies: lowering rent and lease fees for renewable energy projects on public lands; raising related fees for oil and gas projects; and elevating conservation to become a key consideration for the Bureau of Land Management, alongside food, energy, recreation and other uses. Together, these changes aim to support renewable energy development on public lands by reducing required payments and providing options to mitigate environmental harm. These rules took a tremendous amount of time and effort to put into place, said Hamby, of the Center for Western Priorities, and that was by design: It means that if the next administration wants to unravel them, it will have to follow the same comprehensive, multi-year procedure it took to create them. The US Congress or new agency leadership could still undo each rule, but given that they reflect both industry and community priorities, they retain some broad appeal. Hamby also pointed to the sheer amount of private investment and market transformation over the past four years, which the new rules only accelerated. “The effect of a lot of this has been to generate momentum for the clean energy transition in the US,” she said. “That is going to be hard to put the brakes on.TTM Technologies, Inc. Introduces Innovative Radio Frequency Components for Telecom Band n104 to Enhance 5.5G Applications
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This is the first task for Ferguson as boss expects honest communicationFormer US president Jimmy Carter dies aged 100
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