Nation and world news — at a glance — for January 10

Biden administration spurs new battle with rules governing AI’s global spread

(NYTimes) —The next big fight over offshoring is playing out in Washington, and this time it involves artificial intelligence. The Biden administration, in its final weeks in office, is rushing to issue new regulations to try to ensure that the United States and its close allies have control over how AI develops in the years to come. The rules have touched off an intense fight between tech companies and the government, as well as among administration officials. The regulations, which could be issued as early as Friday, would dictate where American-made chips that are critical for AI could be shipped.

Efforts to cut emissions stalled in 2024 as power demand surged

(NYTimes) — America’s efforts to cut its climate change pollution stalled in 2024, with greenhouse gas emissions dropping just a fraction, 0.2%, compared with the year before, according to estimates published Thursday by the Rhodium Group, a research firm. Despite continued rapid growth in solar and wind power, emissions levels stayed relatively flat last year because demand for electricity surged, which led to a spike in the amount of natural gas burned by power plants. The fact that emissions didn’t decline much means the United States is even further off-track from hitting President Joe Biden’s goal of slashing greenhouse gases 50% below 2005 levels by 2030.

Lebanon chooses president after 2 years of gridlock

(NYTimes) — Lebanon’s fractured Parliament overcame more than two years of gridlock Thursday to select a new president, a critical step toward bringing stability to a country attempting to recover from economic catastrophe and a devastating war. Lawmakers elected Gen. Joseph Aoun, the commander of the Lebanese military, by an overwhelming majority in the second round of voting, with 99 votes in the 128-seat parliament, after he failed to achieve the necessary tally in the initial round. It was a breakthrough in the effort to form a government after more than two years of weak caretaker rule.

House votes to punish court over Gaza case

(NYTimes) — The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed legislation that would impose sanctions on officials at the International Criminal Court, making a frontal assault on the tribunal in a rebuke of its move to charge top Israeli leaders with war crimes for their offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The bill instructs the president to freeze property assets and deny visas to any foreigners who materially or financially contributed to the court’s efforts to “investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute a protected person.” Protected persons are defined as all current and former military and government officials of the United States and allies that have not consented to the court’s jurisdiction, such as Israel.

Court halts hearing on eve of plea by accused 9/11 mastermind

(NYTimes) — A federal appeals court on Thursday temporarily halted a guilty plea hearing for the man accused of masterminding the 9/11 attacks while it considers whether the deal he reached to avoid a death-penalty trial remains valid. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued the order on the eve of a hearing at the U.S. military court at Guantánamo Bay in which a military judge was to question Khalid Sheikh Mohammed about the settlement he reached this summer with military prosecutors. The court will decide, during the next administration, whether Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin successfully withdrew from the settlement. Two lower, military courts ruled that he had acted too late.

France indicts creator of site used by men in rape case

(NYTimes) — The founder of the website used by Dominique Pelicot to invite dozens of men to rape his wife after he’d drugged her was indicted Thursday in France on myriad charges, including some related to that case. If found guilty, he faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to 7.5 million euros. The site’s founder, Isaac Steidl, 44, was released from jail Thursday. The investigating judge’s office said he was placed under “judicial supervision,” had to pay a bail of 100,000 euros and was barred from leaving France. The website he created in 2003, called coco.fr, became notorious in France during the Pelicot trial.

Jimmy Carter remembered in Washington as a ‘practitioner of good works’

(NYTimes) — The nation bade farewell to former President Jimmy Carter on Thursday with a majestic state funeral for a man who saw himself as anything but, remembering a peanut farmer from Georgia who rose to the heights of power and used it to fight for justice, eradicate disease and wage peace, not war. Five living presidents and a broad array of other leaders gathered at Washington National Cathedral to pay tribute to the 39th president, not only for his accomplishments during four years in the nation’s highest office but also for his relentless humanitarian work in the four decades after he left the White House.

Bill to expand deportations of migrants accused of crimes sails ahead in Senate

(NYTimes) —The Senate on Thursday came closer to passing a bill requiring the deportation of immigrants in the country illegally charged with minor crimes after most Democrats joined Republicans to advance it. All but eight Democrats and one independent voted to begin debate on the bill, easily exceeding the 60-vote threshold to avoid a filibuster. The legislation, which passed the House with bipartisan support earlier this week, appears to be on a smooth path to garnering the presidential signature of Donald Trump when he takes office this month. The vote reflected a major shift to the right among Democrats on immigration after their party’s considerable electoral losses in November.

Judge orders release of woman who stabbed friend to please ‘Slender Man’

(NYTimes) — A woman who stabbed her friend 19 times a decade ago to impress a shadowy fictional character named Slender Man when she was 12 will be released from a psychiatric center, a Wisconsin judge ruled Thursday. The woman, Morgan Geyser, 22, requested early release from her 40-year commitment to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute in October. Judge Michael O. Bohren of Waukesha County Circuit Court granted the release Thursday, concluding after a hearing that she no longer posed a threat to herself or others. Geyser will be released on conditions drafted by the state’s Department of Health Services, according to court records.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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