U.S. and world news for Dec. 11 - Westfair Communications

Time’s Person of the Year is actually AI tech company executives. CNN photo

Time picked a rough day to announce its ‘Person of the Year’

New York (CNN) — Time has announced that the “architects of AI” are its Person of the Year. Certainly, AI is wrapping up an extraordinary year, and many AI business executives have become household names. But Time’s big annual event came on a lousy day for the industry. Oracle (ORCL) shares are plummeting more than 12% in premarket trading after the cloud computing giant reported massive AI-related expenses and a worse-than-expected outlook. That dragged the broader market lower, and just about every AI stock was set to sink Thursday. Oracle’s stock has fallen by more than a third over the past sveral months after growing at a historic tear earlier in this year for its artificial intelligence prowess. Worried investors fear that the AI spending boom may be due for a reality check. Oracle said its spending on AI will require a whopping $15 billion more than expected and it spent $10 billion during the most recent quarter. Investors are also concerned about its more than $100 billion in debt. Chip makers Nvidia and AMD, as well as tech conglomerates Microsoft and Meta all fell Thursday. Coreweave (CRWV), an AI cloud computing startup, is down nearly 5%. One bad day aside, however, AI is obviously having a stellar year. Also announced Thursday morning: Disney took a $1 billion stake in OpenAI and will license some of its most popular characters for use in its AI video generation tool, Sora.

Ukraine’s gloves are off in its energy war with Russia

(CNN) — Ukraine said Thursday its long-range drones had struck a major offshore oil platform in the Caspian Sea this week, in a previously undisclosed mission that signals a new expansion of its target list in a mounting campaign to cut off the Russian energy revenues funding its war. “This is Ukraine’s first strike on Russian infrastructure related to oil production in the Caspian Sea,” a source with the Security Service of Ukraine told CNN, calling it “another reminder to Russia that all its enterprises working for the war are legitimate targets.” The Filanovsky oil platform, owned by Lukoil, claims to be the largest oil field in the Russian sector of the Caspian. CNN has reached out to Lukoil and the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment. Ukraine’s deep strike campaign against Russian energy facilities began in earnest in early 2024, but since the beginning of August, Kyiv has escalated this effort, doubling down on what Ukraine’s sanctions commissioner Vladyslav Vlasiuk calls “long-range sanctions” targeting Russia’s biggest financial lifeline. Ukraine is now hitting an increasingly broad range of targets including not just refineries but oil and gas export infrastructure, pipelines, tankers, and now offshore drilling infrastructure. November saw the highest number of attacks yet in a single month, according to data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED) project, and CNN’s analysis.

‘Trump Gold Card’ launches; offers quick immigration pathway for $1 million

(CNN) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday officially launched his “gold card” visa, a new immigration pathway that will allow foreigners to pay $1 million to expedite their visa application, or have companies pay $2 million to sponsor a foreign worker they want to bring into the US. “Very excitingly, for me and for the country, we’ve just launched the ‘Trump Gold Card,’” the president said at a White House roundtable event. The visa website, trumpcard.gov, launched Wednesday afternoon and includes a link of the official application, promising “U.S. residency in record time.” “For a $15,000 DHS processing fee and, after background approval, a contribution of $1 million, receive U.S. residency in record time with the Trump Gold Card,” the official website reads. In an interview with Fox News on Thursday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the program will ensure “these are the best people coming in; they’re economically capable of driving our economy.”

What Trump’s latest dramatic Venezuela move means

(CNN) — The Trump administration’s seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela is one of the most dramatic twists yet in a military pressure campaign against Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro. The boarding of a foreign ship is an unusual step and expands a US operation already highlighted by strikes against more than 20 boats in the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean that the administration claims carried drug traffickers. Early reports suggest the swoop by US Coast Guard personnel, with the backing of the Navy and law enforcement agencies, poses fewer legal and constitutional concerns than the campaign against the boats and Trump’s imminent threats of military action on Venezuelan soil. The vessel, the Skipper, was seized in international waters and was carrying Venezuelan crude, a senior US official said. A federal judge had previously issued a warrant for its seizure because of alleged links to Iran-backed terror groups. Still, Trump’s relish in announcing the take-over of the ship and Attorney General Pam Bondi’s release of a video showing US personnel rappelling onto its decks from a helicopter underscore the political significance of the moment.