U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) welcomes a crowd during a runoff election night party at Grand Hyatt Hotel in Buckhead on January 6, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) ATLANTA - President-elect Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he will nominate former U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler to serve as the head of the Small Business Administration (SBA) in his upcoming administration. In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump praised Loeffler’s extensive experience in business and government. He emphasized her skills in streamlining operations and fostering growth for small businesses, which he described as 'the backbone of our great economy.' "Kelly will bring her experience in business and Washington to reduce red tape, and unleash opportunity for our Small Businesses to grow, innovate, and thrive," Trump wrote. "She will focus on ensuring that SBA is accountable to Taxpayers by cracking down on waste, fraud, and regulatory overreach." Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp appointed Loeffler to the U.S. Senate in December 2019 after Sen. Johnny Isakson resigned due to health issues. She served until January 2021 but was defeated in a special election by Democrat Raphael Warnock in a January 2021 runoff. Trump commended her work on legislation aimed at protecting women in sports. Prior to her political career, Loeffler spent 25 years in financial services and technology. As Executive Vice President, she contributed to the growth of a company that expanded from 100 employees to over 10,000 and achieved Fortune 500 status. "Kelly was a tremendous fighter in the U.S. Senate," Trump said. "Along with her amazing husband, Jeff, she helped build a Fortune 500 company and played a crucial role in securing my Big Election Win in Georgia." Upon confirmation, Loeffler would oversee the agency tasked with aiding, counseling, assisting, and protecting the interests of small business concerns and helping families and businesses recover from national and other declared disasters. A native of Illinois, Loeffler moved to Georgia in the early 2000s and quickly rose to prominence in the state's business and political scenes. She and her husband, Jeffrey Sprecher, co-own the Atlanta Dream, a WNBA team, and have been active Republican donors. Loeffler is currently a co-chair of Trump's inaugural committee. The Source: The naming of former Sen. Kelly Loeffler was announced by President-elect Donald Trump on his social media platform Truth Social. Details about Loeffler's life and career were compiled using previous reports by FOX 5 Atlanta, the Associated Press, and FOX News.The Twins agreed to contracts with three of their arbitration-eligible players and offered the other eight contracts Friday at the Major League Baseball non-tender deadline. Relief pitchers Brock Stewart, Michael Tonkin and Justin Topa settled on one-year deals. Stewart made $800,000 last season, Tonkin $1.87 million and Topa $1.74 million. Jon Heyman of the MLB Network reported Tonkin will take a cut to $1 million for 2025. The other Twins who were tendered and are eligible for arbitration, with their salaries last season , are third baseman Royce Lewis ($1.925 million); utility player Willi Castro, the team’s MVP ($6.8 million); starting pitcher Bailey Ober ($3.7 million); catcher Ryan Jeffers ($6.1 million); reliever Griffin Jax ($2.81 million); starter Joe Ryan ($3.65 million); outfielder Trevor Larnach ($2.1 million); and closer Jhoan Duran ($1.77 million). The Twins have 37 players on their major league roster, three under the maximum, heading into the Baseball Winter Meetings in December.buckshot roulette lobby 。

The large package of aid includes a significant amount of munitions, including for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems and the Hawk air defence system. It also will provide Stinger missiles and 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds, officials said. The officials, who said they expect the announcement to be made on Monday, spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details not yet made public. The new aid comes as Russia launched a barrage of attacks against Ukraine’s power facilities in recent days, although Ukraine has said it intercepted a significant number of the missiles and drones. Russian and Ukrainian forces are also still in a bitter battle around the Russian border region of Kursk, where Moscow has sent thousands of North Korean troops to help reclaim territory taken by Ukraine. Earlier this month, senior defence officials acknowledged that the US Defence Department may not be able to send all of the remaining 5.6 billion dollars (£4.5 billion) in Pentagon weapons and equipment stocks passed by Congress for Ukraine before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in. Mr Trump has talked about getting some type of negotiated settlement between Ukraine and Russia, and spoken about his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Many US and European leaders are concerned that it might result in a poor deal for Ukraine and they worry that he will not provide Ukraine with all the weapons funding approved by Congress. The aid in the new package is in presidential drawdown authority, which allows the Pentagon to take weapons off the shelves and send them quickly to Ukraine. This latest assistance would reduce the remaining amount to about 4.35 billion dollars (£3.46 billion). Officials have said they hope that an influx of aid will help strengthen Ukraine’s hand, should Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky decide it is time to negotiate. One senior defence official said that while the US will continue to provide weapons to Ukraine until January 20, there may well be funds remaining that will be available for the incoming Trump administration to spend. According to the Pentagon, there is also about 1.2 billion dollars (£0.9 billion) remaining in longer-term funding through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which is used to pay for weapons contracts that would not be delivered for a year or more. Officials have said the administration anticipates releasing all of that money before the end of the calendar year. If the new package is included, the US will have provided more than 64 billion dollars (£50.8 billion) in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022.The Bahamas' legislature was forced to suspend its session on Wednesday after a heated debate about a police corruption scandal escalated, with one opposition lawmaker grabbing the symbolic parliamentary mace and throwing it out the window. Parliament member Shanendon Cartwright, frustrated after Speaker Patricia Deveaux did not let him speak, was seen rushing up where she was seated, grabbing the parliamentary mace, a heavy ceremonial staff, off the bench, and then tossing it out a nearby window. "Get him!" Deveaux then yelled, with the incident recorded on a government broadcast. He, alongside several ally lawmakers, were forced out of the building by police. The move harks back to 1965, when the leader of the opposition threw the mace out of a window in a push for political change, an event that became known as "Black Tuesday." It comes after U.S. federal prosecutors charged several high-ranking Bahamian police officials with facilitating the flow of cocaine into the U.S. in exchange for bribes. Prime Minister Philip Davis said during the session on Wednesday that the police commissioner had resigned, and promised a complete overhaul of the force to weed out corruption. Outside parliament, dozens of protesters gathered, shouting "Police are criminals!" REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you. Read 3 articles and stand to win rewards Spin the wheel now

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Chelsea’s surprise defeat by Fulham meant victory over the Foxes stretched their lead to seven points, with a match in hand, with the halfway point of the campaign fast approaching. But Slot is maintaining his level-headed approach despite the clamour growing around their chances of adding another title to the one won in 2020. Tonight's goalscorers 💪 — Liverpool FC (@LFC) “If you are in this game for a long time like the players and I am then 20 games before the end you don’t look at it as there are so many challenges ahead of you,” he said after Cody Gakpo, Curtis Jones and Mohamed Salah scored to turn around an early deficit following Jordan Ayew’s strike. “Injuries and and a bit of bad luck can happen to any team, it is far too early to be already celebrating – but it is nice for us to be where we are. “I don’t think there was any easy win for us in any of these games; it could have been an easy win against Tottenham but we conceded two and it was then 5-2 – that tells you how difficult it is to win even when you have all your players available. “That is why we have to take it one game at a time. The league table is something of course we are aware of but we always understand how many games there are to go.” Leicester boss Ruud van Nistelrooy felt his side held their own until Salah scored in the 82nd minute. “I think we were in the contest for a result for a long time,” he said. “Three-one was the turning point in the sense the game was done there to get a result. “I think the 60th minute I remember a chanced for Daka to score the equaliser so we were in the game to get a surprising result. “We did well, we did what we could: a good start with the goal but if you speak of a turning point, 3-1 with Salah, the game was done.” Van Nistelrooy left goalkeeper Danny Ward out of the squad after he struggled in the defeat to Wolves and was jeered by his own fans. “The change in goal was one to make and the conversation with Wardy was impressive, the way he was thinking of the team and the club,” added the Dutchman. “I insisted on a conversation and of course it is a private conversation but what I want to share is the person and the professional he is. “I was impressed with that and his willingness for the team and the club to do well. “Really tough what happened for him. We are professionals but human beings as well, when frustration is being directed towards one person that is difficult.”49ers’ Isaac Guerendo gets his shot at lead runner in decimated backfieldAP News Summary at 6:01 p.m. EST

JERUSALEM — A new round of Israeli airstrikes in Yemen on Thursday targeted the Houthi rebel-held capital and multiple ports, while the World Health Organization's director-general said the bombardment occurred nearby as he prepared to board a flight in Sanaa, with a crew member injured. "The air traffic control tower, the departure lounge — just a few meters from where we were — and the runway were damaged," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on social media. He added that he and U.N. colleagues were safe. "We will need to wait for the damage to the airport to be repaired before we can leave," he said, without mentioning the source of the bombardment. U.N. spokesperson Stephanie Tremblay later said the injured person was with the U.N. Humanitarian Air Service. Israel's army later told The Associated Press it wasn't aware that the WHO chief or delegation were at the location in Yemen. People are also reading... Smoke rises Thursday from the area around the International Airport after an airstrike in Sanaa, Yemen. Osamah Abdulrahman, Associated Press The Israeli strikes followed several days of Houthi launches setting off sirens in Israel. The Israeli military said in a statement it attacked infrastructure used by the Iran-backed Houthis at the international airport in Sanaa and ports in Hodeida, Al-Salif and Ras Qantib, along with power stations, claiming they were used to smuggle in Iranian weapons and for the entry of senior Iranian officials. Israel's military added it had "capabilities to strike very far from Israel's territory — precisely, powerfully, and repetitively." The strikes, carried out more than 1,000 miles from Jerusalem, came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "the Houthis, too, will learn what Hamas and Hezbollah and Assad's regime and others learned" as his military has battled those more powerful proxies of Iran. The Houthi-controlled satellite channel al-Masirah reported multiple deaths and showed broken windows, collapsed ceilings and a bloodstained floor and vehicle. Iran's foreign ministry condemned the strikes. The U.S. military also targeted the Houthis in recent days. The U.N. says the targeted ports are important entryways for humanitarian aid for Yemen, the poorest Arab nation that plunged into a civil war in 2014. Over the weekend, 16 people were wounded when a Houthi missile hit a playground in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, while other missiles and drones were shot down. Last week, Israeli jets struck Sanaa and Hodeida, killing nine people, calling it a response to previous Houthi attacks. The Houthis also have been targeting shipping on the Red Sea corridor, calling it solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. The U.N. Security Council has an emergency meeting Monday in response to an Israeli request that it condemn the Houthi attacks and Iran for supplying them weapons. Relatives and friends mourn over the bodies of five Palestinian journalists Thursday who were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah. Abdel Kareem Hana, Associated Press Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts Journalists killed in Gaza Meanwhile, an Israeli strike killed five Palestinian journalists outside a hospital in Gaza overnight, the territory's Health Ministry said. The strike hit a car outside Al-Awda Hospital in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. The journalists worked for local news outlet Al-Quds Today, a television channel affiliated with the Islamic Jihad militant group. Islamic Jihad is a smaller and more extreme ally of Hamas and took part in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack in southern Israel that ignited the war. Israel's military identified four of the men as combat propagandists and said that intelligence, including a list of Islamic Jihad operatives found by soldiers in Gaza, confirmed that all five were affiliated with the group. Associated Press footage showed the incinerated shell of a van, with press markings visible on the back doors. The Committee to Protect Journalists says more than 130 Palestinian reporters have been killed since the start of the war. Israel hasn't allowed foreign reporters to enter Gaza except on military embeds. Israel banned the pan-Arab Al Jazeera network and accuses six of its Gaza reporters of being militants. The Qatar-based broadcaster denies the allegations and accuses Israel of trying to silence its war coverage, which has focused heavily on civilian casualties from Israeli military operations. Mourners cry Thursday while they take the last look at the body of a relative, one of eight Palestinians killed, during their funeral in the West Bank city of Tulkarem. Matias Delacroix, Associated Press Israeli soldier killed Separately, Israel's military said a 35-year-old reserve soldier was killed during fighting in central Gaza. A total of 389 soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the start of the ground operation. The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed across the border, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting about 250. About 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. Israel's air and ground offensive has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry. It says more than half the fatalities are women and children, but doesn't say how many of the dead were fighters. The offensive caused widespread destruction and hunger and drove around 90% of the population of 2.3 million from their homes. Hundreds of thousands are packed into squalid camps along the coast, with little protection from the cold, wet winter. Also Thursday, people mourned eight Palestinians killed by Israeli military operations in and around Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The Israeli military said it opened fire after militants attacked soldiers, and it was aware of uninvolved civilians who were harmed in the raid. Be the first to know

The Berlin government has sliced the city’s arts and culture budget by €130 million (about $135 million), sparking concerns that institutions may be forced to close and imperiling the German capital’s status as an arts hub. The cuts, which represent 12 percent of the sector’s budget, are part of the city’s 2025 spending plan and have been robustly defended by Berlin’s mayor, Kai Wegner, a member of the right-wing Christian Democratic Union. According to the Art Newspaper (TAN), Wegner blamed the cuts on the “green dreams” of the prior, left-wing administration, citing a need for a “change of mentality” and pointing to the city’s “record” €40 billion budget. Bandied about for weeks, the cuts almost certainly place jobs and programs in jeopardy, and the arts community has been vocal about these and other possible negative outcomes, including a tamping-down of experimental or less commercial programming. Emma Enderby, director of the nonprofit KW Institute for Contemporary Art, told TAN that “culture and clubs bring people to Berlin. They don’t come here for the food, they come here for the history and the culture.” Enderby noted that organizations have still not received information regarding the full budget and that it may not be communicated until mid-January. Nevertheless, with such notice, institutions are already making difficult choices. “We are letting certain positions go and closing certain programmatic initiatives, such as one of our mediation programs,” Enderby told TAN. Calling the cuts “short-sighted,” she explained that “in Berlin, culture costs around 2 percent of the overall economy, yet they’re cutting us between around 10 percent and in some cases 50 percent.” “It’s a very bad decision—pennywise and pound foolish in every sense,” Paul Spies, a co-president of the Berlin Museums Association and former director of the Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin, told the publication. “And it’s been done so bluntly and without input from the cultural department. It doesn’t seem that the Senate has listened to the specialists about what is possible and what is not possible.” Along with musuems, artists are expected to be affected by the cuts. “Many initiatives like studio spaces and residences that support them are also being removed or cut,” said Enderby, “which will completely change the attractiveness of coming to Berlin, an increasingly expensive city to live in.”WASHINGTON — Pete Hegseth fought to save his nomination to be Donald Trump’s defense secretary Wednesday as the president-elect considered possible replacements in the face of growing questions about the former Fox News host’s personal conduct and ability to win Senate confirmation. Hegseth met with legislators on Capitol Hill and conducted a radio interview to deny allegations of sexual assault and excessive drinking, insisting he was “not backing down one bit” and that Trump still supports him. The president-elect’s team was looking at alternatives including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Trump remained quiet about Hegseth while issuing a flurry of statements on social media Wednesday about other nominees and his news coverage. Hegseth is the latest nominee-designate to be imperiled by personal baggage after the recent withdrawal of Trump’s initial pick for attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, whose vulnerabilities were well-documented. But Hegseth’s past, including the revelation that he made a settlement payment after being accused of a sexual assault that he denies, was not widely known. Hegseth paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault at a California hotel in 2017 after Hegseth had given a speech at a Republican event. His lawyer said the payment was to head off the threat of a baseless lawsuit. The Trump transition team was increasingly concerned about Hegseth’s path to Senate confirmation and actively looking at potential replacements, a person familiar with the matter said. Three other people said DeSantis, who competed against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, was being discussed as an option if Hegseth’s nomination does not move forward. The people spoke on condition of anonymity. Beyond DeSantis, there have also been discussions about shifting Michael Waltz, who was chosen by Trump for national security adviser, to the Defense Department, according to another person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity. As he made the rounds on Capitol Hill, Hegseth told reporters that he had received a fresh message of support from Trump. He ignored questions about the allegations he faced. Hegseth, accompanied by his wife, held talks in private with GOP senators before shifting to the House to meet with legislators there. While House members have no direct role in the confirmation process, conservatives can hold outsize influence on the debate. Get local news delivered to your inbox!

LPGA, USGA to require players to be assigned female at birth or transition before pubertySM approaches 2025 with cautious optimismAs a Democrat who immersed himself in political news during the presidential campaign, Ziad Aunallah has much in common with many Americans since the election. He's tuned out. “People are mentally exhausted,” said Aunallah, 45, of San Diego. “Everyone knows what is coming and we are just taking some time off.” Television ratings — and now a new poll — clearly illustrate the phenomenon. About two-thirds of American adults say they have recently felt the need to limit media consumption about politics and government because of overload, according to the survey from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Smaller percentages of Americans are limiting their intake of news about overseas conflicts, the economy or climate change, the poll says. Politics stand out. Election news on CNN and MSNBC was taking up too much of Sam Gude's time before the election, said the 47-year-old electrician from Lincoln, Nebraska. “The last thing I want to watch right now is the interregnum,” said Gude, a Democrat and no fan of President-elect Donald Trump . The poll, conducted in early December, found that about 7 in 10 Democrats say they are stepping back from political news. The percentage isn't as high for Republicans, who have reason to celebrate Trump's victory. Still, about 6 in 10 Republicans say they've felt the need to take some time off too, and the share for independents is similar. The differences are far starker for the TV networks that have been consumed by political news. After election night through Dec. 13, the prime-time viewership of MSNBC was an average of 620,000, down 54% from the pre-election audience this year, the Nielsen company said. For the same time comparison, CNN's average of 405,000 viewers was down 45%. At Fox News Channel, a favorite news network for Trump fans, the post-election average of 2.68 million viewers is up 13%, Nielsen said. Since the election, 72% of the people watching one of those three cable networks in the evening were watching Fox News, compared to 53% prior to election day. A post-election slump for fans of the losing candidate is not a new trend for networks that have become heavily identified for a partisan audience. MSNBC had similar issues after Trump was elected in 2016. Same for Fox in 2020, although that was complicated by anger : many of its viewers were outraged then by the network's crucial election night call of Arizona for the Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden , and sought alternatives. MSNBC had its own anger issues after several “Morning Joe” viewers became upset that hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski visited Trump shortly after his victory last month. Yet while the show's ratings are down 35% since Election Day, that's a smaller drop than the network's prime-time ratings. CNN points out that while it has been suffering in the television ratings, its streaming and digital ratings have been consistent. MSNBC can take some solace in history. In previous years, network ratings bounce back when the depression after an election loss lifts. When a new administration takes office, people who oppose it are frequently looking for a gathering place. “I’ll be tuning back in once the clown show starts,” Aunallah said. “You have no choice. Whether or not you want to hear it, it's happening. If you care about your country, you have no choice but to pay attention.” But the ride may not be smooth. MSNBC's slide is steeper than it was in 2016; and there's some question about whether Trump opponents will want to be as engaged as they were during his first term. People are also unplugging from cable television in rates that are only getting more rapid, although MSNBC believes it has bucked this trend eating away at audiences before. Related story: MSNBC might make room for ‘more GOP voices’ as Trump sequel looms The poll indicates that Americans want less talk about politics from public figures in general. After an election season where endorsements from celebrities like Taylor Swift made headlines, the survey found that Americans are more likely to disapprove than approve of celebrities, large companies and professional athletes speaking out about politics. Still, Gude is among those discovering other ways to get news to which he does want to pay attention, including on YouTube. MSNBC is also in the middle of some corporate upheaval that raises questions about potential changes. Parent company Comcast announced last month that the cable network is among some properties that will spin off into a new company, which will give MSNBC new corporate leadership and cut its ties to NBC News. Some of the Americans who have turned away from political news lately also had some advice for getting them engaged again. Gude said, for example, that MSNBC will always have a hard-core audience of Trump haters. But if the network wants to expand its audience, “then you have to talk about issues, and you have to stop talking about Trump.” Kathleen Kendrick, a 36-year-old sales rep from Grand Junction, Colorado, who's a registered independent voter, said she hears plenty of people loudly spouting off about their political opinions on the job. She wants more depth when she watches the news. Much of what she sees is one-sided and shallow, she said. “You get a story but only part of a story,” Kendrick said. “It would be nice if you could get both sides, and more research.” Aunallah, similarly, is looking for more depth and variety. He's not interested “in watching the angry man on the corner yelling at me anymore,” he said. “It's kind of their own fault that I'm not watching,” he said. “I felt they spent all this time talking about the election. They made it so much of their focus that when the main event ends, why would people want to keep watching?” The poll of 1,251 adults was conducted Dec. 5-9, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.

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Watford boss points at failure to be clinical as two points slip awayNEW ORLEANS (AP) — The largest artificial intelligence data center ever built by Facebook’s parent company Meta is coming to northeast Louisiana, the company said Wednesday, bringing hopes that the $10 billion facility will transform an economically neglected corner of the state. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry called it “game-changing” for his state's expanding tech sector, yet some environmental groups have raised concerns over the center's reliance on fossil fuels — and whether the plans for new natural gas power to support it could lead to higher energy bills in the future for Louisiana residents. Meanwhile, Elon Musk's AI startup, xAI, is expanding its existing supercomputer project in Memphis, Tennessee, the city's chamber of commerce said Wednesday. The chamber also said that Nvidia, Dell, and Supermicro Computer will be “establishing operations in Memphis,” without offering further details. Louisiana is among a growing number of states offering tax credits and other incentives to lure big tech firms seeking sites for energy-intensive data centers. The U.S. Commerce Department found that there aren’t enough data centers in the U.S. to meet the rising AI-fueled demand, which is projected to grow by 9% each year through 2030, citing industry reports. Meta anticipates its Louisiana data center will create 500 operational jobs and 5,000 temporary construction jobs, said Kevin Janda, director of data center strategy. At 4 million square feet (370,000 square meters), it will be the company's largest AI data center to date, he added. “We want to make sure we are having a positive impact on the local level,” Janda said. Congressional leaders and local representatives from across the political spectrum heralded the Meta facility as a boon for Richland parish, a rural part of Louisiana with a population of 20,000 historically reliant on agriculture. About one in four residents are considered to live in poverty and the parish has an employment rate below 50%, according to the U.S. census data. Meta plans to invest $200 million into road and water infrastructure improvements for the parish to offset its water usage. The facility is expected to be completed in 2030. Entergy, one of the nation's largest utility providers, is fast-tracking plans to build three natural gas power plants in Louisiana capable of generating 2,262 megawatts for Meta's data center over a 15-year period — nearly one-tenth of Entergy's existing energy capacity across four states. The Louisiana Public Service Commission is weighing Entergy's proposal as some environmental groups have opposed locking the state into more fossil fuel-based energy infrastructure. Meta said it plans to help bring 1,500 megawatts of renewable energy onto the grid in the future. Louisiana residents may ultimately end up with rate increases to pay off the cost of operating these natural gas power plants when Meta's contract with Entergy expires, said Jessica Hendricks, state policy director for the Alliance for Affordable Energy, a Louisiana-based nonprofit advocating for energy consumers. “There’s no reason why residential customers in Louisiana need to pay for a power plant for energy that they’re not going to use," Hendricks said. "And we want to make sure that there’s safeguards in place.” Public service commissioner Foster Campbell, representing northeast Louisiana, said he does not believe the data center will increase rates for Louisiana residents and views it as vital for his region. “It’s going in one of the most needed places in Louisiana and maybe one of the most needed places in the United States of America,” Foster said. “I’m for it 100%.” Environmental groups have also warned of the pollution generated by Musk's AI data center in Memphis. The Southern Environmental Law Center, among others, says the supercomputer could strain the power grid, prompting attention from the Environmental Protection Agency. Eighteen gas turbines currently running at xAI’s south Memphis facility are significant sources of ground-level ozone, better known as smog, the group said. Patrick Anderson, an attorney at the law center, said xAI has operated with “a stunning lack of transparency” in developing its South Memphis facility, which is located near predominantly Black neighborhoods that have long dealt with pollution and health risks from factories and other industrial sites. “Memphians deserve to know how xAI will affect them,” he said, “and should have a seat at the table when these decisions are being made.” Sainz reported from Memphis, Tennessee. Associated Press writer Matt O’Brien in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed to this report. Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Brook on the social platform X: @jack_brook96