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British tech campaigner Imran Ahmed on Friday decried a US visa ban as “punishment” for his organization’s work combating disinformation and holding major online platforms accountable, telling AFP that Washington’s actions amounted to “tyrannical behavior.”Ahmed, a US permanent resident, heads the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a nonprofit watchdog that researches the harmful effects of online disinformation. He was among five European figures whom the State Department recently said would be denied visas.The department accused the group of attempting to “coerce” tech platforms into censoring Americans’ viewpoints, a charge they reject. The European Union and several member states strongly condemned the US sanctions.The US announcement came after the International Fact-Checking Network said last month it was “deeply concerned” by reports the State Department had instructed staff to deny visas to people engaged in fact-checking and content moderation.AFP spoke with Ahmed after he sued President Donald Trump’s administration in a New York court.The interview was edited for length and clarity.QUESTION: How do you interpret the US visa restrictions over “censorship” concerns?ANSWER: This appears to be a punishment for my advocacy and for the research that CCDH does, looking into social media platforms, looking into AI platforms, identifying harms, informing the public, and then urging lawmakers and regulators, both in the US and globally, to take action.Governments are the only entity that can censor people with the threat of overwhelming force. A nonprofit speaking — that’s the opposite of censorship. That’s what the First Amendment is there to protect — our ability to speak, without fear or favor. However, in this instance, it does appear that I’m being punished precisely for my speech, which would be an act of censorship.QUESTION: How do you seek to challenge the visa ban?ANSWER: What we’ve done initially is take up a restraining order against the government to prevent them from taking any action against me, detaining me or arresting me, and that’s important, because previously, when the Trump administration has sought to cancel green cards for legal permanent residents, it has arrested them through ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement). It has sent them hundreds or thousands of miles away from their friends, family and support networks. And we wanted to make sure that did not happen in this instance.The first Trump administration was under no obligation to award me an extraordinary ability visa, and it did. My green card (permanent residency) has been given to me because I’m married to a US citizen and I have American children now, and they have to abide by both the law and the constitution in how they treat me as a legal permanent resident, and that’s precisely why we’ve gone to court.QUESTION: Why has disinformation research emerged as a political lightning rod?ANSWER: We do vital research that shows the potential harms of online platforms, and we know that that puts the noses out of joint for some very powerful people. In the past, we’ve been sued, for example, by Elon Musk, which was unsuccessful for him. And so we expect this kind of scrutiny from big tech. What we didn’t expect was that the combination of big tech and big money means that the government itself is now seeking to punish us for our speech.QUESTION: Musk, who owns the platform X, has praised the US sanctions, saying: “This is so great.” What personal toll have the sanctions taken on you?ANSWER: I think it takes a sick mind to celebrate a father being taken away from their children, or to call it great. Organizations like CCDH have done studies showing that the hate speech after Elon Musk took over that platform soared.That kind of research is vital. It’s a crucial part of American discourse. Advertisers have the right to know where their content is appearing next to and they have a right to take decisions as to where they place their adverts. That is fundamentally the freedom of association.I have two jobs. I have one which is to continue to ensure that the watchdog brief of CCDH continues, and the second job is to make sure that we do not accept governments behaving in this sort of way. This is tyrannical behavior, and we need to ensure that we’re standing up against it.

A staffer at Disney World in Florida was hailed as a hero after he blocked a 400-pound (180-kilogram) rubber boulder that was bouncing toward the audience at an Indiana Jones-themed live show.”Woah! That’s heading right for us!” an audience member can be heard saying on a YouTube video of the incident on Tuesday as the weighty object bounces off its track.The boulder bashes into the staff member who had moved to try to block the prop from bouncing into the audience, knocking him down. Colleagues rush to his aid and quickly get him to his feet, with blood visible on his scalp.Disney confirmed the incident happened during an “Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular.” It said a performer was injured when a prop moved off its track. “We’re focused on supporting our cast member, who is recovering,” a Disney spokesperson said in a statement to AFP on Friday.”Safety is at the heart of what we do, and that element of the show will be modified as our safety team completes a review of what happened,” the spokesperson added. The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular is staged at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. A blog post on the company’s website says the boulder is made of rubber and weighs 400 pounds.The boulder chasing Indiana Jones is an iconic scene from 1981’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark” — the first installment of the popular movie franchise about a daring archaeologist. It starred Harrison Ford and was directed by Steven Spielberg.

A woman has died after a rare suspected mountain lion attack on a hiking trail in Colorado, an incident that would mark the state’s first such fatality in decades if confirmed.Two big cats potentially involved in the suspected New Year’s Day mauling were euthanized, state wildlife officials said.At around 12:15 pm on Thursday, hikers on the Crosier Mountain trail in Larimer County spotted a mountain lion near a person lying on the ground, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) spokeswoman Kara Van Hoose said.”As they started to get closer, they started to scare the lion from the area by throwing rocks at the animal, and it eventually went away,” Van Hoose told reporters. “One of the witnesses is a physician, and did not find a pulse.”Wildlife officials, sheriff’s deputies, park police and volunteer firefighters launched an extensive search — joined in the air by a state biologist who was carrying out an annual deer survey by helicopter.”We also contacted houndsmen to bring in dogs to help track scent from lions, which is a really effective way to find mountain lions,” said Van Hoose.One animal was shot at the scene but died only after fleeing, being rediscovered and shot again. A second lion near the scene was also killed, under state policy requiring any wildlife involved in human attacks to be euthanized to ensure public safety.Mountain lions are highly territorial, making it likely only one was involved in the attack.Pathologists will carry out necropsies on the animals, looking for neurological disease like rabies or signs of human DNA. The county coroner will release the identity of the victim and cause of death. Van Hoose stressed that mountain lion attacks are exceedingly rare, with only 28 reported since 1990 in Colorado, and the last fatality in 1999. Mountain lions are more visible in winter as they follow deer and elk to lower elevations, she added. If lions are spotted, make noise to scare them, hold objects overhead to appear bigger and start backing away from the animal. Colorado is home to roughly 3,800 to 4,400 mountain lions — a figure that excludes kittens. Once considered big game, their population has grown since 1965 as a result of supportive management practices.Mountain lions have the widest geographic range of any native mammal in the Americas apart from humans, stretching from western Canada to Argentina. Previously found across the United States, they are now extinct or endangered in the east, with the western states forming their stronghold.Adults are more than six feet (1.8 meters) long, weighing 130 pounds (60 kilograms) or more, with black-tipped tails. Their staple diet are deer, and they hunt by stealth often pouncing from trees or overhanging rocks.

Tesla’s sales fell in 2025, the company reported Friday, ceding its position as the world’s biggest electric vehicle maker for the year to Chinese auto giant BYD.The American company led by Elon Musk logged 418,227 deliveries in the final three months of the year, taking its full-year sales figure to around 1.64 million EVs.This marked a drop in sales of more than eight percent compared with 2024.A day prior, BYD said that it sold 2.26 million EVs last year.Analysts had expected Tesla’s sales in the final quarter to slow less, to 449,000, according to a FactSet consensus.The pullback comes amid the elimination of a $7,500 US tax credit at the end of September 2025, with industry watchers noting it will take time for EV demand to rebalance.But even before then, Tesla had seen sales struggle in key markets over CEO Musk’s political support of US President Donald Trump and other far-right politicians. Tesla has also been grappling with rising competition from BYD and other Chinese companies, and from European giants.Shenzhen-based BYD, which also produces hybrid cars, unveiled record EV sales in the past year on Thursday.Known as “Biyadi” in Chinese — or by the English slogan “Build Your Dreams” — BYD was founded in 1995 and originally specialized in battery manufacturing.The automotive juggernaut has come to dominate China’s highly competitive market for new energy vehicles, a term used to describe various vehicles from fully electric ones to plug-in hybrids. China is the world’s largest market for new energy vehicles.BYD is now looking to expand its presence overseas, as increasingly price-wary consumption patterns in China weigh on profitability.While BYD and other Chinese EV producers come up against hefty tariffs in the United States, the company’s success is picking up in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and in Europe.Tesla only narrowly beat BYD in annual EV sales in 2024, with US company’s 1.79 million outpacing the latter’s 1.76 million.Tesla shares dipped 0.5 percent in early trading in New York on Friday.Analysts at Wedbush Securities noted that Tesla’s quarterly sales figure remained better than some had speculated.They flagged that the company faces a “more difficult demand environment following the end of the EV tax credit while Europe remains a headwind to its deliveries.”The company still sees challenges obtaining certain regulatory approval in Europe — relating to self-driving tech — with sales potentially rebounding once the regulatory hurdles are cleared.”Sales around smaller and emerging markets have started to see larger growth metrics than expectations which look to offset the declines in key regions like China and Europe,” Wedbush analysts said.

US President Donald Trump on Friday touted his “perfect health” and cognitive skills, one day after publication of an interview in which the 79-year-old defended his fitness for office amid scrutiny over his well-being.”The White House Doctors have just reported that I am in ‘PERFECT HEALTH,’ and that I ‘ACED’ (Meaning, was correct on 100% of the questions asked!), for the third straight time, my Cognitive Examination, something which no other President, or previous Vice President, was willing to take,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.The Wall Street Journal on Thursday published an interview with Trump — who at 79 is the oldest person to assume the US presidency — in which he blamed aspirin for large bruises on his hand and denied falling asleep during televised meetings.Trump also changed his previous statement about receiving an MRI scan in October, saying it was instead a quicker CT scan.Trump has based much of his political image on projecting vigor — whether through his frequent interactions with journalists, constant social media posting, or AI memes depicting him as a superhero.However, the first year of his second term in office has raised growing questions.His right hand shows persistent bruising, often covered with thick makeup and at times a bandage, and his ankles have appeared swollen.On occasion, Trump has clearly struggled to keep his eyes open, including during an Oval Office meeting with health representatives in November.Trump told the Journal that he wasn’t dozing, just relaxing.”I’ll just close. It’s very relaxing to me,” he said. “Sometimes they’ll take a picture of me blinking, blinking, and they’ll catch me with the blink.”In his post on Friday, Trump added that any presidential or vice presidential candidate should be required to take a “strong, meaningful, and proven” cognitive exam.”Our great Country cannot be run by ‘STUPID’ or INCOMPETENT PEOPLE!” he wrote.It was a swipe at his predecessor Joe Biden, the oldest president in US history, who dropped out of the 2024 election after a disastrous debate performance raised concerns about the Democrat’s age and apparent decline.

Danish offshore wind energy firm Orsted said Friday its US joint venture had filed a lawsuit challenging the suspension of the lease for its nearly-completed project off the coast of New England.The US Interior Department on December 22 said it had paused leases for all five of the country’s offshore wind projects under construction, citing unspecified national security risks and casting new doubt over the future of an industry detested by President Donald Trump.Orsted has a 50 percent stake in the Revolution Wind project alongside a renewables infrastructure developer that is part of the BlackRock investment group.The park of 65 turbines off the coast of Rhode Island is 87 percent complete and had been set to go online this year and provide power for more than 350,000 homes, according to Orsted.”While Revolution Wind continues to seek to work constructively with the Administration and other stakeholders towards an expeditious and durable resolution of this matter, it believes that the lease suspension order violates applicable law,” Orsted said in a statement.The Revolution Wind project faces substantial harm from a continuation of the lease suspension order, it said, and noted an earlier suspension of the project by the Trump administration in August was overturned by the courts.”As a result, litigation is a necessary step to protect the rights of the project,” it added.The move by the Interior Department came only  weeks after a judge ruled that a blanket ban on new offshore permits — signed by Trump on his first day in office in January — was illegal.The Interior Department did not specify what the risks were, but it noted that the Department of Energy had also previously identified potential issues related to radar interference.Orsted said that Revolution Wind secured all required federal and state permits in 2023 following extensive reviews that lasted years, which included consultations with the US military.”Those consultations resulted in a fully executed formal agreement between the Department of War, the Department of the Air Force, and Revolution Wind outlining mitigation measures” to be undertaken as part of the project, Orsted said.Trump has long complained that wind turbines ruin views and are expensive. In addition to his order attempting to ban new wind farm permits, Trump’s administration has also moved to block all federal loans for wind energy.

US President Donald Trump blamed aspirin for large bruises on his hand and denied falling asleep while attending public meetings in an interview with The Wall Street Journal published Thursday.In the interview defending his health, Trump also changed his previous statement about receiving an MRI scan in October, saying it was instead a quicker CT scan.Trump, who at 79 is the oldest person to assume the US presidency, told the Journal “my health is perfect” and expressed frustration with scrutiny of his well-being.Trump has based much of his political image on projecting vigor — whether through his frequent interactions with journalists, constant social media posting, or AI memes depicting him as a superhero.However, the first year of his second term in office has raised growing questions.His right hand shows persistent bruising, often covered with thick makeup and at times a bandage, and his ankles have appeared swollen.On occasion, Trump has clearly struggled to keep his eyes open, including during a televised Oval Office meeting with health representatives in November — a politically sensitive issue for someone who constantly frames his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden as “sleepy.”Biden left office a year ago at 82, making him the oldest president in history — a record Trump is set to surpass during his current term.Trump rarely exercises beyond outings at his golf courses and for years has made no secret of his love for high-fat, high-sodium fast food.- Bruising and ‘blinking’ -The Republican explained the bruising on his hand as the result of aspirin that he takes daily to thin his blood. “I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart,” he told the Journal.He said he applies makeup or bandages when his hand is “whacked.”One cut, he said, was caused when his attorney general Pam Bondi hit the back of his hand with her ring while giving him a high-five.Explanations of his health issues have been inconsistent.Trump himself told reporters that he underwent an MRI scan in October, but said at the time he had “no idea what they analyzed.””Whatever they analyzed, they analyzed it well, and they said that I had as good a result as they’ve ever seen,” he said initially.To the Journal, Trump said it was not an MRI, “it was less than that. It was a scan.”Trump’s doctor, Sean Barbabella, confirmed to the newspaper that a CT scan — a procedure that takes far less time than an MRI — was done “to definitively rule out any cardiovascular issues.”Trump pushed back against any idea that he falls asleep in public.”I’ve never been a big sleeper,” Trump said.Instances where he appears to be dozing off are just moments of relaxation, he said.”I’ll just close. It’s very relaxing to me,” he said. “Sometimes they’ll take a picture of me blinking, blinking, and they’ll catch me with the blink.”

Zohran Mamdani promised Thursday to show left-wing politics can succeed as he took over as New York mayor for a term sure to see him cross swords with US President Donald Trump. Thousands of people gathered in freezing conditions in the United States’ largest city to celebrate the 34-year-old Democrat’s inauguration after his impressive political rise from relative anonymity just a year ago. “They want to know if the left can govern. They want to know if the struggles that afflict them can be solved,” Mamdani said outside City Hall.”We will do something that New Yorkers do better than anyone else: we will set an example for the world.”In the 24-minute speech, he added: “Beginning today, we will govern expansively and audaciously.”Mamdani, New York’s first Muslim mayor, emphasized the cost of living issues that were central to his mayoral campaign, pledging to help those “betrayed by the established order.”Left-wing allies Senator Bernie Sanders and congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also spoke in front of some 4,000 ticketed guests.”Thank you for giving us, from coast to coast, the hope and the vision that we can create government that works for all, not just the wealthy and the few,” said Sanders, a former presidential hopeful.At one point during his speech, the crowd broke into chants of “tax the rich.” Mamdani wants to raise taxes on New York’s wealthiest residents.Thousands of people also thronged downtown Manhattan, many wearing yellow and blue beanies emblazoned with “Zohran,” to watch the ceremony on large screens. “This is the first time that either of us in our entire lives has felt some kind of political hope at all,” 31-year-old Jacob Byerly, a scientist, told AFP alongside his wife Auburn. – Ambitious agenda -Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, comes to power at a time when Trump has pushed a hard-right agenda. But it remains to be seen if Mamdani can deliver on his ambitious program, which envisions rent freezes, universal childcare and free public buses.How Trump behaves could be decisive. The Republican, himself a New Yorker, has repeatedly criticized Mamdani, but the pair held surprisingly cordial talks at the White House in November.One flashpoint might be immigration raids as Trump wages an expanding crackdown on migrants across the United States.Mamdani has vowed to protect immigrant communities.Before the November vote, the president also threatened to slash federal funding for New York if it picked Mamdani, whom he called a “communist lunatic.”The mayor has said he believes Trump is a fascist.Mamdani mentioned Trump only once in his speech Thursday while reflecting on the city’s diversity, citing supporters of the president who also backed him in the mayoral vote.- Symbolic inauguration -The inauguration was jam-packed with symbolism. New York Attorney General Letitia James, who successfully prosecuted Trump for fraud, performed a private midnight swearing-in at an abandoned subway station.Mamdani’s office said the understated venue beneath City Hall reflected his commitment to working people.And in a first for the city, he used Korans to be sworn in as mayor.Born in Uganda to a family of Indian origin, Mamdani moved to New York at age seven and enjoyed an elite upbringing with only a relatively brief stint in politics.Compensating for his inexperience, he is surrounding himself with seasoned aides recruited from past mayoral administrations and former US president Joe Biden’s government.Mamdani has also opened dialogue with business leaders, some of whom predicted a massive exodus of wealthy New Yorkers if he won. Real estate leaders have debunked those claims.As a defender of Palestinian rights, he will have to reassure the city’s Jewish community — the largest in the US — of his inclusive leadership.A small group of people holding Israeli flags appeared to protest Mamdani Thursday by blowing air horns during his speech.

Zohran Mamdani, the young star of the US left, started his first day as New York mayor on Thursday for a term sure to see him cross swords with President Donald Trump.The 34-year-old Democrat — virtually unknown a year ago — was officially sworn in as mayor of the largest city in the United States just past midnight as New Yorkers rang in the new year. New York’s first Muslim mayor took the oath of office during a private ceremony at a decommissioned subway stop under City Hall. Later on Thursday, Mamdani is scheduled to take part in a larger, ceremonial inauguration with speeches from left-wing allies Senator Bernie Sanders and congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Around 4,000 ticketed guests are expected to attend the event outside City Hall. Mamdani’s team has also organized a block party that it says will enable tens of thousands of people to watch the ceremony at streetside viewing areas along Broadway.”This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani told reporters after taking the official oath in the first minutes of New Year’s Day. – Ambitious agenda -But it remains to be seen if Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, can deliver on his ambitious agenda, which envisions rent freezes, universal childcare and free public buses.Once an election is over, “symbolism only goes so far with voters. Results begin to matter a whole lot more,” New York University lecturer John Kane said.How Trump behaves could be decisive. The Republican, himself a New Yorker, has repeatedly criticized Mamdani, but the pair held surprisingly cordial talks at the White House in November.Lincoln Mitchell, a political analyst and professor at Columbia University, said the meeting “couldn’t have gone better from Mamdani’s perspective.”But he warned their relationship could quickly sour. One flashpoint might be immigration raids as Trump wages an expanding crackdown on migrants across the United States.Mamdani has vowed to protect immigrant communities.Before the November vote, the president also threatened to slash federal funding for New York if it picked Mamdani, whom he called a “communist lunatic.”The mayor has said he believes Trump is a fascist.- New occupant of mayoral mansion -Mamdani’s private swearing-in to start his four-year term was performed by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who successfully prosecuted Trump for fraud.In a first for the city, Mamdani is using several Korans to be sworn in as mayor — two from his family and one that belonged to Puerto Rico-born Black writer Arturo Schomburg, The New York Times reported.The new job comes with a change of address as he swaps his rent-controlled apartment in the borough of Queens for Gracie Mansion, the luxurious mayor’s residence on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.Some had wondered if he would move to the official mansion given his campaigning on affordability issues. Mamdani said he was doing so mainly for security reasons.Born in Uganda to a family of Indian origin, Mamdani moved to New York at age seven and enjoyed an elite upbringing with only a relatively brief stint in politics, becoming a member of the New York State Assembly before being elected mayor.Compensating for his inexperience, he is surrounding himself with seasoned aides recruited from past mayoral administrations and former US president Joe Biden’s government.Mamdani has also opened dialogue with business leaders, some of whom predicted a massive exodus of wealthy New Yorkers if he won. Real estate leaders have debunked those claims.As a defender of Palestinian rights, he will have to reassure the city’s Jewish community — the largest in the US — of his inclusive leadership. Recently, one of his hires resigned after it was revealed she had posted antisemitic tweets years ago.

Revellers around the world toasted the start of 2026 on Thursday, bidding farewell to a volatile year when temperatures soared, US President Donald Trump upended global trade, and the brutal conflict in Ukraine raged on.While a fragile truce took hold in devastated Gaza, violence in Sudan continued unabated. A new American pope was installed at the Vatican, the world lost pioneering zoologist Jane Goodall, and Labubu dolls sparked a worldwide frenzy.In Sydney, partygoers paused for a minute of silence to remember the victims of the mass shooting on Bondi Beach before fireworks lit up the skies at the stroke of midnight.Heavily armed police patrolled the shoreline, packed with hundreds of thousands of people, barely two weeks after 15 people were gunned down at a Jewish festival in Australia’s deadliest mass shooting for almost 30 years.The famed Sydney Harbour Bridge was bathed in white light to symbolise peace.Pacific nations including Kiribati and New Zealand were the first to see in 2026, with Seoul and Tokyo following Sydney in celebrations that make their way around the globe with each passing hour.In Hong Kong, a major New Year fireworks display was cancelled in homage to 161 people killed in a fire in November that engulfed several apartment blocks.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country was “10 percent” away from a deal to end the fighting with Russia, soon to reach the four-year mark.Russia’s Vladimir Putin meanwhile used his traditional New Year address to urge his compatriots to believe that Moscow would deliver a victory in Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.And Kim Jong Un praised North Korea’s “invincible alliance” with Russia, where Pyongyang has sent troops to assist Moscow.In the Ukrainian city of Vyshgorod, beauty salon manager Daria Lushchyk said the war had made her work “hell” but that her clients were still showing up.”Nothing can stop our Ukrainian girls from coming in and getting themselves glam,” Lushchyk said.- Tariffs and fragile truce -This year has brought a mix of stress and excitement for many, war for others still — and a daring jewel heist at the Louvre.Pop megastar Taylor Swift got engaged to her American football player boyfriend Travis Kelce, and K-pop heartthrobs BTS made their long-awaited return.Trump returned as US president in January, launching a tariff blitz that sent global trade and world stock markets into meltdown.The 79-year-old Republican met with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for five meetings in his first year back in office — and hosted the ally at his lavish Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, at a glittering New Year’s Eve party.After two years of war that left much of the Gaza Strip in ruins, pressure from Trump helped land a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in October — though both sides have accused each other of flagrant violations.”We bid farewell to 2025 with deep sorrow and grief,” said Gaza City resident Shireen Al-Kayali.”We lost a lot of people and our possessions. We lived a difficult and harsh life, displaced from one city to another, under bombardment and in terror.”In contrast, there was optimism despite abiding internal challenges in Syria, where residents of the capital Damascus celebrated a full year since the fall of Bashar al-Assad.”There is no fear, the people are happy, all of Syria is one and united, and God willing… it will be a good year for the people and the wise leadership,” marketing manager Sahar al-Said, 33, told AFP as bells rang in Damascus.In Dubai, thousands queued for up to nine hours for a spectacular fireworks and laser display at the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.Revellers popped champagne near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Bulgaria adopted the euro, and huge crowds danced at Edinburgh’s Hogmanay street party.Crowds packed Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach for what authorities have called the world’s biggest New Year’s Eve party.”A wonderful, unforgettable day,” said partygoer Ayane de Fatima, 30, adding she hoped 2026 would be “free from the bad things happening in the world”.In the US capital, the Washington Monument was lit up as America kicked off its 250th birthday celebration year.And in New York, thousands gathered in freezing temperatures amid tight security for the traditional ball drop in Times Square.Nearby, at an abandoned subway stop near City Hall, Zohran Mamdani — a leftist and persistent thorn in Trump’s side — was sworn in as the city’s first Muslim mayor.- Sports, space and AI -The coming 12 months promise to be full of sports, space and questions over artificial intelligence.Athletes will gather in Italy in February for the Winter Olympics.And for a few weeks in June and July, 48 nations will compete in the biggest football World Cup in history in the United States, Mexico and Canada.NASA is planning a crewed mission to circle the moon during a 10-day flight, more than 50 years since the last Apollo lunar mission.And after years of unbridled enthusiasm, AI is facing scrutiny, and nervous investors are questioning whether the boom might now resemble a market bubble.bur-pbt-cw-sst/ceg/mjw