WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump offered a public show of support Friday for Pete Hegseth, his choice to lead the Defense Department, whose confirmation by the Senate is in doubt as he faces questions over allegations of excessive drinking, sexual assault and his views on women in combat roles. Hegseth, a former Fox News host, Army National Guard major and combat veteran, spent much of the week on Capitol Hill trying to salvage his Cabinet nomination and privately reassure Republican senators that he is fit to lead Trump's Pentagon. "Pete Hegseth is doing very well," Trump posted on his social media site. "He will be a fantastic, high energy, Secretary of Defense." The president added that "Pete is a WINNER, and there is nothing that can be done to change that!!!" The nomination battle is emerging not only as a debate about the best person to lead the Pentagon, but an inflection point for a MAGA movement that appears to be relishing a public fight over its hard-line push for a more masculine military and an end to the "woke-ism" of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be defense secretary, responds to reporters during a meeting with Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Military leaders are rattled by a list of “woke” senior officers that a conservative group urged Pete Hegseth to dismiss for promoting diversity in the ranks if he is confirmed to lead the Pentagon. The list compiled by the American Accountability Foundation includes 20 general officers or senior admirals and a disproportionate number of female officers. It has had a chilling effect on the Pentagon’s often frank discussions as leaders try to figure out how to address the potential firings and diversity issues under Trump. Those on the list in many cases seem to be targeted for public comments they made either in interviews or at events on diversity, and in some cases for retweeting posts that promote diversity. Tom Jones, a former aide to Republican senators who leads the foundation, said Friday those on the list are “pretty egregious” advocates for diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, policies, which he called problematic. “The nominee has been pretty clear that that has no place in the military,” Jones said of Hegseth. Hegseth embraced Trump’s effort to end programs that promote diversity in the ranks and fire those who reflect those values. Other Trump picks, like Kash Patel for FBI director, have suggested targeting those in government who are not aligned with Trump. Trump's allies forcefully rallied around Hegseth — the Heritage Foundation's political arm promised to spend $1 million to shore up his nomination — as he vows to stay in the fight, as long as the president-elect wants him to. Vice President-elect JD Vance offers a public show of support for Pete Hegseth, the embattled choice to lead the Defense Department. "We're not abandoning this nomination," Vance told reporters during a tour of western North Carolina. "We're not abandoning this nomination," Vice-President-elect JD Vance said as he toured post-hurricane North Carolina. He said he spoke with GOP senators and believes Hegseth will be confirmed. The effort became a test of Trump's clout and of how far loyalty for the president-elect goes with Republican senators who have concerns about his nominees. Two of Trump's other choices stepped aside as they faced intense scrutiny: former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., his first choice for attorney general, and Chad Chronister, a Florida sheriff who was Trump's first choice to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration. Thanking the president-elect for the support, Hegseth posted on social media, "Like you, we will never back down." Hegseth faces resistance from senators as reports emerged about his past, including the revelation that he made a settlement payment after being accused of a sexual assault that he denies. He promised not to drink on the job and told lawmakers he never engaged in sexual misconduct, even as his professional views on female troops came under intensifying scrutiny. He said as recently as last month that women "straight up" should not serve in combat. He picked up one important endorsement from Republican Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama, whose support was seen as a potentially powerful counterweight to the cooler reception Hegseth received from Sen. Joni Ernst, a former Army National Guard lieutenant colonel. Ernst, who is also a sexual assault survivor, stopped short of an endorsement after meeting with Hegseth this week. On Friday, Ernst posted on X that she would meet with him again next week. “At a minimum, we agree that he deserves the opportunity to lay out his vision for our warfighters at a fair hearing,” she wrote. On Friday, Trump put out the statement in response to coverage saying he lost faith in Hegseth, according to a person familiar with his thinking who was not authorized to discuss it publicly. The president-elect and his team were pleased to see Hegseth putting up a fight and his performance this week reiterates why he was chosen, the person said. They believe he can still be confirmed. Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be defense secretary, left, joined by his wife Jennifer Rauchet, attends a meeting with Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) If Hegseth goes down, Trump's team believes the defeat would empower others to spread what they cast as "vicious lies" against every candidate Trump chooses. Still, Trump's transition team is looking at potential replacements, including former presidential rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis plans to attend the Dec. 14 Army-Navy football game with Trump, according to a person familiar with the Florida governor's plans who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. DeSantis and Trump spoke about the defense secretary post Tuesday at a memorial service for sheriff deputies in West Palm Beach, Fla., according to people familiar with the matter who said Trump was interested in DeSantis for the post, and the governor was receptive. DeSantis is poised to select a replacement for the expected Senate vacancy to be created by Marco Rubio becoming secretary of state, and Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump is seen as the preferred choice by those in Trump's orbit. Among President-elect Donald Trump's picks are Susie Wiles for chief of staff, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state, former Democratic House member Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general. Susie Wiles, 67, was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager. Trump named Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to be secretary of state, making a former sharp critic his choice to be the new administration's top diplomat. Rubio, 53, is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump's running mate on the Republican ticket last summer. Rubio is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” Trump said of Rubio in a statement. The announcement punctuates the hard pivot Rubio has made with Trump, whom the senator called a “con man" during his unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. Their relationship improved dramatically while Trump was in the White House. And as Trump campaigned for the presidency a third time, Rubio cheered his proposals. For instance, Rubio, who more than a decade ago helped craft immigration legislation that included a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally, now supports Trump's plan to use the U.S. military for mass deportations. Pete Hegseth, 44, is a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor with the network since 2014, where he developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show. Hegseth lacks senior military or national security experience. If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job during a series of global crises — ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea. Hegseth is also the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” published earlier this year. Trump tapped Pam Bondi, 59, to be attorney general after U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration. She was Florida's first female attorney general, serving between 2011 and 2019. She also was on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020. Considered a loyalist, she served as part of a Trump-allied outside group that helped lay the groundwork for his future administration called the America First Policy Institute. Bondi was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his hush money criminal trial in New York that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts. A fierce defender of Trump, she also frequently appears on Fox News and has been a critic of the criminal cases against him. Trump picked South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a well-known conservative who faced sharp criticism for telling a story in her memoir about shooting a rambunctious dog, to lead an agency crucial to the president-elect’s hardline immigration agenda. Noem used her two terms leading a tiny state to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics. South Dakota is usually a political afterthought. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem did not order restrictions that other states had issued and instead declared her state “open for business.” Trump held a fireworks rally at Mount Rushmore in July 2020 in one of the first large gatherings of the pandemic. She takes over a department with a sprawling mission. In addition to key immigration agencies, the Department of Homeland Security oversees natural disaster response, the U.S. Secret Service, and Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports. The governor of North Dakota, who was once little-known outside his state, Burgum is a former Republican presidential primary contender who endorsed Trump, and spent months traveling to drum up support for him, after dropping out of the race. Burgum was a serious contender to be Trump’s vice presidential choice this summer. The two-term governor was seen as a possible pick because of his executive experience and business savvy. Burgum also has close ties to deep-pocketed energy industry CEOs. Trump made the announcement about Burgum joining his incoming administration while addressing a gala at his Mar-a-Lago club, and said a formal statement would be coming the following day. In comments to reporters before Trump took the stage, Burgum said that, in recent years, the power grid is deteriorating in many parts of the country, which he said could raise national security concerns but also drive up prices enough to increase inflation. “There's just a sense of urgency, and a sense of understanding in the Trump administration,” Burgum said. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ran for president as a Democrat, than as an independent, and then endorsed Trump . He's the son of Democratic icon Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated during his own presidential campaign. The nomination of Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services alarmed people who are concerned about his record of spreading unfounded fears about vaccines . For example, he has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism. Scott Bessent, 62, is a former George Soros money manager and an advocate for deficit reduction. He's the founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management, after having worked on-and-off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the nation’s first openly gay treasury secretary. He told Bloomberg in August that he decided to join Trump’s campaign in part to attack the mounting U.S. national debt. That would include slashing government programs and other spending. “This election cycle is the last chance for the U.S. to grow our way out of this mountain of debt without becoming a sort of European-style socialist democracy,” he said then. Oregon Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer narrowly lost her reelection bid this month, but received strong backing from union members in her district. As a potential labor secretary, she would oversee the Labor Department’s workforce, its budget and put forth priorities that impact workers’ wages, health and safety, ability to unionize, and employer’s rights to fire employers, among other responsibilities. Chavez-DeRemer is one of few House Republicans to endorse the “Protecting the Right to Organize” or PRO Act would allow more workers to conduct organizing campaigns and would add penalties for companies that violate workers’ rights. The act would also weaken “right-to-work” laws that allow employees in more than half the states to avoid participating in or paying dues to unions that represent workers at their places of employment. Scott Turner is a former NFL player and White House aide. He ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump’s first term in office. Trump, in a statement, credited Turner, the highest-ranking Black person he’s yet selected for his administration, with “helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.” Sean Duffy is a former House member from Wisconsin who was one of Trump's most visible defenders on cable news. Duffy served in the House for nearly nine years, sitting on the Financial Services Committee and chairing the subcommittee on insurance and housing. He left Congress in 2019 for a TV career and has been the host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business. Before entering politics, Duffy was a reality TV star on MTV, where he met his wife, “Fox and Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. They have nine children. A campaign donor and CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Write is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking — a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market. Wright also has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change. He said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight.” The Energy Department is responsible for advancing energy, environmental and nuclear security of the United States. Wright also won support from influential conservatives, including oil and gas tycoon Harold Hamm. Hamm, executive chairman of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources, a major shale oil company, is a longtime Trump supporter and adviser who played a key role on energy issues in Trump’s first term. President-elect Donald Trump tapped billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be secretary of the Education Department, tasked with overseeing an agency Trump promised to dismantle. McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s initial term from 2017 to 2019 and twice ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut. She’s seen as a relative unknown in education circles, though she expressed support for charter schools and school choice. She served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Brooke Rollins, who graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural development, is a longtime Trump associate who served as White House domestic policy chief during his first presidency. The 52-year-old is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping to lay the groundwork for a second Trump administration. She previously served as an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and ran a think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Trump chose Howard Lutnick, head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and a cryptocurrency enthusiast, as his nominee for commerce secretary, a position in which he'd have a key role in carrying out Trump's plans to raise and enforce tariffs. Trump made the announcement Tuesday on his social media platform, Truth Social. Lutnick is a co-chair of Trump’s transition team, along with Linda McMahon, the former wrestling executive who previously led Trump’s Small Business Administration. Both are tasked with putting forward candidates for key roles in the next administration. The nomination would put Lutnick in charge of a sprawling Cabinet agency that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a position in which connections to CEOs and the wider business community are crucial. Doug Collins is a former Republican congressman from Georgia who gained recognition for defending Trump during his first impeachment trial, which centered on U.S. assistance for Ukraine. Trump was impeached for urging Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden in 2019 during the Democratic presidential nomination, but he was acquitted by the Senate. Collins has also served in the armed forces himself and is currently a chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve Command. "We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our Active Duty Servicemembers, Veterans, and Military Families to ensure they have the support they need," Trump said in a statement about nominating Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. Karoline Leavitt, 27, was Trump's campaign press secretary and currently a spokesperson for his transition. She would be the youngest White House press secretary in history. The White House press secretary typically serves as the public face of the administration and historically has held daily briefings for the press corps. Leavitt, a New Hampshire native, was a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump, before joining his 2024 campaign. In 2022, she ran for Congress in New Hampshire, winning a 10-way Republican primary before losing to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. Leavitt worked in the White House press office during Trump's first term before she became communications director for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump's choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has been tapped by Trump to be director of national intelligence, keeping with the trend to stock his Cabinet with loyal personalities rather than veteran professionals in their requisite fields. Gabbard, 43, was a Democratic House member who unsuccessfully sought the party's 2020 presidential nomination before leaving the party in 2022. She endorsed Trump in August and campaigned often with him this fall. “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community,” Trump said in a statement. Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as somewhat of an outsider compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions. Trump has picked John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman who served as director of national intelligence during his first administration, to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency in his next. Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during the final year and a half of Trump's first term, leading the U.S. government's spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. “I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation's highest Intelligence positions,” Trump said in a statement, calling him a “fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans” who would ensure “the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.” Kash Patel spent several years as a Justice Department prosecutor before catching the Trump administration’s attention as a staffer on Capitol Hill who helped investigate the Russia probe. Patel called for dramatically reducing the agency’s footprint, a perspective that sets him apart from earlier directors who sought additional resources for the bureau. Though the Justice Department in 2021 halted the practice of secretly seizing reporters’ phone records during leak investigations, Patel said he intends to aggressively hunt down government officials who leak information to reporters. Trump has chosen former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to serve as his pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency . Zeldin does not appear to have any experience in environmental issues, but is a longtime supporter of the former president. The 44-year-old former U.S. House member from New York wrote on X , “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI.” “We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water,” he added. During his campaign, Trump often attacked the Biden administration's promotion of electric vehicles, and incorrectly referring to a tax credit for EV purchases as a government mandate. Trump also often told his audiences during the campaign his administration would “Drill, baby, drill,” referring to his support for expanded petroleum exploration. In a statement, Trump said Zeldin “will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.” Trump has named Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, as the new chairman of the agency tasked with regulating broadcasting, telecommunications and broadband. Carr is a longtime member of the commission and served previously as the FCC’s general counsel. He has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate three times and was nominated by both Trump and President Joe Biden to the commission. Carr made past appearances on “Fox News Channel," including when he decried Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris' pre-Election Day appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” He wrote an op-ed last month defending a satellite company owned by Trump supporter Elon Musk. Trump said Atkins, the CEO of Patomak Partners and a former SEC commissioner, was a “proven leader for common sense regulations.” In the years since leaving the SEC, Atkins has made the case against too much market regulation. “He believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of Investors, & that provide capital to make our Economy the best in the World. He also recognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The commission oversees U.S. securities markets and investments and is currently led by Gary Gensler, who has been leading the U.S. government’s crackdown on the crypto industry. Gensler, who was nominated by President Joe Biden, announced last month that he would be stepping down from his post on the day that Trump is inaugurated — Jan. 20, 2025. Atkins began his career as a lawyer and has a long history working in the financial markets sector, both in government and private practice. In the 1990s, he worked on the staffs of two former SEC chairmen, Richard C. Breeden and Arthur Levitt. Jared Isaacman, 41, is a tech billionaire who bought a series of spaceflights from Elon Musk’s SpaceX and conducted the first private spacewalk . He is the founder and CEO of a card-processing company and has collaborated closely with Musk ever since buying his first chartered SpaceX flight. He took contest winners on that 2021 trip and followed it in September with a mission where he briefly popped out the hatch to test SpaceX’s new spacewalking suits. Rep. Elise Stefanik is a representative from New York and one of Trump's staunchest defenders going back to his first impeachment. Elected to the House in 2014, Stefanik was selected by her GOP House colleagues as House Republican Conference chair in 2021, when former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from the post after publicly criticizing Trump for falsely claiming he won the 2020 election. Stefanik, 40, has served in that role ever since as the third-ranking member of House leadership. Stefanik’s questioning of university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses helped lead to two of those presidents resigning, further raising her national profile. If confirmed, she would represent American interests at the U.N. as Trump vows to end the war waged by Russia against Ukraine begun in 2022. He has also called for peace as Israel continues its offensive against Hamas in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon to target Hezbollah. President-elect Donald Trump says he's chosen former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker to serve as U.S. ambassador to NATO. Trump has expressed skepticism about the Western military alliance for years. Trump said in a statement Wednesday that Whitaker is “a strong warrior and loyal Patriot” who “will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended” and “strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability.” The choice of Whitaker as the nation’s representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an unusual one, given his background is as a lawyer and not in foreign policy. President-elect Donald Trump tapped former Sen. David Perdue of Georgia to be ambassador to China, saying in a social media post that the former CEO “brings valuable expertise to help build our relationship with China.” Perdue lost his Senate seat to Democrat Jon Ossoff four years ago and ran unsuccessfully in a primary against Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. Perdue pushed Trump's debunked lies about electoral fraud during his failed bid for governor. A Republican congressman from Michigan who served from 1993 to 2011, Hoekstra was ambassador to the Netherlands during Trump's first term. “In my Second Term, Pete will help me once again put AMERICA FIRST,” Trump said in a statement announcing his choice. “He did an outstanding job as United States Ambassador to the Netherlands during our first four years, and I am confident that he will continue to represent our Country well in this new role.” Trump will nominate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel. Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel's interests as it wages wars against the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah. “He loves Israel, and likewise the people of Israel love him,” Trump said in a statement. “Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East.” Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016, has been a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland. Trump has been praised by some in this important Republican voting bloc for moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Trump on Tuesday named real estate investor Steven Witkoff to be special envoy to the Middle East. The 67-year-old Witkoff is the president-elect's golf partner and was golfing with him at Trump's club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, when the former president was the target of a second attempted assassination. Witkoff “is a Highly Respected Leader in Business and Philanthropy,” Trump said of Witkoff in a statement. “Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud." Trump also named Witkoff co-chair, with former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, of his inaugural committee. Trump said Wednesday that he will nominate Gen. Keith Kellogg to serve as assistant to the president and special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. Kellogg, a retired Army lieutenant general who has long been Trump’s top adviser on defense issues, served as National Security Advisor to Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence. For the America First Policy Institute, one of several groups formed after Trump left office to help lay the groundwork for the next Republican administration, Kellogg in April wrote that “bringing the Russia-Ukraine war to a close will require strong, America First leadership to deliver a peace deal and immediately end the hostilities between the two warring parties.” (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib) Trump asked Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser, Trump announced in a statement Tuesday. The move puts Waltz in the middle of national security crises, ranging from efforts to provide weapons to Ukraine and worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea to the persistent attacks in the Middle East by Iran proxies and the push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah. “Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda,” Trump's statement said, "and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!” Waltz is a three-term GOP congressman from east-central Florida. He served multiple tours in Afghanistan and also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs. He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population. Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner , was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Trump's priority of mass deportations. The 39-year-old was a senior adviser during Trump's first administration. Miller has been a central figure in some of Trump's policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families. Trump argued throughout the campaign that the nation's economic, national security and social priorities could be met by deporting people who are in the United States illegally. Since Trump left office in 2021, Miller has served as the president of America First Legal, an organization made up of former Trump advisers aimed at challenging the Biden administration, media companies, universities and others over issues such as free speech and national security. Thomas Homan, 62, has been tasked with Trump’s top priority of carrying out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history. Homan, who served under Trump in his first administration leading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was widely expected to be offered a position related to the border, an issue Trump made central to his campaign. Though Homan has insisted such a massive undertaking would be humane, he has long been a loyal supporter of Trump's policy proposals, suggesting at a July conference in Washington that he would be willing to "run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.” Democrats have criticized Homan for his defending Trump's “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings during his first administration, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border. Former Rep. Billy Long represented Missouri in the U.S. House from 2011 to 2023. Since leaving Congress, Trump said, Long “has worked as a Business and Tax advisor, helping Small Businesses navigate the complexities of complying with the IRS Rules and Regulations.” Former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler was appointed in January 2020 by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and then lost a runoff election a year later. She started a conservative voter registration organization and dived into GOP fundraising, becoming one of the top individual donors and bundlers to Trump’s 2024 comeback campaign. Even before nominating her for agriculture secretary, the president-elect already had tapped Loeffler as co-chair of his inaugural committee. Dr. Mehmet Oz, 64, is a former heart surgeon who hosted “The Dr. Oz Show,” a long-running daytime television talk show. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as the Republican nominee in 2022 and is an outspoken supporter of Trump, who endorsed Oz's bid for elected office. Elon Musk, left, and Vivek Ramaswamy speak before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at an Oct. 27 campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York. Trump on Tuesday said Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Ramaswamy will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency" — which is not, despite the name, a government agency. The acronym “DOGE” is a nod to Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. Trump said Musk and Ramaswamy will work from outside the government to offer the White House “advice and guidance” and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.” He added the move would shock government systems. It's not clear how the organization will operate. Musk, owner of X and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the presidential election. Ramaswamy suspended his campaign in January and threw his support behind Trump. Trump said the two will “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” Russell Vought held the position during Trump’s first presidency. After Trump’s initial term ended, Vought founded the Center for Renewing America, a think tank that describes its mission as “renew a consensus of America as a nation under God.” Vought was closely involved with Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term that he tried to distance himself from during the campaign. Vought has also previously worked as the executive and budget director for the Republican Study Committee, a caucus for conservative House Republicans. He also worked at Heritage Action, the political group tied to The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Dan Scavino, deputy chief of staff Scavino, whom Trump's transition referred to in a statement as one of “Trump's longest serving and most trusted aides,” was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 campaign, as well as his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. He will be deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president. Scavino had run Trump's social media profile in the White House during his first administration. He was also held in contempt of Congress in 2022 after a month-long refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. James Blair, deputy chief of staff Blair was political director for Trump's 2024 campaign and for the Republican National Committee. He will be deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs and assistant to the president. Blair was key to Trump's economic messaging during his winning White House comeback campaign this year, a driving force behind the candidate's “Trump can fix it” slogan and his query to audiences this fall if they were better off than four years ago. Taylor Budowich, deputy chief of staff Budowich is a veteran Trump campaign aide who launched and directed Make America Great Again, Inc., a super PAC that supported Trump's 2024 campaign. He will be deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel and assistant to the president. Budowich also had served as a spokesman for Trump after his presidency. Jay Bhattacharya, National Institutes of Health Trump has chosen Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health. Bhattacharya is a physician and professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, and is a critic of pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates. He promoted the idea of herd immunity during the pandemic, arguing that people at low risk should live normally while building up immunity to COVID-19 through infection. The National Institutes of Health funds medical research through competitive grants to researchers at institutions throughout the nation. NIH also conducts its own research with thousands of scientists working at its labs in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Marty Makary, Food and Drug Administration Makary is a Johns Hopkins surgeon and author who argued against pandemic lockdowns. He routinely appeared on Fox News during the COVID-19 pandemic and wrote opinion articles questioning masks for children. He cast doubt on vaccine mandates but supported vaccines generally. Makary also cast doubt on whether booster shots worked, which was against federal recommendations on the vaccine. Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, Surgeon General Nesheiwat is a general practitioner who serves as medical director for CityMD, a network of urgent care centers in New York and New Jersey. She has been a contributor to Fox News. Dr. Dave Weldon, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Weldon is a former Florida congressman who recently ran for a Florida state legislative seat and lost; Trump backed Weldon’s opponent. In Congress, Weldon weighed in on one of the nation’s most heated debates of the 1990s over quality of life and a right-to-die and whether Terri Schiavo, who was in a persistent vegetative state after cardiac arrest, should have been allowed to have her feeding tube removed. He sided with the parents who did not want it removed. Jamieson Greer, U.S. trade representative Kevin Hassett, Director of the White House National Economic Council Trump is turning to two officials with experience navigating not only Washington but the key issues of income taxes and tariffs as he fills out his economic team. He announced he has chosen international trade attorney Jamieson Greer to be his U.S. trade representative and Kevin Hassett as director of the White House National Economic Council. While Trump has in several cases nominated outsiders to key posts, these picks reflect a recognition that his reputation will likely hinge on restoring the public’s confidence in the economy. Trump said in a statement that Greer was instrumental in his first term in imposing tariffs on China and others and replacing the trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, “therefore making it much better for American Workers.” Hassett, 62, served in the first Trump term as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. He has a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and worked at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute before joining the Trump White House in 2017. Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.This article was originally published on The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Disclosure information is available on the original site. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * This article was originally published on The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Disclosure information is available on the original site. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? This article was originally published on The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Disclosure information is available on the original site. ___ Author: Petra Molnar, Associate Director, Refugee Law Lab, York University, Canada At a press conference on Dec. 17, the Canadian federal government announced proposed new measures to expand its management of Canada’s border with the United States. These measures were intended to appease the incoming Trump administration and to avoid a threatened 25 per cent import tariff. The proposal includes expansions of border technologies, including RCMP counterintelligence, 24/7 surveillance between ports of entry, helicopters, drones and mobile towers. But what will this mean for people seeking asylum? If the U.S.-Mexico border is any indication, it will mean more death. Criminalizing migration At the press conference, Dominic LeBlanc, the minister of finance and intergovernmental affairs, reaffirmed Canada’s relationship with the incoming Trump administration. Framed around politics of difference, and relying on the fearmongering trope of migration as a “crisis,” Canada’s new border plan will also cost taxpayers $1.3 billion. During the press conference, LeBlanc’s remarks conflated migration with trafficking and crime, relying on “crimmigration,” or the use of criminalization to discipline, exclude, or expel migrants or others seen as not entitled to be in a country. LeBlanc also made direct reference to preventing fraud in the asylum system, with the driving forces behind this new border plan being “minimizing border volumes” and “removing irritants” to the U.S. However, these framings weaken the global right to asylum, which is an internationally protected right guaranteed by the 1951 Refugee Convention and sections 96 and 97 of Canada’s own Immigration and Refugee Protection Protection Act. Canada’s own courts have also found that the U.S. is not a safe country for some refugees. Deadly borders Since 2018, I have been researching technology and migration. I have worked at and studied various borders around the world, starting in Canada, moving south to the U.S.-Mexico border and including various countries in Europe and East Africa, as well as the Palestinian territories. Over the years, I have worked with hundreds of people seeking safety and witnessed the horrific conditions they have to survive. The Sonoran Desert containing the U.S.-Mexico border has become what anthropologist Jason de Leon calls “the land of open graves.” Researchers have shown that deaths have increased every year as a result of growing surveillance and deterrence mechanisms. I have witnessed these spaces of death in the Sonoran Desert and European borders, with people on the move succumbing to these sharpening borders. Canadian borders are not devoid of death. Families have frozen and drowned attempting to enter Canada. Others, like Seidu Mohammed and Razak Iyal, nearly froze to death and lost limbs as a result of frostbite; they later received refugee status and became Canadian citizens in 2023. ‘Extreme vulnerability’ Throughout the press conference, a clear theme emerged again and again: Canada’s border plan will “expand and deepen the relationship” between Canada and U.S. through border management, including both data sharing and operational support. The border management plan will include an aerial intelligence task force to provide non-stop surveillance. The mandate of the Canada Border Services Agency will also expand, and include a joint operational strike force. In November, president-elect Donald Trump named former Immigration and Customs Enforcement director Tom Homan as his administration’s “border czar.” Homan explicitly called out Canada after his appointment, calling the Canadian border “an extreme vulnerability.” Trump has also made pointed comments directed at Justin Trudeau, referring to him as “governor” and to Canada as the 51st state. And with Trump’s aggressive “America First” policies and the 25 per cent tariff threat, appeasing the incoming administration by strengthening border surveillance at the Canada-U.S. border is the lowest hanging fruit for the Trudeau administration to strengthen its hand. Creeping surveillance Border surveillance technologies do not remain at the border. In 2021, communities in Vermont and New York have already raised concerns about possible privacy infringements with the installation of surveillance towers. There are also fears of growing surveillance and repression of journalists and the migrant justice sector as a whole. And surveillance technologies used at the border have also been repurposed: for example, robo-dogs first employed at the U.S.-Mexico border have appeared in New York City and facial recognition technologies ubiquitous at airports are also being used on sports fans in stadiums. The big business of borders Taxpayers will foot the bill of this new border strategy to the hefty tune of $1.3 billion. This amount is part of a growing and lucrative border industrial complex that is now worth a staggering US$68 billion dollars and projected to grow exponentially to nearly a trillion dollars by 2031. But taxpayers do not benefit. Instead, the private sector makes up the market place of technical solutions to the so-called “problem” of migration. In this lucrative ecosystem built on fear of “the migrant other,” it is the private sector actors and not taxpayers who benefit. Instead of succumbing to the exclusionary politics of the incoming U.S. administration, we should call for transparency and accountability in the development and deployment of new technologies. There is also a need for more governance and laws to curtail these high-risk tech experiments before more people die at Canada’s borders. Instead of spending $1.3 billion dollars on surveillance technologies that infringe upon people’s rights, Canada should strengthen its asylum system and civil society support. Canada should also remember its international human rights obligations, and resist the U.S. political rhetoric of dehumanizing people who are seeking safety and protection. ___ Petra Molnar receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. ___ This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Disclosure information is available on the original site. 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IFFI 2024: Ranbir Kapoor On Portrayal Of Violence In His Blockbuster Animal: "This Is Our Responsibility To Bring Movies..."Mathematicians Just Debunked the ‘Bunkbed Conjecture’Experts give positive update on Thyssenkrupp steel, reports Spiegel
Watch: Raiders fool Broncos with fake puntDrivers and airline passengers without reindeer and sleighs better make a dash for it: it's beginning to look like another record for holiday travel in the U.S. The auto club AAA predicts that more than 119 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home between Saturday and New Year’s Day, which would top the previous holiday-season high set in 2019. The two weekends on either side of Christmas look to be some of the most crowded times on the road and at airports. Trade group Airlines for America also foresees record travel, saying it expected U.S. airlines to carry 54 million passengers during a 19-day period that started Thursday and ends Monday, Jan. 6. The number would represent a 6% increase over last year. A government shutdown that could start as soon as Saturday would likely be too close to the holidays to immediately affect flights and airport operations, but that might change if a shutdown dragged on. Airlines expect to have their busiest days on Friday and Sunday, and on Dec. 26, Dec. 27 and Dec. 29. Flight traffic is expected to be light on both Christmas Day and New Year's Day. The slowest U.S. air-travel day this year — by a wide margin — was Thanksgiving Day. The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 40 million passengers over the holidays and through January 2. About 90% of Americans traveling far from home over the holidays will be in cars, according to AAA. “Airline travel is just really high right now, but most people do drive to their destinations, and that is true for every holiday,” AAA spokesperson Aixa Diaz said. Gasoline prices are similar to last year. The nationwide average Thursday was $3.05 a gallon, down from $3.08 a year ago, according to AAA. Charging an electric vehicle averages just under 35 cents per per kilowatt hour, but varies by state. Transportation-data firm INRIX says travel times on the nation’s highways could be up to 30% longer than normal over the holidays, with Sunday expected to see the heaviest traffic. Boston, New York City, Seattle and Washington, D.C., are the metropolitan areas primed for the greatest delays, according to the company. Because the holiday travel period lasts weeks, airports and airlines typically have smaller peak days than they do during the rush around Thanksgiving, but the grind of one hectic day followed by another takes a toll on flight crews. And any hiccups — a winter storm or a computer outage — can snowball into massive disruptions. That is how Southwest Airlines stranded 2 million travelers in December 2022, and Delta Air Lines suffered a smaller but significant meltdown after a worldwide technology outage in July caused by a faulty software update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. Many flights during the holidays are sold out, which makes cancellations even more disruptive than during slower periods. That is especially true for smaller budget airlines that have fewer flights and fewer options for rebooking passengers. Only the largest airlines, including American, Delta and United, have “interline agreements” that let them put stranded customers on another carrier's flights. This will be the first holiday season since a Transportation Department rule took effect that requires airlines to give customers an automatic cash refund for a canceled or significantly delayed flight. Most air travelers were already eligible for refunds, but they often had to request them. Story continues below video Passengers still can ask to get rebooked, which is often a better option than a refund during peak travel periods. That's because finding a last-minute flight on another airline yourself tends to be very expensive. “When they rebook you, they will pay for the fare difference. If my flight to visit grandma that I booked six months ago for $200 gets canceled, and I turn around and book a flight four hours from now for $400, I have to pay that difference,” said Sally French, a travel expert at consumer-affairs company Nerdwallet. People traveling on budget airlines with fewer flights and no partnerships with other carriers may face a difficult choice in the event of a canceled flight . “They will put you on the next outgoing Spirit or Frontier flight, but that could be a while from now. Sometimes waiting three days for that next flight is not going to work for you," and paying more to rebook on a big airline might be worthwhile, French said. Some airlines are taking advantage of a provision in the new Transportation Department rule that defined a significant delay as three hours for a domestic flight and six hours for an international flight. According to Brett Snyder, who runs the Cranky Flyer website, airlines that previously issued refunds for shorter delays — Delta, United and JetBlue, for example — are now using the government standard. Delayed flights increase the risk that bags will get lost. Passengers who get separated from their bags should report it to the airline and ask what the airline will cover. Links to the customer-service plans of major U.S. airlines are at the bottom of this page . A government shutdown could occur if Congress doesn’t pass a funding bill with a midnight Friday deadline . Most TSA workers at airports, air traffic controllers and customs agents are considered essential and would be required to work without pay in the event of a shutdown. More uncompensated workers might call out sick the longer a shutdown lasts, which could lead to longer security lines and other delays. That appeared to be the case several weeks into a government shutdown that started in December 2019. "While our personnel have prepared to handle high volumes of travelers and ensure safe travel, an extended shutdown could mean longer wait times at airports,” TSA spokesman Carter Langston said in a statement. AAA advises travelers to “continue with their holiday plans, even if the shutdown materializes,” spokesperson Diaz said. “Airport operations will continue as normal, but perhaps run a bit slower than usual, so travelers should be aware of that.” Airline fares were up 4.7% in November, compared with a year earlier, according to U.S. government figures. But early 2025 is a good time to start planning next year's trips, including for spring breaks and summer vacations. “Because travel is so popular, you're not going to find anything that feels very rock-bottom, but January and February are great times to plan for March, April and May,” Laura Motta, an editor at travel-guide publisher Lonely Planet, said. “If you want to go to Paris in the spring, you need to be thinking about that in January." AP Reporters Mae Anderson in Nashville, Tennessee, and Mike Pesoli in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.Creative’s SoundBlaster G8 Is The Ultimate DAC For Gamers And Live Streamers
n a flight from Mexico City to London last month, McLaren Racing CEO tuned into a new docuseries, , which explores the tension surrounding decisive moments in sports. Brown felt like he could relate. Much like the 1994 New York Rangers, who led their Stanley Cup Finals series over the Vancouver Canucks 3-1 before losing two straight games to Vancouver to force a win-or-go-home Game 7, McLaren’s lead in the F1 constructors standings had just been narrowed, via a victory for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. He sent Rangers captain also an executive producer on the anthology show, a note. “It's like everything I'm feeling,” he told Messier. The 2024 season has delivered fans some very welcome elements; namely, drama and intrigue. Prior to this year, driver Max Verstappen and his Red Bull Racing team ran roughshod over the F1 standings. But with two races to go in ‘24, McLaren and Ferrari are contending for the constructor title. Verstappen is still in position to win his fourth straight F1 championship, but Lando Norris from McLaren and from Ferrari have put pressure on the Red Bull superstar. Brown, the American who’s been in charge of U.K.-based McLaren since 2018, spoke with TIME about this chase for the F1 title, the keys to his sport’s continued growth in the United States, and his biggest mistake. A combination of awesome, exhilarating, nerve-wracking, stressful, all the things that you think would be. Huge excitement, a lot of nervousness, fear, you run the gamut. I’m kind of living on the edge of my seat. That’s why sport is always going to be one of the most engaging forms of entertainment for people around the world. Mind racing, but that’s not new. I’ve been like that for 30-plus years, because I’ve always been fighting for a championship. That’s how business feels to me; this one’s just public in front of hundreds of millions of people. When you're running a business, you’ve to kind of fight every day like you're fighting to win the world championship. So I've never been a good sleeper. The cost cap, which has now been in place for a few years now, has brought financial parity, which then brings sporting parity. And then in our sport, when technical regulations don't change a lot in time, everyone kind of gravitates towards the same technical solution. It therefore becomes a lot closer. I think it'll be a fan favorite. and are two of your fan favorites. Fans get tired of watching the same team win over and over. We're a team that hasn't won in a long time and has immense popularity. Same goes for Ferrari. They haven’t won the constructors championship since 2008. What's cool is you now have two of the most iconic, historic teams that haven't won for a long time, battling it out. I think we will be seeing cleaner racing. The FIA [the F1 racing governing body] sent a message of, we’re not going to tolerate that type of driving anymore. Max is an unbelievable driver. He’s very smart. He drove what he could get away with, and now that he's not gotten away with it, I think he'll adjust his driving because he doesn't want to get penalized. It’s ultimately dangerous, right? It put Lando in a position where it was either run off the track or crash into me. Our racing needs to take place between the white lines, not off the track. No one wants to see huge accidents. We’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing. I don’t think we need more races. We’re a new phenomenon in North America, and we need just more time. I think the [ set for 2025] will move the needle—-because who doesn’t want to be Brad Pitt as a Formula 1 driver? Just like everyone wanted to be a fighter pilot after right? A U.S. driver that's a star, a world champion, would be huge, because we don't have one of those, and haven't had one of those since That would move the needle for sure. The 1981 Long Beach Grand Prix Formula One race. I didn’t know anything about racing. I was 10 years old, but to see a bunch of Formula 1 cars ripping around the streets of Long Beach—the sound, the speed, the size of the crowd, the technology of the cars—was just insane. I still have the racing program. I remember everything about it. I was a big baseball guy, but I definitely walked away and became a big racing fan from that moment onwards. The skills are kind of no different than, say, my old company [JMI, a motorsports marketing agency]. Get yourself surrounded with great people. Be a good listener. Empower people. Be clear on goals. I think that’s kind of like CEO 101. Maybe what’s different is everyone knows my business, often at the same time I do. They see the pit stop when I see the pit stop; they see the race results when I see the race results. My biggest mistake was the Indianapolis 500 in 2019, when I didn't qualify with McLaren and Fernando Alonso. So to show up to one of the biggest races in the world, with one of the biggest brands in the world, with one of the most famous, successful racing drivers in the world, and not qualify, well, that's a failing. It was a horrific kind of business failing. The biggest I’ve ever had. I’ve also learned so much from it that I'm a better CEO. We're a better racing team. I'm proud of how we didn't run from it. Quite the opposite. Let's learn from this. Let's be smarter next time. And you know, we're gonna win that damn thing. We've come damn close. I don’t think she’s a future Formula 1 driver, because you’ve got to be one of the best 20 in the world, and I don’t think she’s demonstrated that level—not to say she’s a bad racing driver at all. I think she can definitely have a great career. The combination of hybrid technology, which we’ve had for 10 years; battery technology, which we’re continuing to develop; and sustainable fuels. That’s what’s going to be the future propulsion of the automobile. Formula 1’s always been an R&D lab. I think it definitely can, and I think it will be, [but] you hit the nail on the head as to our single largest challenge, which is, we’re a global sport. We’re in [21] countries. There’s what Formula 1 can do, what the racing teams can do, but we also are going to need our supply chain, like the airline industry, to lean in. Just the state of the world. It doesn’t mean we’re perfect, [but] there’s nothing that’s keeping me up at night that I feel is in our control, any icebergs ahead where I’m saying, “Steer left.” Our big revenue stream is our fan base and our partner base, and what impacts those groups is world economies and wars and things of that nature. But I can’t control any of that. That’s not a Formula 1 problem. That’s an issue for all of us.Adani issue, Manipur strife, Delhi air: Oppn gears up for Winter Session
Garry Tierney describes the time he had a major stroke while driving on a notorious stretch of road as his lucky day. Two people stopped to help Mr Tierney and his partner Kim Cooper when his car swerved to the middle of busy Picton Road, south of Sydney, miraculously avoiding other vehicles. Paramedics happened to be driving by on that day in February 2022 and began first aid, before another ambulance arrived to take him to Liverpool Hospital for specialist stroke treatment. The second crew was trained to use the Zeus mobile app, allowing direct communication with a neurologist to decide on the fastest course of treatment. Half an hour after Mr Tierney arrived at the Sydney hospital, he was given clot-busting medication that quickly restored his speech, strength and movement. "It was just fate," Ms Cooper told AAP. Zeus has been trialled in NSW, Victoria, South Australia and the Northern Territory since 2021, with stroke experts hopeful of a permanent national roll-out if initial positive results prove definitive. The app allows paramedics to enter symptom information, imaging and medical data while communicating with a neurologist en-route to a hospital. It "turbo charges" collaboration between medical staff like never before, Stroke Alliance co-chair Geoffrey Donnan said. "Time is brain when it comes to treating stroke," Professor Donnan told AAP. "Every second and minute counts, so the quicker you can start treatment the better the outcomes." Early results from the use of Zeus in SA showed clot-busting medication was delivered in under 45 minutes in 33 per cent of cases in the first eight months of 2024, compared to 17 per cent of cases over the same period in 2023. There was also a 72 per cent reduction in unnecessary hospital transfers in that state, where eight regional hospitals linked brain imaging to the app in 2023. Those kinds of advances are critical in rural areas, where the incidence of strokes is 17 per cent higher but very few patients are typically treated in a specialist unit. "It's upsetting to see how they really are, for a lot of disease process managements, getting second-class service, which shouldn't be the case," Prof Donnan said. "But with all these technologies, I really see the opportunity to level the playing field." Amazon Web Services cloud-based technology supports the app's function, securely storing medical records and health data. Technology was increasingly breaking down geographic barriers to give patients access to better care, particularly as satellite-based internet improved, chief technologist for Australia, New Zealand and Oceania Simon Elisha said. "The best specialist probably isn't in your city and is definitely not in your suburb, so how do you get access to them?" Mr Elisha said. "Technology becomes the way to do that." Mr Tierney has resumed life as a father, grandfather and keen bowls player. "They saved my life," he said.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will bring a new series to Netflix in December, revealing the “grit behind the glamour” in the high-stakes world of polo. The five-part series will debut globally on December 10, following elite global players on and off the field as they compete in the US Open Polo Championship in Wellington, Florida. A trailer for the series titled Polo, executive produced by Harry and Meghan, was released on Thursday, giving a behind-the-scenes look at the “fast-paced and glamorous world of polo”. In a statement, Harry said: “This series offers audiences an unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look into the passion and determination driving some of the world’s elite polo players, revealing the grit behind the glamour. “We’re proud to showcase the true depth and spirit of the sport — and the intensity of its high-stakes moments.” It has been produced by the Sussexes’ Archewell Productions, having previously released three documentaries with Netflix as part of a multimillion-pound deal with the streaming giant. Heart Of Invictus, which aired last August, followed a group of service members on their road to the Invictus Games, the Paralympic-style sporting competition set up by Harry in 2014 for injured and sick military personnel and veterans. Netflix also released the documentary series Live To Lead and the controversial six-part Harry & Meghan documentary in December 2022. Harry and Meghan moved to the US in 2020 after stepping down from royal duties. We do not moderate comments, but we expect readers to adhere to certain rules in the interests of open and accountable debate.
PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fair Isaac Co. ( NYSE:FICO – Free Report ) by 15.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,901 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 381 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Fair Isaac were worth $5,638,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fair Isaac by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 234 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Fair Isaac in the first quarter valued at about $109,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Fair Isaac in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Fair Isaac in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Fair Isaac by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,009 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,009,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. 85.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Fair Isaac Stock Up 0.7 % Shares of FICO stock opened at $2,355.35 on Friday. Fair Isaac Co. has a 12 month low of $1,061.96 and a 12 month high of $2,402.51. The firm has a market cap of $57.35 billion, a PE ratio of 115.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $2,055.62 and a 200-day moving average of $1,724.47. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Fair Isaac from $2,200.00 to $2,400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Fair Isaac from $1,850.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $2,040.00 price objective on shares of Fair Isaac in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Fair Isaac from $2,130.00 to $2,374.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Fair Isaac from $2,150.00 to $2,350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fair Isaac currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,964.92. Get Our Latest Analysis on FICO Insider Activity at Fair Isaac In other news, Director Joanna Rees sold 3,961 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,750.00, for a total transaction of $6,931,750.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link . Also, Director Henry Tayloe Stansbury sold 249 shares of Fair Isaac stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,338.55, for a total transaction of $582,298.95. Following the sale, the director now owns 92 shares in the company, valued at $215,146.60. This represents a 73.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Insiders sold a total of 6,890 shares of company stock worth $13,780,452 in the last ninety days. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Fair Isaac Profile ( Free Report ) Fair Isaac Corporation develops analytic, software, and digital decisioning technologies and services that enable businesses to automate, enhance, and connect decisions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Scores and Software. The Software segment provides pre-configured analytic and decision management solution designed for various business needs or processes, such as account origination, customer management, customer engagement, fraud detection, financial crimes compliance, and marketing, as well as associated professional services. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding FICO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Fair Isaac Co. ( NYSE:FICO – Free Report ). Receive News & Ratings for Fair Isaac Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Fair Isaac and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump offered a public show of support Friday for Pete Hegseth, his choice to lead the Defense Department, whose confirmation by the Senate is in doubt as he faces questions over allegations of excessive drinking, sexual assault and his views on women in combat roles. Hegseth, a former Fox News host, Army National Guard major and combat veteran, spent much of the week on Capitol Hill trying to salvage his Cabinet nomination and privately reassure Republican senators that he is fit to lead Trump's Pentagon. "Pete Hegseth is doing very well," Trump posted on his social media site. "He will be a fantastic, high energy, Secretary of Defense." The president added that "Pete is a WINNER, and there is nothing that can be done to change that!!!" The nomination battle is emerging not only as a debate about the best person to lead the Pentagon, but an inflection point for a MAGA movement that appears to be relishing a public fight over its hard-line push for a more masculine military and an end to the "woke-ism" of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. People are also reading... Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be defense secretary, responds to reporters during a meeting with Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Military leaders are rattled by a list of “woke” senior officers that a conservative group urged Hegseth to dismiss for promoting diversity in the ranks if he is confirmed to lead the Pentagon. The list compiled by the American Accountability Foundation includes 20 general officers or senior admirals and a disproportionate number of female officers. It has had a chilling effect on the Pentagon’s often frank discussions as leaders try to figure out how to address the potential firings and diversity issues under Trump. Those on the list in many cases seem to be targeted for public comments they made either in interviews or at events on diversity, and in some cases for retweeting posts that promote diversity. Tom Jones, a former aide to Republican senators who leads the foundation, said Friday those on the list are “pretty egregious” advocates for diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, policies, which he called problematic. “The nominee has been pretty clear that that has no place in the military,” Jones said of Hegseth. Hegseth embraced Trump’s effort to end programs that promote diversity in the ranks and fire those who reflect those values. Other Trump picks, like Kash Patel for FBI director, have suggested targeting those in government who are not aligned with Trump. Trump's allies forcefully rallied around Hegseth — the Heritage Foundation's political arm promised to spend $1 million to shore up his nomination — as he vows to stay in the fight, as long as the president-elect wants him to. Vice President-elect JD Vance offers a public show of support for Pete Hegseth, the embattled choice to lead the Defense Department. "We're not abandoning this nomination," Vance told reporters during a tour of western North Carolina. "We're not abandoning this nomination," Vice-President-elect JD Vance said as he toured post-hurricane North Carolina. He said he spoke with GOP senators and believes Hegseth will be confirmed. The effort became a test of Trump's clout and of how far loyalty for the president-elect goes with Republican senators who have concerns about his nominees. Two of Trump's other choices stepped aside as they faced intense scrutiny: former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., his first choice for attorney general, and Chad Chronister, a Florida sheriff who was Trump's first choice to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration. Thanking the president-elect for the support, Hegseth posted on social media, "Like you, we will never back down." Hegseth faces resistance from senators as reports emerged about his past, including the revelation that he made a settlement payment after being accused of a sexual assault that he denies. He promised not to drink on the job and told lawmakers he never engaged in sexual misconduct, even as his professional views on female troops came under intensifying scrutiny. He said as recently as last month that women "straight up" should not serve in combat. Biden is considering preemptive pardons for officials and allies before Trump takes office He picked up one important endorsement from Republican Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama, whose support was seen as a potentially powerful counterweight to the cooler reception Hegseth received from Sen. Joni Ernst, a former Army National Guard lieutenant colonel. Ernst, who is also a sexual assault survivor, stopped short of an endorsement after meeting with Hegseth this week. On Friday, Ernst posted on X that she would meet with him again next week. “At a minimum, we agree that he deserves the opportunity to lay out his vision for our warfighters at a fair hearing,” she wrote. On Friday, Trump put out the statement in response to coverage saying he lost faith in Hegseth, according to a person familiar with his thinking who was not authorized to discuss it publicly. The president-elect and his team were pleased to see Hegseth putting up a fight and his performance this week reiterates why he was chosen, the person said. They believe he can still be confirmed. Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be defense secretary, left, joined by his wife Jennifer Rauchet, attends a meeting with Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) What to know about Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick to serve as defense secretary If Hegseth goes down, Trump's team believes the defeat would empower others to spread what they cast as "vicious lies" against every candidate Trump chooses. Still, Trump's transition team is looking at potential replacements, including former presidential rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis plans to attend the Dec. 14 Army-Navy football game with Trump, according to a person familiar with the Florida governor's plans who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. DeSantis and Trump spoke about the defense secretary post Tuesday at a memorial service for sheriff deputies in West Palm Beach, Fla., according to people familiar with the matter who said Trump was interested in DeSantis for the post, and the governor was receptive. DeSantis is poised to select a replacement for the expected Senate vacancy to be created by Marco Rubio becoming secretary of state, and Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump is seen as the preferred choice by those in Trump's orbit. Trump Pentagon pick had been flagged by fellow service member as possible 'Insider Threat' Pete Hegseth's mother says The New York Times made 'threats' by asking her to comment on a story Here are the people Trump picked for key positions so far President-elect Donald Trump Among President-elect Donald Trump's picks are Susie Wiles for chief of staff, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state, former Democratic House member Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general. Susie Wiles, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, 67, was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager. Marco Rubio, Secretary of State Trump named Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to be secretary of state, making a former sharp critic his choice to be the new administration's top diplomat. Rubio, 53, is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump's running mate on the Republican ticket last summer. Rubio is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” Trump said of Rubio in a statement. The announcement punctuates the hard pivot Rubio has made with Trump, whom the senator called a “con man" during his unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. Their relationship improved dramatically while Trump was in the White House. And as Trump campaigned for the presidency a third time, Rubio cheered his proposals. For instance, Rubio, who more than a decade ago helped craft immigration legislation that included a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally, now supports Trump's plan to use the U.S. military for mass deportations. Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, 44, is a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor with the network since 2014, where he developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show. Hegseth lacks senior military or national security experience. If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job during a series of global crises — ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea. Hegseth is also the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” published earlier this year. Pam Bondi, Attorney General Trump tapped Pam Bondi, 59, to be attorney general after U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration. She was Florida's first female attorney general, serving between 2011 and 2019. She also was on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020. Considered a loyalist, she served as part of a Trump-allied outside group that helped lay the groundwork for his future administration called the America First Policy Institute. Bondi was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his hush money criminal trial in New York that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts. A fierce defender of Trump, she also frequently appears on Fox News and has been a critic of the criminal cases against him. Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security Trump picked South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a well-known conservative who faced sharp criticism for telling a story in her memoir about shooting a rambunctious dog, to lead an agency crucial to the president-elect’s hardline immigration agenda. Noem used her two terms leading a tiny state to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics. South Dakota is usually a political afterthought. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem did not order restrictions that other states had issued and instead declared her state “open for business.” Trump held a fireworks rally at Mount Rushmore in July 2020 in one of the first large gatherings of the pandemic. She takes over a department with a sprawling mission. In addition to key immigration agencies, the Department of Homeland Security oversees natural disaster response, the U.S. Secret Service, and Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports. Doug Burgum, Secretary of the Interior The governor of North Dakota, who was once little-known outside his state, Burgum is a former Republican presidential primary contender who endorsed Trump, and spent months traveling to drum up support for him, after dropping out of the race. Burgum was a serious contender to be Trump’s vice presidential choice this summer. The two-term governor was seen as a possible pick because of his executive experience and business savvy. Burgum also has close ties to deep-pocketed energy industry CEOs. Trump made the announcement about Burgum joining his incoming administration while addressing a gala at his Mar-a-Lago club, and said a formal statement would be coming the following day. In comments to reporters before Trump took the stage, Burgum said that, in recent years, the power grid is deteriorating in many parts of the country, which he said could raise national security concerns but also drive up prices enough to increase inflation. “There's just a sense of urgency, and a sense of understanding in the Trump administration,” Burgum said. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ran for president as a Democrat, than as an independent, and then endorsed Trump . He's the son of Democratic icon Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated during his own presidential campaign. The nomination of Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services alarmed people who are concerned about his record of spreading unfounded fears about vaccines . For example, he has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism. Scott Bessent, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, 62, is a former George Soros money manager and an advocate for deficit reduction. He's the founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management, after having worked on-and-off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the nation’s first openly gay treasury secretary. He told Bloomberg in August that he decided to join Trump’s campaign in part to attack the mounting U.S. national debt. That would include slashing government programs and other spending. “This election cycle is the last chance for the U.S. to grow our way out of this mountain of debt without becoming a sort of European-style socialist democracy,” he said then. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Labor Secretary Oregon Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer narrowly lost her reelection bid this month, but received strong backing from union members in her district. As a potential labor secretary, she would oversee the Labor Department’s workforce, its budget and put forth priorities that impact workers’ wages, health and safety, ability to unionize, and employer’s rights to fire employers, among other responsibilities. Chavez-DeRemer is one of few House Republicans to endorse the “Protecting the Right to Organize” or PRO Act would allow more workers to conduct organizing campaigns and would add penalties for companies that violate workers’ rights. The act would also weaken “right-to-work” laws that allow employees in more than half the states to avoid participating in or paying dues to unions that represent workers at their places of employment. Scott Turner, Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner is a former NFL player and White House aide. He ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump’s first term in office. Trump, in a statement, credited Turner, the highest-ranking Black person he’s yet selected for his administration, with “helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.” Sean Duffy, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy is a former House member from Wisconsin who was one of Trump's most visible defenders on cable news. Duffy served in the House for nearly nine years, sitting on the Financial Services Committee and chairing the subcommittee on insurance and housing. He left Congress in 2019 for a TV career and has been the host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business. Before entering politics, Duffy was a reality TV star on MTV, where he met his wife, “Fox and Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. They have nine children. Chris Wright, Secretary of Energy A campaign donor and CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Write is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking — a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market. Wright also has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change. He said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight.” The Energy Department is responsible for advancing energy, environmental and nuclear security of the United States. Wright also won support from influential conservatives, including oil and gas tycoon Harold Hamm. Hamm, executive chairman of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources, a major shale oil company, is a longtime Trump supporter and adviser who played a key role on energy issues in Trump’s first term. Linda McMahon, Secretary of Education President-elect Donald Trump tapped billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be secretary of the Education Department, tasked with overseeing an agency Trump promised to dismantle. McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s initial term from 2017 to 2019 and twice ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut. She’s seen as a relative unknown in education circles, though she expressed support for charter schools and school choice. She served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, who graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural development, is a longtime Trump associate who served as White House domestic policy chief during his first presidency. The 52-year-old is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping to lay the groundwork for a second Trump administration. She previously served as an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and ran a think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Howard Lutnick, Secretary of Commerce Trump chose Howard Lutnick, head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and a cryptocurrency enthusiast, as his nominee for commerce secretary, a position in which he'd have a key role in carrying out Trump's plans to raise and enforce tariffs. Trump made the announcement Tuesday on his social media platform, Truth Social. Lutnick is a co-chair of Trump’s transition team, along with Linda McMahon, the former wrestling executive who previously led Trump’s Small Business Administration. Both are tasked with putting forward candidates for key roles in the next administration. The nomination would put Lutnick in charge of a sprawling Cabinet agency that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a position in which connections to CEOs and the wider business community are crucial. Doug Collins, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins is a former Republican congressman from Georgia who gained recognition for defending Trump during his first impeachment trial, which centered on U.S. assistance for Ukraine. Trump was impeached for urging Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden in 2019 during the Democratic presidential nomination, but he was acquitted by the Senate. Collins has also served in the armed forces himself and is currently a chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve Command. "We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our Active Duty Servicemembers, Veterans, and Military Families to ensure they have the support they need," Trump said in a statement about nominating Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, 27, was Trump's campaign press secretary and currently a spokesperson for his transition. She would be the youngest White House press secretary in history. The White House press secretary typically serves as the public face of the administration and historically has held daily briefings for the press corps. Leavitt, a New Hampshire native, was a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump, before joining his 2024 campaign. In 2022, she ran for Congress in New Hampshire, winning a 10-way Republican primary before losing to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. Leavitt worked in the White House press office during Trump's first term before she became communications director for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump's choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Tulsi Gabbard, National Intelligence Director Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has been tapped by Trump to be director of national intelligence, keeping with the trend to stock his Cabinet with loyal personalities rather than veteran professionals in their requisite fields. Gabbard, 43, was a Democratic House member who unsuccessfully sought the party's 2020 presidential nomination before leaving the party in 2022. She endorsed Trump in August and campaigned often with him this fall. “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community,” Trump said in a statement. Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as somewhat of an outsider compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions. John Ratcliffe, Central Intelligence Agency Director Trump has picked John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman who served as director of national intelligence during his first administration, to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency in his next. Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during the final year and a half of Trump's first term, leading the U.S. government's spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. “I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation's highest Intelligence positions,” Trump said in a statement, calling him a “fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans” who would ensure “the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.” Kash Patel, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel spent several years as a Justice Department prosecutor before catching the Trump administration’s attention as a staffer on Capitol Hill who helped investigate the Russia probe. Patel called for dramatically reducing the agency’s footprint, a perspective that sets him apart from earlier directors who sought additional resources for the bureau. Though the Justice Department in 2021 halted the practice of secretly seizing reporters’ phone records during leak investigations, Patel said he intends to aggressively hunt down government officials who leak information to reporters. Lee Zeldin, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Trump has chosen former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to serve as his pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency . Zeldin does not appear to have any experience in environmental issues, but is a longtime supporter of the former president. The 44-year-old former U.S. House member from New York wrote on X , “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI.” “We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water,” he added. During his campaign, Trump often attacked the Biden administration's promotion of electric vehicles, and incorrectly referring to a tax credit for EV purchases as a government mandate. Trump also often told his audiences during the campaign his administration would “Drill, baby, drill,” referring to his support for expanded petroleum exploration. In a statement, Trump said Zeldin “will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.” Brendan Carr, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission Trump has named Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, as the new chairman of the agency tasked with regulating broadcasting, telecommunications and broadband. Carr is a longtime member of the commission and served previously as the FCC’s general counsel. He has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate three times and was nominated by both Trump and President Joe Biden to the commission. Carr made past appearances on “Fox News Channel," including when he decried Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris' pre-Election Day appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” He wrote an op-ed last month defending a satellite company owned by Trump supporter Elon Musk. Paul Atkins, Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission Trump said Atkins, the CEO of Patomak Partners and a former SEC commissioner, was a “proven leader for common sense regulations.” In the years since leaving the SEC, Atkins has made the case against too much market regulation. “He believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of Investors, & that provide capital to make our Economy the best in the World. He also recognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The commission oversees U.S. securities markets and investments and is currently led by Gary Gensler, who has been leading the U.S. government’s crackdown on the crypto industry. Gensler, who was nominated by President Joe Biden, announced last month that he would be stepping down from his post on the day that Trump is inaugurated — Jan. 20, 2025. Atkins began his career as a lawyer and has a long history working in the financial markets sector, both in government and private practice. In the 1990s, he worked on the staffs of two former SEC chairmen, Richard C. Breeden and Arthur Levitt. Jared Isaacman, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, 41, is a tech billionaire who bought a series of spaceflights from Elon Musk’s SpaceX and conducted the first private spacewalk . He is the founder and CEO of a card-processing company and has collaborated closely with Musk ever since buying his first chartered SpaceX flight. He took contest winners on that 2021 trip and followed it in September with a mission where he briefly popped out the hatch to test SpaceX’s new spacewalking suits. Elise Stefanik, Ambassador to the United Nations Rep. Elise Stefanik is a representative from New York and one of Trump's staunchest defenders going back to his first impeachment. Elected to the House in 2014, Stefanik was selected by her GOP House colleagues as House Republican Conference chair in 2021, when former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from the post after publicly criticizing Trump for falsely claiming he won the 2020 election. Stefanik, 40, has served in that role ever since as the third-ranking member of House leadership. Stefanik’s questioning of university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses helped lead to two of those presidents resigning, further raising her national profile. If confirmed, she would represent American interests at the U.N. as Trump vows to end the war waged by Russia against Ukraine begun in 2022. He has also called for peace as Israel continues its offensive against Hamas in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon to target Hezbollah. Matt Whitaker, Ambassador to NATO President-elect Donald Trump says he's chosen former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker to serve as U.S. ambassador to NATO. Trump has expressed skepticism about the Western military alliance for years. Trump said in a statement Wednesday that Whitaker is “a strong warrior and loyal Patriot” who “will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended” and “strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability.” The choice of Whitaker as the nation’s representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an unusual one, given his background is as a lawyer and not in foreign policy. David Perdue, Ambassador to China President-elect Donald Trump tapped former Sen. David Perdue of Georgia to be ambassador to China, saying in a social media post that the former CEO “brings valuable expertise to help build our relationship with China.” Perdue lost his Senate seat to Democrat Jon Ossoff four years ago and ran unsuccessfully in a primary against Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. Perdue pushed Trump's debunked lies about electoral fraud during his failed bid for governor. Mike Huckabee, Ambassador to Israel Trump will nominate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel. Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel's interests as it wages wars against the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah. “He loves Israel, and likewise the people of Israel love him,” Trump said in a statement. “Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East.” Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016, has been a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland. Trump has been praised by some in this important Republican voting bloc for moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Steven Witkoff, Special Envoy to the Middle East Trump on Tuesday named real estate investor Steven Witkoff to be special envoy to the Middle East. The 67-year-old Witkoff is the president-elect's golf partner and was golfing with him at Trump's club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, when the former president was the target of a second attempted assassination. Witkoff “is a Highly Respected Leader in Business and Philanthropy,” Trump said of Witkoff in a statement. “Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud." Trump also named Witkoff co-chair, with former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, of his inaugural committee. Keith Kellogg, Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia Trump said Wednesday that he will nominate Gen. Keith Kellogg to serve as assistant to the president and special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. Kellogg, a retired Army lieutenant general who has long been Trump’s top adviser on defense issues, served as National Security Advisor to Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence. For the America First Policy Institute, one of several groups formed after Trump left office to help lay the groundwork for the next Republican administration, Kellogg in April wrote that “bringing the Russia-Ukraine war to a close will require strong, America First leadership to deliver a peace deal and immediately end the hostilities between the two warring parties.” (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib) Mike Waltz, National Security Adviser Trump asked Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser, Trump announced in a statement Tuesday. The move puts Waltz in the middle of national security crises, ranging from efforts to provide weapons to Ukraine and worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea to the persistent attacks in the Middle East by Iran proxies and the push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah. “Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda,” Trump's statement said, "and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!” Waltz is a three-term GOP congressman from east-central Florida. He served multiple tours in Afghanistan and also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs. He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population. Stephen Miller, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner , was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Trump's priority of mass deportations. The 39-year-old was a senior adviser during Trump's first administration. Miller has been a central figure in some of Trump's policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families. Trump argued throughout the campaign that the nation's economic, national security and social priorities could be met by deporting people who are in the United States illegally. Since Trump left office in 2021, Miller has served as the president of America First Legal, an organization made up of former Trump advisers aimed at challenging the Biden administration, media companies, universities and others over issues such as free speech and national security. Tom Homan, ‘Border Czar’ Thomas Homan, 62, has been tasked with Trump’s top priority of carrying out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history. Homan, who served under Trump in his first administration leading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was widely expected to be offered a position related to the border, an issue Trump made central to his campaign. Though Homan has insisted such a massive undertaking would be humane, he has long been a loyal supporter of Trump's policy proposals, suggesting at a July conference in Washington that he would be willing to "run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.” Democrats have criticized Homan for his defending Trump's “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings during his first administration, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border. Billy Long, Internal Revenue Service commissioner Former Rep. Billy Long represented Missouri in the U.S. House from 2011 to 2023. Since leaving Congress, Trump said, Long “has worked as a Business and Tax advisor, helping Small Businesses navigate the complexities of complying with the IRS Rules and Regulations.” Kelly Loeffler, Small Business Administration administrator Former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler was appointed in January 2020 by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and then lost a runoff election a year later. She started a conservative voter registration organization and dived into GOP fundraising, becoming one of the top individual donors and bundlers to Trump’s 2024 comeback campaign. Even before nominating her for agriculture secretary, the president-elect already had tapped Loeffler as co-chair of his inaugural committee. Dr. Mehmet Oz, Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, 64, is a former heart surgeon who hosted “The Dr. Oz Show,” a long-running daytime television talk show. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as the Republican nominee in 2022 and is an outspoken supporter of Trump, who endorsed Oz's bid for elected office. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to advise White House on government efficiency Elon Musk, left, and Vivek Ramaswamy speak before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at an Oct. 27 campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York. Trump on Tuesday said Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Ramaswamy will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency" — which is not, despite the name, a government agency. The acronym “DOGE” is a nod to Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. Trump said Musk and Ramaswamy will work from outside the government to offer the White House “advice and guidance” and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.” He added the move would shock government systems. It's not clear how the organization will operate. Musk, owner of X and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the presidential election. Ramaswamy suspended his campaign in January and threw his support behind Trump. Trump said the two will “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” Russell Vought, Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought held the position during Trump’s first presidency. After Trump’s initial term ended, Vought founded the Center for Renewing America, a think tank that describes its mission as “renew a consensus of America as a nation under God.” Vought was closely involved with Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term that he tried to distance himself from during the campaign. Vought has also previously worked as the executive and budget director for the Republican Study Committee, a caucus for conservative House Republicans. He also worked at Heritage Action, the political group tied to The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Additional selections to the incoming White House Dan Scavino, deputy chief of staff Scavino, whom Trump's transition referred to in a statement as one of “Trump's longest serving and most trusted aides,” was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 campaign, as well as his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. He will be deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president. Scavino had run Trump's social media profile in the White House during his first administration. He was also held in contempt of Congress in 2022 after a month-long refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. James Blair, deputy chief of staff Blair was political director for Trump's 2024 campaign and for the Republican National Committee. He will be deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs and assistant to the president. Blair was key to Trump's economic messaging during his winning White House comeback campaign this year, a driving force behind the candidate's “Trump can fix it” slogan and his query to audiences this fall if they were better off than four years ago. Taylor Budowich, deputy chief of staff Budowich is a veteran Trump campaign aide who launched and directed Make America Great Again, Inc., a super PAC that supported Trump's 2024 campaign. He will be deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel and assistant to the president. Budowich also had served as a spokesman for Trump after his presidency. Jay Bhattacharya, National Institutes of Health Trump has chosen Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health. Bhattacharya is a physician and professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, and is a critic of pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates. He promoted the idea of herd immunity during the pandemic, arguing that people at low risk should live normally while building up immunity to COVID-19 through infection. The National Institutes of Health funds medical research through competitive grants to researchers at institutions throughout the nation. NIH also conducts its own research with thousands of scientists working at its labs in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Marty Makary, Food and Drug Administration Makary is a Johns Hopkins surgeon and author who argued against pandemic lockdowns. He routinely appeared on Fox News during the COVID-19 pandemic and wrote opinion articles questioning masks for children. He cast doubt on vaccine mandates but supported vaccines generally. Makary also cast doubt on whether booster shots worked, which was against federal recommendations on the vaccine. Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, Surgeon General Nesheiwat is a general practitioner who serves as medical director for CityMD, a network of urgent care centers in New York and New Jersey. She has been a contributor to Fox News. Dr. Dave Weldon, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Weldon is a former Florida congressman who recently ran for a Florida state legislative seat and lost; Trump backed Weldon’s opponent. In Congress, Weldon weighed in on one of the nation’s most heated debates of the 1990s over quality of life and a right-to-die and whether Terri Schiavo, who was in a persistent vegetative state after cardiac arrest, should have been allowed to have her feeding tube removed. He sided with the parents who did not want it removed. Jamieson Greer, U.S. trade representative Kevin Hassett, Director of the White House National Economic Council Trump is turning to two officials with experience navigating not only Washington but the key issues of income taxes and tariffs as he fills out his economic team. He announced he has chosen international trade attorney Jamieson Greer to be his U.S. trade representative and Kevin Hassett as director of the White House National Economic Council. While Trump has in several cases nominated outsiders to key posts, these picks reflect a recognition that his reputation will likely hinge on restoring the public’s confidence in the economy. Trump said in a statement that Greer was instrumental in his first term in imposing tariffs on China and others and replacing the trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, “therefore making it much better for American Workers.” Hassett, 62, served in the first Trump term as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. He has a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and worked at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute before joining the Trump White House in 2017. Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.
The line item on the Halton Hills council agenda seemed routine enough. Councillors were poised to look at proposed terms of reference for a document that would delve into how people in this growing town would be moving around in the decades to come. It’s the kind of document municipalities regularly put together to shape future roadways, bike lanes, stoplight placement and the like. If some councillors were surprised to notice more residents showing up than usual for this particular session, they were stunned by what happened next. Constituents, including longtime neighbours, began accusing the council of laying the groundwork for a shadowy international plot. It was meant, they feared, to imprison residents within their neighbourhoods, using technology that would also enslave them in other ways. “I found language (in the proposed terms of reference) that has the potential to open the door to 15-minute ‘smart’ cities,” a woman who has lived in Georgetown for more than a half-century told the August meeting. “If this document opens up the route to 15-minute cities, every single tower, every single connection to the wireless of that tower, will harm the people of Georgetown through 5G radiation poisoning, or electromagnetic radiation, and every tower will cause harm at every minute.” The crowd applauded. (It’s worth noting here that Health Canada says, based on the available scientific evidence, .”) Other deputants stepped forward. They said Halton Hills risks falling prey to the World Economic Forum, the United Nations, facial-recognition technology and checkpoints to restrict their movements between the town’s scattered communities. The 15-minute cities conspiracy theory had officially arrived in Halton Hills. Conspiratorial ruminations have jumped from online forums to local council meetings. It’s a situation that’s influencing proposals and debate over good-faith attempts to make communities less car reliant with more options for walking and biking under what’s known as the 15-minute city concept. Many politicians say they’re bewildered. Some are frustrated. But others are lining up with residents and sharing their fears. Warnings across social media channels and podcasts about a global plot to restrict freedom of movement — under the guise of measures to discourage car use, curb climate change and introduce “smart city” technologies — emerged in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. They’ve grown ever louder since. As the U.S. under president-elect Donald Trump appears set to enter an era that mainstreams conspiracy theories about government intentions, unfounded fears over 15-minute cities are, on a much more local level, affecting the language some communities use to describe their new mobility options. Some people fear that backlash over imagined plots could begin to shape the communities themselves. Jane Fogal, a Halton Hills councillor for 27 years, said she couldn’t believe the statements at the August meeting triggered by a preliminary planning document written by town staff that doesn’t even mention the — or recommend any specific changes to the town. “It came as a big surprise, to me, the level of paranoia and distrust of those of us who are councillors,” said Fogal. She said she knew some of those questioning the aims of council and town staff to be “completely reasonable people.” “That anyone could believe that the municipal level of government that’s all about helping people — providing them with playgrounds, trails, ways to enjoy the entire town — that these people have been made to feel they can’t trust us, that we’re evil people who have a plan to contain them — it’s transformative, it’s unbelievable. “I believe that it was just Halton Hills’s turn to have a mobility master plan, that’s why it became an issue here, but I’m sure that idea of 15-minute neighbourhoods is bubbling up all over the country.” Even without communities explicitly trying to adopt a 15-minute city framework, councils have seen similar protests in other parts of the GTA, including Pickering and Aurora, other parts of Ontario from up to , and in other provinces. Some right-wing groups affiliated with the convoy movement give residents , including Toronto’s efforts to . The Canadian Institute of Planners that “misinformation” about the concept “has resulted in alarming instances of hostile behaviour and threats toward planners and public servants, disruptive conduct in consultation meetings, and the need for law enforcement interventions.” The backlash is shaping how municipalities describe their efforts to make communities more bikeable and walkable, avoiding terms that could trigger protest, while resisting calls to reject any initiatives that offer people more non-vehicle options. Efforts to curb suburban sprawl and make communities less car reliant have been largely embraced by cities around the world for decades. The planning institute notes that “most urban areas built prior to the overwhelming proliferation of cars have the structure of a 15-minute city.” Goals include convenience for residents, equity for people who can’t afford or don’t want a car, the health benefits of increased walking and biking, and carbon reduction benefits from reduced private vehicle use. Prof. Carlos Moreno, a Paris-based urbanist, coined the “15-minute city” that called for cities to be reimagined around ecology, proximity to activities, community connections and citizen participation. Moreno told the New York Times in 2023 that conspiracy theorists quickly turned him from a researcher into an evil character like Adolf Hitler or Pol Pot. “I have become, in one week, Public Enemy No. 1,” he said, adding it was unclear how to fight such unfounded allegations. “I’m not totally sure what is the best reaction — to respond, to not respond, to call a press conference, to write a press release,” he said. Academics, he said, “are relatively alone.” Although the concept did find fans among some city leaders, , many people previously uninterested in urban planning soon came to see it not as about mobility choice, but as an attempt to limit vehicle use, paving the road toward a future ban on vehicles. At the Halton Hills meeting, Mayor Ann Lawlor joined Fogal and other council members trying to assure residents that the mobility plan terms of reference — a framework to launch public consultation to inform future proposals — were not part of a plot to enslave them. But Coun. D’Arcy Keene questioned town staff’s use of the word “mobility” rather than “transportation” and told the crowd, to cheers: “This is just the beginning of the inevitable result — restrict people’s movement, take away their freedom of mobility.” Halton Hills Coun. D’Arcy Keene objected to a town report on mobility options that did not stress the primacy of the privately owned automobile. Keene and Coun. Joseph Racinsky questioned town staff’s proposed bullet points to help frame consultation — that the mobility plan should “encourage alternative forms of transportation such as walking, cycling and public transit” and also “reduce dependency on passenger vehicles and increase the modal share of public transit and active transportation.” Those aims, widely promoted by municipalities in recent decades, were a red flag to Keene, a first-term councillor and business owner. “Primacy of the privately owned automobile is the primary source of transportation for this community,” he told council. “That’s what is missing from this report and needs to be included.” Racinsky convinced a majority of his colleagues to erase the goals of encouraging walking and cycling, and reducing dependency on private vehicles, arguing transportation priorities should come from residents and not town staff. The mayor voted with him, but said she had no doubt the final plan would include those goals. In an interview later, Keene applauded residents for questioning town staff and his council colleagues and for resisting efforts to impose an ideology he said is completely at odds with their semi-rural, car-based lifestyle. “There are overall trends on a national and international level — to call it conspiracy theories is offensive,” he said. “Transglobal organizations — government organizations and NGOs, ‘gongos’ I call them — are constantly coming up with new ways to affect people’s lives that (Halton Hills residents) have no interest in hearing about.” Keene said he believes “the power of the unelected administrative state has grown exponentially in the last 20 years,” and questions why town staff want a new mobility plan at all. He branded the proposed terms of reference “a complete minimization of the privately owned automobile as the primary source of transportation in our community. It’s clearly an anti-car report and it ignores the needs and desires of my constituents, and I’m extremely upset about it.” The town of Halton Hills said the mobility plan “isn’t a movement away from cars, but more about encouraging alternative transportation options” and “will be addressing all modes of travel from automobiles, to cycling, to walking, transit and shared mobility.” Chris Mills, the town’s chief administrative officer, told the Star: “It’s unfortunate that the term ’15-minute cities’ has been so misunderstood, it has nothing to do with restricting people’s movements. “Basically, the concept is to construct communities with amenities that people could get to by walking or riding in 15 minutes if they choose to do so. The option to drive will always be there. The more common term we use in Halton Hills is ‘complete communities’ or ‘compact form.’” As to Keene’s statement about “the unelected administrative state,” Mills added that “Over the past 20 years, town staff have increased to meet the expectations of the community and the standards set by council.” At Aurora council last year, a deputant was after a presentation that included dire warnings about the threat of 15-minute cities. Edmonton council earlier this year took the unusual step of , adding that new plans “shall not restrict freedom of movement, association, and commerce in accordance with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.” A small group of protesters gathered in Edmonton in February last year to protest the 15-minute city. The city later addressed conspiracy thoeries in a bylaw. An August meeting of city council in Brandon, Man. saw members of an overflow crowd accuse council members of . Carmen Celestini, a University of Waterloo researcher studying conspiracy theories, said online theorists linking benign efforts to improve health and convenience have mobilized a lot of regular people who, during pandemic isolation, retreated deep into their smartphones and online communities protesting lockdown measures. “Most people think conspiracy theorists have the tinfoil hat, but a lot of them are upper or middle class. They’re well-educated,” she said. “If they already distrust government or feel disengaged, their voice isn’t there, these things can make sense to them, they don’t seem far-fetched. But 15-minute cities are about livability — nothing ominous or evil.” Celestini added that “conspiracies are absolutely having an impact on politics at all levels, globally,” triggering baseless moral panics about critical race theory, “groomer” pedophile rings and prompting some politicians to vow to never engage with the World Economic Forum. Governments have a difficult task pushing back against conspiracy theories, Celestini said. “Those who believe in conspiracies do not trust politicians nor do they trust legacy media, so any pronouncements from these groups will be understood as ‘trying to control’ or ‘lies,’” she said. “I do not think there is a concrete form of fighting back this tide, but whatever is done must be a global response, because the internet is borderless,” and so too are the conspiracies and fears. It’s been challenging to pinpoint the source of conspiracy theories. Some people note that fighting efforts to reduce private vehicle use . Others point to intent on pitting Western nation citizens against each other. What is clear is that many residents deeply believe in the threat to their communities. Pickering council is, according to Mayor Kevin Ashe, “ground zero” for municipalities coping with conspiracy theories, “including the globalist agenda, space force police, geo-engineering with chemtrails — it’s a small minority of residents, but it’s here.” He blames Coun. Lisa Robinson who, he said, “finds links to 15-minute cities and other like-minded thinking in all kinds of reports that have nothing to do with planning.” Robinson, a councillor for violating its code of conduct since her election in October 2022, said in an email that language promoting 15-minute cities “resembles a system of control rather than empowerment,” and pointed to surveillance and movement controls in China. “The pandemic exposed how governments can use fear to justify sweeping control, and it has made more people vigilant, recognizing that when only one side of the story is permitted, it’s often a red flag that the full truth is being concealed,” she said. Ashe rejected the idea that encouraging alternatives to private vehicles use is in any way nefarious, but concedes that protests by Robinson and her followers are affecting the way the city describes such initiatives. “Our staff and councillors are hesitant to use that (15-minute city) terminology. We don’t want our council chambers filled with conspiracy theorists. We don’t want our municipal agenda hijacked by the alt-right delegates. It’s unfortunate we have to couch our language,” Ashe said. “Hopefully it’s not changing policy,” in any communities, he added. Back at the Halton Hills meeting, a resident warns council members that, while he welcomes assurances they are not trying to force UN sustainability goals onto the community, “You will not be able to scare the people of Georgetown, who see the weather acting normal on a daily basis.” Any attempt to sneak a reduction in carbon emissions into city plans, he added, will result “in the council being thrown out.” Fogal said later she believes a majority of her council colleagues are determined to give residents more ways to get around and enjoy the town even if it means more accusations and more tough meetings. “I don’t want people to think we’re not going to do it because of this opposition. You’ve got to stick with your principles.”UMM AL-FAHM, Israel (AP) — Israel’s yearlong crackdown against Palestinian citizens who speak out against the war in Gaza is prompting many to self-censor out of fear of being jailed and further marginalized in society, while some still find ways to dissent — carefully. Ahmed Khalefa’s life turned upside down after he was charged with inciting terrorism for chanting in solidarity with Gaza at an anti-war protest in October 2023. The lawyer and city counselor from central Israel says he spent three difficult months in jail followed by six months detained in an apartment. It’s unclear when he’ll get a final verdict on his guilt or innocence. Until then, he’s forbidden from leaving his home from dusk to dawn. Khalefa is one of more than 400 Palestinian citizens of Israel who, since the start of the war in Gaza, have been investigated by police for “incitement to terrorism” or “incitement to violence,” according to Adalah, a legal rights group for minorities. More than half of those investigated were also criminally charged or detained, Adalah said. “Israel made it clear they see us more as enemies than as citizens,” Khalefa said in an interview at a cafe in his hometown of Umm al-Fahm, Israel’s second-largest Palestinian city. Israel has roughly 2 million Palestinian citizens, whose families remained within the borders of what became Israel in 1948. Among them are Muslims and Christians, and they maintain family and cultural ties to Gaza and the West Bank, which Israel captured in 1967. Israel says its Palestinian citizens enjoy equal rights , including the right to vote, and they are well-represented in many professions. However, Palestinians are widely discriminated against in areas like housing and the job market. Israeli authorities have opened more incitement cases against Palestinian citizens during the war in Gaza than in the previous five years combined, Adalah’s records show. Israeli authorities have not said how many cases ended in convictions and imprisonment. The Justice Ministry said it did not have statistics on those convictions. Just being charged with incitement to terrorism or identifying with a terrorist group can land a suspect in detention until they’re sentenced, under the terms of a 2016 law. In addition to being charged as criminals, Palestinians citizens of Israel — who make up around 20% of the country’s population — have lost jobs, been suspended from schools and faced police interrogations posting online or demonstrating, activists and rights watchdogs say. It’s had a chilling effect. “Anyone who tries to speak out about the war will be imprisoned and harassed in his work and education,” said Oumaya Jabareen, whose son was jailed for eight months after an anti-war protest. “People here are all afraid, afraid to say no to this war.” Jabareen was among hundreds of Palestinians who filled the streets of Umm al-Fahm earlier this month carrying signs and chanting political slogans. It appeared to be the largest anti-war demonstration in Israel since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack . But turnout was low, and Palestinian flags and other national symbols were conspicuously absent. In the years before the war , some protests could draw tens of thousands of Palestinians in Israel. Authorities tolerated the recent protest march, keeping it under heavily armed supervision. Helicopters flew overhead as police with rifles and tear gas jogged alongside the crowd, which dispersed without incident after two hours. Khalefa said he chose not to attend. Shortly after the Oct. 7 attack, Israel’s far-right government moved quickly to invigorate a task force that has charged Palestinian citizens of Israel with “supporting terrorism” for posts online or protesting against the war. At around the same time, lawmakers amended a security bill to increase surveillance of online activity by Palestinians in Israel, said Nadim Nashif, director of the digital rights group 7amleh. These moves gave authorities more power to restrict freedom of expression and intensify their arrest campaigns, Nashif said. The task force is led by Itamar Ben-Gvir , a hard-line national security minister who oversees the police. His office said the task force has monitored thousands of posts allegedly expressing support for terror organizations and that police arrested “hundreds of terror supporters,” including public opinion leaders, social media influencers, religious figures, teachers and others. “Freedom of speech is not the freedom to incite ... which harms public safety and our security,” his office said in a statement. But activists and rights groups say the government has expanded its definition of incitement much too far, targeting legitimate opinions that are at the core of freedom of expression. Myssana Morany, a human rights attorney at Adalah, said Palestinian citizens have been charged for seemingly innocuous things like sending a meme of a captured Israeli tank in Gaza in a private WhatsApp group chat. Another person was charged for posting a collage of children’s photos, captioned in Arabic and English: “Where were the people calling for humanity when we were killed?” The feminist activist group Kayan said over 600 women called its hotline because of blowback in the workplace for speaking out against the war or just mentioning it unfavorably. Over the summer, around two dozen anti-war protesters in the port city of Haifa were only allowed to finish three chants before police forcefully scattered the gathering into the night. Yet Jewish Israelis demanding a hostage release deal protest regularly — and the largest drew hundreds of thousands to the streets of Tel Aviv. Khalefa, the city counselor, is not convinced the crackdown on speech will end, even if the war eventually does. He said Israeli prosecutors took issue with slogans that broadly praised resistance and urged Gaza to be strong, but which didn’t mention violence or any militant groups. For that, he said, the government is trying to disbar him, and he faces up to eight years in prison. “They wanted to show us the price of speaking out,” Khalefa said. ___ Associated Press writers Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel, Ibrahim Hazboun in Jerusalem, Mahmoud Illean in Umm al-Fahm, and Drew Callister in New York, contributed to this report. Related From Our Partner
West Virginia State Football Championships: Laidley Field Ready for Epic Weekend"If you do not want to die in the war," the Ukrainian government-backed hotline, "I Want To Live," proclaims in large letters on its homepage, then they are the ones to contact. Established for Russian soldiers to surrender and get themselves out of Moscow's ranks, the hotline is preparing for North Korean soldiers to reach out for the first time. The "I Want To Live" project isn't expecting a "massive" wave of messages or calls from North Korean soldiers, but is anticipating a few fighters drafted into front-line clashes to make contact, Vitalii, a spokesperson for the hotline, told Newsweek . None of the thousands of soldiers sent from North Korea to Russian soil have contacted the project yet, Vitalii said. South Korean, U.S. and Ukrainian intelligence have indicated that upward of 10,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to the western Russian region of Kursk to support Moscow's war effort. Ukraine launched an offensive into the region in early August, andstill holds hundreds of square miles of Russian territory. Pyongyang's fighters are thought to be kitted out in Russian garb and have been taken into the Kremlin's existing military forces. Russia has not confirmed or denied the presence of North Korean troops in Kursk, but has signed a mutual defense pact with the secretive country's supreme leader, Kim Jong-un. Russian Preside nt Vladimir Putin said it was "entirely our own business" how to implement the defense agreement between Moscow and Pyongyang. North Korea has supplied a significant number of missiles and shipments of munitions to prop up the Kremlin's war effort. A South Korean intelligence official said earlier this week that Russia had provided air-defense equipment and "economic aid in various forms" to North Korea. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Saturday that he expected to see North Korean soldiers "engaged in combat soon." The State Department confirmed in mid-November that North Korean soldiers were "engaging in combat operations with Russian forces" after undergoing training in how to use drones, artillery, and carry out "basic infantry operations." Ukraine's Defense Minister, Rustem Umerov, told South Korean media earlier this month that North Korean soldiers had been involved in "small-scale clashes" so far. The North Korean troops arrived in Russia at a moment when Moscow, like Kyiv, is searching for ways to backfill its military ranks in the face of eye-watering casualty counts. Russia has been steadily advancing in Ukraine's east, but has racked up a high number of casualties in the process, according to numbers coming out of Ukraine. The "I Want To Live" hotline was quick to launch a social media appeal in Korean more than a month ago. "We appeal to the fighters of the Korean People's Army who were sent to help the Putin regime," the hotline said in a post to messaging app Telegram, using the formal name for North Korea's army. "You should not die senselessly on foreign soil," the project wrote. "Do not repeat the fate of hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers who will never return home!" Those who surrender to Ukrainian forces are promised shelter, hot meals and medical care for those who need it. "It does not matter how many soldiers Pyongyang sends to help Russia, it does not matter in which direction—Ukrainian prisoner of war camps are ready to accept soldiers of any nationality, religion and ideological views," the hotline said. Extracting each soldier from the fighting is a unique process, Vitalii said. "There are many factors and variables, so I cannot say exactly how we will do it," he said, "but the main thing is the safety of both the surrendered and our units that are being brought to the territory controlled by Ukraine." Each fighter who reaches out keeps up a constant link with the hotline, Vitalii said. A bespoke evacuation plan is then devised, taking into account the weather conditions, the landscape and which section of the hundreds of miles of front line the soldier is deployed to, he added. It's not yet clear whether North Korean fighters will be found along other sections of the front line. Andriy Kovalenko, an official with Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said earlier this week that an unspecified number of North Korean soldiers were "transferred to the border areas of the Belgorod region." Belgorod borders Kursk, sitting across from Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region. Newsweek could not independently verify this. The hotline is "monitoring" where North Korean forces end up, Vitalii said. "We have now made a video message to the North Korean military and developed leaflets that will be distributed at the front," he added. The project also has specialists who can communicate in Korean, Vitalii said. There are still big question marks over how well the North Korean soldiers, for whom this will be their first combat experience, will cope with warfare on the front lines in Europe. Officials and experts have pointed to likely problems with communication, slotting into the command structure of Russia's military, and morale. Pyongyang's fighters are "conditioned with unwavering loyalty to their leadership and a unique psychological resilience cultivated by the regime," Ji Hyun Park, a North Korean defector, now a senior fellow for human security at the Center for Asia Pacific Strategy, previously told Newsweek . It is designed to instill a willingness to sacrifice everything for the state, Park said. "However, this psychological preparation may not translate effectively into practical resilience in the type of active combat scenarios currently seen in Ukraine, where they would face modernized and highly capable opposition in unfamiliar territory," Park added. A group of North Korean defectors based in the South Korean capital said earlier this month that they handed over written instructions and audio messages for North Korean fighters on how to defect to Ukrainian officials in Seoul. Jang Se-yul, heading up the group, said Kyiv's military "could secure mass surrender and defection among North Korean soldiers if proactive psychological warfare is mobilized," according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency. Although the North Koreans may be unfamiliar with Russia's territory and weapons stockpiles, they probably will not need extensive training on the guns, rifles, mortars and other explosives Moscow uses against Ukraine, Ramon Pacheco Pardo, a professor of international relations at King's College London, previously told Newsweek . At least some of the thousands of fighters are thought to be "Storm Troops," or members of Pyongyang's special operations forces trained for infiltration and assassination. It is impossible to tell how well equipped they are for active conflict.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says the government is working to get taxpayer value for the money it paid for medication that has yet to be approved and delivered. Smith announced the plan two years ago amid a national shortage of children’s pain medication. The province spent $70 million upfront to import five million bottles from Turkey-based Atabay Pharmaceuticals. But Alberta Health Services said Friday that Health Canada only approved 1.5 million bottles or $21 million worth of product. That left a credit of $49 million. Smith said this week the holdup is with Health Canada, which would have to approve a new suite of imports for the province to get its money’s worth. “We’re waiting for Health Canada to work with AHS to identify the products, get the formulations, approve it, so that we’re able to execute on it. Those things take time,” Smith said in a year-end interview. The premier said the province had to pay the $70 million upfront. “They delivered a portion, and then the supply chains were restored, and we didn’t need to fulfil it with the two products we’d initially ordered. So we have a credit on file with Atabay,” said Smith. The government and AHS declined to say what specific products they’re seeking or when they might arrive. “We want it to be delivered soon,” said Smith. Health Canada was unable to provide an immediate response. AHS said the $70-million prepayment went to Edmonton-based medical supplier MHCare. AHS did not address questions about how common it is to pay the entire contracting fee upfront with no apparent backstops to ensure fulfilment. The costs of shipping, waste disposal and other administration tied to the deal were initially estimated to be an extra $10 million, but are yet to be finalized. NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said Smith’s United Conservative government signed a deal that didn’t follow normal procurement practices, and it backfired. “The federal government had already signed a deal to get real Tylenol onto the shelves that arrived before the Turkish Tylenol,” he told The Canadian Press. Smith’s government has stood by the decision to import the medication because, in late 2022, parents were desperate to find relief for their children at the height of the respiratory virus season. The purchase has long been mired in difficulties. It was immediately beset by delays, as the province sought regulatory approvals and sorted out packaging and warning labels. Pharmacists had to keep some of the medicine behind the counter to make sure customers who bought it were aware of the comparatively lower dosage. Hospital neonatal units eventually stopped using it due to safety concerns. The purchase also sparked questions about whether the province’s relaxed ethics rules meant elected officials could be bought for the right price. Multiple UCP cabinet ministers have said they accepted free tickets to Edmonton Oilers hockey games during the Stanley Cup playoffs. They said they followed conflict-of-interest rules and denied any claims of disreputable behaviour. Health Minister Adriana LaGrange has said AHS has identified what imported adult medications it could use, is in negotiations with Atabay and is working to get approval from Health Canada. “Once those processes have been gone through, I will be happy to share exactly what those medications are,” she said Thursday.
Bedford Coach: Brooks Shoemaker, first season. Career record: 0-0. Assistant: Sam Slick. District/classification: 5/3A. 2023-24 record: 5-18 (4-14 LHAC). Returning starters: 4. Returning letterwinners: 6. Coach’s outlook: “The program is on an upward trajectory. Two wins two years ago and five last year, we are hoping to take a big step forward this season. We must learn to play to our strengths. We have six letterwinners back and we believe that we can eventually develop into a 10-deep rotation to maximize our athleticism. However, depth is an issue.” Roster Senior: Shannon Letrent, 6-0 F. Juniors: Emma Byers, 5-10 F; Addison Clark, 5-6 G; Rebekah Costal, 5-6 G; Makayla Koontz, 5-9 F; Kacey Martz, 5-8 G; Katie McDevitt, 5-8 F; Ashlyn Pemberton, 5-11 F; Sammi Shoemaker, 5-6 G; Kasey Shuke, 5-8 G. Sophomores: Riley Vent, 5-8 F. Freshmen: None. Berlin Brothersvalley Coach: Rachel Prosser, 19th season. Career record: 344-127. Assistants: Katie Flick, Marah Yachere, Emily Engle, Mike Harbaugh, Tess Straight. District/classification: 5/2A. 2023-24 record: 23-6 (8-0 ICC West). Returning starters: 2. Returning letterwinners: 2. Coach’s outlook: “We have a small and young team with lots of energy. We are looking forward to competing all year.” Roster Seniors: None. Juniors: Lexi Fairman, 5-6 G; Mercy Sechler, 5-8 G; Madison Visinsky, 5-5 G. Sophomores: Alexis Foor, 5-7 G; Coral Prosser, 5-8 G; Elena Ritchey, 5-9 F; Mckenzie Stivison, 5-3 F. Freshmen: Teaghan Hutzell, 5-8 F; Kaitlyn Miller, 5-1 G; Madison Oakes, 5-1 G; Vesper Ogburn; Mariska Popovich, 5-5 F; Bryn Prosser, 5-6 G; Penny Stoltzfus, 5-8 G; Samantha Walker, 5-6 G. Bishop Carroll Coach: John Strittmatter, first season. Career record: 0-0. Assistants: Nick Smith, Pat Long. District/classification: 6/1A. 2023-24 record: 11-13. Returning starters: 3. Returning letterwinners: 5. Coach’s outlook: “We are a young team and also have a great group of leaders. We will work hard at practice to build good habits.” Roster Seniors: Caroline Golden, Maddie Lieb, Maya Sirsikar. Juniors: Madison Delauter, Taylor Diehl, Allie Dziabo, Sarah Miller. Sophomores: Adelyn Myers, Adison Myers, Avery Myers; Raigan Myers, Ava Pablic, Lily Strait, Hannah Strittmatter. Freshman: Emily Lucko. Bishop McCort Coach: John Hahn, 25th season. Career record: 456-167. Assistants: Don McIntosh, Dave Gallucci, Emma Hunt, Erika Strittmatter. District/classification: 6/2A. 2023-24 record: 26-3 (18-0 LHAC). Returning starters: 3. Returning letterwinners: 8. Coach’s outlook: “We look to compete in a tough conference. We hope to be playing our basketball at the end of the season and get better every game.” Roster Seniors: Cami Beppler, 5-7 G; Elle Berkebile, 5-5 G; Olivia Olshewsky, 5-9 F; Belle Toth, 5-6 G. Juniors: Kalina Bailey, 5-6 G; Reese Bair, 5-6 G; Emma Preuss, 5-5 G; Ava Zucco, 5-10 C. Sophomores: Alissa Durst, 5-10 F; Kylie Durst, 5-5 G; Zoey Ferg, 5-8 G; Evelyn Moore, 5-6 G. Freshmen: Kate Kibler, 5-11 C; Hannah Pfeil, 5-6 F; Ciara Urban, 5-6 G; Olivia Urban, 5-6 G; Lexi Wachs, 5-7 G. Blacklick Valley Coach: Rich Price, sixth at Blacklick Valley, 13th overall. Career record: 182-104 girls only. Assistant: Cassidy Bezek. District/classification: 6/1A. 2023-24 record: 22-2 (6-0 WestPAC). Returning starters: 4. Returning letterwinners: 9. Coach’s outlook: “The girls worked very hard during the summer. They put time in on the court and in the weight room. We wanted to not only improve their skills, but their strength and quickness. We have terrific leadership from our seniors, Riley Hoover and Kristin Szymusiak. We also welcome back 2022-23 Cambria County freshman of the year Mackenzie Kinter from a knee injury she suffered prior to last season. Our five freshmen from last year played a lot of basketball and are a year older, stronger and more experienced. That should give us the depth we need to play our up-tempo full-court style for 32 minutes. The girls have made the Blacklick Valley girls basketball program a perennial playoff team. Now we want to make a deep run in the district and state playoffs. District 6 Class 1A is loaded with very talented players and teams. We want to be included in that group.” Roster Seniors: Riley Hoover, 5-6 G; Kristin Szymusiak, 5-10 G. Juniors: Danica Gailey, 5-2 G; Mackenzie Kinter, 5-6 G. Sophomores: Mackenzie Bardell, 5-10 G; Paige Kelley, 5-4 G; Sarah Mourey, 5-6 F; Josie Nedrich, 5-5 G; Averi Yewcic, 5-10 G. Freshmen: Sierra Chappell, 5-2 G; Lauren Rohrabaugh, 5-6 F; Madison Vasilko, 5-4 G; Kirsten Williamson, 5-3 G. Cambria Heights Coach: Eric Thomas, first season at Cambria Heights, seventh overall. Career record: 139-26. Assistant: Alyssa Berzonsky. District/classification: 6/3A. 2023-24 record: 13-10 (8-8 Heritage). Returning starters: 4. Returning letterwinners: 6. Coach’s outlook: “We have a lot of senior leadership and experience. The girls work hard and pick up on skills fast. They want to be successful. These girls have had three different coaches in threee years and that is not easy. I only took over the team a few weeks ago, so we are just getting to know each other on the court. If we can work together and play good solid defense, I think we can be very good and competitive in all of our games.’’ Roster Seniors: Maelyn Dutko, 5-7 G; Hannah Hite, 5-2 G; Sienna Kirsch, 5-9 F; Gracey Vinglish, 5-8 F. Juniors: Markie Bender, 5-3 G; Gracie Bradley, 5-6 F; Kinley Rogal, 5-2 G. Sophomores: Mya Crowell, 5-7 F; Lilly Karlheim, 5-7 G/F; Rachel Nelen, 5-2 G. Freshmen: Ava Adams, 5-7 G/F; Sierra Hoover, 5-5 G; Kylee Karlheim, 5-3 G. Central Cambria Coach: Brittany Bracken, 11th season. Career record: 131-112. Assistants: Becky Bard, Eric Rummel, Shane McGregor. District/classification: 6/3A. 2023-24 record: 13-12 (10-7 LHAC). Returning starters: 5. Returning letterwinners: 7. Coach’s outlook: “We have a great group of upperclassmen with a lot of experience. These girls have been playing varsity the last couple of seasons. They have put in the time, they know our system and they have worked hard. Additionally, we have a talented group of underclassmen to complement them.’’ Roster Seniors: Ava Barra, 5-4 G; Keira Link, 5-8 F; Kennedy Moore, 5-6 G; Aubrey Ruddek, 5-7 F; Abigail Sheehan, 5-4 G; Alaina Sheehan, 5-3 G. Junior: Alaina Long, 5-5 G. Sophomores: Katie Benko, 5-8 F; Katie George, 5-10 F; Camryn Matlin, 5-6 G; Bella Mesoras, 5-3 G; Rowyn Ruddek, 5-6 G; Katie Zernick, 5-3 G. Freshmen: Paige Alexander, 5-6 G; Coreigh Anderson, 5-6 F; Gianna Grimaldi, 5-7 F; Makenzie Hite, 5-3 G. Chestnut Ridge Coach: Meredith Zorn, first season. Career record: 0-0. Assistant: Ashley Stahl. District/classification: 5/3A. 2023-24 record: 13-13 (8-10 LHAC). Returning starters: 2. Returning letterwinners: 3. Coach’s outlook: “This will be a rebuilding year for the team. We have a lot of talent in our small numbers, but we are very young and inexperienced. We lost five starting seniors last year, in addition to others and had a few not return to play this year.” Roster Senior: Leah Herman, 5-4 G. Juniors: Bree Harbaugh, 5-3 G; Liza Ickes, 5-6 G; Lydia MacIntyre, 5-6 F. Sophomores: Isabella Carl, 5-1 G; Jenna Damjanovich, 5-8 G/F; Makenna Herman, 5-6 G; Daisy Moyer, 5-10 F. Freshmen: Lillian MacIntyre, 5-5 G/F; Rylie McCreary, 5-5 F; Naiara Shaffer, 5-5 G; Leah Vent, 5-5 G. Conemaugh Township Coach: Lisa Byer, eighth season. Career record: 67-92. Assistants: Paul Baer, Carly Gindlesperger. District/classification: 5/2A. 2023-24 record: 6-16 (4-12 Heritage). Returning starters: 4. Returning letterwinners: 7. Coach’s outlook: “This year is another challenge as we compete in the tough Heritage Conference. Our returning players are experienced, connected and obtain a hard work-ethic. We have freshmen who are quick, knowledgeable and eager to step up to the challenge. The Lady Indians are a respectful, unselfish and tough tribe – ready for any obstacle thrown their way.” Roster Seniors: Ava Byer, 5-10 G; Ashlyn Fetterman, 5-3 G; Katie Wiley, 5-5 G. Junior: Katrina McCann, 5-6 G. Sophomores: Dani Black, 5-9 F; Lena Dull, 5-4 G; Mayce Kordell, 5-4 G; Emily Purdy, 5-7 F; Averi Seibert, 5-5 G; Avery DiGuardi, 5-10 C. Freshmen: Isabella Bihun, 5-8 G; Gina Hagan, 5-8 G; Quinn Moser, 5-6 G. Conemaugh Valley Coach: Emada Loe, first season. Career record: 0-0. Assistant: Crystal Andrews. District/classification: 6/1A. 2023-24 record: 4-18 (1-14 Heritage). Returning starters: 3. Returning letterwinners: 3. Coach’s outlook: “This year, my outlook is all about growth, both as individuals and as a team. We’re going to challenge ourselves, push past limits and celebrate the small wins along the way. Each person plays a role in making this team stronger. As one of our main goals would be to win some more games, but to also support each other, building our skills, being coachable and most importantly making memories.” Roster Seniors: Briena Chitester, 5-5 F; Penelope Reininger, 5-9 F; Megan Rose, 5-5 F. Juniors: Jacey Crowe, 5-5 F; Soleil Williams, 5-8 F. Sophomores: Illy Darcangelo, 5-1 G; Madison McCleester, 5-2 G. Freshmen: Lillian Himes, 5-4 G; Hayden Kelley, 5-5 F; Kendall Korhut, 5-5 F; Gwen Masser, 5-9 F; Laine Poborski, 5-8 G. Ferndale Coach: Sarah Riffle, 11th season. Career record: Not provided. Assistant: Gary Kinsey. District/classification: 6/1A. 2023-24 record: 8-15 (3-3 WestPAC). Returning starters: 5. Returning letterwinners: 8. Coach’s outlook: “We have the potential to be a very good team. We are returning five senior starters and eight letterwinners who we will look to lead our team. The girls have entered this season focused and ready to win.” Roster Seniors: Abigail Barley, Deajah Chatman, Aubrielle Leverknight, Affiniti Mason, Shayley Ross, Maisen Sechrengost. Junior: Kauthar Quraishy. Sophomores: Favour Alaba, Alexis Blough, Carley Mitchell, Mollie Moschgat, Gracie Parrondo, Geonna Riffle. Freshmen: Peyton Bailey, Brynn Hyland, Lilly Kinsey, Delaney McKendree. Forest Hills Coach: Carol Cecere, 30th season. Career record: 488-213. Assistants: Scott Lashinsky, Mike Crisafulli. District/classification: 6/4A. 2023-24 record: 25-4 (18-2 LHAC). Returning starters: 0. Returning letterwinners: 5. Coach’s outlook: “Replacing an entire starting five that won both the LHAC and District 6 titles is certainly a challenge, but one we’re excited to attack. An athletic, hungry and young group is eager to prove their worth with a fast, tenacious style of play. Team energy and camaraderie have been outstanding in the preseason. Lone senior Ana Spangler leads the way and a deep backcourt is led by talented junior guards Aivah Maul and Morgan Gdula. The conference and district are loaded with quality teams, which makes every night a great challenge.” Roster Senior: Ana Spangler, 5-8 F. Juniors: Morgan Gdula, 5-3 G; Aivah Maul, 5-3 G; Eva Myers, 5-10 F; Samantha Papcunik, 5-6 G; Paxtyn Pcola, 5-6 G. Sophomores: Bailey Brown, 5-7 G; Isabella Carpenter, 5-6 F; Addison Lashinsky, 5-4 G; Sydney Martin, 5-8 F; Mya Papcunik, 5-5 G; Kiera Smith, 5-5 G; Joslyn Valko, 5-4 G. Freshmen: Kinleigh Baumgardner, 5-3 G; Danika Faith, 5-7 F; Kadyn Kobal, 5-10 F. Greater Johnstown Coach: Xavier Thomas, fourth season. Career record: 24-47. Assistants: Jill Nash, Morgan Cypher. District/classification: 6/5A. 2023-24 record: 13-12 (9-9 LHAC). Returning starters: 5. Returning letterwinners: 8. Coach’s outlook: “To be the hardest playing and most excited team to watch and make sure we compete in every single game.” Roster Seniors: None. Juniors: Kassidee Hardison, Zaniah Reed, Zayona Thomas, NaLonai Tisinger, Laniyah Womac, Shi’Kia Young. Sophomores: Aubreyonna Nash, Marcella White. Freshmen: Camilla Bastista, Emma Cypher, Kayona Jeffers, Zayla Thomas. Johnstown Christian Coach: Kevin Yoder, second season. Career record: 16-3. Assistant: Chris Lushko. 2023-24 record: 16-3 (14-1 ACAA). Returning starters: 2. Returning letterwinners: 4. Coach’s outlook: “This team has worked hard in the offseason and is dedicated and focused to repeat last season’s success and take the next steps needed to win the conference tournament.” Roster Seniors: Ellie Speigle, F; Lydia Hostetter, G; Sybella Mack, G; Olivia Lushko, F. Juniors: Hope Ressler, C/F; Malia Sorg, F/G. Sophomore: Lily Lushko, C/F. Freshmen: Dani Colman, F/G; Kendra Johnson, F/G; Noel Lushko, G; Oriana Yoder, G. Meyersdale Roster Seniors: Jessica Daughton, Destinne Manuel. Juniors: Trinity Hoover, Emma Kretchman. Sophomores: Abigail Beal, Karleigh Beal, Madison Berkley, Sarah Hainsworth, Lillian Moore, Taylor Short. Freshmen: None. North Star Coach: John Oleskey, second season at North Star, sixth overall. Career record: Not provided. Assistants: Jadie Leazier, Kyrsten Joseph, Mike Hurley. District/classification: 5/2A. 2023-24 record: 3-19 (2-10 ICC West). Returning starters: 6. Returning letterwinners: 6. Coach’s outlook: “We have a talented group of 11 girls.” Roster Seniors: None. Juniors: Kylee Cramer, F; Emily Johnston, G; Madolyn Kimmel, G; Layla Overly, F; Madeline Perrin, F. Sophomores: Ella Mazzarese, G; Isabella Scott, G/F; Eliza Shaffer, G/F. Freshmen: Ella Hurley, F; Lia Hurley, F; Mary Johnston, G. Northern Cambria Coach: Brian Kuhn, first season at Northern Cambria. Career record: 36-34. Assistants: Casey Kuhn, Breann Kuhn. District/classification: 6/2A. 2023-24 record: 5-17 (1-14 Heritage). Returning starters: Not provided. Returning letterwinners: Not provided. Coach’s outlook: “We’re going to rely on our senior leadership. We have team speed and think will be solid on defense. Our goal is to improve every game and get back in the playoffs.” No roster submitted Penn Cambria Coach: Josh Himmer, second season. Career record: 12-11. Assistants: Lisa Beck, Brennon Shall. District/classification: 6/4A. 2023-24 record: 12-11 (9-9 LHAC). Returning starters: 4. Returning letterwinners: 8. Coach’s outlook: “In my opinion, we play in one of the top conferences in the state. We’re excited to see how we compete against some of the top-level talent in the state on a daily basis.” Roster Seniors: Addy Hite, 5-10 F; Tagen McConnell, 5-8 F; Ava Saleme, 5-9 F. Juniors: Meghan Anderson, 5-7 G; Kaydynce Baney, 5-8 F; Reagan Conrad, 5-5 G; Makenna McCoy, 5-6 G. Sophomores: Eden Davison, 5-7 F; Avery LeMaster, 5-9 G; Aubree Rickens, 5-4 F; Megyn Stipanovich, 5-6 F. Freshmen: Sophia Beard, 5-8 F; Isabella Bianconi, 5-9 G; Makayla Bianconi, 5-9 G; Kate Eckenrode, 5-7 G; Rachel Fisher, 5-7 G; Lily Gergely, 5-10 F; Avayah LeMaster, 5-7 G; Katie Marana, 5-4 G; Peyton Rabatin, 5-5 G. Portage Coach: Lance Hudak, 23rd season. Career record: 309-234. Assistants: Makena Baumgardner, Don Gouse Sr. District/classification: 6/2A. 2023-24 record: 24-4 (15-2 Heritage). Returning starters: 0. Returning letterwinners: 5. Coach’s outlook: “Losing five senior starters from last year’s very successful team presents a challenge that our 2024-25 Mustangs welcome. This is a motivated group, whose winning mindset and toughness will make up for a lack of overall experience. We had a productive offseason that allowed individuals to improve their skills and grow together as a unit. By supporting each other, assuming roles and giving 100% effort, we expect to get better each time we step on the court and be a squad to reckon with come February.” Roster Senior: Payton Noll, 5-9 F. Juniors: Liana Bagby, 5-7 F/C; Cassie Burkett, 5-5 G; Britton Myher, 5-7 G; Ava Offman, 5-5 F/C. Sophomores: Kendall Bednarski, 5-7 G; Brynn Burkett, 5-9 F; Jada Irvin, 5-5 G; Kendall Stancovich, 5-5 G. Freshmen: Mya Burda, 5-7 G; Skyler Krestar, 5-7 G; Eden Myers, 5-8 G/F; Johanna Noel, 5-7 G/F; Avery Smith, 5-8 G/F. Richland Coach: Paul Johnson, third season. Career record: 20-22. Assistant: Tessa Gunby. District/classification: 6/3A. 2023-24 record: 10-12 (8-10 LHAC). Returning starters: 3. Returning letterwinners: 7. Coach’s outlook: “We have a great opportunity to build on the skill and experience of our mid to upperclassman. The bulk of our team has contributed big minutes early and we are looking to lean on that experience to help build strong team bonds, chemistry and ultimate success.” Roster Senior: Lanie Marshall, F. Juniors: Alyssa Amenti, G; Rebecca Fetchko, G; Sheraghna Hall, F; Leyna Roman, F. Sophomores: Grace Jakubowski, F; Trinity Macey, G. Freshmen: Kira Amenti, G; Jaxsen Fox, G; Jenna Jordan, F; Elleigh Ladika, G; Brooklyn Roberts, F; Maliyah Wadley, F; Kiya Wise, F. Shade-Shanksville Coach: Mark Satkovich, fifth season. Career record: 39-53. Assistant: None. District/classification: 5/1A. 2023-24 record: 0-20. Returning starters: 5. Returning letterwinners: 9. Coach’s outlook: Not provided. Roster Seniors: Zoe Ketchock, Carly Pongrac. Juniors: Allie Deneen, Kennedy Landis. Sophomores: Patty Kovacs, Payton Maddy, Lowen Mincek, Hayden Oaks, Olivia Rapsky. Freshmen: Grace Hufford. Somerset Coach: Bill Housley, fifth season. Career record: 18-69. Assistants: Hank Sembower, Suzy Housley. District/classification: 5/4A. 2023-24 record: 2-20 (1-17 LHAC). Returning starters: 4. Returning letterwinners: 6. Coach’s outlook: “We had a lot of young players gain valuable experience last season. Now we need to take the next step and be more competitive.” Roster Senior: Riley Holmes, 6-0 C. Juniors: Ava Baumgardner, 5-6 G; Reagan Holmes, 5-10 F; Eve Housley, 5-8 G; Gianna Rosman, 5-5 G. Sophomores: Belle Martin, 5-6 G; Alayna Nicklow, 5-7 G; Raisa Seslow, 5-6 G; Abigail Stanton, 5-8 G. Freshmen: Jo Sharbaugh, 5-9 C; Sophie Spangler, 5-3 G. Turkeyfoot Valley Roster Seniors: Makiah Schartiger, G/F; Shyanne Schur, G/F; Maleigha Younkin, G/F. Junior: Kiley Mitchell, F. Sophomores: Amaris Kozlowski, F; Eirean Walker, G. Freshmen: Ellie King, G; Laurel Vogel, G/F. United Coach: Collin Moore, first season. Career record: 0-0. Assistant: Kelli James. District/classification: 6/2A. 2023-24 record: 16-8 (12-5 Heritage). Returning starter: 1. Returning letterwinner: 1. Coach’s outlook: “I think we have a hard-working group of girls that will continue to grow as the season goes on. We will be competitive in the games we play and I expect a lot of this group this year to step up and fill in for some of those seniors we lost from last season.” Roster Seniors: Macy Burkett, 5-7 C; Brooke Esposito, 5-4 F; Braleigh James, 5-4 G; Maddison McGinnis, 5-5 G. Juniors: Lilly McGinnis, 5-5 G; Autumn Rose, 5-6 C. Sophomores: Sophia Eritano, 5-1 C; Olivia Henning, 5-6 G. Freshmen: Ella Esposito, 5-0 G; Kenedi Fiochetta, 5-4 G; Payton Kolarik, 5-4 G; Mya Lichtenfels, 5-7 F; Alyssa Monty, 5-4 F; Faith Wirick, 5-6 F. Westmont Hilltop Coach: Brittany Eisenhuth, fifth season at Westmont Hilltop, sixth overall. Career record: 81-40. Assistant: Chad Eisenhuth. District/classification: 6/4A. 2023-24 record: 23-5 (15-3 LHAC). Returning starters: 2. Returning letterwinners: 3. Coach’s outlook: “We are excited to see what our young team can accomplish despite some key losses. We always have the ‘next girl up’ mentality, so we expect to be competitive every game.” Roster Seniors: MaKenzie Davis-Reese, 5-1 G; Zoey Lynch, 5-8 G. Junior: Meda Valaifyte, 5-7 G. Sophomores: Maggie O’Neil, 5-6 G; Devyn Shingler, 5-10 G; Chloe Schuster, 5-5 G; LaMya Stephens, 5-9 F; Ava Stuart, 5-6 G. Freshmen: Sarah Gibbons, 5-10 G; Cali Lynch, 5-8 G. Windber Coach: Chad Manippo, first season. Career record: 0-0. Assistants: Jeff Jablon, Jeb Hechler. District/classification: 5/2A. 2023-24 record: 16-8 (6-2 ICC West). Returning starters: 4. Returning letterwinners: 6. Coach’s outlook: “We’re looking forward to building on the momentum from our summer with a talented group of players from varsity to junior high. The 2024-25 season brings a lot of change, everything is new so there’s work to be done. But, we’re excited about the depth, versatility and athleticism this team has so playing hard, defending and rebounding, playing with toughness, and playing together will be our identity. Our schedule will challenge us with some very good teams, but our competitive spirit is high and we’ll rely on a process focused mindset of developing the right habits, growing and getting better each day.” Roster Seniors: Angel James, 5-8 G; Maggie Manippo, 5-7 G. Juniors: Lila Andrews, 5-5 F; Emma Birkhimer, 5-6 G; Kaylie Gaye, 5-5 G; Cailin Jablon, 5-7 G/F; Payton Roxby, 5-9 F; Autumn Walz, 5-9 G/F. Sophomores: Rylee Baer, 5-9 G/F; Kendall Decewicz, 5-7 G; Katelyn Lorditch, 5-10 F; Kate Krone, 6-0 C. Freshmen: Emma Edwards, 5-4 G; Annbella Gathagan, 5-9 F; Sadie Pallo, 5-8 F; Sadie Pecze, 5-6 G; Alivia Solensky, 5-4 G; Marlee Oyler, 5-8 F; Pacey Oyler, 5-4 G; Taylor Uebel, 5-7 F. Ligonier Valley, Meyersdale, Rockwood and Turkeyfoot Valley did not return questionnaires. (c)2024 The Tribune-Democrat (Johnstown, Pa.) Visit The Tribune-Democrat (Johnstown, Pa.) at www.tribune-democrat.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.On Saturday at the legislature,the Edmonton Coalition on Housing and Homelessness along with participants, were calling on the provincial and federal governments to support more social housing in the city. “We are trying to draw attention to the catastrophe of homelessness, that’s utterly unnecessary, we’ve allowed homelessness to grow in this city and in this country by failing to build the housing that people that can’t afford the open market need,” said Jim Gurnett, spokesperson for Edmonton Coalition on Housing and Homelessness. The event also encouraging participants to cover themselves with blankets and tarps in quote. “To show what life is like for the 4000 plus homeless people in the city,” said Gurnett. Despite not intentionally planning to advocate on a snowy Saturday, Gurnett says it demonstrates how winter can impact the city’s homeless population. “We can choose, I can go home from being cold out here for a couple of hours and I can warm up but there’s more than 4000 people that won’t be able to do that today,” said Gurnett. One participant we spoke to say, he has some friends who also experienced some stages of homelessness. “I’ve learned with people just, what the solutions are and the answer is not to funnel more money in the capital accumulation,” said Ryan Kafara, Sociology and History Lecturer at University of Alberta. “We know, there’s more that needs to be done,” said Jason Nixon, Alberta Seniors Community and Social Services Minister. The Alberta government announced Friday, November 22nd, that they would be investing to boost the development of affordable housing in the province. “I am pleased to announce that the Alberta Affordable Housing Partnership Program is opening for the next round of application, with up to 150 million available in funding to support new affordable housing projects in our province,” said Nixon. However, Gurnett isn’t satisfied with the action of the UCP stating it isn’t really enough to address the growing demand for housing. “The amount that they’re investing in social housing isn’t a tenth of what they need to be investing,” said Gurnett. About 60 people attended the event with a donation drive for blankets, tarps and wagons, that were distributed once the event was over.Preview: Crawley Town vs. Rotherham United - prediction, team news, lineups
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