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BOCA RATON, Fla. , Dec. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Boca Woods Country Club is thrilled to announce the grand opening of its newly redesigned Woods golf course. This momentous occasion took place on Sunday, December 8th at 12:00 PM , with a celebration and ribbon cutting ceremony marking the culmination of a remarkable $9M transformation that has captivated the attention of golf enthusiasts far and wide. More than 450 Members and distinguished guests from industry and government joined the Club for the ribbon cutting ceremony, cocktails and hors d' oeuvres. Attendees included PGA Junior Club Members standing aside past Club Presidents, sharing a commitment to excellence demonstrated by the investment to fully renovate the Woods Course. The ceremony concluded with the presentation of a lifetime Boca Woods Country Club Membership accepted by Rees Jones . The outcome of this extensive renovation: a formidable championship golf course, meticulously designed by the renowned Rees Jones and delivered through the craftsmanship of LaBar Golf. Stretching to a maximum yardage of 7,043 yards, the course boasts key risk/reward decisions for the experienced golfer while offering better playable options for those less experienced. Some key highlights of the renovation include: Redesigned Greens: Completely rebuilt to provide smoother, truer, and more consistent putting surfaces. Enhanced bunkering: Strategically repositioned and reshaped to create visual appeal and challenge. Improved drainage: a state-of-the-art drainage system has been implemented to ensure optimal playing conditions year-round, even after heavy rainfall. New Tee Boxes: multiple tee boxes have been added and repositioned on each hole, providing players of all skill levels with a fair and enjoyable challenge. " The Woods course is now a true championship layout, playing to a maximum yardage of 7,043 yards." Said Jeff Gullett , Director of Golf. He continued, " Rees Jones has incorporated a combination of green complexes and bunkering that will test every golfer's ability. We are confident that our Members will be delighted with the results." The Woods golf course offers an inspired blend of challenging greens and strategically placed bunkers, promising to test the mettle of even the most seasoned golfers. The harmonious fusion of design elements guarantees a truly exceptional and unforgettable round of golf. What truly distinguishes the Woods course is its serene and secluded setting. Nestled away from the luxury homes that dot the community, the course immerses players in the tranquility of South Florida's nature, offering a respite from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. " Bryce Swanson and I are pleased that the Woods Course at Boca Woods is reopening on time and on budget. The redesign of the golf course enhances the course's playability, strategy, and variety. The remodeled golf course will provide an enjoyable and thought-provoking experience for the Members and their guests on a continuing basis. It has been a pleasure to work with all involved in this project," said Rees Jones . This renovation is particularly significant due to Boca Woods' unique position in the golfing world. With 36 holes of championship golf and a limited Membership of only 590 golfers, Boca Woods provides an unparalleled level of exclusivity and access. The newly renovated Woods course further solidifies the club's reputation as a golfer's paradise, offering a rare combination of world-class amenities and a close-knit community of passionate enthusiasts. " It is amazing to witness the evolution taking place at this Club." Says David Sweet, General Manager/ COO. He continues, "In the last four years, Members have supported the development of modern amenities: a new Clubhouse with state-of-the-art virtual meeting spaces, a sports and wellness complex that offers 10,000 sq ft of fitness, modern racquet sports facilities including lights for night play, and now this championship course developed in partnership with the best names in the business. Rees has left his mark on Boca Woods, and the Club's future is bright!" Central to the course's allure is the masterful touch of Rees Jones , whose design philosophy seamlessly integrates the natural beauty of the surroundings with the strategic demands of the game. The result is a golfing experience that is both visually captivating and intellectually stimulating. "The Rees Jones' update to our Woods Course is inspirational. Coupled with renovations designed by Kipp Schulties on the Lakes Course, we offer a small community of players a wide range of golfing opportunities. As President of Boca Woods, I am proud of what we accomplished and the time frame we worked within. We listened to our players: men and women, scratch players and weekenders... the result is 36 holes of magnificent golf course architecture that challenges the best and offers playable options for every level. Our demographics say it all (reference the generations photo), and there are tee boxes for every player at every age to enjoy. Boca Woods is setting the standard" said Howard Mittleman , Board President for Boca Woods Country Club. The renovation of the Woods golf course represents a substantial investment in elevating the club's amenities, ensuring Members have exceptional golf experiences. The comprehensive project followed a $14.5M building and facilities renovation. For more information on the new Woods golf course or to inquire about membership opportunities, please visit bocawoodscc.com . The Club foresees many future investments, including the installation of TopTracer (technology owned and used by Top Golf Entertainment Group) on the driving range, sharing information about every shot for Members through fully integrated technology inclusive of ballistics scopes delivering multiple data points for every shot. About Boca Woods Country Club Boca Woods Country Club is an established residential country club community located in Boca Raton, Florida . Membership at Boca Woods offers extraordinary value in a golf community that features two championship golf courses and all the amenities that private country club living has to offer. Boca Woods Country Club is dedicated to providing a residential country club lifestyle featuring a community and club culture characterized by friendliness, civility and respect for its members and staff in an overall setting of refinement and casual elegance. Media Contact: membership@bocawoodscc.com View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/grand-opening-of-the-rees-jones-woods-golf-course-announced-at-boca-woods-country-club-302334242.html SOURCE Boca Woods Country ClubOn a rainy afternoon during a typically busy time of day, the U.S. Bank on Carmel Rancho Lane in Carmel was robbed. It was approximately 3:35pm on Monday, Dec. 16 when Monterey County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report that three suspects, all believed to be males, had just robbed the bank, according to the Monterey County Sheriff's Office. One of the suspects was reported to be armed with a handgun, and the suspects were seen fleeing in a gray-colored Honda Civic, or similar type vehicle, with an undisclosed amount of money. No one was hurt during the robbery, according to the Sheriff’s Office. “At this point, we have not received any further information that clarifies direction of travel or a license plate,” says Commander Andy Rosas. He adds that because the incident occurred during a busy time at the shopping center, he hopes it will lead to more information about the suspects as their investigation continues. “There's a lot of cars out there that have in-car cameras. What we're hoping is that anybody that was in that area, go back and check your cameras and see if you've got anything that shows a vehicle, maybe other people that were involved, the license plate,” says Rosas. “With the advancements in technology, we know there's cameras out there. Somebody had to capture something.” The U.S. Bank branch is situated in a heavily trafficked area between two other banks—Chase Bank and Fremont Bank—as well as next to a couple of thrift stores, and adjacent to a store called Carmel Stone Imports. A sign on the front of the door reads "This U.S. Bank is temporarily closed and will reopen soon." The nearest U.S. Bank is located at 1400 Munras Ave. in Monterey. In October 2021, there was another bank robbery at the Chase Bank next door, according to multiple news sources at the time and local workers in neighboring shops. “When I went outside I just remember seeing the FBI and Sheriff’s officers everywhere; it was like something out of a movie,” says Pamela, who works at Carmel Stone and would speak only using her first name. “This stuff never happens here.” Anyone with information about the robbery can reach out anonymously. The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone who was in the area at the time of the incident and may have seen something to call Detective Rodrigo Lopez at 831-253-6050 or Detective Sergeant Nicholas Kennedy at 831-597-1228.UK spy agency releases annual Christmas card puzzle to uncover future codebreakers
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The U.S. economy continues to outpace earlier expectations, but rural industries are disproportionately exposed to federal policy and face downside risks in the coming year DENVER, Dec. 12, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The U.S. continues to benefit from solid economic growth, low unemployment and moderating inflation. From today's vantage point, the U.S. economy seems likely to continue on that trajectory into 2025. However, the outlook for the rural economy is more volatile and uncertain. Rural industries are disproportionately exposed to federal policy, and the outcome of the 2024 election cycle promises to bring significant changes in the federal government's approach to everything from international trade and immigration to energy exploration and rural economic development. According to a comprehensive year-ahead outlook report from CoBank's Knowledge Exchange , the high level of policy uncertainty facing rural industries adds to their already long list of headwinds and challenges. "The environment we enter in 2025 hasn't fully defined itself yet, but many of the policies proposed by the incoming administration would likely have a negative impact on U.S. agriculture,” said Rob Fox , director of CoBank's Knowledge Exchange. "Open access to export markets and labor availability are critically important for agricultural producers and processors. Depending on how policy plays out, those two areas could be big challenges in 2025 and beyond.” The CoBank 2025 outlook report examines several key factors that will shape agriculture and market sectors that serve rural communities throughout the U.S. U.S. Economy: A New Economic Era Begins Most economists are forecasting 2025 U.S. GDP growth around 2.5%-3.0%, essentially the same as today. However, those forecasts are based on rather mild assumptions on forthcoming policy changes. When taken in isolation, President-elect Trump's proposed policies - tax cuts, decreased labor supply and tariffs on imported goods - are all inflationary. Consequently, longer-term interest rates have already edged higher, and the market has downshifted expectations for further Fed rate cuts in 2025. There is a good chance the proposed tariffs and the crackdown on undocumented immigrants will be more disruptive than markets have priced in, particularly in industries like construction and agriculture. U.S. Government: Trump Administration, Congress Set for Bustling January Start Congress is expected to wrap up the lame duck session of the 118th Congress by Dec. 19, hopefully addressing important pieces of unfinished business. A one-year extension of the 2018 Farm Bill is increasingly likely. President-elect Trump is expected to pursue an ambitious first-100 days of executive orders and other legislative activity that will likely include many of his campaign promises. These may include significant deportation efforts and immigration reform, implementation of tariffs, extending the 2017 tax cuts and providing regulatory relief rolling back the Biden administration's initiatives. The 119th Congress will have a long and challenging to-do list when members return to Washington on Jan. 3. U.S. Agricultural Economy: Trade War Could Send Ag Economy from Bad to Worse The short-lived commodity boom precipitated by global droughts, the war in Ukraine and COVID-19 supply issues is now a distant memory. Row crop prices are down nearly 50% from their 2022 highs. But production costs have remained elevated, and profitability has plunged to decade-plus lows. The silver lining is that dairy and livestock producers are generally profitable due to low feed costs and resilient consumer demand. However, more headwinds may be coming for both the crop and livestock sectors. President-elect Trump rode to victory on two main economic policy proposals: enact significant import tariffs and reduce immigration while deporting undocumented residents. In theory, these policies could achieve some limited objectives, but it is hard to paint them as anything but negative for the U.S. farm economy. Grains, Farm Supply & Biofuels: Policy Uncertainty Weighs on Exports, Biofuels A strengthening U.S. dollar, combined with the potential for trade disputes and record-large South American crops, weigh heavily on the outlook for grain and oilseed prices in 2025. U.S. farmers are widely expected to struggle with further margin compression as weaker commodity prices test farmers' ability to lower production costs. Crop input decisions will be evaluated much more closely with a focus on inputs that provide the greatest return on investment. The bearish outlook for oil prices diminishes the demand picture for ethanol, biodiesel and renewable diesel. Uncertainty over U.S. biofuel policy under the new administration also clouds the demand outlook for biofuels. Animal Protein: Rising Margins Improve Prospects for Growth Falling feed costs and rising producer margins have renewed expansion interest in animal protein segments. However, labor, construction and land costs remain elevated, tempering expectations for any meaningful supply growth in the near term. U.S. beef cow herd expansion is not expected to start until 2026 or 2027. The smaller herd will further support higher feeder and fed cattle prices in the coming year. With consumers now pushing back on beef prices already near historic highs, packer margins will remain under pressure well into 2025. Dairy: Record Investment Will Continue to Grow the Category The U.S. will see an unprecedented $8 billion in new dairy processing investment through 2026. Some of the new plants are poised to come online in 2025, with about half of the investment in the cheese category. The expected surge in cheese and whey output will likely put downward pressure on dairy product prices in the second half of the year. Sourcing additional milk supplies to fill new plant capacity is a looming question. 2023 and 2024 will go down as the first back-to-back years since the late 1960s that U.S. milk production took a downturn. On the flip side, higher component levels in farmgate milk, largely butterfat and protein, have lifted finished product yields. Food & Beverage: Health and Nutrition Take Center Stage The headline news for food, beverage and consumer packaged goods in 2025 is President-elect Trump's nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy's purported goals include eliminating ingredients banned in other countries and "getting the chemicals out” of America's food supply. Meanwhile, consumers' renewed focus on their health and the popularity of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs are showing signs of impacting food manufacturers. GLP-1 users purchase around 8% less food compared with average consumers, according to J.P. Morgan research. Food and beverage manufacturers' concerns about volume attrition are likely to continue well into 2025. Power & Energy: What an IRA Rollback Might Look Like President-elect Trump's return to the White House will signal a significant shift in U.S. energy policy. While he has promised to end the Inflation Reduction Act, slowing the clean energy momentum that has accelerated under the IRA may be more difficult than imagined. Popular programs in the IRA have directed significant investments to many rural and economically distressed communities. And more than a dozen House Republicans have voiced concern that repealing the IRA could jeopardize ongoing development in their communities. Clawing back IRA funds that have already been allocated could prove to be very difficult. The more likely scenario is that unallocated IRA funding will be redirected to other priorities. Digital Infrastructure: Rural Connectivity Faces New Challenges Political uncertainty and low participation in the Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment program raises big questions for bridging the digital divide in the year ahead. The $42.5 billion BEAD program, created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, includes an unprecedented level of government support. However, a lack of operator participation could blunt the impact of this well-intended program to bring reliable broadband access to underserved rural areas. Many small operators lack the specialized expertise or financial resources to meet some of the complicated BEAD requirements. Read the full report, The Year Ahead: Forces That Will Shape the U.S. Rural Economy in 2025 . About CoBank CoBank is a cooperative bank serving vital industries across rural America. The bank provides loans, leases, export financing and other financial services to agribusinesses and rural power, water and communications providers in all 50 states. The bank also provides wholesale loans and other financial services to affiliated Farm Credit associations serving more than 77,000 farmers, ranchers and other rural borrowers in 23 states around the country. CoBank is a member of the Farm Credit System, a nationwide network of banks and retail lending associations chartered to support the borrowing needs of U.S. agriculture, rural infrastructure and rural communities. Headquartered outside Denver, Colorado, CoBank serves customers from regional banking centers across the U.S. and also maintains an international representative office in Singapore. CONTACT: Corporate Communications CoBank 800-542-8072 [email protected]
A translation company in London launches a website that features streamlined services for businesses and individuals. London , Dec. 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Espresso Translations London UK unveils its upgraded website that redefines language solutions. It enhanced features that help clients gain access to professional translation services. From streamlined service quotes to enhanced document upload capabilities, the new platform empowers businesses and individuals to bridge language gaps faster and more effectively than ever. Espresso Translations London UK Espresso Translations' upgraded platform empowers its clients to streamline their translation projects. It is capable of delivering quick quotes within minutes, eliminating unnecessary delays. It can also upload documents in different formats, offering flexibility for client needs. These features enable clients to engage with translation and transcription services more efficiently, further solidifying Espresso Translations London UK 's reputation for reliability and excellence. Building on these advancements, Espresso Translations London UK continues to deliver world-class services tailored to meet the diverse needs of its clients. Its document translation covers business reports, legal contracts, medical records, and technical manuals, ensuring accuracy and cultural relevance. Website localization adapts content for international audiences, while certified translations meet legal requirements for documents like birth certificates and court transcripts. Marketing translations ensure promotional materials maintain their impact across languages and cultures. Moreover, its transcription services include converting audio and video content into precise written text, ideal for interviews, podcasts, lectures, and meetings. Time-stamped transcriptions facilitate synchronization with multimedia files, and subtitling services provide multilingual captions for videos. As part of its comprehensive offerings, Espresso Translations London UK offers comprehensive support for a vast range of European and Asian languages, ensuring seamless communication across diverse markets. From widely spoken European languages such as French, Spanish, German, and Italian to Eastern European languages like Polish, Russian, and Hungarian, its team of translators provides precise and culturally sensitive translations. Asian language services cover major languages like Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Japanese, Korean, Hindi, Thai, Malay, and Vietnamese. By working with native linguists familiar with regional nuances, Espresso Translations London UK guarantees translations that resonate with target audiences worldwide. Positive reviews on Google and Trustpilot underscore the company's commitment to client satisfaction. The ISO-certified processes further highlight its focus on meeting internationally recognized quality benchmarks. These advancements, paired with the website's new capabilities, reflect the company's drive to remain at the forefront of the translation industry. With the unveiling of the upgraded platform, Espresso Translations London UK bridges the gap between technology and linguistic precision. As global communication becomes more essential, the company stands as a transformative partner for businesses and individuals navigating a multilingual world. For more information, please visit https://www.espressotranslations.com/gb/ . About Espresso Translations London UK Espresso Translations London UK continues to break new ground in the language services industry, combining innovation with a relentless pursuit of excellence. By blending cutting-edge technology with the expertise of industry-specialized linguists, the company ensures every project exceeds client expectations. ### Media Contact Espresso Translations London UK Address: 71-75 Shelton Street, London, WC2H 9JQ Phone: (+44) 203 488 1841 Website: https://www.espressotranslations.com/gb/
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NoneBashar al-Assad's government has been accused of carrying out torture, rape, summary executions and other abuses since since Syria's civil war started in 2011. UN investigators have said that accountability must be taken at the highest level after the downfall of the hardline ruler on Sunday. Here is what we know about the extent of the abuses committed: In 2013 a former Syrian army photographer known by the codename "Caesar" fled the country, taking with him some 55,000 graphic images taken between 2011 and 2013. The photos, authenticated by experts, show corpses tortured and starved to death in Syrian prisons. Some people had their eyes gouged out. The photos showed emaciated bodies, people with wounds on the back or stomach, and also a picture of hundreds of corpses in a shed surrounded by plastic bags used for burials. Assad's Syrian government said only that the pictures were "political". But Caesar testified to a US Congress committee and his photographs inspired a 2020 US law which imposed economic sanctions on Syria and judicial proceedings in Europe against Assad's entourage. In Germany and Sweden eight people suspected of crime against humanity were arrested in July in an operation codenamed "Caesar". Germany, the Netherlands and France have since 2022 convicted several top officials from the Syrian intelligence service and militias. UN investigators say they have lists with the names of 4,000 government officials and operatives responsible for abuses. Human Rights Watch (HRW) in 2012 spoke of a "torture archipelago" in which the "use of electricity, burning with car battery acid, sexual assault and humiliation, the pulling of fingernails, and mock execution" were practised in government prisons. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in 2022 more than 100,000 people had died in the prisons since 2011. In 2023, the UN's top court, the International Court of Justice, ordered Syria to stop "inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment". In 2020, seven Syrian refugees filed a complaint in Germany saying that they had been victims of torture and sexual violence, including rape, electric shocks on the genitals, forced nudity or forced abortion between 2011 and 2013. The UN said in 2018 there had been systmatic rape and sexual violence against civilians by soldiers or pro-Assad militias. It said an investigation had found rebels had committed similar crimes, but fewer. On November 25, 2024, the Syrian Human Rights Network (SNHR) said there had been at least 11,553 incidents of sexual violence against women, including girls aged under 18, by the warring parties since March 2011. Some 8,024 could be blamed on the Assad government and the others mainly on the jihadist Islamic State. In 2016 UN investigators said Syrian authorities were responsible for acts which came down to "extermination" and could be compared to "crimes against humanity". It pointed to the Saydnaya prison outside Damascus, which was described in 2017 by Amnesty International as a human slaughter house carrying out a "policy of extermination". The United States said there was a "crematorium" at the prison which was used to dispose of the bodies of thousands of inmates. In 2022 the Syrian Observatory for Human Righs said around 30,000 people had been killed at Saydnaya, some of them after being tortured. In April 2020, the chemical weapons watchdog OPCW accused the Syrian army of chemical weapons attacks in Latamne in northern Syria in 2017. In November 2023 France issued international arrest warrants against Bashar al-Assad, his brother Maher and two generals on suspicion of complicity in the chemical attacks in August 2013 near Damascus, which according to US intelligence left 1,000 dead. Assad's forces have also been accused of using sarin gas on the rebel town of Khan Sheikhun in April 2017, and also of chlorine gas attacks. Assad's government denied using chemical weapons. Israel says it has staged strikes on some chemical weapons sites this week to stop supplies falling into the hands of extremists. acm-lc/jmy/tw
Dutch startup's new battery material could wean Europe off Chinese graphiteWASHINGTON — The House shut down Democrats' efforts Thursday to release the long-awaited ethics report into former Rep. Matt Gaetz, pushing the fate of any resolution to the yearslong investigation of sexual misconduct allegations into further uncertainty. Matt Gaetz talks before President-elect Donald Trump speaks during an America First Policy Institute gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate Nov. 14 in Palm Beach, Fla. The nearly party-line votes came after Democrats had been pressing for the findings to be published even though the Florida Republican left Congress and withdrew as President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general. Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., was the sole Republican to support the effort. Most Republicans have argued that any congressional probe into Gaetz ended when he resigned from the House. Speaker Mike Johnson also requested that the committee not publish its report, saying it would be a terrible precedent to set. While ethics reports have previously been released after a member’s resignation, it is extremely rare. Shortly before the votes took place, Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., who introduced one of the bills to force the release, said that if Republicans reject the release, they will have “succeeded in sweeping credible allegations of sexual misconduct under the rug.” Gaetz has repeatedly denied the claims. Earlier Thursday, the Ethics panel met to discuss the Gaetz report but made no decision, saying in a short statement that the matter is still being discussed. It's unclear now whether the document will ever see the light of day as lawmakers have only a few weeks left before a new session of Congress begins. It's the culmination of weeks of pressure on the Ethics committee's five Republicans and five Democrats who mostly work in secret as they investigate allegations of misconduct against lawmakers. The status of the Gaetz investigation became an open question last month when he abruptly resigned from Congress after Trump's announcement that he wanted his ally in the Cabinet. It is standard practice for the committee to end investigations when members of Congress depart, but the circumstances surrounding Gaetz were unusual, given his potential role in the new administration. Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., the committee chairman, said Wednesday that there is no longer the same urgency to release the report given that Gaetz has left Congress and stepped aside as Trump's choice to head the Justice Department. “I’ve been steadfast about that. He’s no longer a member. He is no longer going to be confirmed by the Senate because he withdrew his nomination to be the attorney general,” Guest said. The Gaetz report has also caused tensions between lawmakers on the bipartisan committee. Pennsylvania Rep. Susan Wild, the top Democrat on the panel, publicly admonished Guest last month for mischaracterizing a previous meeting to the press. Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing and said last year that the Justice Department’s separate investigation against him into sex trafficking allegations involving underage girls ended without federal charges. His onetime political ally Joel Greenberg, a fellow Republican who served as the tax collector in Florida’s Seminole County, admitted as part of a plea deal with prosecutors in 2021 that he paid women and an underage girl to have sex with him and other men. The men were not identified in court documents when he pleaded guilty. Greenberg was sentenced in late 2022 to 11 years in prison. 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. 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.Canada pledges beefed-up border, immigration restrictions to appease Trump
Britain would have the cash to fund winter fuel payments for all pensioners if the Treasury stopped losing billions of pounds to “illicit tobacco”, according to a passionate campaigners against contraband cigarettes. It missed out on an estimated £2.2billion in excise duty and VAT in 2022-23 – far more than the £1.4billion the Treasury hopes to raise by limiting winter fuel payments to the poorest pensioners. Former security minister Sir John Hayes described illicit tobacco as an “outrage”. He said: “There’s a lot of evidence it’s foreign-run and foreign-controlled. No effort should be spared to close down these traders, to catch them and prosecute them. “That would mean more legal cigarettes would be sold and the revenue could be collected and hopefully the Government would then be able to change its ludicrous decision to deprive pensioners of their winter fuel which has been drawn into sharp focus by this snap of cold weather when old people will be shivering as a direct result of Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer .” Last year Border Force seized more than 823million cigarettes and there are fears that tightening restrictions on tobacco will increase demand for illegal products. James Lowman, chief executive of the Association of Convenience Stores, said: “The illicit tobacco and vaping market costs the Treasury billions every year in lost revenue, and this will only continue to rise as regulations get tighter on the products that are legal for sale. The Government urgently needs to invest tens of millions more in local enforcement to shut down these rogue traders and support legitimate retailers.” HM Revenue and Customs ( HMRC ) says it has “slashed the tax gap” on illicit cigarettes and tobacco by more than half since 2005. Between April 2023 and March this year, it adds, cigarettes worth more than £678million in tax were seized, alongside hand-rolling tobacco worth £41million. During this time prison sentences totalling 148 years against 107 cigarette and tobacco fraudsters were secured. Hazel Cheeseman of Action on Smoking and Health said the tobacco industry has a “long history of overplaying concerns about illicit tobacco to detract and undermine policy to reduce tobacco use overall”. She said: “A coordinated strategy to address illicit tobacco has been in place for some time and has been effective at driving down the illicit market. During the 1990s, thanks in part to tobacco industry complicity, there were far higher levels of illicit tobacco. “There is always more that can be done though. The Government is bringing in a new retail licensing scheme in as part of the incoming Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which should help suppress the illicit tobacco market further.”
Expanded CFP field draws more bets and on more teamsUN investigators have said that accountability must be taken at the highest level after the downfall of the hardline ruler on Sunday. Here is what we know about the extent of the abuses committed: In 2013 a former Syrian army photographer known by the codename "Caesar" fled the country, taking with him some 55,000 graphic images taken between 2011 and 2013. The photos, authenticated by experts, show corpses tortured and starved to death in Syrian prisons. Some people had their eyes gouged out. The photos showed emaciated bodies, people with wounds on the back or stomach, and also a picture of hundreds of corpses in a shed surrounded by plastic bags used for burials. Assad's Syrian government said only that the pictures were "political". But Caesar testified to a US Congress committee and his photographs inspired a 2020 US law which imposed economic sanctions on Syria and judicial proceedings in Europe against Assad's entourage. In Germany and Sweden eight people suspected of crime against humanity were arrested in July in an operation codenamed "Caesar". Germany, the Netherlands and France have since 2022 convicted several top officials from the Syrian intelligence service and militias. UN investigators say they have lists with the names of 4,000 government officials and operatives responsible for abuses. Human Rights Watch (HRW) in 2012 spoke of a "torture archipelago" in which the "use of electricity, burning with car battery acid, sexual assault and humiliation, the pulling of fingernails, and mock execution" were practised in government prisons. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in 2022 more than 100,000 people had died in the prisons since 2011. In 2023, the UN's top court, the International Court of Justice, ordered Syria to stop "inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment". In 2020, seven Syrian refugees filed a complaint in Germany saying that they had been victims of torture and sexual violence, including rape, electric shocks on the genitals, forced nudity or forced abortion between 2011 and 2013. The UN said in 2018 there had been systmatic rape and sexual violence against civilians by soldiers or pro-Assad militias. It said an investigation had found rebels had committed similar crimes, but fewer. On November 25, 2024, the Syrian Human Rights Network (SNHR) said there had been at least 11,553 incidents of sexual violence against women, including girls aged under 18, by the warring parties since March 2011. Some 8,024 could be blamed on the Assad government and the others mainly on the jihadist Islamic State. In 2016 UN investigators said Syrian authorities were responsible for acts which came down to "extermination" and could be compared to "crimes against humanity". It pointed to the Saydnaya prison outside Damascus, which was described in 2017 by Amnesty International as a human slaughter house carrying out a "policy of extermination". The United States said there was a "crematorium" at the prison which was used to dispose of the bodies of thousands of inmates. In 2022 the Syrian Observatory for Human Righs said around 30,000 people had been killed at Saydnaya, some of them after being tortured. In April 2020, the chemical weapons watchdog OPCW accused the Syrian army of chemical weapons attacks in Latamne in northern Syria in 2017. In November 2023 France issued international arrest warrants against Bashar al-Assad, his brother Maher and two generals on suspicion of complicity in the chemical attacks in August 2013 near Damascus, which according to US intelligence left 1,000 dead. Assad's forces have also been accused of using sarin gas on the rebel town of Khan Sheikhun in April 2017, and also of chlorine gas attacks. Assad's government denied using chemical weapons. Israel says it has staged strikes on some chemical weapons sites this week to stop supplies falling into the hands of extremists. acm-lc/jmy/tw
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