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Unlike scores of people who scrambled for the blockbuster drugs Ozempic and Wegovy to lose weight in recent years, Danielle Griffin had no trouble getting them. The 38-year-old information technology worker from New Mexico had a prescription. Her pharmacy had the drugs in stock. And her health insurance covered all but $25 to $50 of the monthly cost. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.President-elect Donald Trump is expected to offer Kelly Loeffler the job of secretary of the Department of Agriculture, two people familiar with the matter told CNN. He is set to meet with her at Mar-a-Lago on Friday afternoon, but as is always the case, nothing is final until Trump announces it. Related video above: Trump nominates Pam Bondi for Attorney General Loeffler, who briefly represented Georgia in the Senate, had fundraised for Trump during the 2024 race and raised several million dollars for his campaign over the summer when she hosted a debate watch party with Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley. Several of Trump’s other Cabinet picks — including Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Elise Stefanik — were at that party. Loeffler is also co-chairing Trump’s inauguration, as CNN previously reported. The agriculture job will likely be significant — especially as Trump’s pick to run the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has promised to assert his influence over the agriculture industry. Loeffler, appointed to the Senate by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp over the wishes of Trump, lost her seat in a 2021 runoff to Democratic now-Sen. Raphael Warnock. Loeffler was a staunch Trump ally in Congress, saying prior to the violence on Jan. 6, 2021, that she planned to vote against certifying her state’s electoral results in support of Trump’s broader effort to upend Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. After the U.S. Capitol attack, Loeffler backed off her objection, saying on the Senate floor: “When I arrived in Washington this morning, I fully intended to object to the certification of the electoral votes. However, the events that have transpired today have forced me to reconsider, and I cannot now in good conscience object to the certification of these electors.” In the same speech, Loeffler condemned the violence at the Capitol, calling it “abhorrent.” Loeffler was among the witnesses who appeared before the grand jury as part of Trump’s 2020 election subversion criminal case in Georgia. Before joining the Senate, Loeffler served as an executive at a financial services firm in Atlanta. She was also a co-owner of the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream. She was among the wealthiest lawmakers during her short time in Congress. Her husband, Jeffrey Sprecher, is the CEO of the Intercontinental Exchange. When running for election in 2020, she announced she and her husband were divesting from individual stocks amid sharp criticism over trades she and other lawmakers made ahead of the market downturn caused by the coronavirus. Kemp had appointed Loeffler to fill the seat of Johnny Isakson, who had left the Senate before the end of his term because of health concerns. Trump, however, had pressed the governor to appoint then-Rep. Doug Collins, who then challenged Loeffler for the remainder of Isakson’s term. The two Republicans sought to one-up the other and showcase their loyalty to Trump, moving further and further to the right in a state where Atlanta’s more moderate suburban voters were key. Collins fell short in the November 2020 election, while Loeffler and Warnock advanced to the January 2021 runoff. This year, Trump has selected Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Trump taps retired Gen. Keith Kellogg for Ukraine envoy
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s administration is urging Ukraine to quickly increase the size of its military by drafting more troops and revamping its mobilization laws to allow for the conscription of troops as young as 18. A senior Biden administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private consultations, said Wednesday that the outgoing Democratic administration wants Ukraine to lower the mobilization age to 18 from the current age of 25 to help expand the pool of fighting-age men available to help a badly outnumbered Ukraine in its nearly three-year-old war with Russia. The official said “the pure math” of Ukraine’s situation now is that it needs more troops in the fight. The White House has pushed more than $56 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s February 2022 invasion and expects to send billions more to Kyiv before Biden leaves office in less than months. But with time running out, the Biden White House is also sharpening its viewpoint that Ukraine has the weaponry it needs and now must dramatically increase its troop levels if it’s going to stay in the fight with Russia. The official said the Ukrainians believe they need about 160,000 additional troops, but the U.S. administration believes they probably will need more than that. More than 1 million Ukrainians are now in uniform, including National Guard and other units. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also been hearing concerns from allies in other Western capitals that Ukraine has a troop level problem and not an arms problem, according to European officials who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomatic conversations. The European allies have also stressed that the lack of depth means that it may soon become untenable for Ukraine to continue to operate in Russia’s Kursk border region that Ukraine seized this year. The situation in Kursk has become further complicated by the arrival of thousands of North Korean troops who have come to help Moscow try to claw back the land. The stepped-up push on Ukraine to strengthen its fighting ranks also comes as Ukraine braces for President-elect Donald Trump to take office on Jan. 20. The Republican said he would bring about a swift end to the war and has raised uncertainty about whether his administration would continue the vital U.S. military support for Ukraine. “There are no easy answers to Ukraine’s serious manpower shortage, but lowering the draft age would help,” said Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. “These are obviously difficult decisions for a government and society that has already endured so much due to Russia’s invasion.” Ukraine has taken steps to broaden the pool of draft-eligible men, but the efforts have only scratched the surface against a much larger Russian military. In April, Ukraine’s parliament passed a series of laws, including lowering its draft-eligible age for men from 27 to 25, aimed at broadening the universe of men who could be called on to join the grinding war. Those laws also did away with some draft exemptions and created an online registry for recruits. They were expected to add about 50,000 troops, far short of what Zelenskyy said at the time was needed. Zelenskyy has consistently stated that he has no plans to lower the mobilization age. A senior Ukrainian official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Ukraine does not have enough equipment to match the scale of its ongoing mobilization efforts. The official said Ukrainian officials see the push to the lower the draft age as part of an effort by some Western partners to deflect attention from their own delays in providing equipment or belated decisions. The official cited as an example the delay in giving Ukraine permission to use longer-range weapons to strike deep into Russian territory. The Ukrainians do not see lowering the draft age to recruit more soldiers as a substitute for countering Russia’s advantage in equipment and weaponry, the official said. Conscription has been a sensitive matter in Ukraine throughout the war. Russia’s own problems with adequate troop levels and planning early in the war prevented Moscow from taking full advantage of its edge. But the tide has shifted and the U.S. says the Ukrainian shortage can no longer be overlooked. Some Ukrainians have expressed worry that further lowering the minimum conscription age and taking more young adults out of the workforce could backfire by further harming the war-ravaged economy. The senior Biden administration official added that the administration believes that Ukraine can also optimize its current force by more aggressively dealing with soldiers who desert or go absent without leave. 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NoneWASHINGTON (AP) — The picture of who will be in charge of executing President-elect Donald Trump's hard-line immigration and border policies has come into sharper focus after he announced his picks to head Customs and Border Protection and also the agency tasked with deporting immigrants in the country illegally. Trump said late Thursday he was tapping Rodney Scott, a former Border Patrol chief who’s been a vocal supporter of tougher enforcement measures, for CBP commissioner. As acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Trump said he had chosen Caleb Vitello, a career ICE official with more than 23 years in the agency. They will work with an immigration leadership team that includes South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as head of the Department of Homeland Security ; former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement head Tom Homan as border czar ; and immigration hard-liner Stephen Miller as deputy chief of staff. Here's a closer look at the picks: Customs and Border Protection, with its roughly 60,000 employees, falls under the Department of Homeland Security. It includes the Border Patrol, which Scott led during Trump's first term, and is essentially responsible for protecting the country's borders while facilitating trade and travel. Scott comes to the job firmly from the Border Patrol side of the house. He became an agent in 1992 and spent much of his career in San Diego. When he joined the agency, San Diego was by far the busiest corridor for illegal crossings. Traffic plummeted after the government dramatically increased enforcement there, but critics note the effort pushed people to remote parts of California and Arizona. San Diego was also where wall construction began in the 1990s, which shaped Scott’s belief that barriers work. He was named San Diego sector chief in 2017. When he was appointed head of the border agency in January 2020, he enthusiastically embraced Trump's policies. “He’s well known. He does know these issues and obviously is trusted by the administration," said Gil Kerlikowske, the CBP commissioner under the Obama administration. Kerlikowske took issue with some of Scott's past actions, including his refusal to fall in line with a Biden administration directive to stop using terms like “illegal alien” in favor of descriptions like “migrant,” and his decision as San Diego sector chief to fire tear gas into Mexico to disperse protesters. “You don’t launch projectiles into a foreign country," Kerlikowske said. At the time Scott defended the agents’ decisions , saying they were being assaulted by “a hail of rocks.” While Trump's focus may be on illegal immigration and security along the U.S.-Mexico border, Kerlikowske also stressed the other parts of CBP's mission. The agency is responsible for securing trade and international travel at airports, ports and land crossings around the country. Whoever runs the agency has to make sure that billions of dollars worth of trade and millions of passengers move swiftly and safely into and out of the country. And if Trump makes good on promises to ratchet up tariffs on Mexico, China and Canada, CBP will play an integral role in enforcing them. “There’s a huge amount of other responsibility on trade, on tourism, on cyber that take a significant amount of time and have a huge impact on the economy if it’s not done right," Kerlikowske said. After being forced out under the Biden administration, Scott has been a vocal supporter of Trump's hard-line immigration agenda. He has appeared frequently on Fox News and testified in Congress. He's also a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. In a 2023 interview with The Associated Press, he advocated for a return to Trump-era immigration policies and more pressure on Mexico to enforce immigration on its side of the border. Vitello will take over as acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency responsible for arresting and deporting migrants in the U.S. illegally. A career ICE official, he most recently was the assistant director for firearms and tactical programs. He’s also served on the National Security Council and held positions at ICE directly related to the agency’s enforcement operations. That will be key as the agency attempts to ramp up efforts to find and remove people in the country illegally. ICE has not had a Senate-confirmed leader in years. “I know Caleb Vitello very well. He’s a consummate professional, cares about the mission,” said Jason Houser, a former chief of staff at ICE under the Biden administration. “He’s probably one of the smartest guys" on enforcement and removal operations, Houser said. Houser also noted the challenges that come with the job. There are a limited number of enforcement and removal officers — the people who actually track down migrants and remove them from the country. And there’s more than a million people with final orders of removal, meaning they’ve gone through the immigration process and been found to have no right to stay in America. But the problem is that many of them come from countries to which it’s very difficult to deport people, such as Venezuela or Cuba, Houser said. Houser said he anticipates that another arm of ICE, called Homeland Security Investigations, will be pulled in more to help with efforts to remove migrants through things like worksite enforcement. Currently HSI investigates anything with a connection to the border, which can mean human trafficking and human smuggling, counterterrorism or cybercrime, he said. Trump announced Anthony W. Salisbury as the deputy homeland security adviser. Salisbury is currently the special agent in charge of the HSI office in Miami. He has held key positions in Mexico City and overseeing money-laundering investigations. Separately, Trump announced he was sending the former head of the Border Patrol Union, Brandon Judd, to Chile as ambassador.None
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Tyler Herro recorded game highs of 27 points and nine assists before being ejected during a hostile final minute as the Miami Heat rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit to beat the host Houston Rockets 104-100 on Sunday. Herro was one of five players tossed in the final 47.4 seconds after Nikola Jovic's 3-pointer gave Miami a 98-94 lead. Houston's Fred VanVleet was ejected first for arguing a five-second call on the Rockets' ensuing inbounds play. Twelve seconds later, Herro and Rockets forward Amen Thompson ignited a skirmish that led to both being disqualified along with Heat guard Terry Rozier and Houston guard Jalen Green. Rockets head coach Ime Udoka and assistant Ben Sullivan were also kicked out. Jovic tacked on two free throws after the chaos to help Miami close out the win. He finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists off the bench. Haywood Highsmith tallied 15 points and eight rebounds for the Heat, who played a fifth consecutive game without Jimmy Butler. Bam Adebayo paired 12 points with 10 boards. Dillon Brooks scored a team-high 22 points for Houston after missing the last three games with right ankle soreness. Alperen Sengun added 18 points and 18 rebounds, while Green scored 19 points before his ejection. Herro led a 20-9 run that closed Miami to within 82-81 at the end of the third quarter. He also fueled the Heat down the stretch in the fourth, assisting on Highsmith's tying 3-pointer with 4:47 left before adding a 9-footer for a 95-94 lead with 1:56 to play. Brooks tallied nine points during a 14-2 spurt early in the third quarter that pushed the Rockets to a nine-point lead. Green's 3-pointer made it 73-61 with 5:19 left in the third before Miami began to chip away behind Herro, who finished the quarter with 11 points and four assists. The Heat used a 12-0 run to build a 31-27 lead after the first quarter. Neither team gained control of the second as Miami carried a 53-50 lead into the break. Rozier led the Heat with 12 points in the first half, while Sengun paced Houston with 14. --Field Level Media/ReutersNovember 26, 2024 This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlightedthe following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: fact-checked trusted source proofread by University of Portsmouth The 2012 London Olympics Games serve as a cautionary tale for local communities in host cities—a new study warns. The study by the University of Portsmouth analyzed 20 years of data, from 2001 to 2022. It looked at the long-term legacy of the 2012 London Olympics, particularly the impact on urban regeneration in one of London's most disadvantaged areas. The research evaluated the effects of the Games on property pricing, sales, and broader urban changes in London's 656 electoral wards, with a focus on the Olympic Park area in Newham Borough. The study is published in the journal European Planning Studies . Dr. Christina Philippou, Associate Professor in Accounting and Sport Finance in the School of Accounting, Economics, and Finance, at the University of Portsmouth, said, "Our research found that the Olympic Park wards experienced only a slight, short-lived boost in property values and sales after the IOC announcement in 2005 and the 2012 Games. The bigger question is who actually benefited from these changes. The data points to patterns of gentrification and migration, suggesting the original local community may have been left out of the equation." London's 2012 Olympic bid emphasized urban regeneration as a cornerstone of its legacy, promising to revitalize the Lower Lea Valley and provide long-term economic and social benefits to local residents. The original bid pledged to transform the area into a hub of education, culture, and employment opportunities, explicitly framing the Games as a catalyst for profound social and economic change . In the early 2000s, Newham ranked as London's second-lowest borough in weekly earnings, making it a prime candidate for regeneration. The substantial public investments in transportation, sporting venues, and other infrastructure were seen as a pivotal opportunity to improve living conditions and access for East London communities. The study identifies several outcomes of the 2012 Olympics: Short-term economic impact : The Olympic announcement and Games boosted property prices and sales in the Olympic Park wards relative to the rest of London. However, the effects were short-lived and not as significant as anticipated. Gentrification and migration: Regeneration efforts resulted in demographic shifts, with the original local community not necessarily being the primary beneficiaries. Infrastructure and accessibility: While infrastructure improvements , such as expanded transportation links and the Westfield Stratford shopping center, increased the area's visibility and accessibility, their direct benefits to the original residents remain unclear. Uncertain long-term legacy: The findings suggest that while urban regeneration was achieved to some extent, similar outcomes might have been realized through other development efforts not tied to the Olympics. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matter— daily or weekly . This study contributes to the growing body of research on the economic and urban impacts of mega-events like the Olympics. It highlights the importance of monitoring and measuring the long-term social, economic, and urban impacts of such events to ensure their promised legacies are realized. Dr. Christina Philippou, said, "The 2012 London Olympics serve as both an example of the potential legacy of the Games and a cautionary tale. While there were successes in urban regeneration, the benefits did not necessarily extend to the original local community. Future host cities must ensure their legacy promises are inclusive and measurable." The study calls for further research into the long-term impacts of Olympic legacies, including venue usage, social housing availability, and employment opportunities for local communities . Comparative analyses across different host cities and continents could provide valuable insights into the global patterns and challenges of mega-event legacies. To safeguard the legacy of future Olympic Games, the study recommends: Stronger monitoring and evaluation of social, economic, and urban impacts. Inclusion of mechanisms to prevent displacement and ensure benefits for original communities. Long-term commitments to legacy programs beyond the event's conclusion. This study was conducted to assess the long-term impacts of the 2012 London Olympics on urban regeneration, focusing on economic and property market changes. It offers valuable insights for policymakers, urban planners, and future Olympic host cities aiming to create sustainable legacies. More information: Gidon Jakar et al, Legacy and urban regeneration: long-term local impact of the London 2012 Olympic Games, European Planning Studies (2024). DOI: 10.1080/09654313.2024.2422888 Provided by University of Portsmouth