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GSA starts to make OASIS+ general small business choices officialFormer United States President Jimmy Carter dies at 100 years oldTOKYO (AP) — Troops surround South Korea's parliament overnight when the president declares martial law. He accuses pro-North Korean forces of plotting to overthrow one of the world’s most vibrant democracies. Lawmakers voice outrage and vote to end the declaration, and the president lifts the decree before daybreak. President Yoon Suk Yeol spread fear and confusion through South Korea overnight by issuing his sudden edict late Tuesday, the first martial law declaration since more than four decades ago when the country was controlled by a dictatorship. The declaration, the rushed vote by lawmakers to overturn it and the president's lifting of martial law soon afterward were moments of high drama for an unpopular leader who has struggled with political deadlock in an opposition-dominated parliament and scandals involving him and his wife. While there was no direct evidence presented, Yoon raised the specter of North Korea as a destabilizing force. Yoon has long maintained that a hard line against the North is the only way to stop Pyongyang from following through on its nuclear threats against Seoul. Amid the surreal scenes of troops massing around parliament, here are some things to know as this story unfolds: Details on an “anti-state” plot are vague Immediately after Yoon's declaration the military chief called in key commanders for talks. South Korean troops set up barricades and then made their way into parliament. The leader of the main opposition, which controls parliament, ordered lawmakers to return to the building, where they eventually voted to lift the declaration of martial law. Yoon lifted the martial law decree around 4:30 a.m. during a Cabinet meeting. Yoon's declaration had been accompanied by an accusation that the opposition was engaged in “anti-state activities plotting rebellion.” But he did not explain what that means, and provided no specific evidence. The vague statement is reminiscent of the heavy-handed tactics of the South Korean dictatorships that ended in the late 1980s. A series of strongmen repeatedly invoked North Korea when struggling to control domestic dissidents and political opponents. Lawmakers from both sides voice opposition The opposition lambasted Yoon's move as un-democratic. Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, who narrowly lost to Yoon in the 2022 presidential election, called Yoon’s announcement “illegal and unconstitutional.” But the sudden declaration was also opposed by the leader of Yoon's own conservative party, Han Dong-hoon, who called the decision “wrong” and vowed to “stop it with the people.” “The people will block the president’s anti-constitutional step. The military must be on the side of the public in any case. Let’s resolutely oppose it,” Kim Dong Yeon, the opposition party governor of Gyeonggi province, which surrounds Seoul, wrote on X. Average South Koreans were in shock. Social media was flooded with messages expressing surprise and worry over Yoon’s announcement. “Martial law? I thought it was deepfake content, but is it really a martial law decree?,” one X user wrote. “I first thought about a war with North Korea when he said he would impose a martial law,” another X user wrote. Yoon is struggling politically There were quick claims that the emergency declaration was linked to Yoon’s political struggles. His approval rating has dropped, and he has had little success in getting his policies adopted by a parliament that has been controlled by the opposition since he took over in 2022. Conservatives have said the opposition moves are political revenge for investigations into the opposition leader, who is seen as the favorite for the next presidential election in 2027. Just this month, Yoon denied wrongdoing in an influence-peddling scandal involving him and his wife. The claims have battered his approval ratings and fueled attacks by his rivals. The scandal centers on claims that Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee exerted inappropriate influence on the conservative ruling People Power Party to pick a certain candidate to run for a parliamentary by-election in 2022 at the request of Myung Tae-kyun, an election broker and founder of a polling agency who conducted free opinion surveys for Yoon before he became president . Yoon has said he did nothing inappropriate. Martial law is extremely sensitive in South Korea South Korea became a democracy only in the late 1980s, and military intervention in civilian affairs is still a touchy subject. During the dictatorships that emerged as the country rebuilt from the destruction of the 1950-53 Korean War, leaders occasionally proclaimed martial law that allowed them to station combat soldiers, tanks and armored vehicles on streets or in public places to prevent anti-government demonstrations. Such scenes are unimaginable for many today. The dictator Park Chung-hee, who ruled South Korea for nearly 20 years before he was assassinated by his spy chief in 1979, led several thousand troops into Seoul in the early hours of May 16, 1961, in the country’s first successful coup. During his rule, he occasionally proclaimed martial law to crack down on protests and jail critics. Less than two months after Park Chung-hee’s death, Maj. Gen. Chun Doo-hwan led tanks and troops into Seoul in December 1979 in the country’s second successful coup. The next year, he orchestrated a brutal military crackdown on a pro-democracy uprising in the southern city of Gwangju, killing at least 200 people. In the summer of 1987, massive street protests forced Chun’s government to accept direct presidential elections. His army buddy Roh Tae-woo, who had joined Chun’s 1979 coup, won the election held later in 1987 thanks largely to divided votes among liberal opposition candidates. AP writers Kim Tong-hyung and Hyung-jin Kim contributed to this story.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Department of Homeland Security agent who the FBI says conspired with another agent to sell an illicit drug known as “bath salts” pleaded not guilty to a drug distribution conspiracy charge Friday in federal court. A grand jury in Salt Lake City brought the criminal charge against Special Agent David Cole of the Homeland Security Investigations unit earlier this week. The indictment alleges that Cole abused his position as a federal law enforcement agent to obtain and sell drugs for profit. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Cole took drugs that had been seized as evidence, telling colleagues he was using them for legitimate investigations, and instead sold them to a confidential informant who resold the drugs for profit on the streets of Utah, according to the indictment. The informant, who has a lengthy criminal history, had been recruited by federal agents to work for them upon his release from prison. But in addition to conducting controlled buys from suspected drug dealers as directed by investigators, the informant said he was compelled by Cole and another agent to also engage in illegal sales. The investigation began after the informant’s defense attorney contacted the U.S. Attorney in Utah in October to report that agents had required him to engage in potentially illegal acts dating from last spring to early December. Details of drug sales offered by the informant were confirmed through surveillance and other sources, the FBI said. Cole and the second agent — identified in court documents only as “Person A” — profited up to $300,000 from the illegal scheme, according to an FBI affidavit filed in the case. FBI spokesperson Sandra Barker said Friday that “Person A” had not been arrested or charged, but the investigation was ongoing. Cole, 50, of South Jordan, Utah, entered the courtroom Friday handcuffed and hunched over, wearing a white and gray, striped jumpsuit. U.S. Magistrate Judge Dustin Pead accepted Cole's not guilty plea and scheduled a trial for the week of Feb. 24. Federal officials say Cole’s indictment sends a message that officers who break the law and undermine the public’s trust in law enforcement will be prosecuted. “A drug dealer who carries a badge is still a drug dealer — and one who has violated an oath to uphold the law and protect the public,” said Nicole Argentieri, head of the U.S. Justice Department’s Criminal Division. "No one is above the law.” Special Agent Shohini Sinha, who leads the FBI's Salt Lake City field office, said Cole’s alleged actions helped fuel an already devastating drug crisis . Ingestion of synthetic bath salts, also known as Alpha-PVP or cathinone, can lead to bizarre behavior such as paranoia and extreme strength, according to authorities who say it’s similar to methamphetamine, cocaine or ecstasy. They are unrelated to actual bathing products. Cole’s attorney, Alexander Ramos, has declined to directly address the criminal allegations but said his client has a strong reputation within the federal law enforcement community. Ramos did not immediately respond Friday to emails seeking comment on the not guilty plea. The Homeland Security Investigations department where Cole worked conducts federal criminal investigations into the illegal movement of people, goods, money, weapons, drugs and sensitive technology into, out of and across the U.S. Cole and the second agent had their credentials suspended but have not been fired, according to court documents.NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump's lawyers urged a judge again Friday to throw out his hush money conviction, balking at the prosecution's suggestion of preserving the verdict by treating the case the way some courts do when a defendant dies. They called the idea "absurd." The Manhattan district attorney's office asked Judge Juan M. Merchan to "pretend as if one of the assassination attempts against President Trump had been successful," Trump's lawyers wrote in a 23-page response. In court papers made public Tuesday, District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office proposed an array of options for keeping the historic conviction on the books after Trump's lawyers filed paperwork this month asking for the case to be dismissed. They include freezing the case until Trump leaves office in 2029, agreeing that any future sentence won't include jail time, or closing the case by noting he was convicted but that he wasn't sentenced and his appeal wasn't resolved because of presidential immunity. Former President Donald Trump appears May 30 at Manhattan criminal court during jury deliberations in his criminal hush money trial in New York. Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove reiterated Friday their position that the only acceptable option is overturning his conviction and dismissing his indictment, writing that anything less will interfere with the transition process and his ability to lead the country. The Manhattan district attorney's office declined comment. It's unclear how soon Merchan will decide. He could grant Trump's request for dismissal, go with one of the prosecution's suggestions, wait until a federal appeals court rules on Trump's parallel effort to get the case moved out of state court, or choose some other option. In their response Friday, Blanche and Bove ripped each of the prosecution's suggestions. Halting the case until Trump leaves office would force the incoming president to govern while facing the "ongoing threat" that he'll be sentenced to imprisonment, fines or other punishment as soon as his term ends, Blanche and Bove wrote. Trump, a Republican, takes office Jan. 20. The prosecution's suggestion that Merchan could mitigate those concerns by promising not to sentence Trump to jail time on presidential immunity grounds is also a non-starter, Blanche and Bove wrote. The immunity statute requires dropping the case, not merely limiting sentencing options, they contend. Attorney Todd Blanche listens May 30 as his client Donald Trump speaks at Manhattan criminal court during jury deliberations in his criminal hush money trial in New York. Blanche and Bove, both of whom Trump tapped for high-ranking Justice Department positions, expressed outrage at the prosecution's novel suggestion that Merchan borrow from Alabama and other states and treat the case as if Trump died. Blanche and Bove accused prosecutors of ignoring New York precedent and attempting to "fabricate" a solution "based on an extremely troubling and irresponsible analogy between President Trump" who survived assassination attempts in Pennsylvania in July and Florida in September "and a hypothetical dead defendant." Such an option normally comes into play when a defendant dies after being convicted but before appeals are exhausted. It is unclear whether it is viable under New York law, but prosecutors suggested that Merchan could innovate in what's already a unique case. "This remedy would prevent defendant from being burdened during his presidency by an ongoing criminal proceeding," prosecutors wrote in their filing this week. But at the same time, it wouldn't "precipitously discard" the "meaningful fact that defendant was indicted and found guilty by a jury of his peers." Prosecutors acknowledged that "presidential immunity requires accommodation" during Trump's impending return to the White House but argued that his election to a second term should not upend the jury's verdict, which came when he was out of office. Longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution. Other world leaders don't enjoy the same protection. For example, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on trial on corruption charges even as he leads that nation's wars in Lebanon and Gaza. President-elect Donald Trump attends a Dec. 7 meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Trump has fought for months to reverse his May 30 conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors said he fudged the documents to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier, which Trump denies. Trump's hush money conviction was in state court, meaning a presidential pardon — issued by Biden or himself when he takes office — would not apply to the case. Presidential pardons only apply to federal crimes. Since the election, special counsel Jack Smith ended his two federal cases, which pertained to Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and allegations that he hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. A separate state election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia, is largely on hold. Trump denies wrongdoing in each case. Trump was scheduled for sentencing in the hush money case in late November, but following Trump's Nov. 5 election win, Merchan halted proceedings and indefinitely postponed the former and future president's sentencing so the defense and prosecution could weigh in on the future of the case. Trump is the first former president to be convicted of a crime and the first convicted criminal to be elected to the office. 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. FILE - Former Rep. Doug Collins speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign event at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Oct. 15, 2024, in Atlanta. 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. Guilfoyle is a former California prosecutor and television news personality who led the fundraising for Trump's 2020 campaign and became engaged to Don Jr. in 2020. Trump called her “a close friend and ally” and praised her “sharp intellect make her supremely qualified.” Guilfoyle was on stage with the family on election night. “I am so proud of Kimberly. She loves America and she always has wanted to serve the country as an Ambassador. She will be an amazing leader for America First,” Don Jr. posted. The ambassador positions must be approved by the U.S. Senate. Guilfoyle said in a social media post that she was “honored to accept President Trump’s nomination to serve as the next Ambassador to Greece and I look forward to earning the support of the U.S. Senate.” 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. Customs and Border Protection, with its roughly 60,000 employees, falls under the Department of Homeland Security. It includes the Border Patrol, which Rodney 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 was appointed head of the border agency in January 2020, he enthusiastically embraced Trump's policies. After being forced out under the Biden administration, Scott has been a vocal supporter of Trump's hard-line immigration agenda. He appeared frequently on Fox News and testified in Congress. He's also a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. 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. Trump says he’s picking Kari Lake as director of Voice of America, installing a staunch loyalist who ran unsuccessfully for Arizona governor and a Senate seat to head the congressionally funded broadcaster that provides independent news reporting around the world. Lake endeared herself to Trump through her dogmatic commitment to the falsehood that both she and Trump were the victims of election fraud. She has never acknowledged losing the gubernatorial race and called herself the “lawful governor” in her 2023 book, “Unafraid: Just Getting Started.” 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. Ron Johnson, Ambassador to Mexico Johnson — not the Republican senator — served as ambassador to El Salvador during Trump's first administration. His nomination comes as the president-elect has been threatening tariffs on Mexican imports and the mass deportation of migrants who have arrived to the U.S.-Mexico border. Johnson is also a former U.S. Army veteran and was in the Central Intelligence Agency. Tom Barrack, Ambassador to Turkey Barrack, a wealthy financier, met Trump in the 1980s while helping negotiate Trump’s purchase of the renowned Plaza Hotel. He was charged with using his personal access to the former president to secretly promote the interests of the United Arab Emirates, but was acquitted of all counts at a federal trial in 2022. Trump called him a “well-respected and experienced voice of reason.” Andrew Ferguson, Federal Trade Commission Ferguson, who is already one of the FTC's five commissioners, will replace Lina Khan, who became a lightning rod for Wall Street and Silicon Valley by blocking billions of dollars worth of corporate acquisitions and suing Amazon and Meta while alleging anticompetitive behavior. “Andrew has a proven record of standing up to Big Tech censorship, and protecting Freedom of Speech in our Great Country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding, “Andrew will be the most America First, and pro-innovation FTC Chair in our Country’s History.” Jacob Helberg, undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment Dan Bishop, deputy director for budget at the Office of Budget and Management Leandro Rizzuto, Ambassador to the Washington-based Organization of American States Dan Newlin, Ambassador to Colombia Peter Lamelas, Ambassador to Argentina Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.King and PM honour former US president Jimmy Carter after his death aged 100

NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump's lawyers urged a judge again Friday to throw out his hush money conviction, balking at the prosecution's suggestion of preserving the verdict by treating the case the way some courts do when a defendant dies. They called the idea "absurd." The Manhattan district attorney's office is asking Judge Juan M. Merchan to "pretend as if one of the assassination attempts against President Trump had been successful," Trump's lawyers wrote in a 23-page response. In court papers made public Tuesday, District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office proposed an array of options for keeping the historic conviction on the books after Trump's lawyers filed paperwork this month asking for the case to be dismissed. They include freezing the case until Trump leaves office in 2029, agreeing that any future sentence won't include jail time, or closing the case by noting he was convicted but that he wasn't sentenced and his appeal wasn't resolved because of presidential immunity. Former President Donald Trump appears May 30 at Manhattan criminal court during jury deliberations in his criminal hush money trial in New York. Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove reiterated Friday their position that the only acceptable option is overturning his conviction and dismissing his indictment, writing that anything less will interfere with the transition process and his ability to lead the country. The Manhattan district attorney's office declined comment. It's unclear how soon Merchan will decide. He could grant Trump's request for dismissal, go with one of the prosecution's suggestions, wait until a federal appeals court rules on Trump's parallel effort to get the case moved out of state court, or choose some other option. In their response Friday, Blanche and Bove ripped each of the prosecution's suggestions. Halting the case until Trump leaves office would force the incoming president to govern while facing the "ongoing threat" that he'll be sentenced to imprisonment, fines or other punishment as soon as his term ends, Blanche and Bove wrote. Trump, a Republican, takes office Jan. 20. The prosecution's suggestion that Merchan could mitigate those concerns by promising not to sentence Trump to jail time on presidential immunity grounds is also a non-starter, Blanche and Bove wrote. The immunity statute requires dropping the case, not merely limiting sentencing options, they contend. Attorney Todd Blanche listens May 30 as his client Donald Trump speaks at Manhattan criminal court during jury deliberations in his criminal hush money trial in New York. Blanche and Bove, both of whom Trump tapped for high-ranking Justice Department positions, expressed outrage at the prosecution's novel suggestion that Merchan borrow from Alabama and other states and treat the case as if Trump died. Blanche and Bove accused prosecutors of ignoring New York precedent and attempting to "fabricate" a solution "based on an extremely troubling and irresponsible analogy between President Trump" who survived assassination attempts in Pennsylvania in July and Florida in September "and a hypothetical dead defendant." Such an option normally comes into play when a defendant dies after being convicted but before appeals are exhausted. It is unclear whether it is viable under New York law, but prosecutors suggested that Merchan could innovate in what's already a unique case. "This remedy would prevent defendant from being burdened during his presidency by an ongoing criminal proceeding," prosecutors wrote in their filing this week. But at the same time, it wouldn't "precipitously discard" the "meaningful fact that defendant was indicted and found guilty by a jury of his peers." Prosecutors acknowledged that "presidential immunity requires accommodation" during Trump's impending return to the White House but argued that his election to a second term should not upend the jury's verdict, which came when he was out of office. Longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution. Other world leaders don't enjoy the same protection. For example, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on trial on corruption charges even as he leads that nation's wars in Lebanon and Gaza. President-elect Donald Trump attends a Dec. 7 meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Trump has fought for months to reverse his May 30 conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors said he fudged the documents to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier, which Trump denies. Trump's hush money conviction was in state court, meaning a presidential pardon — issued by Biden or himself when he takes office — would not apply to the case. Presidential pardons only apply to federal crimes. Since the election, special counsel Jack Smith ended his two federal cases, which pertained to Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and allegations that he hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. A separate state election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia, is largely on hold. Trump denies wrongdoing in each case. Trump was scheduled for sentencing in the hush money case in late November, but following Trump's Nov. 5 election win, Merchan halted proceedings and indefinitely postponed the former and future president's sentencing so the defense and prosecution could weigh in on the future of the case. Trump is the first former president to be convicted of a crime and the first convicted criminal to be elected to the office. 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. FILE - Former Rep. Doug Collins speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign event at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Oct. 15, 2024, in Atlanta. 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. Guilfoyle is a former California prosecutor and television news personality who led the fundraising for Trump's 2020 campaign and became engaged to Don Jr. in 2020. Trump called her “a close friend and ally” and praised her “sharp intellect make her supremely qualified.” Guilfoyle was on stage with the family on election night. “I am so proud of Kimberly. She loves America and she always has wanted to serve the country as an Ambassador. She will be an amazing leader for America First,” Don Jr. posted. The ambassador positions must be approved by the U.S. Senate. Guilfoyle said in a social media post that she was “honored to accept President Trump’s nomination to serve as the next Ambassador to Greece and I look forward to earning the support of the U.S. Senate.” 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. Customs and Border Protection, with its roughly 60,000 employees, falls under the Department of Homeland Security. It includes the Border Patrol, which Rodney 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 was appointed head of the border agency in January 2020, he enthusiastically embraced Trump's policies. After being forced out under the Biden administration, Scott has been a vocal supporter of Trump's hard-line immigration agenda. He appeared frequently on Fox News and testified in Congress. He's also a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. 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. Trump says he’s picking Kari Lake as director of Voice of America, installing a staunch loyalist who ran unsuccessfully for Arizona governor and a Senate seat to head the congressionally funded broadcaster that provides independent news reporting around the world. Lake endeared herself to Trump through her dogmatic commitment to the falsehood that both she and Trump were the victims of election fraud. She has never acknowledged losing the gubernatorial race and called herself the “lawful governor” in her 2023 book, “Unafraid: Just Getting Started.” 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. Ron Johnson, Ambassador to Mexico Johnson — not the Republican senator — served as ambassador to El Salvador during Trump's first administration. His nomination comes as the president-elect has been threatening tariffs on Mexican imports and the mass deportation of migrants who have arrived to the U.S.-Mexico border. Johnson is also a former U.S. Army veteran and was in the Central Intelligence Agency. Tom Barrack, Ambassador to Turkey Barrack, a wealthy financier, met Trump in the 1980s while helping negotiate Trump’s purchase of the renowned Plaza Hotel. He was charged with using his personal access to the former president to secretly promote the interests of the United Arab Emirates, but was acquitted of all counts at a federal trial in 2022. Trump called him a “well-respected and experienced voice of reason.” Andrew Ferguson, Federal Trade Commission Ferguson, who is already one of the FTC's five commissioners, will replace Lina Khan, who became a lightning rod for Wall Street and Silicon Valley by blocking billions of dollars worth of corporate acquisitions and suing Amazon and Meta while alleging anticompetitive behavior. “Andrew has a proven record of standing up to Big Tech censorship, and protecting Freedom of Speech in our Great Country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding, “Andrew will be the most America First, and pro-innovation FTC Chair in our Country’s History.” Jacob Helberg, undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment Dan Bishop, deputy director for budget at the Office of Budget and Management Leandro Rizzuto, Ambassador to the Washington-based Organization of American States Dan Newlin, Ambassador to Colombia Peter Lamelas, Ambassador to Argentina Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.Social Security tackles overpayment ‘injustices,’ but problems remainA Department of Homeland Security agent who the FBI says conspired with another agent to sell an illicit drug known as “bath salts” pleaded not guilty to a drug distribution conspiracy charge Friday in federal court. A grand jury in Salt Lake City brought the criminal charge against Special Agent David Cole of the Homeland Security Investigations unit earlier this week. The indictment alleges that Cole abused his position as a federal law enforcement agent to obtain and sell drugs for profit. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Cole took drugs that had been seized as evidence, telling colleagues he was using them for legitimate investigations, and instead sold them to a confidential informant who resold the drugs for profit on the streets of Utah , according to the indictment. The informant, who has a lengthy criminal history, had been recruited by federal agents to work for them upon his release from prison. But in addition to conducting controlled buys from suspected drug dealers as directed by investigators, the informant said he was compelled by Cole and another agent to also engage in illegal sales. The investigation began after the informant’s defense attorney contacted the U.S. Attorney in Utah in October to report that agents had required him to engage in potentially illegal acts dating from last spring to early December. Details of drug sales offered by the informant were confirmed through surveillance and other sources, the FBI said. Cole and the second agent — identified in court documents only as “Person A” — profited up to $300,000 from the illegal scheme, according to an FBI affidavit filed in the case. FBI spokesperson Sandra Barker said Friday that “Person A” had not been arrested or charged, but the investigation was ongoing. Cole, 50, of South Jordan, Utah, entered the courtroom Friday handcuffed and hunched over, wearing a white and gray, striped jumpsuit. U.S. Magistrate Judge Dustin Pead accepted Cole's not guilty plea and scheduled a trial for the week of Feb. 24. Federal officials say Cole’s indictment sends a message that officers who break the law and undermine the public’s trust in law enforcement will be prosecuted. “A drug dealer who carries a badge is still a drug dealer — and one who has violated an oath to uphold the law and protect the public,” said Nicole Argentieri, head of the U.S. Justice Department’s Criminal Division. "No one is above the law.” Special Agent Shohini Sinha, who leads the FBI's Salt Lake City field office, said Cole’s alleged actions helped fuel an already devastating drug crisis. Ingestion of synthetic bath salts, also known as Alpha-PVP or cathinone, can lead to bizarre behavior such as paranoia and extreme strength, according to authorities who say it’s similar to methamphetamine, cocaine or ecstasy. They are unrelated to actual bathing products. Cole’s attorney, Alexander Ramos, has declined to directly address the criminal allegations but said his client has a strong reputation within the federal law enforcement community. Ramos did not immediately respond Friday to emails seeking comment on the not guilty plea. The Homeland Security Investigations department where Cole worked conducts federal criminal investigations into the illegal movement of people, goods, money, weapons, drugs and sensitive technology into, out of and across the U.S. Cole and the second agent had their credentials suspended but have not been fired, according to court documents.

NORAD's Santa tracker was a Cold War morale boost. Now it attracts millions of kids

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to major Canadian airports, beginning with Vancouver International Airport, in a bid to streamline the boarding process. But while the technology may simplify flying for some — enrolled travellers no longer need to show their boarding pass or physical ID to board most domestic flights — the convenience might not outweigh the potential security concerns, some privacy experts say. “Any type of biometric data is extremely sensitive information,” said Rozita Dara, an associate professor and principle investigator of the University of Guelph’s Data Management and Privacy Governance research program. “Unlike passwords, you cannot change it.” Many U.S. cities have banned facial recognition software, but it remains widely unregulated in Canada. Many U.S. cities have banned facial recognition software, but it remains widely unregulated in Canada. Air Canada’s program launched Tuesday at Vancouver International Airport. It’s also available for customers entering Air Canada’s Maple Leaf Lounges in Toronto, Calgary and San Francisco, as well as the Air Canada Café in Toronto, . “While we don’t have a specific timeline to share for when other airports will have this, we can confirm we are planning to roll our Digital ID as an option at other Canadian airport gates,” a spokesperson for Air Canada told the Star. “It does require some significant investment for equipment, and new processes for our employees.” They continued that the program is entirely optional, and that Air Canada has no plans of making it mandatory. To enrol in the program, travellers over 18 must first create a digital profile on Air Canada’s mobile app by uploading a selfie, a picture of their passport and a scan of their passport chip. These are then shared with a third-party company which generates the facial biometrics for one’s profile and for use in verifying their identity at the airport. This company “has access to and uses your facial biometrics strictly on Air Canada’s instructions and solely for the purposes of the digital ID,” . While Air Canada did not disclose the third-party provider on its website or to the Star, it appears to be , a company that employs to facilitate its work. This digital profile, containing one’s selfie, passport details and a unique identifier, is then encrypted and stored only on one’s device, the airline says; the facial biometric data used to create the profile are immediately deleted. Travellers can then check in on the device where their digital profile was created before their flight, after which facial recognition cameras installed at certain airport gates will match their image with that of their digital profile — no ID or boarding pass needed. “Customers utilizing Digital ID will be among the first to board the aircraft and get settled in sooner,” the airline said in a release. Travellers’ digital profiles are stored only on their mobile devices until the day of one’s flight, the airline said. At that time, the information is encrypted and sent to Air Canada’s biometrics provider for use in identification at the airport. “Our provider does not retain any copy of your biometrics created and used for the authorized purposes,” according to Air Canada. The biometric data generated from the airport facial recognition cameras are “immediately deleted after use,” and those created from one’s selfie on the day of travel are deleted within 36 hours of departure. , Mike Maxwell, aviation leader at OARO, said the “biometrics is facilitated through an anonymized process, maintaining an even higher standard of privacy than called for by Canadian or General Data Protection Regulation requirements.” While experts say Air Canada’s privacy measures appear robust, some expressed concerns with how the systems are trained, what happens when it fails to recognize travellers — and the airline’s third-party facial recognition provider. “These collect a lot of biometric, personal information about you, but you don’t necessarily know who they are or how they protect your data,” said Florian Kerschbaum, a professor at the University of Waterloo’s David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science. The city still makes public residents’ phone numbers, addresses, email addresses and signatures, even as concerns grow over identity theft. The city still makes public residents’ phone numbers, addresses, email addresses and signatures, even as concerns grow over identity theft. He also noted that, because one’s information must be sent from their phone to Air Canada and their third-party provider on their day of travel, it creates an opening where malicious actors can intercept and steal your biometric data. That’s a big issue, according to Dara, because unlike a stolen password, “you can’t change your face.” Malicious actors can then use this information to gain access to your accounts on other platforms that use biometric verification. Canadian airports have been slow to embrace the technology, but facial recognition software has already been in use by some U.S. and international airlines, companies and government security agencies for years. You may already be using it to unlock your iPhone. As more companies adopt the technology and the ecosystem grows, so too does the threat of identity theft and abuse, Kerschbaum and Dara say. “In my opinion, I’d never use (facial recognition),” Dara added. As for whether you should sign up for Air Canada’s program, “it depends on your personal preference,” Kerschbaum said. “These biometrics can be very convenient... But (you have to ask), is boarding a plane important enough for me to use it?”

Fancy 'chatting' with Dr. Jose Rizal? A veteran voice artist develops an AI Rizal for thatThe Christmas tradition has become nearly global in scope: Children from around the world track Santa Claus as he sweeps across the earth, delivering presents and defying time. Each year, at least 100,000 kids call into the North American Aerospace Defense Command to inquire about Santa’s location. Millions more follow online in nine languages , from English to Japanese. On any other night, NORAD is scanning the heavens for potential threats , such as last year’s Chinese spy balloon . But on Christmas Eve, volunteers in Colorado Springs are fielding questions like, “When is Santa coming to my house?” and, “Am I on the naughty or nice list?” “There are screams and giggles and laughter,” said Bob Sommers, 63, a civilian contractor and NORAD volunteer. Sommers often says on the call that everyone must be asleep before Santa arrives, prompting parents to say, “Do you hear what he said? We got to go to bed early.” NORAD’s annual tracking of Santa has endured since the Cold War , predating ugly sweater parties and Mariah Carey classics . Here’s how it began and why the phones keep ringing. It started with a child’s accidental phone call in 1955. The Colorado Springs newspaper printed a Sears advertisement that encouraged children to call Santa, listing a phone number. A boy called. But he reached the Continental Air Defense Command, now NORAD, a joint U.S. and Canadian effort to spot potential enemy attacks. Tensions were growing with the Soviet Union, along with anxieties about nuclear war. Air Force Col. Harry W. Shoup picked up an emergency-only “red phone” and was greeted by a tiny voice that began to recite a Christmas wish list. “He went on a little bit, and he takes a breath, then says, ‘Hey, you’re not Santa,’” Shoup told The Associated Press in 1999. Realizing an explanation would be lost on the youngster, Shoup summoned a deep, jolly voice and replied, “Ho, ho, ho! Yes, I am Santa Claus. Have you been a good boy?” Shoup said he learned from the boy’s mother that Sears mistakenly printed the top-secret number. He hung up, but the phone soon rang again with a young girl reciting her Christmas list. Fifty calls a day followed, he said. In the pre-digital age, the agency used a 60-by-80 foot (18-by-24 meter) plexiglass map of North America to track unidentified objects. A staff member jokingly drew Santa and his sleigh over the North Pole. The tradition was born. “Note to the kiddies,” began an AP story from Colorado Springs on Dec. 23, 1955. “Santa Claus Friday was assured safe passage into the United States by the Continental Air Defense Command.” In a likely reference to the Soviets, the article noted that Santa was guarded against possible attack from “those who do not believe in Christmas.” Some grinchy journalists have nitpicked Shoup’s story, questioning whether a misprint or a misdial prompted the boy’s call. In 2014, tech news site Gizmodo cited an International News Service story from Dec. 1, 1955, about a child’s call to Shoup. Published in the Pasadena Independent, the article said the child reversed two digits in the Sears number. “When a childish voice asked COC commander Col. Harry Shoup, if there was a Santa Claus at the North Pole, he answered much more roughly than he should — considering the season: ‘There may be a guy called Santa Claus at the North Pole, but he’s not the one I worry about coming from that direction,’” Shoup said in the brief piece. In 2015, The Atlantic magazine doubted the flood of calls to the secret line, while noting that Shoup had a flair for public relations. Phone calls aside, Shoup was indeed media savvy. In 1986, he told the Scripps Howard News Service that he recognized an opportunity when a staff member drew Santa on the glass map in 1955. A lieutenant colonel promised to have it erased. But Shoup said, “You leave it right there,” and summoned public affairs. Shoup wanted to boost morale for the troops and public alike. “Why, it made the military look good — like we’re not all a bunch of snobs who don’t care about Santa Claus,” he said. Shoup died in 2009. His children told the StoryCorps podcast in 2014 that it was a misprinted Sears ad that prompted the phone calls. “And later in life he got letters from all over the world,” said Terri Van Keuren, a daughter. “People saying ‘Thank you, Colonel, for having, you know, this sense of humor.’” NORAD’s tradition is one of the few modern additions to the centuries-old Santa story that have endured, according to Gerry Bowler, a Canadian historian who spoke to the AP in 2010. Ad campaigns or movies try to “kidnap” Santa for commercial purposes, said Bowler, who wrote “Santa Claus: A Biography.” NORAD, by contrast, takes an essential element of Santa’s story and views it through a technological lens. In a recent interview with the AP, Air Force Lt. Gen. Case Cunningham explained that NORAD radars in Alaska and Canada — known as the northern warning system — are the first to detect Santa. He leaves the North Pole and typically heads for the international dateline in the Pacific Ocean. From there he moves west, following the night. “That’s when the satellite systems we use to track and identify targets of interest every single day start to kick in,” Cunningham said. “A probably little-known fact is that Rudolph’s nose that glows red emanates a lot of heat. And so those satellites track (Santa) through that heat source.” NORAD has an app and website, www.noradsanta.org , that will track Santa on Christmas Eve from 4 a.m. to midnight, Mountain Standard Time. People can call 1-877-HI-NORAD to ask live operators about Santa’s location from 6 a.m. to midnight, mountain time.FRENCH CAMP, Calif. — A hospital in San Joaquin County is celebrating some new groundbreaking technology. San Joaquin General Hospital surgeons are the first in Northern California and Nevada to get a new surgical robot called Intuitive Da Vinci 5. The hospital has been using the Da Vinci 4 since 2017 and in that time, it's assisted more than 1,000 surgeries. "It's important to provide our patients with the latest technology," said Dr. Bassem Ghobrial, a colorectal surgeon at the hospital. Ghobrial also noted that the new tech is just an instrument for surgeons to use—not a replacement. "It's not automated in any way. The surgeon controls everything with the hands in order to do the surgery in a minimally invasive fashion," he said. The hospital said robotic surgery has a track record indicating improved outcomes in specific procedures compared to traditional open surgeries or laparoscopic procedures. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter

without a care in the world is the best way to ring in 2025. or signup to continue reading But if you need something, . Here are the opening hours for major stores, supermarkets and bottleshops in each Australian state and territory so you're well-stocked to greet the new year. Kmart stores open between 7am and 9am on New Year's Eve and will close, depending on the store, between 6pm and 10pm. Normal trading hours apply for 24-hour stores. Slightly reduced trading hours apply to some stores on New Year's Day and . Coles supermarkets are open on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with normal trading hours. Opening and closing times may differ from normal at some stores but individual store trading hours are , Coles said. All Woolworths supermarkets are open until the end of the year and on New Year's Day. Individual store opening hours may change and the supermarket encourages customers to check the . All stores will have reduced trading hours on 31 December and 1 January 2025, ALDI said. Dan Murphy's stores are open on New Year's Eve from 9am to 9pm. On New Year's Day stores are open from 10am to 7pm All BWS stores are open with normal trading hours on New Year's Eve. BWS said some stores may extend their opening hours on December 31. Stores are open on New Year's Day with public holiday trading hours. Normal trading hours apply for all First Choice Liquor Market stores on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Some trading hours may vary from store to store and , First Choice Liquor Market said. Liquorland stores are open on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with normal trading hours. Liquorland said that although trading hours may differ from normal at some stores, individual store trading hours are . Vintage Cellars stores are open through the end of the year and into 2025 with normal trading hours on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Some opening and closing hours may differ between stores but the , the liquor store said. Kmart stores open between 7am and 9am on New Year's Eve and will close, depending on the store, between 6pm and 10pm. Normal trading hours apply for 24-hour stores. Slightly reduced trading hours apply to some stores on New Year's Day and . Coles supermarkets are open on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with normal trading hours. Opening and closing times may differ from normal at some stores but individual store trading hours are , Coles said. All Woolworths supermarkets are open until the end of the year and on New Year's Day. Individual store opening hours may change and the supermarket encourages customers to check the . All stores will have reduced trading hours on 31 December and 1 January 2025, ALDI said. Dan Murphy's stores are open on New Year's Eve from 9am to 9pm. On New Year's Day stores are open from 10am to 7pm All BWS stores are open with normal trading hours on New Year's Eve. BWS said some stores may extend their opening hours on December 31. Stores are open on New Year's Day with public holiday trading hours. Normal trading hours apply for all First Choice Liquor Market stores on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Some trading hours may vary from store to store and , First Choice Liquor Market said. Liquorland stores are open on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with normal trading hours. Liquorland said that although trading hours may differ from normal at some stores, individual store trading hours are . Vintage Cellars stores are open through the end of the year and into 2025 with normal trading hours on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Some opening and closing hours may differ between stores but the , the liquor store said. Kmart stores open between 7am and 9am on New Year's Eve and will close, depending on the store, between 6pm and 10pm. Normal trading hours apply for 24 hour stores. Slightly reduced trading hours apply to some stores on New Year's Day and . Coles supermarkets are open on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with normal trading hours. Opening and closing times may differ from normal at some stores but individual store trading hours are , Coles said. All Woolworths supermarkets are open until the end of the year and on New Year's Day. Individual store opening hours may change and the supermarket encourages customers to check the . All stores will have reduced trading hours on 31 December and 1 January 2025, ALDI said. Dan Murphy's stores are open on New Year's Eve from 9am to 9pm. On New Year's Day stores are open from 10am to 7pm All BWS stores are open with normal trading hours on New Year's Eve. BWS said some stores may extend their opening hours on December 31. Stores are open on New Year's Day with public holiday trading hours. Normal trading hours apply for all First Choice Liquor Market stores on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Some trading hours may vary from store to store and , First Choice Liquor Market said. Liquorland stores are open on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with normal trading hours. Liquorland said that although trading hours may differ from normal at some stores, individual store trading hours are . Vintage Cellars stores are open through the end of the year and into 2025 with normal trading hours on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Some opening and closing hours may differ between stores but the , the liquor store said. Kmart stores open between 7am and 9am on New Year's Eve and will close, depending on the store, between 6pm and 10pm. Normal trading hours apply for 24 hour stores. Slightly reduced trading hours apply to some stores on New Year's Day and . Coles supermarkets are open on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with normal trading hours. Opening and closing times may differ from normal at some stores but individual store trading hours are , Coles said. All Woolworths supermarkets are open until the end of the year and on New Year's Day. Individual store opening hours may change and the supermarket encourages customers to check the . Dan Murphy's stores are open on New Year's Eve from 9am to 9pm. On New Year's Day stores are open from 10am to 7pm All BWS stores are open with normal trading hours on New Year's Eve. BWS said some stores may extend their opening hours on December 31. Stores are open on New Year's Day with public holiday trading hours. Liquorland stores are open on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with normal trading hours. Liquorland said that although trading hours may differ from normal at some stores, individual store trading hours are . Kmart stores open between 7am and 9am on New Year's Eve and will close, depending on the store, between 6pm and 10pm. Normal trading hours apply for 24 hour stores. Slightly reduced trading hours apply to some stores on New Year's Day and . Stores in Firle, Tea Tree, Munno Para, Ingle Farm, Kurralta Park, West Lakes, Port Noarlunga, Marion and Churchill are closed on New Year's Day. Adelaide metro stores are open on New Year's Eve but close on New Year's Day. Adelaide's Rundle Place supermarket is the exception, opening from 11am to 5pm. Supermarkets in Berri, Mount Barker, Mount Gambier, Murray Bridge Green, Port Augusta, Port Lincoln, Port Pirie, Victor Harbor and Whyalla are open from 8am to 8pm on New Year's Day. Opening and closing times may differ from normal at some stores but individual store trading hours are , Coles said. All regional Woolworths supermarkets are open until the end of the year and on New Year's Day. However the Millicent store and metropolitan stores are closed on January 1. Individual store opening hours may change and the supermarket encourages customers to check the . All stores will have reduced trading hours on 31 December and 1 January 2025, ALDI said. Some stores in SA will close on 1 January 2025. Dan Murphy's stores are open on New Year's Eve from 9am to 9pm. On New Year's Day stores are open from 10am to 7pm All BWS stores are open with normal trading hours on New Year's Eve. BWS said some stores may extend their opening hours on December 31. Stores are open on New Year's Day with public holiday trading hours. Liquorland stores are open on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with normal trading hours. Liquorland said that although trading hours may differ from normal at some stores, individual store trading hours are . Kmart stores open between 7am and 9am on New Year's Eve and will close, depending on the store, between 6pm and 10pm. Normal trading hours apply for 24 hour stores. Slightly reduced trading hours apply to some stores on New Year's Day and . Coles supermarkets are open on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with normal trading hours. Opening and closing times may differ from normal at some stores but individual store trading hours are , Coles said. All Woolworths supermarkets are open until the end of the year and on New Year's Day. However the Northam store is closed on January 1. Individual store opening hours may change and the supermarket encourages customers to check the . All stores will have reduced trading hours on 31 December and 1 January 2025, ALDI said. Dan Murphy's stores are open on New Year's Eve from 9am to 9pm. On New Year's Day stores are open from 10am to 7pm All BWS stores are open with normal trading hours on New Year's Eve. BWS said some stores may extend their opening hours on December 31. Stores are open on New Year's Day with public holiday trading hours. Normal trading hours apply for all First Choice Liquor Market stores on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Some trading hours may vary from store to store and , First Choice Liquor Market said. Most Liquorland stores are open on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with normal trading hours. Stores in Byford, Belmont, Trinity, Raine Square, Erskine, Altone Park, Bunbury, Gosnells and Geraldton Bluff Point are closed on New Year's Day. Liquorland said that although trading hours may differ from normal at some stores, individual store trading hours are . Vintage Cellars stores are open through the end of the year and into 2025 with normal trading hours on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Some opening and closing hours may differ between stores but the , the liquor store said. Kmart stores open between 7am and 9am on New Year's Eve and will close, depending on the store, between 6pm and 10pm. Normal trading hours apply for 24 hour stores. Slightly reduced trading hours apply to some stores on New Year's Day and . Coles supermarkets are open on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with normal trading hours. Opening and closing times may differ from normal at some stores but individual store trading hours are , Coles said. All Woolworths supermarkets are open until the end of the year and from 8am to 8pm on New Year's Day. However the Gove store opens at 9am and closes at 5pm on January 1. Individual store opening hours may change and the supermarket encourages customers to check the . All BWS stores are open with normal trading hours on New Year's Eve. BWS said some stores may extend their opening hours on December 31. Stores are open on New Year's Day with public holiday trading hours. Liquorland stores are open on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with normal trading hours. Liquorland said that although trading hours may differ from normal at some stores, individual store trading hours are . Vintage Cellars stores are open through the end of the year and into 2025 with normal trading hours on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Some opening and closing hours may differ between stores but the , the liquor store said. Kmart stores open between 7am and 9am on New Year's Eve and will close, depending on the store, between 6pm and 10pm. Normal trading hours apply for 24 hour stores. Slightly reduced trading hours apply to some stores on New Year's Day and . Coles in Goondiwindi, Mt Isa and Ayr are closed on December 29, the supermarket said. Coles supermarkets are open on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with normal trading hours. Opening and closing times may differ from normal at some stores but individual store trading hours are , Coles said. All Woolworths supermarkets are open until the end of the year and on New Year's Day. Individual store opening hours may change and the supermarket encourages customers to check the . All stores will have reduced trading hours on 31 December and 1 January 2025, ALDI said. Dan Murphy's stores are open on New Year's Eve from 9am to 9pm. On New Year's Day stores are open from 10am to 7pm All BWS stores are open with normal trading hours on New Year's Eve. BWS said some stores may extend their opening hours on December 31. Stores are open on New Year's Day with public holiday trading hours. Normal trading hours apply for all First Choice Liquor Market stores on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Stores in Milton Village and Red Hill are closed on New Year's Day. Some trading hours may vary from store to store and , First Choice Liquor Market said. Most Liquorland stores are open on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with normal trading hours. The Red Hill and Milton Village shops are closed on New Year's Day. Liquorland said that although trading hours may differ from normal at some stores, individual store trading hours are . Vintage Cellars stores are open through the end of the year and into 2025 with normal trading hours on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Some opening and closing hours may differ between stores but the , the liquor store said. Anna Houlahan reports on crime and social issues affecting regional and remote Australia in her role as national crime reporter at Australian Community Media (ACM). She was ACM’s Trainee of the Year in 2023 and, aside from reporting on crime, has travelled the country as a journalist for Explore Travel Magazine. Reach out with news or updates to anna.houlahan@austcommunitymedia.com.au Anna Houlahan reports on crime and social issues affecting regional and remote Australia in her role as national crime reporter at Australian Community Media (ACM). She was ACM’s Trainee of the Year in 2023 and, aside from reporting on crime, has travelled the country as a journalist for Explore Travel Magazine. Reach out with news or updates to anna.houlahan@austcommunitymedia.com.au Advertisement Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date. We care about the protection of your data. Read our . Advertisement

The humble electric hot water system, hidden usually in a corner of the garage, or even sometimes stuck outside the house in Australia, is being repurposed to balance the grid. For years, we have used tariff 33 to switch on our hot water systems at night for lower-cost electricity from nighttime excess coal-powered generation. Now, the grid is becoming more complicated. Renewables are less predictable. Time to change. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has part-funded PLUS ES, AGL, and the University of New South Wales for a two-year trial to “utilise 20,000 existing smart meters to dynamically orchestrate hot water (HW) load.” ARENA is contributing about half the cost of the project, almost AUD$3 million. The trial has taken place in South Australia, the most renewable energy advanced state in Australia. This is the first time that controlled load hot water has been used as a flexible load to “address minimum demand challenges at this scale.” Heating up the water for our daily shower is one of the largest loads on our grid — similar to the electric stove, and charging our Tesla — and it’s very predictable for the NEM (National Electricity Market). According to NEM Watch , at this point in time, South Australia is drawing its energy from the following sources: 1.3 GW small solar, 573 MW large solar, 495 MW wind, and only 80 MW of gas. PLUS ES and AGL have shown that by dynamically managing customers’ hot water systems, they can not only support grid stability, but also reduce costs for the consumer. “This demonstration will tackle the fast-emerging challenge of balancing supply from distributed generation and minimum demand periods, due to the increasing adoption of rooftop solar PV.” CleanTechnica readers may remember AGL from articles detailing its takeover by Atlassian founder Mike Cannon Brookes. Since then, it has taken on a much “greener” stance. PLUS ES plans to allow AGL access to its smart meter technology to control hot water systems for “optimal demand management.” AGL will be enabled to move 48 MW of residential demand across 20,000 customers in South Australia. This is expected to manage spot market pricing, reducing costs. To quote ARENA: “The trial involves development of a technical enabler for retailers to dynamically control hot water load in near real time. This will allow retailers to target periods of low wholesale pricing, high renewable energy generation, and/or shift HW load to access lower wholesale pricing and maintain grid security. This solution will address challenges posed by midday demand and generation imbalance and will drive smart meter adoption in the market.” The trial involves only 20,000 HW systems out of a total of 300,00 in South Australia alone. According to PLUS ES, this equates to “an estimated 1,080 MW of untapped Distributed Energy Resource load that could be utilised should the program be expanded state wide.” AGL Chief Customer Officer Jo Egan expects that the learnings from this project will be able to scale across all states of Australia. I wonder if this means the end of the duck curve for solar? ARENA is funding the development of two software platforms — a Load Management Portal and an Application Programming Interface (API). The LMP will allow AGL as the electricity retailer to view, manage, and execute commands for controlled loads. The API allows the retailer to integrate with a homeowner’s smart meter for “near real time orchestration.” PLUS ES technology will enable planned demand shifting — for example, nighttime to daytime to soak up excess solar — and also real-time demand shifting. Real-time demand shifting may be necessary depending on the NEM. Demand response is a way of balancing supply and demand on the electricity grid. It can be the voluntary reduction or shift of electricity use by customers. For example, my house electricity is supplied by AGL. On very hot evenings, we are asked to reduce our use of electricity during peak hours. For this, we receive a $AU5 or $AU10 credit to our power bill. We achieve this by shifting our use from evening to midday — cooking our main meal in the middle of the day. Much better than the alternative forced restrictions or blackouts that Brisbane endured in the ’70s. Don’t worry, demand response doesn’t mean no power, just minimal. We still watch the TV and use a fan. The fridge is still running. Lights are okay — though, it would be fun to use candles. We avoid using appliances that draw a lot of power, like the stove, the sandwich toaster, and our antique, inefficient, power-sucking air conditioner in the media room. Of course, we don’t charge the car or run the hot water system. We get plenty of warning and it is possible to cool the house down with the air conditioners prior to the time that the power saving event starts. It can be quite fun. We are retired and can work around these things, but with smart appliances that run on timers, there is opportunity for the workers to participate also. It just takes a bit of planning. As we move into summer and daily temperatures in Brisbane are over 30 degrees Celsius with high humidity, I expect these notifications to come more often. Demand response is much cheaper than building larger power plants, and the attendant distribution network. “DR is commonly used in the USA, Japan, New Zealand and the UK. In some American states it is used to meet over ten per cent of peak demand for electricity. New Zealand began using DR in 2007 and now meets over 16 per cent of peak demand through DR programs.” This recent report from the University of New South Wales spells out the learnings from the trial and points the way forward. It points out that 30% of the NEM has access to smart meters and it is expected that this will reach 100% by 2030. “Smart meters provide visibility and control of DEWH loads in near real-time at the household level.” DEWH includes both resistive immersive heaters and heat pumps. So far, heat pump hot water systems only comprise 2% of the fleet. They have lower rated power and longer operating times. These longer daily operating times make them a good candidate for load shifting to solar generation. The report explains that there were some issues with heat pump control, and AGL will be refining the process of control as they roll out this scheme to other regions. There were a negligible number of customer complaints. A followup survey indicated that the majority of customers did not notice changes to their hot water availability. Only 0.3% of customers opted out of the program. As the program is rolled out through the NEM, AGL recognises the need for “better education about controlled load and more detailed explanations on the benefits of hot water orchestration.” Also highlighted was the need for stricter cybersecurity around the transmission and sharing of large amounts of data. The trial ended up dealing with only 14,000 systems which required “robust data management systems and efficient data transfer protocols.” How much more so when it is rolled out to the whole of South Australia’s 300,000 systems and then the rest of Australia? Due to the way hot water systems have been installed in Australia, it proved difficult to pass on cost savings to individual households. However, the trial showed that cost savings are available systemically and can be passed on to the community. There is also the benefit of CO2 emissions savings. “Throughout the trial, it is estimated that around 0.6 Gt-CO2 emissions were saved as a result of shifting DEWH demand into the day. Compared to traditional controlled load with nighttime heating, the trial resulted in 14.3% reduction in associated emissions. Based on the assumption that the studied DEWH control can be successfully rolled out across the NEM, the potential emissions savings are calculated to be 212 Gt-CO2/year representing an 8% of emissions reduction associated with water heating. Considering future electrification scenarios, the emissions savings potential increases to 974 Gt-CO2/year.” The consumer will not be asked to contribute financially to this. The consumer and the retailer will both benefit financially. Not to mention the cost savings from not having to expand the grid. Now that the trial has proven successful, AGL has plans to roll out the process to other regions. The report notes: “It will be interesting to see how this type of smart meter and retailer controlled hot water flexible demand will function in other DNSP regions as some DNSPs may want to retain control of the electric hot water fleet ... there may be significant wholesale cost benefits for the retailer/aggregator when shifting aggregate hot water demand into solar generation window. “To make the controlled load financially more attractive for a wider range of households (including ones with rooftop solar) and maintain the controlled load fleet for the use of flexible demand, AGL is considering new tariff offers to pass on some of these wholesale benefits onto users as the fleet of controlled DEWH systems expands. As a result, even though smart meter based DEWH control won’t allow solar soaking at the site level, households will still be able to benefit from cheaper electricity prices for water heating during the day.” The humble hot water system, combined with IT and some solar panels, may be a cost-effective way to reduce CO2 emissions. Another weapon in the fight against climate change. The future is bright, electric, and possible. CleanTechnica's Comment Policy LinkedIn WhatsApp Facebook Bluesky Email Reddit

Treysen Eaglestaff scores 19 as North Dakota cruises past Waldorf College 97-57

Saturday, December 14, 2024 Turkish Airlines will be among the first carriers to operate from John F. Kennedy International Airport’s New Terminal One when it opens in 2026. The airline will also unveil an exclusive, state-of-the-art lounge for its premium passengers, a key part of its ongoing expansion at this major U.S. hub. The New Terminal One, set to be the largest international terminal in the U.S., promises world-class amenities and cutting-edge technology, ensuring a superior travel experience. This major terminal development is part of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s ambitious $19 billion overhaul of JFK Airport, which includes two new terminals, the modernization of existing ones, a new ground transportation center, and a streamlined roadway network for improved passenger flow. Currently operating 19 flights weekly between JFK and its Istanbul hub, Turkish Airlines will continue offering seamless connections to its global network from the new terminal. The airline’s 11,000-square-foot lounge will be twice the size of its existing space, featuring premium services, panoramic airfield views, and direct boarding access for business class passengers and top-tier frequent flyers. Recognized for its exceptional service, Turkish Airlines has recently earned the World Class Award from the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) for the fourth consecutive year, joining just 10 airlines worldwide to receive this honor. “We are thrilled to welcome Turkish Airlines to the New Terminal One at JFK, where their commitment to world-class customer service aligns perfectly with our mission to provide an unparalleled customer experience,” said The New Terminal One Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Aument. “We look forward to working closely with our colleagues at Turkish Airlines to elevate the travel experience for customers from 2026 and beyond.” Turkish Airlines Chairman of the Board and Executive Committee, Prof. Ahmet Bolat, expressed his enthusiasm for the airline’s new partnership with JFK’s New Terminal One: “We are thrilled to bring Turkish Airlines’ world-class service to this state-of-the-art facility, enhancing our passengers’ travel experience with a luxurious new lounge. This move highlights our ongoing commitment to expanding our presence in the U.S. market.” The New Terminal One has also secured partnerships with several leading global carriers, including Air France, KLM, Etihad, LOT Polish Airlines, Korean Air, EVA Air, Air Serbia, SAS, Neos, and Philippine Airlines. In addition, Air China is joining forces with the terminal to elevate the experience for Chinese visitors to New York. Focused on enhancing the overall customer journey, the New Terminal One aims to deliver a seamless and exceptional experience by collaborating closely with airline partners across all passenger touchpoints. Once complete, the terminal will be JFK’s largest and will significantly increase widebody aircraft gate capacity, offering international airlines a unique opportunity to expand their services at this premier global gateway to the U.S.Geosteering Services Market is Booming Worldwide | Gaining Revolution In Eyes of Global Exposure 12-03-2024 09:10 PM CET | Industry, Real Estate & Construction Press release from: DiMarket Geosteering Services Market Data Insights Market published a new research publication on "Geosteering Services Market Insights, to 2030" with 232 pages and enriched with self-explained Tables and charts in presentable format. In the Study you will find new evolving Trends, Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities generated by targeting market associated stakeholders. The growth of the Geosteering Services Market was mainly driven by the increasing R&D spending across the world. Get Free Exclusive PDF Sample Copy of This Research @ https://datainsightsmarket.com/report/geosteering-services-market-3952/sample-report?utm_source=OpenPR/utm_medium=Rahul Some of the key players profiled in the study are: United Oil & Gas Consulting Ltd, Geonaft Company, Geo-Steering Solutions Inc, Weatherford International PLC, Maxwell Dynamics Inc, Baker Hughes Company, Halliburton Company, National-Oilwell Varco Inc, HMG Software LLC, Schlumberger Limited. The size of the Geosteering Services Market was valued at USD XX Million in 2023 and is projected to reach USD Million by 2032, with an expected CAGR of 4.00% during the forecast period. The titled segments and sub-section of the market are illuminated below: Equipment: LWD Tools and Technologies, MWD Tools and Technologies, Rotary Steerable Systems, Drive Systems, 3D Seismic Model, Other Equipment Market Trends: Rotary Steerable System to Witness Growth Market Drivers: Increasing Automotive Sales in Saudi Arabia Rising Demand from Heavy Automotives What Can be Explored with the Geosteering Services Market Study •Gain Market Understanding •Identify Growth Opportunities •Analyze and Measure the Global Geosteering Services Market by Identifying Investment across various Industry Verticals •Understand the Trends that will drive Future Changes in Geosteering Services Market •Understand the Competitive Scenario - Track Right Markets - Identify the Right Verticals Region Included are: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Oceania, South America, Middle East & Africa Country Level Break-Up: United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, South Africa, Nigeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Germany, United Kingdom (UK), the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Austria, Turkey, Russia, France, Poland, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, India, Australia and New Zealand etc. Have Any Questions Regarding Global Geosteering Services Market Report, Ask Our Experts@ https://datainsightsmarket.com/report/geosteering-services-market-3952/enquiry-before-buy?utm_source=OpenPR/utm_medium=Rahul Strategic Points Covered in Table of Content of Global Geosteering Services Market: Chapter 1: Introduction, market driving force product Objective of Study and Research Scope the Geosteering Services Market Chapter 2: Exclusive Summary - the basic information of the Geosteering Services Market. Chapter 3: Displaying the Market Dynamics- Drivers, Trends and Challenges & Opportunities of the Geosteering Services Market Chapter 4: Presenting the Geosteering Services Market Factor Analysis, Porters Five Forces, Supply/Value Chain, PESTEL analysis, Market Entropy, Patent/Trademark Analysis. Chapter 5: Displaying the by Type, End User and Region/Country 2015-2020 Chapter 6: Evaluating the leading manufacturers of the Geosteering Services Market which consists of its Competitive Landscape, Peer Group Analysis, BCG Matrix & Company Profile Chapter 7: To evaluate the market by segments, by countries and by Manufacturers/Company with revenue share and sales by key countries in these various regions (2024-2030) Chapter 8 & 9: Displaying the Appendix, Methodology and Data Source finally, Geosteering Services Market is a valuable source of guidance for individuals and companies. Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at @ https://datainsightsmarket.com/report/geosteering-services-market-3952/checkout?type=corporate?utm_source=OpenPR/utm_medium=Rahul Thanks for reading this article; you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Middle East, Africa, Europe or LATAM, Southeast Asia. Contact Us: Craig Francis (PR & Marketing Manager) DiMarket Unit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJ New Jersey USA - 08837 Phone: +1(201) 7937323, +1(201) 7937193 mailto:sales@archivemarketresearch.com sales@marketresearchforecast.com About Author: DiMarket is Global leaders of Market Research Industry provides the quantified B2B research to Fortune 500 companies on high growth emerging opportunities which will impact more than 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Our Analyst is tracking high growth study with detailed statistical and in-depth analysis of market trends & dynamics that provide a complete overview of the industry. We follow an extensive research methodology coupled with critical insights related industry factors and market forces to generate the best value for our clients. We Provides reliable primary and secondary data sources, our analysts and consultants derive informative and usable data suited for our clients business needs. The research study enables clients to meet varied market objectives a from global footprint expansion to supply chain optimization and from competitor profiling to M&As. This release was published on openPR.By DAVID BAUDER Time magazine gave Donald Trump something it has never done for a Person of the Year designee: a lengthy fact-check of claims he made in an accompanying interview. Related Articles National Politics | Trump’s lawyers rebuff DA’s idea for upholding his hush money conviction, calling it ‘absurd’ National Politics | Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time National Politics | How ruling by a conservative Supreme Court could help blue states resist Trump policies National Politics | A nonprofit leader, a social worker: Here are the stories of the people on President Biden’s clemency list National Politics | Nancy Pelosi hospitalized after she ‘sustained an injury’ on official trip to Luxembourg The fact-check accompanies a transcript of what the president-elect told the newsmagazine’s journalists. Described as a “12 minute read,” it calls into question 15 separate statements that Trump made. It was the second time Trump earned the Time accolade; he also won in 2016, the first year he was elected president. Time editors said it wasn’t a particularly hard choice over other finalists Kamala Harris, Elon Musk, Benjamin Netanyahu and Kate Middleton. Time said Friday that no other Person of the Year has been fact-checked in the near-century that the magazine has annually written about the figure that has had the greatest impact on the news. But it has done the same for past interviews with the likes of Joe Biden, Netanyahu and Trump. Such corrections have been a sticking point for Trump and his team in the past, most notably when ABC News did it during his only debate with Democrat Kamala Harris this fall. There was no immediate response to a request for comment on Friday. In the piece, Time called into question statements Trump made about border security, autism and the size of a crowd at one of his rallies. When the president-elect talked about the “massive” mandate he had received from voters, Time pointed out that former President Barack Obama won more electoral votes the two times he had run for president. The magazine also questioned Trump’s claim that he would do interviews with anyone who asked during the campaign, if he had the time. The candidate rejected a request to speak to CBS’ “60 Minutes,” the magazine said. “In the final months of his campaign, Trump prioritized interviews with podcasts over mainstream media,” reporters Simmone Shah and Leslie Dickstein wrote. David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.

An elaborate parody appears to be behind an effort to resurrect Enron. Subscribe to continue reading this article. Already subscribed? To login in, click here.Colts coach Shane Steichen feeling heat after playoff eliminationCopy link Copied Copy link Copied Subscribe to gift this article Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe. Already a subscriber? Login New York | Stocks fell broadly on Friday as Wall Street closed out a holiday-shortened week on a down note. The losses were made worse by sharp declines for the Big Tech stocks known as the “Magnificent 7” , which can heavily influence the direction of the market because of their large size. AP Copy link Copied Copy link Copied Subscribe to gift this article Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe. Already a subscriber? Login Introducing your Newsfeed Follow the topics, people and companies that matter to you. Latest In Equity markets Fetching latest articles Most Viewed In Markets

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Jojo Uga's 2-yard touchdown run capped a 24-point fourth quarter and Albany beat Hampton 41-34 on Saturday in a season finale. Jack Iuliano recovered a fumble by Malcom May at the Hampton 24, and though it took 10 plays, Uga went in for the touchdown and the game's final lead. Malcolm Mays scored on a 25-yard run for Hampton (5-7, 2-6 Coastal Athletic Association) but the PAT was blocked and Kevon Angry ran it back for Albany (4-8, 2-6), leaving Hampton with a 34-27 lead with 10 minutes remaining. Alex Jreige's 53-yard run then tied the game. Hampton led 28-0 before Van Weber threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Carter Moses with a couple minutes left in the first half. Albany added 10 points in the third quarter, including Jackson Parker's 38-yard touchdown catch. Nick Totten's pick-6 early in the fourth quarter got the Great Danes within 28-25. Weber threw for 184 yards with two scores and an interception. Jreige rushed for 110 yards. Robinson rushed for 80 yards and 21 carries and scored four times for Hampton, all in the first half. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football . Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://apnews.com/cfbtop25Hottoerak Revolutionizes At-Home Skincare with Advanced Light Therapy Technology 12-20-2024 09:14 PM CET | Business, Economy, Finances, Banking & Insurance Press release from: Getnews / PR Agency: Kjprnews Hottoerak, a pioneering brand in light therapy solutions, today announced the launch of its comprehensive collection of advanced light therapy masks, bringing professional-grade skincare technology into the comfort of homes. This innovative line features scientifically-backed wavelength combinations designed to address various skin concerns, from aging to acne treatment. Image: https://hottoerak.shop/cdn/shop/files/13.jpg?v=1716973176&width=1100 The cornerstone of Hottoerak's new collection is its flagship Red Light Therapy Mask [ https://hottoerak.shop/products/hottoerak-red-light-therapy-mask-black ], which harnesses the power of dual-wavelength technology (660nm and 850nm) to stimulate collagen production and promote deep cellular repair. This sophisticated combination delivers remarkable results in reducing fine lines, wrinkles, and inflammation while improving overall skin texture. "Our mission at Hottoerak is to democratize access to professional-grade light therapy treatments," stated a spokesperson for Hottoerak. "We've invested extensively in research and development to ensure our products deliver optimal results while maintaining the highest safety standards." The collection includes four distinct products, each targeting specific skincare needs: The signature Red Light Therapy Mask combines 660nm and 850nm wavelengths for comprehensive skin rejuvenation. The innovative 7 Color Light Therapy Mask [ https://hottoerak.shop/products/hottoerak-colorful-therapy-mask ] features seven precisely calibrated wavelengths (415nm-660nm) to address various skin concerns. The specialized Neck & Decollete mask focuses on these often-overlooked areas, while the Upgraded 7 Colorful Therapy Mask introduces enhanced functionality by incorporating near-infrared technology [ https://hottoerak.shop/products/upgraded-colorful-therapy-mask ]. What sets Hottoerak apart is its commitment to scientific validation and technological innovation. Each device undergoes rigorous testing to ensure optimal wavelength delivery for maximum efficacy. The company's research has shown significant improvements in skin texture, reduction of fine lines, and enhanced collagen production with regular use of their devices. The entire collection is now available through Hottoerak's official website and select retail partners. Prices and detailed product specifications can be found at https://hottoerak.shop . About Hottoerak: Hottoerak is a leading innovator in light therapy skincare solutions, dedicated to bringing scientifically-proven, professional-grade treatments to the home care market. By combining cutting-edge technology with comprehensive research, Hottoerak continues to set new standards in the beauty and skincare industry. Media Contact Company Name: HOTTOERAK Contact Person: Media Relations Email: Send Email [ http://www.universalpressrelease.com/?pr=hottoerak-revolutionizes-athome-skincare-with-advanced-light-therapy-technology ] Country: United States Website: https://hottoerak.shop/ This release was published on openPR.