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Explainer-Why OpenAI plans transition to public benefit corporationPaz Moreno was thankful to survive after being bitten by a venomous blue-ringed octopus, but the victim blaming that followed compounded her mental anguish. It's a phenomenon that other animal attack survivors know all too well. Paz Moreno hesitantly takes a step towards the water's edge at Chinaman's Beach. Located in the affluent suburb of Mosman on the shores of Sydney Harbour, there's little to be afraid of — the waves are small and avoidable, the turquoise depths nicely buffered by a comfortable stretch of sandy shore to safely plant your feet. This was once one of Paz's favourite places to swim. When she first moved to Australia from Chile in 2018, Paz quickly and eagerly adapted to Australia's beach lifestyle. "Here, you use the beach as a part of your life every day ... I see people go to the beach in the winter ... there's no problem with that — it's just routine," she says. "In Chile, it's not so common to be in touch with ocean life." Despite this, she developed a reverence for the octopus — pulpo, in Spanish — from a young age. "I felt very ... not scared ... but, 'Oh we have to be careful with these animals', more than sharks or other kinds of creatures, because they are very intelligent," Paz says. For this reason, she "never wanted to have an encounter with an octopus". Paz stands hand-in-hand with her partner Mauricio Quilpatay, their feet buried in the sand, ankle deep. She dreams of going further — back into the water. "I feel it will be soon. A moment in my life that I will return, but I don't think it will be like it used to," Paz says. "The ocean is so huge. It's a fantasy that we are in control." One, two, three pinches In March 2023, just as the summer heat was fading, Paz decided to take a quick dip at Chinaman's Beach with Mauricio, right before she taught her usual Thursday Spanish class. She zipped up her swimsuit, adjusted her snorkel and entered the glittery blue water. "I submerged, and I saw a shell. I picked it up and returned to the surface to look at it," she says. "I checked the shell because the shells can have a crab in it or a snail." It was seemingly empty, so Paz placed the shell in the pocket of her swimsuit, and continued swimming. The first pinch came when she began to leave the water. "It wasn't painful but was kind of annoying." A second pinch. Paz checked her swimsuit and saw nothing. A third pinch. She noticed a lump protruding underneath her swimsuit. She held the lump and unzipped for another check. There was the octopus, "with the full bright blue lines". Paz was aware it was a blue-ringed octopus, as she'd recently watched a TikTok video about the dangerous animal, "so it was pretty fresh". Mauricio quickly leapt into action. "She turned towards me and said take it off. I didn't think about it, I just followed instructions," he says. Mauricio grabbed what he described as a "spherical blob of bright yellow and blue" in his fingertips, flicked it to the sand and dialled triple-0. The couple then managed to contain the octopus in a bottle with some water as they waited for the ambulance. The creature had turned brown with the sun and sand, and Paz was hopeful that, maybe, it wasn't what she thought it was. But when the ambulance arrived, a paramedic flicked the bottle and the octopus once again flashed blue. This was an emergency. Call your family Soon after the ambulance arrived, Paz began to feel a numbness around her mouth and tongue. "Like when you eat spicy food but without the spicy feeling." In the back of the ambulance, she was told to call her family. "I think that was a big red flag for me," Paz says. "I wasn't afraid, I think I had disassociated. I was being very rational about it." In hospital, her respiratory strength, blood pressure and heart rate were decreasing, but overall, she was feeling OK. Being accompanied by the octopus, nicknamed Cuddles by hospital staff, made Paz something of a fascination during her stay. "So many people came to visit and take selfies with the octopus. I think that was the weirdest part." But it isn't surprising. The blue-ringed octopus is one of the many dangerous animals Australians grow up fearing. Thankfully, however, very few of us ever interact with one. When Paz and Mauricio first told their families of their plans to move to Australia, their loved ones were "terrified" for them, over potential encounters with spiders and sharks. Paz reassured them, saying "no worries, I am not going to Queensland" — a place she thought of as home to a disproportionate number of the country's dangerous animals. Paz's apartment is decorated with photos of her travels around the world with Mauricio, and their cat Uli, who continues to be a great comfort to her following the octopus encounter. Finding herself belly to beak with one of Australia's most infamous critters still feels hard to believe, but she says it was what happened after the accident that surprised her the most. In the aftermath, she says two things surprised her: the media's response, and the post-traumatic stress she now experiences, which has prevented her from making a swift return to the ocean, and left her with a disgust for soft, fishy textures. "I was a big fan of ceviche, so when I visited Chile a couple of months ago my family were waiting with a big pot." But Paz couldn't indulge. News of deadly crocodile or shark encounters, Irukandji stings or in this case, blue-ringed octopus bites tend to travel very fast in Australia, even making international headlines. It's not uncommon for bite victims to read articles or conversations online centred around their accident. Paz says she was taken aback by what she saw. "I felt that it was kind of racist," she says, adding that people were commenting on whether the victim was a "foreigner" who didn't respect wildlife. For Mauricio, this couldn't be further from the truth. "Paz is the sort of person who can look at the most hideous animal and find in those eyes a spark," he says. "She sees our cat Uli's eyes in every other animal. It's alien to me and something that I admire about her." Bite Club Dave Pearson understands this phenomenon all too well, which is why he started Beyond the Bite, also known as Bite Club, a place where those who have had traumatic encounters with animals can share their experiences. Dave was bitten by a shark in 2011. Despite the obvious differences between the two encounters, Dave shares a lot of Paz's experiences. "I started looking at the news stories about myself, and that's when I discovered the not-so-social side of social media," he says. "I kind of expected, you know, everyone to go, sorry to hear this happened Dave ... I didn't expect any of the victim blaming." Happy to have escaped from the attack with his life, Dave didn't expect to feel anything other than luck when he left the hospital. Instead, he began waking up screaming. A carefree return to the ocean was also not on the cards. Dave says the stress didn't really hit until six months after he was bitten, when he'd made a physical recovery. He felt lonely in his experience. "Nobody has the answers and that was scary," Dave says. "Mentally you don't know what to expect. "A counsellor came and had a few words to me, and I didn't really understand much of what they were saying or take anything away from it." In 2018, the Bite Club teamed up with the University of Sydney to research the direct and indirect psychological impacts of shark-bite events. The study, a first of its kind, found one third of the members of Bite Club who had been bitten by a shark were experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder. One particular focus of the research was the impact of media exposure on the victims. The group's experiences ultimately led the researchers to advocate for guidelines for the media, akin to those used for reporting on suicide. Once upon a time, human interactions with dangerous animals were not so uncommon. And as these interactions have reduced, interest in them has increased, according to lead researcher Jennifer Taylor, a postdoctoral research associate in the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney. "People spoke a little bit about not only social media, not only traditional media, but every social interaction," Dr Taylor says. "People knew the story, would ask them to retell the story ... and it might have been a space or a place where they actually did not want to get back into retelling their traumatic event. "The other side of it too, and we certainly saw this in the shark space ... in a conservation sense, [is] that these topics can get quite political as well." In Paz's case, people were quick to point out the dangers of picking up shells, which were potential hiding places for the deadly octopus. "Unsympathetic and unsupportive conversations can happen when someone's actually healing from a trauma," Dr Taylor says. "Certainly, these are valuable conversations to have, but perhaps not with someone who's just survived a traumatic event." Dr Taylor acknowledges that the 24-hour news cycle — always hungry for a story — is a challenge, but says journalists must strike a "delicate balance" between "the public's need to know and the person's right to heal in private". Owning the story As Dave sought to recover from the psychological impacts of being bitten by a shark, he found one thing made a big difference: talking to other people in Bite Club who had also had traumatic encounters with dangerous animals, and not just sharks. The group quickly went global with victims of bear, dog, lion and hippo attacks contributing to the conversation. "I just didn't want anyone to feel alone like I did. And it seems to work really well," Dave says. When Dave would meet fellow bite victims, they'd be finishing each other's sentences. In some instances, Dr Taylor says this connection to people with similar experiences and "owning their own story" can be a catalyst for post-traumatic growth. "Once they'd sort of hit that stage or distance or resolved within themselves that it wasn't the worst thing that had ever happened, it was sort of like... If I can help someone going through something similar or help someone ease their discomfort, then I'm prepared to do so." Paz says she was thankful that when news of her octopus bite went around the world, her name was left out of the stories. But now, she has a desire to share what she's learnt. Twisting her earring, which is the shape of an octopus tentacle, Paz says, "If people want me to be the octopus lady, the octopus lady I will be". When Paz describes her experience, she goes between the words "weird" and "random", but her message is clear. No matter how strange the event, if you know you're not feeling like yourself anymore, it's important to seek help. This is something Dr Taylor reinforces. "It's not an aspect of cognition. It's not an intellectual exercise. It's an emotional one," she says. "It's about having felt that depth of fear. Even if you did not lose your life, you thought perhaps you could lose your life, and it is that level of fear that is instrumental ... that is what changes biochemistry, the brain, neurotransmitters, all of that stuff. "So it's really easy to underestimate yourself and the impact of those sorts of events." Determined to return to the water, Paz took "baby steps" to make that happen. And last Sunday, she took her first dip since being bitten. "I'm afraid of this happening again, and I know the probability is very low ... that's an irrational consequence of the accident," Paz says. But allure of the ocean had become irresistible. "I cried immediately after... It was like recovering from something that I lost, but that has always stayed with me. Something deeply mine. "I missed it very much." Credits Related topics Animal Attacks Animals Human Interest Mental Health Port Macquarie Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Sydney
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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that he wants real estate developer Charles Kushner , father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, to serve as ambassador to France. Trump made the announcement in a Truth Social post, calling Charles Kushner “a tremendous business leader, philanthropist, & dealmaker." Kushner is the founder of Kushner Companies, a real estate firm. Jared Kushner is a former White House senior adviser to Trump who is married to Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka. The elder Kushner was pardoned by Trump in December 2020 after pleading guilty years earlier to tax evasion and making illegal campaign donations. Prosecutors alleged that after Charles Kushner discovered his brother-in-law was cooperating with federal authorities in an investigation, he hatched a scheme for revenge and intimidation. Kushner hired a prostitute to lure his brother-in-law, then arranged to have the encounter in a New Jersey motel room recorded with a hidden camera and the recording sent to Kushner's own sister, the man’s wife, prosecutors said. Kushner eventually pleaded guilty to 18 counts including tax evasion and witness tampering. He was sentenced in 2005 to two years in prison — the most he could receive under a plea deal, but less than what Chris Christie, the U.S. attorney for New Jersey at the time and later governor and Republican presidential candidate, sought. Christie blamed Jared Kushner for his firing from Trump’s transition team in 2016, and called Charles Kushner’s offenses “one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes that I prosecuted when I was U.S. attorney.” Trump and the elder Kushner knew each other from real estate circles and their children were married in 2009. Among President-elect Donald Trump's picks are Susie Wiles for chief of staff, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state, former Democratic House member Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general. Susie Wiles, 67, was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager. Trump named Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to be secretary of state, making a former sharp critic his choice to be the new administration's top diplomat. Rubio, 53, is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump's running mate on the Republican ticket last summer. Rubio is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” Trump said of Rubio in a statement. The announcement punctuates the hard pivot Rubio has made with Trump, whom the senator called a “con man" during his unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. Their relationship improved dramatically while Trump was in the White House. And as Trump campaigned for the presidency a third time, Rubio cheered his proposals. For instance, Rubio, who more than a decade ago helped craft immigration legislation that included a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally, now supports Trump's plan to use the U.S. military for mass deportations. Pete Hegseth, 44, is a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor with the network since 2014, where he developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show. Hegseth lacks senior military or national security experience. If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job during a series of global crises — ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea. Hegseth is also the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” published earlier this year. Trump tapped Pam Bondi, 59, to be attorney general after U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration. She was Florida's first female attorney general, serving between 2011 and 2019. She also was on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020. Considered a loyalist, she served as part of a Trump-allied outside group that helped lay the groundwork for his future administration called the America First Policy Institute. Bondi was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his hush money criminal trial in New York that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts. A fierce defender of Trump, she also frequently appears on Fox News and has been a critic of the criminal cases against him. Trump picked South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a well-known conservative who faced sharp criticism for telling a story in her memoir about shooting a rambunctious dog, to lead an agency crucial to the president-elect’s hardline immigration agenda. Noem used her two terms leading a tiny state to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics. South Dakota is usually a political afterthought. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem did not order restrictions that other states had issued and instead declared her state “open for business.” Trump held a fireworks rally at Mount Rushmore in July 2020 in one of the first large gatherings of the pandemic. She takes over a department with a sprawling mission. In addition to key immigration agencies, the Department of Homeland Security oversees natural disaster response, the U.S. Secret Service, and Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports. The governor of North Dakota, who was once little-known outside his state, Burgum is a former Republican presidential primary contender who endorsed Trump, and spent months traveling to drum up support for him, after dropping out of the race. Burgum was a serious contender to be Trump’s vice presidential choice this summer. The two-term governor was seen as a possible pick because of his executive experience and business savvy. Burgum also has close ties to deep-pocketed energy industry CEOs. Trump made the announcement about Burgum joining his incoming administration while addressing a gala at his Mar-a-Lago club, and said a formal statement would be coming the following day. In comments to reporters before Trump took the stage, Burgum said that, in recent years, the power grid is deteriorating in many parts of the country, which he said could raise national security concerns but also drive up prices enough to increase inflation. “There's just a sense of urgency, and a sense of understanding in the Trump administration,” Burgum said. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ran for president as a Democrat, than as an independent, and then endorsed Trump . He's the son of Democratic icon Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated during his own presidential campaign. The nomination of Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services alarmed people who are concerned about his record of spreading unfounded fears about vaccines . For example, he has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism. Scott Bessent, 62, is a former George Soros money manager and an advocate for deficit reduction. He's the founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management, after having worked on-and-off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the nation’s first openly gay treasury secretary. He told Bloomberg in August that he decided to join Trump’s campaign in part to attack the mounting U.S. national debt. That would include slashing government programs and other spending. “This election cycle is the last chance for the U.S. to grow our way out of this mountain of debt without becoming a sort of European-style socialist democracy,” he said then. Oregon Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer narrowly lost her reelection bid this month, but received strong backing from union members in her district. As a potential labor secretary, she would oversee the Labor Department’s workforce, its budget and put forth priorities that impact workers’ wages, health and safety, ability to unionize, and employer’s rights to fire employers, among other responsibilities. Chavez-DeRemer is one of few House Republicans to endorse the “Protecting the Right to Organize” or PRO Act would allow more workers to conduct organizing campaigns and would add penalties for companies that violate workers’ rights. The act would also weaken “right-to-work” laws that allow employees in more than half the states to avoid participating in or paying dues to unions that represent workers at their places of employment. Scott Turner is a former NFL player and White House aide. He ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump’s first term in office. Trump, in a statement, credited Turner, the highest-ranking Black person he’s yet selected for his administration, with “helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.” Sean Duffy is a former House member from Wisconsin who was one of Trump's most visible defenders on cable news. Duffy served in the House for nearly nine years, sitting on the Financial Services Committee and chairing the subcommittee on insurance and housing. He left Congress in 2019 for a TV career and has been the host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business. Before entering politics, Duffy was a reality TV star on MTV, where he met his wife, “Fox and Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. They have nine children. A campaign donor and CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Write is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking — a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market. Wright also has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change. He said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight.” The Energy Department is responsible for advancing energy, environmental and nuclear security of the United States. Wright also won support from influential conservatives, including oil and gas tycoon Harold Hamm. Hamm, executive chairman of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources, a major shale oil company, is a longtime Trump supporter and adviser who played a key role on energy issues in Trump’s first term. President-elect Donald Trump tapped billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be secretary of the Education Department, tasked with overseeing an agency Trump promised to dismantle. McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s initial term from 2017 to 2019 and twice ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut. She’s seen as a relative unknown in education circles, though she expressed support for charter schools and school choice. She served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Brooke Rollins, who graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural development, is a longtime Trump associate who served as White House domestic policy chief during his first presidency. The 52-year-old is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping to lay the groundwork for a second Trump administration. She previously served as an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and ran a think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Trump chose Howard Lutnick, head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and a cryptocurrency enthusiast, as his nominee for commerce secretary, a position in which he'd have a key role in carrying out Trump's plans to raise and enforce tariffs. Trump made the announcement Tuesday on his social media platform, Truth Social. Lutnick is a co-chair of Trump’s transition team, along with Linda McMahon, the former wrestling executive who previously led Trump’s Small Business Administration. Both are tasked with putting forward candidates for key roles in the next administration. The nomination would put Lutnick in charge of a sprawling Cabinet agency that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a position in which connections to CEOs and the wider business community are crucial. Doug Collins is a former Republican congressman from Georgia who gained recognition for defending Trump during his first impeachment trial, which centered on U.S. assistance for Ukraine. Trump was impeached for urging Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden in 2019 during the Democratic presidential nomination, but he was acquitted by the Senate. Collins has also served in the armed forces himself and is currently a chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve Command. "We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our Active Duty Servicemembers, Veterans, and Military Families to ensure they have the support they need," Trump said in a statement about nominating Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. Karoline Leavitt, 27, was Trump's campaign press secretary and currently a spokesperson for his transition. She would be the youngest White House press secretary in history. The White House press secretary typically serves as the public face of the administration and historically has held daily briefings for the press corps. Leavitt, a New Hampshire native, was a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump, before joining his 2024 campaign. In 2022, she ran for Congress in New Hampshire, winning a 10-way Republican primary before losing to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. Leavitt worked in the White House press office during Trump's first term before she became communications director for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump's choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has been tapped by Trump to be director of national intelligence, keeping with the trend to stock his Cabinet with loyal personalities rather than veteran professionals in their requisite fields. Gabbard, 43, was a Democratic House member who unsuccessfully sought the party's 2020 presidential nomination before leaving the party in 2022. She endorsed Trump in August and campaigned often with him this fall. “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community,” Trump said in a statement. Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as somewhat of an outsider compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions. Trump has picked John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman who served as director of national intelligence during his first administration, to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency in his next. Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during the final year and a half of Trump's first term, leading the U.S. government's spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. “I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation's highest Intelligence positions,” Trump said in a statement, calling him a “fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans” who would ensure “the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.” 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. Rep. Elise Stefanik is a representative from New York and one of Trump's staunchest defenders going back to his first impeachment. Elected to the House in 2014, Stefanik was selected by her GOP House colleagues as House Republican Conference chair in 2021, when former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from the post after publicly criticizing Trump for falsely claiming he won the 2020 election. Stefanik, 40, has served in that role ever since as the third-ranking member of House leadership. Stefanik’s questioning of university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses helped lead to two of those presidents resigning, further raising her national profile. If confirmed, she would represent American interests at the U.N. as Trump vows to end the war waged by Russia against Ukraine begun in 2022. He has also called for peace as Israel continues its offensive against Hamas in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon to target Hezbollah. President-elect Donald Trump says he's chosen former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker to serve as U.S. ambassador to NATO. Trump has expressed skepticism about the Western military alliance for years. Trump said in a statement Wednesday that Whitaker is “a strong warrior and loyal Patriot” who “will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended” and “strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability.” The choice of Whitaker as the nation’s representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an unusual one, given his background is as a lawyer and not in foreign policy. A Republican congressman from Michigan who served from 1993 to 2011, Hoekstra was ambassador to the Netherlands during Trump's first term. “In my Second Term, Pete will help me once again put AMERICA FIRST,” Trump said in a statement announcing his choice. “He did an outstanding job as United States Ambassador to the Netherlands during our first four years, and I am confident that he will continue to represent our Country well in this new role.” Trump will nominate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel. Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel's interests as it wages wars against the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah. “He loves Israel, and likewise the people of Israel love him,” Trump said in a statement. “Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East.” Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016, has been a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland. Trump has been praised by some in this important Republican voting bloc for moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Trump on Tuesday named real estate investor Steven Witkoff to be special envoy to the Middle East. The 67-year-old Witkoff is the president-elect's golf partner and was golfing with him at Trump's club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, when the former president was the target of a second attempted assassination. Witkoff “is a Highly Respected Leader in Business and Philanthropy,” Trump said of Witkoff in a statement. “Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud." Trump also named Witkoff co-chair, with former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, of his inaugural committee. Trump said Wednesday that he will nominate Gen. Keith Kellogg to serve as assistant to the president and special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. Kellogg, a retired Army lieutenant general who has long been Trump’s top adviser on defense issues, served as National Security Advisor to Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence. For the America First Policy Institute, one of several groups formed after Trump left office to help lay the groundwork for the next Republican administration, Kellogg in April wrote that “bringing the Russia-Ukraine war to a close will require strong, America First leadership to deliver a peace deal and immediately end the hostilities between the two warring parties.” (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib) Trump asked Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser, Trump announced in a statement Tuesday. The move puts Waltz in the middle of national security crises, ranging from efforts to provide weapons to Ukraine and worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea to the persistent attacks in the Middle East by Iran proxies and the push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah. “Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda,” Trump's statement said, "and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!” Waltz is a three-term GOP congressman from east-central Florida. He served multiple tours in Afghanistan and also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs. He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population. Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner , was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Trump's priority of mass deportations. The 39-year-old was a senior adviser during Trump's first administration. Miller has been a central figure in some of Trump's policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families. Trump argued throughout the campaign that the nation's economic, national security and social priorities could be met by deporting people who are in the United States illegally. Since Trump left office in 2021, Miller has served as the president of America First Legal, an organization made up of former Trump advisers aimed at challenging the Biden administration, media companies, universities and others over issues such as free speech and national security. Thomas Homan, 62, has been tasked with Trump’s top priority of carrying out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history. Homan, who served under Trump in his first administration leading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was widely expected to be offered a position related to the border, an issue Trump made central to his campaign. Though Homan has insisted such a massive undertaking would be humane, he has long been a loyal supporter of Trump's policy proposals, suggesting at a July conference in Washington that he would be willing to "run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.” Democrats have criticized Homan for his defending Trump's “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings during his first administration, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border. Dr. Mehmet Oz, 64, is a former heart surgeon who hosted “The Dr. Oz Show,” a long-running daytime television talk show. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as the Republican nominee in 2022 and is an outspoken supporter of Trump, who endorsed Oz's bid for elected office. Elon Musk, left, and Vivek Ramaswamy speak before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at an Oct. 27 campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York. Trump on Tuesday said Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Ramaswamy will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency" — which is not, despite the name, a government agency. The acronym “DOGE” is a nod to Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. Trump said Musk and Ramaswamy will work from outside the government to offer the White House “advice and guidance” and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.” He added the move would shock government systems. It's not clear how the organization will operate. Musk, owner of X and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the presidential election. Ramaswamy suspended his campaign in January and threw his support behind Trump. Trump said the two will “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” Russell Vought held the position during Trump’s first presidency. After Trump’s initial term ended, Vought founded the Center for Renewing America, a think tank that describes its mission as “renew a consensus of America as a nation under God.” Vought was closely involved with Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term that he tried to distance himself from during the campaign. Vought has also previously worked as the executive and budget director for the Republican Study Committee, a caucus for conservative House Republicans. He also worked at Heritage Action, the political group tied to The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Dan Scavino, deputy chief of staff Scavino, whom Trump's transition referred to in a statement as one of “Trump's longest serving and most trusted aides,” was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 campaign, as well as his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. He will be deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president. Scavino had run Trump's social media profile in the White House during his first administration. He was also held in contempt of Congress in 2022 after a month-long refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. James Blair, deputy chief of staff Blair was political director for Trump's 2024 campaign and for the Republican National Committee. He will be deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs and assistant to the president. Blair was key to Trump's economic messaging during his winning White House comeback campaign this year, a driving force behind the candidate's “Trump can fix it” slogan and his query to audiences this fall if they were better off than four years ago. Taylor Budowich, deputy chief of staff Budowich is a veteran Trump campaign aide who launched and directed Make America Great Again, Inc., a super PAC that supported Trump's 2024 campaign. He will be deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel and assistant to the president. Budowich also had served as a spokesman for Trump after his presidency. William McGinley, White House counsel McGinley was White House Cabinet secretary during Trump's first administration, and was outside legal counsel for the Republican National Committee's election integrity effort during the 2024 campaign. In a statement, Trump called McGinley “a smart and tenacious lawyer who will help me advance our America First agenda, while fighting for election integrity and against the weaponization of law enforcement.” 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. Jamieson Greer, U.S. trade representative Kevin Hassett, Director of the White House National Economic Council Trump is turning to two officials with experience navigating not only Washington but the key issues of income taxes and tariffs as he fills out his economic team. He announced he has chosen international trade attorney Jamieson Greer to be his U.S. trade representative and Kevin Hassett as director of the White House National Economic Council. While Trump has in several cases nominated outsiders to key posts, these picks reflect a recognition that his reputation will likely hinge on restoring the public’s confidence in the economy. Trump said in a statement that Greer was instrumental in his first term in imposing tariffs on China and others and replacing the trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, “therefore making it much better for American Workers.” Hassett, 62, served in the first Trump term as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. He has a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and worked at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute before joining the Trump White House in 2017. Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.One of the party’s two election candidates in Wexford, Councillor Bridín Murphy, said she was “gobsmacked” to learn of a Fine Gael letter which has been sent out to households in the county and which urges people to vote for her running mate Councillor Cathal Byrne. In the letter outgoing Wexford TD Paul Kehoe and former Fine Gael TD Dr Liam Twomey say “it is vital that the people of Wexford are represented in the next government. This can only happen by voting for a candidate that will be a government TD”. The words “will be” were underlined. The letter says: “that candidate is Councillor Cathal Byrne for Fine Gael . But we need you to help us. To have a Wexford voice in government we must get as many number one votes for Councillor Cathal Byrne as we can. We cannot risk a situation where Wexford returns TDs that are not going to be a part of the next government. This would not serve the people of Wexford.” The only mention of Ms Murphy comes at the end of the letter. “We would ask you to please vote number one for Councillor Cathal Byrne on November 29th and number 2 for Councillor Bridín Murphy.” Speaking to The Irish Times, Ms Murphy, who is the cathaoirleach of New Ross Municipal District, said she was “very surprised and disappointed”. “There are a huge number of members of the public who have sent that letter to me last night and this morning, and it is being circulated around Co Wexford, and to me it is suggesting that there is only one viable Fine Gael candidate for Friday’s election. I do feel it is quite a targeted campaign to promote one candidate over the other, and that other candidate happens to be me. But I earned my right to be on the ticket in this election.“ She said she felt “ignored“ but that among local members she feels she has support. ”I was the underdog, but I will say the majority of Fine Gael members in Wexford have been supportive of me. “To see a letter like this, I was gobsmacked. People who are sending it to me are angered and believe that it diminishes my possibility of getting a seat in their eyes. It is so disheartening but it won’t deter me. It will make me more determined to win. I have two young daughters and that is driving me on.” She said she felt that elements of the letter “encapsulate the old boys’ club”. When contacted outgoing Fine Gael TD Paul Kehoe, who is retiring from politics, said he was giving Mr Byrne his full backing. “I am backing Cathal Byrne, and I am not going to make any apology for doing that. I am not sure what Bridín’s problem is. I am 100 per cent backing him. I think all the councillors in Wexford will be backing him too.” He said he had canvassed for Ms Murphy three times during the local elections. Jennifer Bray is a Political Correspondent with The Irish TimesSouthampton made light of Portsmouth's floodlight failure on Wednesday night by mocking their arch-rivals with a witty social media post. Pompey were due to host Millwall in the Championship at Fratton Park, but fans were left in darkness when the lights at the stadium cut out just minutes before kick-off. The hosts posted on social media that they were "looking into" a power issue just before 7:50pm. But it was almost an hour later before a further update was issued, with the game called off just after 8.40pm . And Saints made the most of an opportunity to rub salt into their rivals' wounds by sharing a picture of their own stadium lit up at night with the caption: " Football under the lights". The post went down a storm with fans of both Southampton and Millwall. One Saints supporter wrote: "Brilliant that," while another said: "Might be the best post ever from Admin. Superb". Southampton's posts echoed chants made by Millwall fans, who conjured up a chant of, "How s*** must you be, Southampton have lights". A Portsmouth fan even got in the act and begrudgingly admitted: "You know what, we deserve that". Portsmouth chief executive Andy Cullen spoke to the media after the match was postponed and explained that the club lost power in the stadium at around 7.35pm. He told BBC Sounds : "We were able to restore the floodlights just after 8pm and I have to give full credit to the match officials, who gave us every opportunity that we could to fix the problem and get the power back on. "We then got to a point where the floodlights back and the emergency lighting was on in most of the stands, however, there were still issues in terms of non-emergency lighting and other areas, such as CCTV which wasn't working to its full extent. So we had a decision to make in terms of crowd safety." He went on to explain that another issue was encountered at 8.30pm involving the Millwall fans and their ability to make it home safely. He added: "There's more to a match than just 22 players on a football pitch. We had a capacity crowd here tonight and we did not have the confidence that we could get through the whole game with other lighting not working. "We then got to 8.30 - we still felt there was an opportunity to push it through - but then there was a further problem in terms of the last trains going back to London for the Millwall supporters. They would not have been able to necessarily get those last trains back, so a decision at that point had to be made. "I'm really disappointed and upset that we've had to call the game off. But it was the only logical decision we could make at that particular time in the interests of everyone's safety." 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The Road Trip viewers give verdict on new rom-com with Harry Potter and Bridgerton stars
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