Last night to catch the Oliver Fire Department holiday fire truck

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romanian lawmakers on Monday voted narrowly in favor of a new pro-European coalition government led by incumbent Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu. The move could usher in an end to a protracted political crisis in the European Union country following the annulment of a presidential election by a top court. Parliament approved the new administration in a 240-143 vote in Romania's 466-seat legislature. The new coalition is made up of the leftist Social Democratic Party, or PSD, the center-right National Liberal Party, PNL, the small ethnic Hungarian UDMR party and national minorities. It caps a month-long period of turmoil in which far-right nationalists made significant gains in a Dec. 1 parliamentary election , a week after a first-round presidential race saw the far-right outsider Calin Georgescu emerge as the front-runner. “It will not be an easy mandate for the future government,” Ciolacu, whose PSD party topped the polls in the parliamentary election, said in a statement Monday. “We are aware that we are in the midst of a deep political crisis," he said. "It is also a crisis of trust, and this coalition aims to regain the trust of citizens, the trust of the people.” Romani's 16 ministerial positions will be shared among the parties, which will hold a slim majority in the legislature. It's widely seen as a tactical partnership to shut out far-right nationalists whose voices found fertile ground amid high living costs and a sluggish economy. President Klaus Iohannis was expected to swear in the new government later Monday. Ciolacu, who came third in the first-round presidential ballot despite polls indicating he would win the most votes, has served as prime minister since June 2023. Romania was plunged into turmoil after Georgescu’s surprise success in the presidential race, after allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference emerged. Days before the Dec. 8 runoff, the Constitutional Court made the unprecedented move to annul the presidential race . “We go through complicated times, but I think we all learned from mistakes of the past,” Ciolacu said. “I hope that together with my colleagues in the coalition, we’ll find the best solutions to get past the challenges we have in front of us.” Ciolacu said that the new government would aim to quickly organize the rerun of the presidential election in which the new coalition has agreed to put forward an agreed common pro-European candidate. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, which came second in the parliamentary election, said that all lawmakers from his party on Monday would vote against the Ciolacu government. In 2021, the PSD and the PNL also formed an unlikely but increasingly strained coalition together with UDMR, which exited the Cabinet last year after a power-sharing dispute. Stephen McGrath reported from Warwick, England.

Minnesota looks to stop skid vs. Bethune-Cookmanin the process must accept and follow the proposed conditions. Communication standards can be embedded in the hardware of devices (i.e., hardware) and/or in software code. Protocols allow devices to successfully communicate with each other and exchange data regardless of differences in architecture and design. Learn what network protocols are in use today and what protocols were used previously, how the HTTP/1.1 standard differs from later versions, how next-generation protocols are being implemented, and what their prospects are. HTTP/1.1: The first standard The foundation of the digital world is information. HTTP protocols make it available to the user. These are the rules of hypertext transmission, on which the work of web resources is based. HTTP protocol regulates the interaction between browsers and servers when loading pages, pictures, videos and other data. During the existence of the Internet, network protocols have changed significantly. There has been an evolution that has made page loading faster and data transfer more reliable. Early history The development of protocols began not with HTTP/1.1, but with earlier versions. It's worth briefly reviewing the first steps along the way before talking about the technologies we use today. Let's find out what major network protocols existed and how they evolved. Back in 1991, when the concept of the modern Internet was being created, developers thought about an efficient file transfer system. Models of network protocols at that time already existed, it was up to the product of the application layer. The first protocol was HTTP/0.9, which used the TCP network transmission control model as a transport layer. HTTP/0.9 was only involved in the transmission of hypertext, which was the only concept of data representation that existed at the time. The simple one-line protocol HTTP/0.9 was as simple as possible in terms of implementation and could be operated from the command line. The principles on which...

Brock Purdy update increases concern about 49ers quarterback's status for Week 12 clash with PackersHe drew the roadmap of India's economic reform, unshackled it from the licence raj and pulled it back from the brink when even all its gold reserve was pledged. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh was the scholar and architect of the India of today who evolved into a stubbornly resolute politician. Unassuming, erudite, soft-spoken and a consensus builder, Manmohan Singh died on Thursday night at Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). He was 92. The Congress leader, who steered the country for 10 years from 2004-2014 and helped set up the country's economic framework as finance minister before that, was a renowned name in the global financial and economic sectors. His government introduced pathbreaking initiatives like Right to Information (RTI), Right to Education (RTE) and MNREGA. The man who famously spoke of studying under the dim light of kerosene lamps in his village without electricity and went on to become a storied academic was the copybook reluctant politician, almost stumbling into the rough and tumble of mainstream politics. He was the proverbial dark horse when Sonia Gandhi stepped back from taking the prime minister's post, ignoring the clamour from her party, and chose him instead. And so Manmohan Singh the academic bureaucrat became the 14th prime minister of India in 2004. Theirs was a partnership that lasted 10 years, the equation between Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh often cited for its equanimity and an example of how a working relationship should really be. Notwithstanding the inevitable tensions. Manmohan Singh also had to balance the interests of the United Progressive Alliance's coalition partners. N N Vohra, a former Jammu and Kashmir governor, said Dr Singh always "stood firm as a rock in pursuing the ethical path even if he got into trouble with the political party he represented". In 2014, the UPA was voted out in a cloud of corruption scams, establishing BJP's unbroken rule since then. Hailed for putting India on the road to liberalisation and privatisation in the early 1990s, Dr Singh was criticised for turning a blind eye to charges of corruption. The going often got tough. During his first tenure as prime minister, the coalition began to unravel when India signed a civil nuclear deal with the US. It almost cost his government with the Left parties pulling out of the UPA coalition. However, his government survived. On July 22, 2008, the UPA faced its first confidence vote in the Lok Sabha after the Communist Party of India (Marxist) led Left Front withdrew support over India approaching the IAEA for Indo-US nuclear deal. The UPA won the confidence vote with 275 votes to the opposition's 256, with a record thin 19-vote victory after 10 MPs abstained. During the fag end of his tenure as prime minister, when he was seen defending his government's record and the Congress' positions on controversial issues such as the 2G scam, Dr Singh spoke up and declared he was not weak. "I honestly hope history would be kinder to me than the contemporary media, or for that matter, the opposition parties in Parliament," he had said famously in January 2004. More than two decades later, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge reacted to Dr Singh's death with a poignant post on X: "Undoubtedly, history shall judge you kindly, Dr. Manmohan Singh ji!" The decade with Singh at the helm of affairs is widely believed to be an era unprecedented growth and prosperity. His journey to the acme of India's governance and political power is unique in the annals of India's politics. Dr Singh, always seen in a powder blue turban, was appointed India's finance minister in 1991 in the Narasimha Rao government. His role in ushering in a comprehensive policy of economic reforms is now recognised worldwide. In January 1991, India struggled to finance its essential imports, especially of oil and fertilisers, and to repay official debt. In July 1991, the RBI pledged 46.91 tonnes of gold with the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan to raise $400 million. Manmohan Singh soon steered the economy well and was quick to repurchase it months later. Vohra, who at the time served successively as defence and home secretary said he had to be at then finance minister Singh's door daily, "literally begging for some financial relief for the department I was serving". Born to Gurmukh Singh and Amrit Kaur on September 26, 1932, in village Gah in the Punjab province of undivided India (now Pakistan), Singh completed his matriculation examinations from the Punjab University in 1948. His academic career took him from Punjab to the University of Cambridge, UK, where he earned a First Class Honours degree in Economics in 1957. Singh followed this with a D.Phil in Economics from Nuffield College at Oxford University in 1962. He started his career by teaching in the faculty of Punjab University and the prestigious Delhi School of Economics. He also had a brief stint at the UNCTAD Secretariat and later became secretary general of the South Commission in Geneva between 1987 and 1990. In 1971, Singh joined the government of India as economic advisor in the Commerce ministry. This was soon followed by his appointment as chief economic advisor in the Ministry of Finance in 1972. Among the many governmental positions that he occupied were secretary in the Finance ministry, deputy chairperson of the Planning Commission, governor of the Reserve Bank of India, advisor of the prime minister, and chairperson of the University Grants Commission. His political career started as a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1991, where he was leader of the opposition between 1998 and 2004. Interestingly, the two time prime minister had a 33-year parliamentary innings but only as a Rajya Sabha member. He never contested a Lok Sabha election. Singh was often accused by the BJP of running a government that was marred by corruption. The party called him "MaunMohan Singh" alleging that he did not speak out against corrupt leaders in his cabinet. Notwithstanding the many epithets, Singh always maintained his dignity. He is survived by his wife Gursharan Kaur and has three daughters. It is a measure of Singh's understated personality that the country knew little of his family who also went about their lives as low key as they could during his 10 years as prime minister. Singh was quiet but also firm. Sources close to him said Singh had almost made up his mind to quit as prime minister in September 2013 after Rahul Gandhi dubbed the Union Cabinet's decision to bring an ordinance to allow convicted politicians to contest elections "complete nonsense" and recommended it be torn. Singh was abroad at the time. Singh was highly critical of demonetisation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016 and termed it "organised loot and legalised plunder". In reply to the no-confidence motion against his government in 2008, Singh said almost prophetically, "The greatness of democracy is that we are all birds of passage! We are here today, gone tomorrow! But in the brief time that the people of India entrust us with this responsibility, it is our duty to be honest and sincere in the discharge of these responsibilities." (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.) Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the worldWEST 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. Charles Kushner arrives July 20, 2022, for the funeral of Ivana Trump in New York. 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 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. 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) Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.

ANN ARBOR, Michigan (AP) — Michigan defensive lineman Kenneth Grant is skipping his final college season to enter the NFL draft. Grant, a key part of the Wolverines' 2023 national championship team, announced his decision Thursday on X, formerly known as Twitter. Fellow Michigan interior lineman Mason Graham had already declared for the draft. Both are projected as likely first-round picks. The 6-foot-3, 339-pound Grant was a third-team Associated Press All-American. He had 32 tackles, 6 1/2 tackles for loss and a pair of fumble recoveries. Grant helped Michigan upset Ohio State in the Big Ten regular-season finale, making four tackles. Cornerback Will Johnson and tight end Colston Loveland have also declared for the draft leading up to Michigan's game against No. 11 Alabama in the ReliaQuest Bowl. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

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IRVINE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / December 12, 2024 / Accurate Background, the world's largest independent provider of compliant background checks and monitoring solutions, announced it has strengthened its global leadership team with the appointment of Mark Thompson, Managing Director, Australia and Asia Pacific region (APAC). In support of Accurate's vision to make every hire the start of a success story, Mark will lead Accurate's growth teams in the region. Mark's experience in building high-performance teams, driving enterprise sales and client retention, and leveraging data-driven strategies aligns with Accurate's goals to rapidly expand in the APAC region. Reporting to Dan Shoemaker, Chief Revenue Officer, Mark will spearhead the development and execution of sales strategies to drive market share, client growth, and regional innovation. "I am thrilled to welcome Mark to the Accurate team and am confident he will make an immediate impact on our growth in the region," said Dan Shoemaker. "Mark brings extensive experience not only growing businesses but also delivering a high standard of customer experience that is a hallmark of Accurate throughout the world." Mark joins Accurate with over two decades of strategic sales and marketing leadership in B2B markets. With a proven track record in revenue growth, team leadership, and market expansion, Mark successfully led sales and marketing initiatives across industries including background screening, financial services, and data solutions. "I'm honored to join Accurate Background at such an exciting time in the region. Employment screening plays a vital role in building trust and ensuring workplace integrity, and I look forward to collaborating with our talented team to deliver exceptional service and innovative solutions to our clients," said Mark Thompson. "With Accurate's strong global foundation, I believe we are uniquely positioned to expand our impact and support government and businesses across the region in navigating an evolving employment landscape." Accurate's recent launch of Accel, a next-generation platform that is 100% Australia-hosted, marks a significant milestone in our commitment to providing market-leading capabilities for local organizations. About Accurate Background Our vision is to make every hire the start of a success story. As a trusted provider of employment background screening and workforce monitoring services, Accurate Background gives companies of all sizes the confidence to make smarter, unbiased hiring decisions at the speed of demand. Experience a new standard of support with a dedicated team, comprehensive technology and insight, and the most extensive coverage and search options to advance your business while keeping your brand and people safe. To learn more, visit accurate.com . Media Contact Media@Accurate.com SOURCE: Accurate Background LLC View the original on accesswire.comNone

TORONTO — Everything changed for Kia Nurse when she tore her anterior cruciate ligament in the 2021 WNBA playoffs. The basketball star from Hamilton was locked in as starter for a team in the semifinals. She’d been selected as an all-star just two years prior. But in one awkward fall three years ago, she was plunged into the depths of surgery and rehab. Nurse would miss the entire 2022 season due to the injury. She signed with the Seattle Storm for the 2023 campaign before a trade landed her with the Los Angeles Sparks last season. Meanwhile, Nurse represented Canada at the Paris Olympics in August, but she struggled as the team failed to reach the knockout round for the second straight time. The common thread throughout Nurse’s recent basketball journey? She just hasn’t quite felt like herself. “I still love basketball with all of my heart, and it's my favourite thing that I get to do. And I'm so privileged to be able to say that I get to do it as a job,” Nurse said. "But the last two years for me have been just really rocky, up and down.” Nurse, 28, will become a WNBA free agent as of Feb. 1. For now, she’s continuing her Raptors broadcast work with TSN and, on Monday, announced a new playing gig. In February, Nurse will join fellow WNBAers Alysha Clark and Sydney Colson among 37 others for Athletes Unlimited’s third basketball season in Nashville. Athletes Unlimited was founded as a women’s professional softball league in 2020 before expanding to basketball, volleyball and lacrosse. Its 24-game hoops campaign switches teams weekly and concludes by crowning a season-long individual champion. Players earn points through a fantasy-style system that rewards team successes like wins as well as individual accomplishments from made three-pointers to steals to drawn fouls. Outside of the unique scoring system, the game looks like traditional basketball — a major appeal to Nurse as she attempts to tap back into her roots. “I am not proud of my performance at the Olympics and not necessarily proud of how I’ve been playing over the last two years. I just have goals of finding my true love of the game and kind of coming back and being stronger physically, being more fit and just ultimately having a good year,” Nurse said. When Nurse’s career began in 2018, many WNBA players would ply their trade overseas during the off-season as a way of staying in shape and making additional money. But over the past half-decade — and perhaps expedited by Brittney Griner’s 2022 detainment in Russia — more options have emerged stateside, including Athletes Unlimited. “The (WNBA) now has a lot of the teams that have practice facilities, so they have full-time player development, practice-facility access and that's a big piece as well. But now ultimately we have these leagues at home like AU,” Nurse said. Athletes Unlimited will not be the only professional women’s basketball operation in North America this winter. A three-on-three league called Unrivaled, founded by WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, will tip off in January in Miami. Nurse said Unrivaled was an option for her, but she preferred Athletes Unlimited. “I wanted a place where I'm happy with basketball again, really happy with myself and how I'm playing and a having a little more confidence boost from what I've had over these last two years. And I feel like AU, for me, that five-on-five setting was a big piece of it,” Nurse said. The timing of the Athletes Unlimited schedule — deep enough into the WNBA off-season but with enough leeway to fine tune things before the 2025 campaign begins — also stood out to Nurse. Ahead of AU, Nurse said she moved her training from Toronto to Hamilton, where she could stay closer to home and avoid the long highway drives. And following two seasons in which Nurse’s WNBA teams suffered a combined 61 losses, she’s hoping to find a landing spot in free agency with a winning franchise. “I want to ... have an opportunity make a deep playoff run, be kind of like an X-Factor player, somebody who can go out there, be a three-and-D player, can help make winning plays,” she said. Nurse said she and fellow WNBA veteran Bridget Carleton have discussed what went wrong in Paris and how it can be fixed ahead of Los Angeles 2028. Management changes have already occurred with the retirement of GM Denise Dignard and a mutual parting with head coach Victor Lapena. The national team recently met up in Toronto for an informal training camp where Nurse and Carleton aimed to lay the groundwork for the culture they hope to create over the next four years. “Getting back to the basics and just enjoying playing for Canada Basketball, but also creating a really strong, bonded culture where everybody does what they need to do for our team to win," she said. "We understand our roles (and) we understand the commitment piece of it because now there's so much going on and people are all over the place." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 22, 2024. Myles Dichter, The Canadian Press