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Police case lodged against woman bullying Kashmiri shawl sellers in HimachalCanadian Prime Minister Trudeau flies to Florida to meet with Trump after tariffs threat WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has flown to Florida to have dinner with President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club after Trump threatened to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian products. Joining Trump and Trudeau at dinner were Trump's picks for commerce secretary, interior secretary and national security adviser, and the three men's wives. From the Canadian side, the dinner guests included Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, whose responsibilities include border security. Trump’s transition did not respond to questions about what they had discussed or whether the conversation alleviated Trump’s concerns about the border. A smiling Trudeau declined comment upon returning to his West Palm Beach hotel late Friday. Emboldened 'manosphere' accelerates threats and demeaning language toward women after US election CHICAGO (AP) — An emboldened fringe of right-wing “manosphere” influencers has seized on Donald Trump’s presidential win to justify and amplify misogynistic derision and threats online. Many have appropriated a 1960s abortion rights rallying cry, declaring “Your body, my choice,” and have been using it publicly on college campuses and even in public schools. While none of the current online rhetoric is being amplified by Trump, experts say many young men see the former president’s return to the White House as vindication of their views on women. For many women, the words represent a worrying harbinger of what might lie ahead as some men perceive the election results as a rebuke of reproductive rights and women’s rights. Syrian insurgents are inside Aleppo in a major setback for Assad as government forces regroup BEIRUT (AP) — Thousands of Syrian insurgents have fanned out inside Syria's largest city Aleppo a day after storming it with little resistance from government troops. Syria's army said troops have redeployed to prepare for a counteroffensive. Witnesses said insurgents were seen Saturday at landmarks in Aleppo for the first time since 2016, when they were expelled by government forces backed by Russia and Iran. The surprise offensive is a major embarrassment for Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has regained total control of the city eight years ago. Israeli strike in Gaza allegedly kills workers with World Central Kitchen charity DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli airstrike on a car in Gaza has killed five people, according to a senior Palestinian health official. An aid worker says three of the people killed were employees of the charity World Central Kitchen. The charity's aid delivery efforts in Gaza were temporarily suspended earlier this year after an Israeli strike killed seven of its workers. Israel's military says it struck a wanted militant who had been involved in the Hamas attack that sparked the war. In a later statement, it said that the alleged attacker had worked with WCK and it asked “senior officials from the international community and the WCK administration to clarify” how that had come about. Lebanese fisherman hope ceasefire with Israel means normal life returning TYRE, Lebanon (AP) — The ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is bringing hope for normality back to many in southern Lebanon. That includes fishermen who’ve long launched their single-engine wooden boats into the Mediterranean at dawn. For months, Israel imposed a siege that kept hundreds of fishermen at this ancient Phoenician port ashore. That upended their lives and dealt the industry a major blow. The port siege also cut people off from key ingredients for traditional Lebanese dishes. As war devastated their country, the loss of fish damaged a deep association with home. Now, the possibility of renewed fishing is helping fuel hope. How Brazilian police say Bolsonaro plotted a coup to stay in office SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s Federal Police have formally accused former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro and 36 others of plotting a coup to keep him in office. The plot was allegedly comprised of several components and substantiated by evidence and testimony in the agency's 884-page report. The pieces of the puzzle include laying the groundwork by systematically sowing distrust of the electoral system among the populace. It also includes drafting a decree to give the plot a veneer of legal basis and pressuring top military brass to go along with the plan. Bolsonaro and his main allies have denied any wrongdoing or involvement and accuse authorities of political persecution. More than 100 arrested as Georgian police clash with protesters over suspension of EU talks TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — More than 100 demonstrators were arrested overnight in Georgia as protesters clashed with police following the government’s decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union, the country’s Interior Ministry said. Friday marked the second straight night of protests after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze of the country’s ruling Georgian Dream party announced the suspension the previous day. The Associated Press saw protesters in Tbilisi being chased and beaten by police as demonstrators rallied in front of the country's parliament building. The violence follows Georgian Dream’s disputed victory in the Oct. 26 election, which was widely seen as a referendum on the country’s aspirations to join the European Union. Romania's parliamentary vote risks being overshadowed by presidential race chaos BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romanians are preparing to go to the polls in a parliamentary vote that will determine a new government and prime minister to lead the European Union and NATO member country. However, Sunday's vote is sandwiched between a two-round presidential race and is overshadowed by controversies and chaos following the outcome of the first vote. While the president has significant decision-making powers in areas such as national security and foreign policy, the prime minister is the head of the nation’s government. Sunday’s vote will determine the formation of the country’s 466-seat legislature. North Korea's Kim vows steadfast support for Russia’s war in Ukraine SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country will “invariably support” Russia’s war in Ukraine as he met Russia's visiting defense chief. A Russia military delegation led by Defense Minister Andrei Belousov arrived in North Korea on Friday as international concerns about the two countries’ expanding cooperation deepened after North Korea sent thousands of troops to Russia. During a Friday meeting, Kim and Belousov reached “a satisfactory consensus” on issues on how to further boost strategic partnership and defend each country’s sovereignty and security interests, state media said. Great Lakes, Plains and Midwest forecast to be hit with snow and dangerous cold into next week BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The first big snow of the season has the potential to bury towns in New York along lakes Erie and Ontario during a hectic holiday travel and shopping weekend. Forecasters says winter storm conditions could persist into next week and cause hazards in the Great Lakes, Plains and Midwest regions. Forecasters predict 4 to 6 feet of blowing and drifting snow could fall in Watertown and other areas east of Lake Ontario through Monday. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has declared a disaster emergency in affected areas.

Soccer-Milan did well in breaking through Empoli’s aggressive defence, says FonsecaVolodymyr Zelensky ’s suggestion that Ukraine could temporarily cede territory to Russia in exchange for joining Nato would mark a “major concession” to Vladimir Putin , the UK’s former ambassador to Russia has said. In a significant development on the route to a potential ceasefire after 33 months of conflict, the Ukrainian president indicated for the first time that Kyiv could accept Russian control over some of its territory in order to end the “hot phase of the war”. With Moscow appearing to ramp up its push for territory in Ukraine’s east ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January, Mr Zelensky told Sky News that peace could be struck if territory he controls is taken “under the Nato umbrella”, allowing him to negotiate the return of the rest later “in a diplomatic way”. Praising Mr Zelensky as “playing a very sophisticated game”, Sir Tony Brenton – who served as ambassador to Russia between 2004 and 2008 – told the broadcaster: “He knows that Trump is about to descend on him and on Russia. He is already arranging to have something to offer Trump. “What he is suggesting in many ways is bringing us much closer to the obvious target area which is a freeze in the fighting where the lines actually currently are and then an eventual negotiation about who retains which bit of territory, and then security guarantees for Ukraine in the course of that ceasefire.” Warning that Nato membership for Ukraine is “frankly going to be very, very difficult”, he said that Mr Zelensky’s statement that he is prepared to see a ceasefire and then negotiate the return of Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine over the longer term would be viewed by Mr Putin as a concession. “That is actually quite a major concession, because the longer term could be a very long time indeed,” he said, adding: “[Putin] will say to himself, ‘ah, they are feeling weak, I can press for more’. That is a danger if we go into this.” The Russian president is currently “keeping his cards very close to his chest” in terms of his views on how to end the conflict, which he believes he is winning, said Sir Tony. Moscow’s troops have been making steady gains in Ukraine’s east – but at a cost of incurring potentially record casualties . But if such a deal were to be struck, both Kyiv and its allies would be able to present it as a victory in securing “a free democratic Ukraine linked to the West”, Sir Tony said. In further remarks to Sky News, the UK’s former representative to Nato, Sir Adam Thomson, said that Mr Zelensky was merely suggesting “agreement to disagree over who owns a chunk of Ukraine currently owned by Russia”, with Moscow being given merely “a de facto control that could change at some future stage through diplomacy”. Sir Adam said: “Putin would have seized some territory, he would have done it at extraordinary cost – billions and billions of dollars, two new Nato members already, a thousand or more Russian soldiers being killed or wounded every day at the moment. “It’s in that sense a compromise. He’s got some territory under his control, it’s not recognised, and it’s an outcome that means he’s lost the rest of Ukraine and alienated Europe for a generation.” Throughout the conflict, Mr Zelensky has never said he would cede any occupied Ukrainian territory to Russia, including Crimea, which Russia occupied in February 2014. In September 2022, Russia unilaterally declared its annexation of areas in and around the Ukrainian oblasts of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia despite not controlling all of those territories. Yet war analysts say Russia has been gaining territory in recent weeks on Ukraine’s eastern front at the fastest pace since the early days of the war, as both Moscow and Kyiv look ahead to Mr Trump’s return to the White House in January. The US president-elect has claimed he could end the war “in a day”. Historian Dr Mark Galeotti, author of Forged in War: A Military History of Russia , said Mr Zelensky’s comments in part likely reflect “the unfolding political and military realities, as the Russians continue to advance and Donald Trump's shadow looms over everything”. “But I think it may also be Zelensky's attempt to, in effect, call the West's bluff,” Dr Galeotti told The Independent . “Actually getting all Nato’s 32 members to agree to a quick membership would be very difficult, but in effect he is asking, ‘if not the Article 5 security guarantee, what else could be offered?’” Mr Zelensky’s ex-foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said earlier this week that it was inconceivable that he could sign a deal surrendering territory, telling Politico : “The Russians keep the Donbas, they keep Crimea, no Nato membership. Can Zelensky sign? He cannot because of the Constitution. And because it will be the end of Zelensky politically.” Last month, Mr Zelensky unveiled his “victory plan” , which calls for Ukraine’s unconditional accession to Nato, a refusal to trade Ukraine’s territories currently occupied by Russian forces, and the continuation of the Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.

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After delay, Trump signs agreement with Biden White House to begin formal transition handoff

Stocks closed higher on Wall Street in a shortened trading day ahead of the Christmas holiday, led by gains in Big Tech stocks. Chip company Broadcom rose 3.2%, while semiconductor giant Nvidia, whose enormous valuation gives it an outsize influence on indexes, rose 0.4%. Super Micro Computer jumped 6%. Tesla climbed 7.4%, one of the biggest gains among S&P 500 stocks. Amazon.com rose 1.8%. US Steel rose 1.9% a day after an influential government panel failed to reach consensus on the possible national security risks of the nearly $15 billion proposed sale to Nippon Steel of Japan. NeueHealth surged 90.9% after the health care company agreed to be taken private in a deal valued at roughly $1.3 billion. Tuesday's rally comes as the stock market enters what's historically been a very cheerful season. The last five trading days of each year, plus the first two in the new year, have brought an average gain of 1.3% since 1950. The so-called "Santa rally" also correlates closely with positive returns in January and the upcoming year. So far this month, the US stock market has lost some of its gains since President-elect Trump's election win, which raised hopes for faster economic growth and more lax regulations that would boost corporate profits. Worries have risen that Trump's preference for tariffs and other policies could lead to higher inflation, a bigger US government debt, and difficulties for global trade, the reports. Even so, the stock market remains on pace to deliver strong returns for 2024. The benchmark S&P 500 is up about 26% so far this year and remains within roughly 1.3% of the all-time high it set earlier this month—its latest of 57 record highs this year.By CHRIS MEGERIAN and COLLEEN LONG WASHINGTON (AP) — In the two weeks since Donald Trump won the presidency, he’s tried to demonstrate his dominance by naming loyalists for top administration positions, even though many lack expertise and some face sexual misconduct accusations. It often seems like he’s daring Congress to oppose his decisions. But on Thursday, Trump’s attempt to act with impunity showed a crack as Matt Gaetz , his choice for attorney general, withdrew from consideration. Trump had named Gaetz, a Florida congressman, to be the country’s top law enforcement official even though he was widely disliked by his colleagues, has little legal experience and was accused of having sex with an underage girl, an allegation he denied. After being plagued by investigations during his first presidency, Trump wanted a devoted ally in charge of the Justice Department during his second. However, it was never obvious that Gaetz could win enough support from lawmakers to get confirmed as attorney general. Trump chose for a replacement Pam Bondi, a former Florida attorney general who defended him during his first impeachment trial and supported his false claims of voter fraud. Now the question is whether Gaetz was uniquely unpalatable, or if Trump’s other picks might exceed his party’s willingness to overlook concerns that would have sunk nominees in a prior political era. The next test will likely be Pete Hegseth, who Trump wants to lead the Pentagon despite an allegation of sexual assault that he’s denied. So far, Republicans are rallying around Hegseth , an Army veteran and former Fox News host. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the controversy over Gaetz would have little bearing on Trump’s other choices. He said they would be considered “one at a time.” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, suggested otherwise, claiming “the dominoes are falling.” “The drip drip of evidence and truth is going to eventually doom some others,” he said. Trump’s election victory was a sign that there may not be many red lines left in American politics. He won the presidential race despite authoritarian, racist and misogynist rhetoric, not to mention years of lies about election fraud and his role in sparking the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. He was also criminally convicted of falsifying business records to pay hush money, and he was found liable for sexual abuse in a civil case. Empowered by voters who looked past his misconduct and saw him as a powerful agent of change, Trump has shown no deference to Washington norms while working to fill his second administration . The transition team hasn’t pursued federal background checks for Trump’s personnel choices. While some of his selections have extensive experience in the areas they’ve been chosen to lead, others are personal friends and Fox News personalities who have impressed and flattered Trump over the years. Several have faced allegations involving sexual misconduct . Related Articles Hegseth is facing the most scrutiny after Gaetz. Once Trump announced Hegseth as his nominee for Pentagon chief, allegations emerged that he sexually assaulted a woman in California in 2017. The woman said he took her phone, blocked the door to the hotel room and refused to let her leave, according to a police report made public this week. Hegseth told police at the time that the encounter had been consensual and denied any wrongdoing, the report said. However, he paid the woman a confidential settlement in 2023. Hegseth’s lawyer said the payment was made to head off the threat of a baseless lawsuit. Trump’s choice for secretary of health and human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has faced allegations of misconduct too. A woman who babysat for him and his second wife told Vanity Fair magazine that Kennedy groped her in the late 1990s, when she was 23. Kennedy did not deny the allegation and texted an apology to the woman after the article was published. That isn’t the only hurdle for Kennedy; he’s spent years spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories about vaccines, raising fears about making him a top health official in the new administration. Linda McMahon, chosen by Trump to be education secretary, is fighting a lawsuit connected to her former company, World Wrestling Entertainment. She’s accused of knowingly enabling sexual exploitation of children by an employee as early as the 1980s, and she denies the allegations. Tulsi Gabbard is another person who could face a difficult confirmation battle, but for very different reasons. The former Democratic representative from Hawaii has been a vocal Trump ally, and he chose her to be national intelligence director. But there’s grave concern by lawmakers and national security officials over Gabbard’s history of echoing Russian propaganda. Critics said she would endanger relationships with U.S. allies. Gaetz was investigated by federal law enforcement for sex trafficking, but the case was closed without charges and Republicans have blocked the release of a related report from the House Ethics Committee. However, some allegations leaked out, including that Gaetz paid women for sex. One of the women testified to the committee that she saw Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old girl, according to a lawyer for the woman. As Gaetz met with senators this week, it became clear that he would face stubborn resistance from lawmakers who were concerned about his behavior and believed he was unqualified to run the Justice Department. “While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction,” Gaetz wrote on social media when announcing his withdrawal. Sen. Mike Braun, an Indiana Republican, said he believed there were four to six members of the caucus who would have voted against Gaetz, likely dooming his nomination, and “the math got too hard.” He said some of the issues and allegations around Gaetz were “maybe beyond the pale.” “I think there were just too many things, it was like a leaky dike, and you know, it broke,” Braun said. Trump thanked Gaetz in a post on Truth Social, his social media website, without addressing the substance of the allegations against him. “He was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the Administration, for which he has much respect,” Trump wrote. Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Stephen Groves and Lisa Macaro contributed from Washington. Jill Colvin in New York and Adriana Gomez Licon in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, also contributed.

An American map showing the rapid increase in average winter temperatures across the United States published last week showed us by doing the numbers what we gardeners know in our bones: It’s getting toastier out there. Not always toasty. There is still cold. Just a lot toastier than before. Thirty-five years ago, when I bought my Pasadena garden (and a little cottage sitting on its edge), there were three or four regular overnight frosts, morning ice glistening on the rose bushes and the irises, every winter, and seven or eight in the different microclimate just down the hill, the floor of the Arroyo Seco canyon where the Rose Bowl is. It’s been well over a decade since we have seen any frost at all. The map published by Climate Central shows that our coastal zone of Southern California is an area that has seen average winter temps rise between 2 and 3 degrees Fahrenheit since 1970. That’s not nearly as major a change as back East, where all of New England is in a zone where the winter lows are on average 5 degrees higher than 54 years ago. This is not an issue of opinion. It doesn’t matter to the real world if a politician such as Donald Trump finds it convenient to pretend that “climate change is a hoax.” This winter numbers are just a small piece of the data pie showing this year to be the hottest ever. “The global mean surface air temperature from January to September 2024 was 1.54°C above the pre-industrial average. This is the first time the world has exceeded 1.5°C warming,” the World Meteorological Organization reports. King Canute can command the tides to recede all he likes, but the rising tide pays no attention to his royal wishes. But the perhaps apocryphal story of the actual ancient English king, crowned in 1027, as told by his chronicler, Henry of Huntingdon, was meant to tell the opposite of how the story is now understood. After the tide kept coming up and dampened his shoes despite the command, Canute stepped back and declared, “Let all men know how empty and worthless is the power of kings, for there is none worthy of the name, but He whom heaven, earth, and sea obey by eternal laws.” A king, or a president, can have no effect on global warming and other examples of climate change by commanding the atmosphere and the oceans to stop heating up. The laws of chemistry, and of physics, are eternal laws. But the president can, out of a desire to seem populist, or whatever reality-denying motive is at play here, once again withdraw our nation from The Paris Agreement, negotiated by 196 countries in 2015 “to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.” And surely once in office Trump will do just that. It’s a national embarrassment, yet another one; it’s anti-human, as well as anti-Earth. For those of us who favor the Earth over, say, Mars, and who don’t want to leave our great-grandchildren an inhospitable home planet, it’s a disgusting political maneuver. But that doesn’t mean that smart, everyday Americans will give up on our own fight against climate change, absurd as it is that the president’s likely action will see us join only a tiny group of countries, including Libya, Iran and Yemen, in the denialism. We do contribute 13% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and American scientists, engineers and politicians of goodwill will continue to work to bring that number down, waiting out the Trump administration’s colossal error. As Max Boykoff, professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado says, yes, there will be “a loss of trust and a loss of opportunity for the U.S. to be in a position of leadership in a clean energy economy, and more generally on other global issues as well.” But: “The renewable energy sector has grown to a point where it actually makes great financial sense to continue to benefit from these market trends. With the way the economy has been moving, the Trump administration’s withdrawal ... may carry more symbolic significance than actual functional significance.” Keep up the good fight, even if this president is unlikely to attain the wisdom of the old king. Larry Wilson is on the Southern California News Group editorial board. lwilson@scng.com.Sree Narayana Guru dedicated his life to humanity: Pope FrancisMinister of Local Government and Public Works, and Zanu-PF Mashonaland East chairperson, Daniel Garwe, has reiterated the party's commitment to extending President Emmerson Mnangagwa's term until 2030, declaring that the "ED 2030" slogan remains very much alive. Garwe made the comments last Friday during the commissioning and handover of 38 motorbikes to Chikomba Rural District councillors. The motorbikes, procured at a cost of US$53,000 from Manika Bikes, are intended to improve mobility for the councillors and enhance service delivery to communities in the district. In his address, Garwe, a staunch supporter of Mnangagwa, stated that Zanu-PF had already made clear its intention to ensure the President's tenure extends beyond the current term. He emphasized that the party's position on the matter was unequivocal, following the resolution passed in Mashonaland East province. "As Mashonaland East province, we carried a resolution to let the President continue until 2030. The resolution sailed through without objections and was adopted at the party's conference in Bulawayo," Garwe declared. Garwe further highlighted that the concept of Mnangagwa serving until 2030 is not only supported within Zanu-PF but is also reflected in the party's public messaging. "The idea that Mnangagwa will still be in office until 2030 is still alive and kicking," Garwe added. "Do the 'ED 2030' slogan freely because the plan for President Mnangagwa to continue beyond 2030 is still alive. The Constitution is made by the people." The remarks come at a time when Zanu-PF's internal discussions and national political dynamics are focused on the issue of presidential term limits, with many party members advocating for the extension of Mnangagwa's leadership. Although the Constitution of Zimbabwe currently limits the presidential term to two terms, Garwe's comments indicate that the party remains steadfast in its ambitions for a prolonged tenure for Mnangagwa. The motorbikes handover, which aims to boost the effectiveness of rural governance, was a gesture of goodwill by the government, with Garwe tying the distribution to the broader party agenda. He stressed that Zanu-PF would continue working towards a prosperous Zimbabwe, asserting that this goal is closely tied to the leadership of Mnangagwa. Garwe's statement on the "ED 2030" slogan comes as Zimbabwe's political landscape grapples with debates over the future of leadership and constitutional reforms, further solidifying Zanu-PF's vision for extending Mnangagwa's presidency. As the country moves forward, it remains to be seen how these discussions will unfold, especially with the possibility of constitutional amendments to accommodate the party's wishes.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — J.K. Dobbins will miss at least the next four games after the Los Angeles Chargers placed the running back on injured reserve Saturday. The team also placed safety Alohi Gilman on injured reserve and signed safety Tony Jefferson to the active roster. Dobbins sprained the MCL in his left knee late in the first half of the Chargers’ 30-23 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Monday. Dobbins is fourth in the AFC in rushing with 766 yards and averages 4.8 yards per carry, third highest among AFC running backs with at least 100 carries. He has been considered among the candidates for AP Comeback Player of the Year after suffering a torn Achilles tendon in last season’s opener. Gus Edwards will be counted on to be the lead back in Dobbins' absence. Edwards missed four games during the middle of the season because of an ankle injury and has 25 carries for 93 yards in three games since returning to the lineup. The Chargers are 7-4 and hold the sixth seed in the AFC going into Sunday's game at NFC South leader Atlanta (6-5). Los Angeles is at Kansas City (10-1) in a prime-time game on Dec. 8, hosts Tampa Bay (5-6) on Dec. 15 and Denver (7-5) on Dec. 19. Gilman suffered a hamstring injury in the loss to the Ravens. He has 47 tackles, which is fifth on the team, along with one sack. Los Angeles also elevated cornerback Dicaprio Bootle and linebacker Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste from the practice squad for Sunday’s game. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

By ZEKE MILLER, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday reached a required agreement with President Joe Biden’s White House to allow his transition staff to coordinate with the existing federal workforce before taking office on Jan. 20. The congressionally mandated agreement allows transition aides to work with federal agencies and access non-public information and gives a green light to government workers to talk to the transition team. But Trump has declined to sign a separate agreement with the General Services Administration that would have given his team access to secure government offices and email accounts, in part because it would require that the president-elect limit contributions to $5,000 and reveal who is donating to his transition effort. The White House agreement was supposed to have been signed by Oct. 1, according to the Presidential Transition Act, and the Biden White House had issued both public and private appeals for Trump’s team to sign on. The agreement is a critical step in ensuring an orderly transfer of power at noon on Inauguration Day, and lays the groundwork for the White House and government agencies to begin to share details on ongoing programs, operations and threats. It limits the risk that the Trump team could find itself taking control of the massive federal government without briefings and documents from the outgoing administration. As part of the agreement with the White House, Trump’s team will have to publicly disclose its ethics plan for the transition operation and make a commitment to uphold it, the White House said. Transition aides must sign statements that they have no financial positions that could pose a conflict of interest before they receive access to non-public federal information. Biden himself raised the agreement with Trump when they met in the Oval Office on Nov. 13, according to the White House, and Trump indicated that his team was working to get it signed. Trump chief of staff-designate Susie Wiles met with Biden’s chief of staff Jeff Zients at the White House on Nov. 19 and other senior officials in part to discuss remaining holdups, while lawyers for the two sides have spoken more than a half-dozen times in recent days to finalize the agreement. “Like President Biden said to the American people from the Rose Garden and directly to President-elect Trump, he is committed to an orderly transition,” said White House spokesperson Saloni Sharma. “President-elect Trump and his team will be in seat on January 20 at 12 pm – and they will immediately be responsible for a range of domestic and global challenges, foreseen and unforeseen. A smooth transition is critical to the safety and security of the American people who are counting on their leaders to be responsible and prepared.” Without the signed agreement, Biden administration officials were restricted in what they could share with the incoming team. Trump national security adviser-designate Rep. Mike Waltz met recently with Biden national security adviser Jake Sullivan, but the outgoing team was limited in what it could discuss. “We are doing everything that we can to effect a professional and an orderly transition,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday. “And we continue to urge the incoming team to take the steps that are necessary to be able to facilitate that on their end as well.” “This engagement allows our intended Cabinet nominees to begin critical preparations, including the deployment of landing teams to every department and agency, and complete the orderly transition of power,” said Wiles in a statement. The Trump transition team says it would disclose its donors to the public and would not take foreign donations. A separate agreement with the Department of Justice to coordinate background checks for vetting and security clearances is still being actively worked on and could be signed quickly now that the White House agreement is signed. The agency has teams of investigators standing by to process clearances for Trump aides and advisers once that document is signed. That would clear the way for transition aides and future administration appointees and nominees to begin accessing classified information before Trump takes office. Some Trump aides may hold active clearances from his first term in office or other government roles, but others will need new clearances to access classified data. Trump’s team on Friday formally told the GSA that they would not utilize the government office space blocks from the White House reserved for their use, or government email accounts, phones and computers during the transition. The White House said it does not agree with Trump’s decision to forgo support from the GSA, but is working on alternate ways to get Trump appointees the information they need without jeopardizing national security. Federal agencies are receiving guidance on Tuesday on how to share sensitive information with the Trump team without jeopardizing national security or non-public information. For instance, agencies may require in-person meetings and document reviews since the Trump team has declined to shift to using secure phones and computers. For unclassified information, agencies may ask Trump transition staff to attest that they are taking basic safeguards, like using two-factor authentication on their accounts. “The signing of this agreement is good news, and a positive step toward an effective transfer of power,” said Max Stier, the president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service. “This agreement unlocks direct access to information from federal agencies, which is vital for the incoming administration to be ready to govern on Day One and critical to the transition’s success.”Trump adviser hounded by angry neighbors after he bought home on liberal island off Maine coast Leonard Leo credits with reshaping the conservative U.S. Supreme Court Leo moved to island off Maine where 70 percent voted against Trump By ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: 19:21 GMT, 27 November 2024 | Updated: 19:25 GMT, 27 November 2024 e-mail 4 View comments A former Trump adviser has been hounded by neighbors after moving to a liberal island off Maine . Leonard Leo, a conservative lawyer, has been credited with helping to reshape the U.S. courts and Republican politics. His efforts culminated in Trump's first term with the appointment of three conservative Supreme Court justices, and the overturning of the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion ruling. It turned him into a hero to conservatives and a villain to liberals. In 2020 Leo and his family moved to Mount Desert Island, a tranquil and sparsely populated island off the coast of Maine. It should have led to relatively anonymous life, but a refuge it has not turned out to be. The conservative's presence - despite significant charitable giving to local nonprofits and big spending locally - has generated fissures in a place where over 70 percent of residents voted against Trump in 2024. 'It feels very personal,' Caroline Pryor, 65, who has lived on the island for four decades, told the Associated Press. 'He comes to a small quiet community in the very northeast corner of the country and does this evil, far-reaching work that is going to affect so many millions of people, but he wants to just live this anonymous, quiet life.' The waterfront home of Leonard Leo on a quiet island in Maine. A liberal protester outside Leo's home Local resident's on the island have staged protests outside the conservative lawyer's home In October, just two weeks before November's election, Pryor and a dozen other people, mostly women, gathered outside Leo's estate to protest during the island's annual marathon. They came armed with a cartoonish life-sized puppet of Leo, a rainbow arch for runners to pass through, and blue and pink chalk with which they scribbled slogans including 'You Are Amazing, Leonard Leo Is Not' on the road. The protesters also rang cowbells as a boombox blasted Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift and Queen songs. 'We are making people on the island aware of who he is, and they might question taking his money,' Mary Jane Schepers, one of the protesters, said as she urged runners to flip off Leo's home. 'They are taking dirty money.' Leo, in response to a series of written questions from AP, said he 'had never really thought about' whether his move to the island would spur opposition. He said: 'While I disagree with them and with what some of them do and say, they are people created by God with dignity and worth and their presence has been an invitation to pray for them.' Leo, 59, and his family for decades had vacationed on Mount Desert Island, an idyllic isle known for its rocky beauty, windswept beaches and the famed Acadia National Park. It has a population of 10,000, In 2018, he purchased a $3.3 million, 8,000-square-foot Tudor-style estate in Northeast Harbor, one of Mount Desert Island's wealthiest towns. ederalist Society Executive Vice President Leonard Leo speaks to media at Trump Tower in New York, Nov. 16, 2016 Aerial view of Bar Harbor, Maine. Bar Harbor is a town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine and a popular tourist destination A protester holds water for runners during a protest in front of the home of Leonard Leo during the Mount Desert Island Marathon Some of the country's most influential and wealthy people - scions like John D. Rockefeller Jr., billionaires like Mitchell Rales and celebrities such as Martha Stewart - have sought privacy and anonymity on the island. Backlash swiftly followed Leo's arrival. The next year, protesters descended on his home as he hosted a fundraiser for Republican Sen. Susan Collins. He soon drew more protests when he was invited to introduce the then-president of The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, at a nearby college, leading the institution to rescind the invitation. The protests grew near the end of Trump's first term and spiked after the conservative-dominated Supreme Court in 2022 overturned the constitutional right to abortion. Activists' initial goal was to convince Leo to leave but when that failed, they turned their focus to informing residents about the man in the Tudor-style mansion. 'He felt he could come here, and it would be a place to get away' from the negative attention he gets for his politics, said Murray Ngoima, a regular protester. 'We have managed to draw attention to what he is doing. And that is a problem for him.' A sunset on Mount Desert Island in Maine Martha Stewart is one of the most famous people with a home on the island Bar Harbor, a town on Mount Desert Island, Maine The protests have compelled Leo to step up security at his estate. A protester was arrested in 2022, a confrontation with police that led to a lawsuit and $62,500 settlement over First Amendment violations. Amid the protests, Leo has stepped up his charitable giving, telling AP that the activists have 'strengthened our conviction to be as active as possible in helping various institutions on the island.' That has meant tens of thousands of dollars going to local nonprofits. He and his wife, Sally, gave over $50,000 in 2020 to the Island Housing Trust, an organization seeking to boost the amount of affordable housing on the island. The trust's annual giving report also listed Leo as a member of the group's leadership committee. Similar donations were made over the next three years. Messages are written in chalk during a protest in front of the home of Leonard Leo during the Mount Desert Island Marathon Caroline Pryor adjusts the head of a mannequin bearing an image of Leonard Leo during a protest A woman protests in front of the home of Leonard Leo Leo and his wife were also listed as donors to the Mount Desert Island Hospital and the Northeast Harbor Library. But some residents expressed suspicions about Leo's donations. Protesters urged the groups to return the money and compared the donations to the way Leo has influenced Republican politics. 'He is a wolf in sheep's clothing,' said Susan Covino Buell, an island resident. 'We can't just act like he is a regular person in our community.' Buell, 75, resigned her position on the housing nonprofit's campaign committee when Leo got involved with the charity. She had tried to convince the nonprofit to reject the money 'because I just felt it was so tainted,' Buell said. A group of anti-Leo activists also penned an open letter urging the hospital to return its donation because of Leo's role in ending federal abortion protections. Mariah Cormier, a hospital spokeswoman, said the institution accepts 'charitable donations that aid in strengthening the health and vibrancy of our community.' The Mount Desert Island Hospital, a beneficiary of Leonard Leo Leo dismissed the idea his donations were aimed at buying acceptance from a skeptical community, saying people 'can judge for themselves why I do what I do.' It isn't just Leo's philanthropy that is controversial on the island. His business at local establishments presents a quandary for shop owners and service workers. Many said they oppose Leo's political positions, but they need his money to sustain their enterprises, allowing shops and restaurants that once closed during frigid winters to stay open longer. Leo is such a sensitive topic that multiple shop owners declined to be interviewed by the Associated Press. Sheila Eddison protests in front of the home of Leonard Leo A boathouse under renovation on Mount Desert Island The devout Roman Catholic has also donated to the island's Catholic churches. Sacred Spaces Foundation, a nonprofit that counts Leo as its president and sole member, purchased St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Church in Northeast Harbor for $2.65 million in 2023 from the Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland. The church now holds one service a week during the summer, when Northeast Harbor is busiest. Leo is a also a regular at another parish, Holy Redeemer, a large stone sanctuary in Bar Harbor where his wife is the head of the music ministry. His presence has driven off some longtime congregants, residents said. Lindy Stretch, an 80-year-old who converted to Catholicism at Holy Redeemer over a decade ago, left the congregation because of what she said was Leo's growing influence in the church. ;I just couldn't stand to watch that,' Stretch said. Asked about people leaving the island church, Leo said he was 'thankful for every person who takes the time to come to Holy Redeemer and is striving to be in union with the church and Christ, regardless of what they do or believe in their private lives.' The Northeast Harbor Library, a beneficiary of Leonard Leo Not everyone is upset about Leo's move to Maine, with Republicans in the state coming to his defense. House Republican Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, who represents a district just off the island, excoriated the protesters and hailed Leo for 'sticking to his beliefs and donating to the causes he believes in.' Since 2020, Leo's network has funneled over $1 million to conservative causes in the state. But those donations have only deepened the opposition to Leo among his most frequent protesters. 'He is succeeding,' admitted Bo Greene, a 63-year-old protester. 'We are making him uncomfortable. But he is still here.' Politics Maine US Supreme Court Share or comment on this article: Trump adviser hounded by angry neighbors after he bought home on liberal island off Maine coast e-mail Add comment