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With skyrocketing gold prices , it’s no surprise that more people are investing in gold . However, despite the fact that gold can be a good long-term investment, it does have some limitations, particularly when it comes to liquidity. Finding a buyer at the best price can be time-consuming, and when you’re in a bind and need cash quickly, selling your gold may not be easy compared to selling other precious metal investments like shares of gold stocks or gold exchange-traded funds . However, there is a way to leverage your gold in order to quickly access cash: Use your gold as a collateral on a loan. Since your gold acts to secure the loan, you’re more likely to qualify for a loan — even if you have a less-than-perfect credit score . How do gold loans work? A gold loan is a secured loan, meaning you provide something valuable as collateral. If you stop making payments, the lender can keep your collateral and potentially sell it to recoup the amount you still owe. Here’s how a gold loan works: 1. You provide the gold Decide whether you want to offer gold coins, gold bars or gold jewelry as collateral. Depending on the type of gold you’re holding, you may need to have 10-karat, 14-karat, 18-karat, 22-karat or 24-karat gold in order to secure a loan. IRS-approved gold coins, such as American Eagle Gold Proof Coins, are 22-karat gold. Businesses that will accept these and other gold assets include online gold dealers or in-person coin collectors and pawn shops. 2. The lender offers an amount and terms Your gold will be assessed for its quality and value. If you have any certificates of authenticity, provide them to make the process easier. The lender will want to examine the gold to determine its purity, quality and weight. They will then offer you an amount and an interest rate based on those factors. 3. Leave the gold with the lender Your gold is collateral to secure the loan, so you must leave it with the lender. If you’re using a mail service, make sure it’s reputable. Normally, you need to send in your gold and they will store it at a secure facility until you’ve repaid the loan. Often, mail services include insurance. If they don’t, read our guide on how to insure physical gold . Local pawn shops and coin collectors will arrange to store the gold until you make your final payment. Typically, they will give you a receipt or some other paperwork stating what gold items the lender is holding in your name; make sure you keep those records! They may be necessary to redeem your gold later. You receive your gold back once you satisfy the loan amount with interest. Pros and cons of a gold loan Before you decide to use your gold as collateral, you should first understand the advantages and disadvantages of doing so to secure a loan. Pros Use something valuable for cash without selling it. When you get a gold loan, you still own the asset. You don’t have to sell your coins, bars or jewelry in order to get cash. You can get approved with bad credit. An unsecured personal loan requires that you have relatively good credit to avoid paying a very high interest rate. You might not even qualify for a personal loan with poor credit. However, with your gold as collateral, a lender might be willing to provide the cash amount knowing they can sell the gold if needed. Rates can be lower compared to unsecured loans. Depending on the lender and other factors, you might be able to get a lower interest rate than you would normally get with an unsecured loan. Receive a relatively large amount, depending on the value. Based on the value of your physical gold, you might be able to secure a relatively large amount. Some online lenders will provide as much as $25,000 or more if your gold is of high quality. Cons You could lose your gold collateral. As with any other secured loan, you run the risk of losing your asset if you fail to satisfy the loan’s terms. If you can’t make payments and you default on the loan, the lender can keep your gold. If you’re using jewelry with sentimental value, you might not want to risk the loss. Interest rates and fees can be high. Even though you might be able to get a gold loan with bad credit, it doesn’t stop you from paying potentially high interest rates and fees. The quality of the gold might influence your interest rate. You can save on interest and fees if your gold is of sufficiently high quality. Limited loan amounts. The value of your gold limits your loan. Additionally, you likely won’t receive 100% of the value of your loan. Depending on the situation, you might only get an advance of up to 75% of the gold’s value. Funding can take time. Because of the nature of using gold as collateral, receiving your funds can take up to a week or longer. You might get your cash faster at a local coin or pawn shop, but it might still take several days before you receive the money. Who should get a gold loan? Before getting a gold loan, make sure it’s the right move for you. It doesn’t make sense for everyone, so examine your situation before moving forward. Here are some factors to consider if you’re thinking about using gold as collateral for a loan: Term length Consider getting a gold loan only if you know it will be a short-term advance. Try to pay off the loan as quickly as possible so you can recover your assets. Credit score In some cases, especially if you have poor credit, you might be better off getting a gold loan. While rates can be relatively high, they are often still lower on a secured loan than they would be for an unsecured loan with bad credit. If you can’t get the money you need with an unsecured personal loan due to a low credit score, using gold as collateral for a loan might be a good choice. You have high-quality gold Taking a gold loan works best if you have high-quality jewelry, coins or bars. Check to make sure your gold is investment-quality. If you have enough of it, and you don’t have to bring it all in, a gold loan might make sense. You can wait a few days for the money A gold loan can be a good choice if you’re not dealing with an immediate issue. If you need fast cash, you might be able to get it from a coin shop loan, but you still might have to wait. Bottom line on using gold as collateral for a loan High-quality gold can be used as collateral to get a secured loan. However, weighing the risk of losing your gold assets if you can’t make payments is important. Make sure you can get the money you need at a reasonable interest rate before moving forward.CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins called President Joe Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter Biden a “political timebomb” that left Dems in “the blast radius” — and pointed out his hypocrisy after years of claiming he would respect the Justice Department’s rulings. The Democratic president late Sunday pardoned Hunter, who was convicted of federal gun and tax evasion charges earlier this year, after repeatedly denying he would use his pardoning powers for his 54-year-old son. “With 50 days left in his presidency, Joe Biden just set off a political timebomb before leaving for Africa today, and leaving his party behind to deal with the blast radius,” Collins said Monday night during “The Source with Kaitlan Collins.” Collins pointed out how Biden went back on his word, since he repeatedly said he would not pardon Hunter to prove that no one is above the law – an attempt to contrast himself with Trump. In a statement released Sunday , Biden said his son’s prosecution was unfair and politically motivated. “The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election,” Biden said in the statement. “Raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice.” The statement “at times sounded like something Trump himself could have posted on Truth Social,” Collins said In a clip played during Collins’ show, Biden said he was committed to reinstating the Justice Department’s reputation and integrity after it had been “corrupted” under Trump. “I did not, have not and will not pick up the phone and call the attorney general and tell him what he should or should not do in terms of who he should prosecute,” Biden said in 2021 during a town hall. His promise was met with resounding applause. In another clip, this time from a June interview with ABC’s David Muir, Biden vowed to abide by the jury’s decision and said he had ruled out a pardon. Most recently, a few days after Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris in November, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded to reporters’ questions about a possible pardon: “We’ve been asked that question multiple times. Our answer stands, which is no.” In June, Hunter was convicted in Delaware federal court of three felonies for purchasing a gun in 2018 after prosecutors say he lied on a federal form by claiming he was not using or addicted to drugs. Hunter had been set to take the stand in a California trial in September over claims he failed to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes, but he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor and felony charges in a surprise last-minute move as jury selection was set to begin. “Rarely, if ever, have we heard from both Biden and Trump on the same page about anything,” Collins said. “But now, it’s in print – their mutual anger at the Justice Department,” Collins said.DocuSign shares surge 18% on earnings beat and strong guidance

While on the campaign trail in 2015, former President Donald Trump promised to forgo his entire presidential salary if elected. “As far as the salary is concerned, I won’t take even $1. I’m totally giving up my salary if I become president,” Trump, who will serve again as president beginning in January 2025, said in a September 2015 video posted on X , formerly Twitter. The president is required by federal law to receive a $400,000 annual salary . When Trump took office his then-press secretary Sean Spicer said Trump planned to donate that money , according to multiple media reports. After Trump’s reelection in November 2024, multiple VERIFY readers asked us if the former president fulfilled his promise to donate his salary. Here’s what we found. THE QUESTION Did Donald Trump donate any of his salary during his first term as president? THE SOURCES Various White House press briefings held while Trump was in office in 2017 and 2018 Former Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke’s office National Park Service (NPS) Department of Education spokesperson Statement from Linda McMahon, former head of the Small Business Administration (SBA), in October 2018 Associated Press reports Redacted copy of a Trump presidential salary donation check shared by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) May 2019 report from Agri-Pulse , a news outlet covering farm and food policy Various X posts from former members of the Trump administration August 2020 X post from former Department of the Interior Secretary David Bernhardt THE ANSWER Yes, Donald Trump appears to have donated most of his presidential salary. WHAT WE FOUND During his first term, Donald Trump appears to have donated his presidential salary on a quarterly basis in 2017, 2018 and 2019, and at least a portion of it in 2020, according to spokespersons for the Trump administration, multiple federal agencies and various news reports. VERIFY was not able to independently confirm all of the salary donations from sources outside of the Trump administration. We found independent proof of the donations or photos of checks in some cases, while other salary donations were only confirmed by Trump’s former press secretaries or administration leaders at the time. Here’s what we can VERIFY about Trump’s presidential salary donations. 2017 In 2017, Trump gave $78,000 to the National Park Service (NPS) and $100,000 to the Department of Education. The Trump administration said he also donated his quarterly salary to the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Transportation (DOT) that same year. The president’s quarter salary would be $100,000, though administration officials did not specify an exact amount in these cases. Former Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke’s office confirmed Trump’s salary donation of $78,333 to the NPS in a press release on April 3, 2017 . That donation went toward two restoration projects at the Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland, the National Park Service (NPS) said in July 2017 . A spokesperson for the Department of Education also confirmed to VERIFY via email on Dec. 2, 2024, that Trump donated $100,000 to the agency in July 2017. The White House said at the time that the funds would be “used to host a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM)-focused camp for students.” Trump’s quarterly salary donations to HHS and DOT in 2017 were announced during White House press briefings with former press secretary Sarah Sanders and agency officials. The salary donation to HHS would be put toward the “planning and design of a large-scale public awareness campaign about the dangers of opioid addiction,” Acting HHS Secretary Eric Hargan said during a briefing on Nov. 30, 2017 . Trump’s salary donation to the DOT was earmarked for the department’s INFRA grant programs, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said during a briefing on Feb. 13, 2018 . INFRA grants fund projects that are aimed at improving the “safety, efficiency and reliability” of various transportation systems at the national and regional level, the DOT says . VERIFY reached out to HHS for further confirmation of Trump’s salary donations, but did not receive a response by the time of publication. The DOT referred us to Trump’s presidential transition team, who has not responded to VERIFY’s request for comment. 2018 Trump donated his salary in 2018 to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Small Business Administration (SBA), the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), according to various sources. DHS and the NIAAA received $100,000 each, though VERIFY was not able to confirm the exact amount of money given to the VA and SBA. Trump’s quarterly salary donation to the VA was announced during a White House press briefing on May 17, 2018 . The VA had “already earmarked” Trump’s donation “for caregiver support in the form of mental health and peer support programs, financial aid, education training and research,” former acting VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said during that briefing. Linda McMahon, former head of the SBA, released a statement upon receiving Trump’s salary donation on Oct. 4, 2018 . The gift would “assist the SBA with creating a seven-month intensive entrepreneur training program for veterans,” McMahon said at the time. According to an Associated Press report published on Jan. 25, 2019 , the White House said Trump donated $100,000 to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). DHS confirmed that Trump donated $100,000 to the agency when it shared a redacted copy of a check dated March 12, 2019. VERIFY reached out to the VA and SBA for further confirmation of Trump’s salary donations, but did not receive a response by the time of publication. The NIAAA referred us to the Biden White House press office. 2019 Trump donated $100,000 each to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Surgeon General’s Office, as well as $200,000 to HHS in 2019, according to various sources. Agri-Pulse , a news outlet covering farm and food policy, reported on Trump’s $100,000 donation to the USDA on May 16, 2019, citing a White House official. Trump’s contribution would be put toward “outreach programs that benefit farmers,” Agri-Pulse reported at the time. Former deputy White House press secretary Judd Deere announced Trump’s donation to the Surgeon General’s Office in an X post on Aug. 16, 2019 . Deere’s post linked out to a USA Today article that said the $100,000 salary donation would “fund an upcoming public health advisory,” according to the White House. Officials did not elaborate on the subject of the public health advisory at the time. A White House official told the Associated Press in November 2019 that Trump donated his third-quarter salary of $100,000 to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health (OASH), a federal agency under HHS which oversees federal public health offices and programs. The White House said the funds were earmarked “to continue the ongoing fight against the opioid crisis.” Trump’s then- Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in an X post on March 3, 2020 that his final 2019 salary donation would go to HHS to “support the efforts being undertaken to confront, contain and combat coronavirus.” McEnany shared a photo of a $100,000 check from Trump written out to OASH, dated Jan. 29, 2020. VERIFY reached out to the USDA, Surgeon General’s Office and HHS for confirmation of Trump’s salary donations, but did not receive a response by the time of publication. 2020 Trump donated his salary to HHS and the National Park Service (NPS) in 2020, according to his administration. His first-quarter salary donation to HHS would “help in the development of new therapeutics to treat COVID-19 infections,” former deputy White House press secretary Judd Deere said in an X post on May 22, 2020 . VERIFY could not find further confirmation of this donation. In an X post on Aug. 14, 2020 , Trump shared an image of a check for $100,000 made out to the NPS and dated July 13, 2020. He said the donation would “help repair and restore our great national monuments.” Former Department of the Interior Secretary David Bernhardt reposted Trump’s message , writing, “Following @realDonaldTrump ’s enactment of the greatest conservation funding legislation in U.S. history, he has again demonstrated his unwavering commitment to improving our national parks, public lands, and monuments.” The Department of the Interior oversees NPS. VERIFY reached out to HHS for confirmation of Trump’s salary donation but did not receive a response by the time of publication. Trump salary donation announcements stopped at the end of his term For Trump’s first three-and-a-half years in office, his administration publicly announced the quarterly salary donations. But those donation announcements stopped in the middle of 2020. The White House never said if Trump donated the last $220,000 of his salary, which covered “the final six months of 2020 and the first 20 days of 2021,” according to a report from The Washington Post published in July 2021 . Trump’s 2017 , 2018 and 2019 tax returns show that he reported charitable contributions. But those tax returns don’t show where that money went. Trump did not report any charitable contributions on his 2020 tax return . VERIFY reached out to Trump’s presidential transition team for clarity and to ask if Trump plans to donate his salary again during his second term, but did not receive a response at the time of publication. Trump isn’t the only president to donate his presidential salary. Former Presidents John F. Kennedy and Herbert Hoover also donated their earnings while in office. Former President Barack Obama donated more than $1 million to charity while he was president, Forbes reported in February 2017 .Horizon Bancorp's executive VP Secor sells $349,707 in stock

U.S. stocks tiptoed to more records after a quiet day of trading. The S&P 500 edged up by 2 points, or less than 0.1%, on Tuesday to set an all-time high for the 55th time this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2%, while the Nasdaq composite added 0.4% to its own record set a day earlier. Treasury yields held relatively steady after a report showed U.S. employers were advertising slightly more job openings at the end of October than a month earlier. The South Korean won sank against the dollar after its president declared martial law and then later said he’ll lift it. On Tuesday: The S&P 500 rose 2.73 points, or less than 0.1%, to 6,049.88. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 76.47 points, or 0.2%, to 44,705.53. The Nasdaq composite rose 76.96 points, or 0.4%, to 19,480.91. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 17.79 points, or 0.7%, to 2,416.35. For the week: The S&P 500 is up 17.50 points, or 0.3%. The Dow is down 205.12 points, or 0.5%. The Nasdaq is up 262.74 points, or 1.4%. The Russell 2000 is down 18.38 points, or 0.8%. For the year: The S&P 500 is up 1,280.05 points, or 26.8%. The Dow is up 7,015.99 points, or 18.6%. The Nasdaq is up 4,469.56 points, or 29.8%. The Russell 2000 is up 389.27 points, or 19.2%.

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. , Nov. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Magyar Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: MGYR ) announced that its Board of Directors has declared a special cash dividend of $0.04, payable December 20, 2024 to shareholders of record on December 6, 2024 . About Magyar Bancorp Magyar Bancorp is the parent company of Magyar Bank, a community bank headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey . Magyar Bank has been serving families and businesses in Central New Jersey since 1922 with a complete line of financial products and services. Today, Magyar operates seven branch locations in New Brunswick , North Brunswick , South Brunswick , Branchburg , Martinsville and Edison (2). Please visit us online at www.magbank.com . Forward Looking Statements This press release contains statements about future events that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements may be identified by reference to a future period or periods, or by the use of forward- looking terminology, such as "may," "will," "believe," "expect," or similar terms or variations on those terms, or the negative of those terms. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those risks previously disclosed in the Company's filings with the SEC, general economic conditions, changes in interest rates, regulatory considerations, competition, technological developments, retention and recruitment of qualified personnel, and market acceptance of the Company's pricing, products and services, and with respect to the loans extended by the Bank and real estate owned, the following: risks related to the economic environment in the market areas in which the Bank operates, particularly with respect to the real estate market in New Jersey ; the risk that the value of the real estate securing these loans may decline in value; and the risk that significant expense may be incurred by the Company in connection with the resolution of these loans. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have an adverse impact on the Company, its customers and the communities it serves. Given its ongoing and dynamic nature, it is difficult to predict the full impact of the pandemic on the Company's business. The extent of such impact will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain, including when the coronavirus can be controlled and abated and the extent to which the economy can open and remain open. The Company wishes to caution readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The Company does not undertake and specifically declines any obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions that may be made to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events. SOURCE Magyar BancorpPresident-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers urge judge to toss his hush money convictionBiden calls for Assad to be 'held accountable'

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By JILL COLVIN and STEPHEN GROVES WASHINGTON (AP) — After several weeks working mostly behind closed doors, Vice President-elect JD Vance returned to Capitol Hill this week in a new, more visible role: Helping Donald Trump try to get his most contentious Cabinet picks to confirmation in the Senate, where Vance has served for the last two years. Vance arrived at the Capitol on Wednesday with former Rep. Matt Gaetz and spent the morning sitting in on meetings between Trump’s choice for attorney general and key Republicans, including members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The effort was for naught: Gaetz announced a day later that he was withdrawing his name amid scrutiny over sex trafficking allegations and the reality that he was unlikely to be confirmed. Thursday morning Vance was back, this time accompanying Pete Hegseth, the “Fox & Friends Weekend” host whom Trump has tapped to be the next secretary of defense. Hegseth also has faced allegations of sexual assault that he denies. Vance is expected to accompany other nominees for meetings in coming weeks as he tries to leverage the two years he has spent in the Senate to help push through Trump’s picks. Vice President-elect JD Vance, still a Republican senator from Ohio, walks from a private meeting with President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., center, and Vice President-elect JD Vance, left, walk out of a meeting with Republican Senate Judiciary Committee members, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) FILE – Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, departs the chamber at the Capitol in Washington, March 15, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) FILE – Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, center speaks during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) FILE – Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, right, speaks with Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, before testifying at a hearing, March 9, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File) FILE – Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, arrives for a classified briefing on China, at the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) FILE – Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, arrives for a vote on Capitol Hill, Sept. 12, 2023 in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File) FILE – Sen. JD Vance R-Ohio speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) Vice President-elect JD Vance, still a Republican senator from Ohio, walks from a private meeting with President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) The role of introducing nominees around Capitol Hill is an unusual one for a vice president-elect. Usually the job goes to a former senator who has close relationships on the Hill, or a more junior aide. But this time the role fits Vance, said Marc Short, who served as Trump’s first director of legislative affairs as well as chief of staff to Trump’s first vice president, Mike Pence, who spent more than a decade in Congress and led the former president’s transition ahead of his first term. ”JD probably has a lot of current allies in the Senate and so it makes sense to have him utilized in that capacity,” Short said. Unlike the first Trump transition, which played out before cameras at Trump Tower in New York and at the president-elect’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, this one has largely happened behind closed doors in Palm Beach, Florida. There, a small group of officials and aides meet daily at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort to run through possible contenders and interview job candidates. The group includes Elon Musk, the billionaire who has spent so much time at the club that Trump has joked he can’t get rid of him. Vance has been a constant presence, even as he’s kept a lower profile. The Ohio senator has spent much of the last two weeks in Palm Beach, according to people familiar with his plans, playing an active role in the transition, on which he serves as honorary chair. Vance has been staying at a cottage on the property of the gilded club, where rooms are adorned with cherubs, oriental rugs and intricate golden inlays. It’s a world away from the famously hardscrabble upbringing that Vance documented in the memoir that made him famous, “Hillbilly Elegy.” His young children have also joined him at Mar-a-Lago, at times. Vance was photographed in shorts and a polo shirt playing with his kids on the seawall of the property with a large palm frond, a U.S. Secret Service robotic security dog in the distance. On the rare days when he is not in Palm Beach, Vance has been joining the sessions remotely via Zoom. Though he has taken a break from TV interviews after months of constant appearances, Vance has been active in the meetings, which began immediately after the election and include interviews and as well as presentations on candidates’ pluses and minuses. Among those interviewed: Contenders to replace FBI Director Christopher Wray , as Vance wrote in a since-deleted social media post. Defending himself from criticism that he’d missed a Senate vote in which one of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees was confirmed, Vance wrote that he was meeting at the time “with President Trump to interview multiple positions for our government, including for FBI Director.” “I tend to think it’s more important to get an FBI director who will dismantle the deep state than it is for Republicans to lose a vote 49-46 rather than 49-45,” Vance added on X. “But that’s just me.” While Vance did not come in to the transition with a list of people he wanted to see in specific roles, he and his friend, Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who is also a member of the transition team, were eager to see former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. find roles in the administration. Trump ended up selecting Gabbard as the next director of national intelligence , a powerful position that sits atop the nation’s spy agencies and acts as the president’s top intelligence adviser. And he chose Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services , a massive agency that oversees everything from drug and food safety to Medicare and Medicaid. Vance was also a big booster of Tom Homan, the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who will serve as Trump’s “border czar.” In another sign of Vance’s influence, James Braid, a top aide to the senator, is expected to serve as Trump’s legislative affairs director. Allies say it’s too early to discuss what portfolio Vance might take on in the White House. While he gravitates to issues like trade, immigration and tech policy, Vance sees his role as doing whatever Trump needs. Vance was spotted days after the election giving his son’s Boy Scout troop a tour of the Capitol and was there the day of leadership elections. He returned in earnest this week, first with Gaetz — arguably Trump’s most divisive pick — and then Hegseth, who has was been accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2017, according to an investigative report made public this week. Hegseth told police at the time that the encounter had been consensual and denied any wrongdoing. Vance hosted Hegseth in his Senate office as GOP senators, including those who sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee, filtered in to meet with the nominee for defense secretary. While a president’s nominees usually visit individual senators’ offices, meeting them on their own turf, the freshman senator — who is accompanied everywhere by a large Secret Service detail that makes moving around more unwieldy — instead brought Gaetz to a room in the Capitol on Wednesday and Hegseth to his office on Thursday. Senators came to them. Vance made it to votes Wednesday and Thursday, but missed others on Thursday afternoon. Vance is expected to continue to leverage his relationships in the Senate after Trump takes office. But many Republicans there have longer relationships with Trump himself. Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, said that Trump was often the first person to call him back when he was trying to reach high-level White House officials during Trump’s first term. “He has the most active Rolodex of just about anybody I’ve ever known,” Cramer said, adding that Vance would make a good addition. “They’ll divide names up by who has the most persuasion here,” Cramer said, but added, “Whoever his liaison is will not work as hard at it as he will.” Cramer was complimentary of the Ohio senator, saying he was “pleasant” and ” interesting” to be around. ′′He doesn’t have the long relationships,” he said. “But we all like people that have done what we’ve done. I mean, that’s sort of a natural kinship, just probably not as personally tied.” Under the Constitution, Vance will also have a role presiding over the Senate and breaking tie votes. But he’s not likely to be needed for that as often as was Kamala Harris, who broke a record number of ties for Democrats as vice president, since Republicans will have a bigger cushion in the chamber next year. Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.

Casey concedes U.S. Senate race in PennsylvaniaUS President Joe Biden on Sunday said deposed Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad should be "held accountable" but called the nation's political upheaval a "historic opportunity" for Syrians to rebuild their country. In the first full US reaction to Assad's overthrow by an Islamist-led coalition of rebel factions, Biden also warned that Washington will "remain vigilant" against the emergence of terrorist groups, announcing that US forces had just conducted fresh strikes against militants from the Islamic State organization. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.Kate Middleton is expected to take a big step to end the ongoing rift between her husband, Prince William, and brother-in-law, Prince Harry, now that she has completed her preventative chemotherapy, a royal expert has claimed. Kate, the Princess of Wales, may forgive the Duke of Sussex over his very public attacks against her and the Royal family. However, William is still "very, very angry,” said royal expert Katie Nicholl. Speaking with The Sun, the experts said Kate's experience with cancer may have given her a new perspective on life, leading her to prioritize healing the royal family's rift. “Kate’s been thrown under the bus by Harry, he’s said hurtful things about her, he’s brought the children into the narrative,” she said. “I think the Prince of Wales remains very, very angry and upset and feels very betrayed.” The expert added, “Possibly the Princess of Wales is still open to a reconciliation in some form. I still feel it’s quite early. “But I do think when you go through something like a cancer diagnosis and you go through the sort of journey that she has done, and you confront your own mortality, you realise life is short. It’s far too short for rifts and family feuds.” She continued: “And perhaps that will be a role that she will play at some point in healing that rift, because I think we look to the royal family as a symbol of unity. “We will want to see them together at Christmas, this will be the sixth Christmas that Harry won’t have been a part of. “I do think it's important. It may be that people are making these comments on social media where you’re talking about togetherness, talking about empathy, what’s going on in your own family, and they are at risk of that happening.”

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is on a mission to stamp out Gen-Z’s growing support for left-wing ideas, and is turning to a hard-line neocon group for help in educating the youth on the “evils of communism.” In the latest front in the culture war over school curricula, the House of Representatives is set to vote Friday on a bill that would give a congressional stamp of approval to the lesson plans of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, a group closely linked to fervently hawkish corners of the foreign policy blob. The Crucial Communism Teaching Act, also known as H.R. 5349, would direct the VOC Foundation to develop an educational curriculum it could offer to school districts to help instruct students on atrocities both historic and contemporary carried out by communist regimes. Inspiration for the bill came to its sponsor, Rep. María Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., when she learned of a 2020 survey — published, as it so happens, by the VOC Foundation — showing that 28 percent of Gen-Zers and 22 percent of millennials held favorable views of communism. “Communism is one of the most destructive political ideologies the world has ever seen,” Salazar said in a press release in September. “The Crucial Communism Teaching Act is important because our youth must remember the crimes of the communists, including those inflicted upon my constituents and their families in Florida’s 27th district.” The legislation, which Salazar explicitly modeled after a 2020 bill mandating the development of educational materials about the Holocaust, has largely flown under the radar, and response to it has been muted. But some Democrats in Congress have already raised concerns that the bill’s monomaniacal focus on communism would leave out important lessons about other forms of repression. “The bill neglects to mention our country’s long history of using the label ‘Communism’ to enflame, scare, and pit Americans against one another.” “The bill neglects to mention our country’s long history of using the label ‘Communism’ to enflame, scare, and pit Americans against one another,” said Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., in a Rules Committee hearing on the bill Tuesday. “If we want students to examine the effect of Communism on the world, it would be negligent not to warn against the dangers of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, the vitriol of Joseph McCarthy, and the negative impact of the Red Scare on many innocent Americans, particularly those seeking racial progress in the Civil Rights era.” In an attempt to round out the focus of the bill, Scott and other Democrats put forward an amendment that would add lessons about the dangers of fascism, but it was unanimously rejected by GOP committee members. Despite the concerns of Democrats, the bill is expected to pass Friday with a healthy share of Democratic votes, according to Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa. “We will vote in favor of it, most of us, Democrats and Republicans, because it’s sort of a no-brainer vote,” said Houlahan, who declined to say how she would personally vote. “Of course —of course — we should decry communism and teach our young people about it.” over education have in recent years taken the form of and frenzied fights for control of . But the introduction of right-wing teaching resources is another tactic, with curriculum designed by organizations making their way into schools in Florida and Oklahoma. The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation has championed legislation passed in recent years in and that requires early and consistent education on the evils of communism, and would likely be well positioned to offer up its own curriculum as an easy way for schools to meet the new requirements for anti-communist education laid out in those states’ legislation. Related In Florida, educational standards already mandated that such lessons begin in 7th grade, but the new legislation, which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed in April, calls for it to begin as early as kindergarten. Representatives of the VOC Foundation did not respond to several requests for comment, but the group’s leadership has enthusiastically supported Salazar’s bill. At the VOC Foundation, meanwhile, work on a broad anti-communist civics curriculum is already underway. On its website, the VOC Foundation lists lesson plans covering the origins of communism — including to “take a student’s favorite pencil or pen, backpack, phone, etc.” and ask them to reflect on the confiscation of private property — up through the eve of World War II. While the full curriculum around World War II is not yet published — a number of planned chapters are listed as “Coming Soon” — the material available so far shows a laser focus on the atrocities of Communist forces, including repression of the clergy during the Spanish Civil War and the Katyn massacre of Polish prisoners of war by Soviet troops during the German-Soviet partition of Poland. Most Read goes into visceral details about the abuses of communist governments, but its research and curriculum, much of which touches on atrocities of World War II, barely mention the horrors of the Holocaust and other evils carried out by non-communist forces. This hyper-focus on communist atrocities has long been a hallmark of right-wing historical projects, and it has landed the group’s fellow travelers in the anti-communist movement in hot water in recent years. In Canada, a long-planned Memorial to Victims of Communism, funded in part by taxpayer dollars, has come under fire for its celebration of fascist collaborators in Eastern Europe and the Balkans. The memorial’s list of victims at one point included tributes to Ante Pavelić, the Nazi puppet who presided over the Holocaust in Croatia, and Roman Shukhevych, a Ukrainian nationalist who murdered tens of thousands of Jews and other minorities during the war. That project, set to be unveiled — — on December 12 after years of delays, has roots in post-war efforts to form a right-wing answer to the Communist International, according to Dan Boeckner, an independent researcher who has focused on the movement in Canada. Under the guise of promoting freedom, organizations like the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations often acted as a vehicle for fascist emigres to regroup and exploit Cold War tensions — and legitimate grievances against communist dictators — in the West to rewrite history in a way that would equate communist atrocities with the Holocaust, Boeckner said. “They basically brain poisoned an entire generation or two of Canadians into thinking that the Soviets were the bad guys during World War II,” Boeckner told The Intercept. Join Our Newsletter Original reporting. Fearless journalism. Delivered to you. The VOC Foundation in D.C. is unaffiliated with Tribute to Liberty, the group behind the memorial in Canada, but it emerged out of the same global movement. Where the Canadian anti-communist crusade has been led by , the manifestation of the movement of the U.S. has instead been dominated by American hard-line “Cold Warriors” dedicated to advancing U.S. interests abroad. Founded in 1993 by congressional charter, the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation is an offshoot of the National Captive Nations Committee, a Cold War advocacy group led by prominent conservative intellectuals and proponents of a belligerent stance toward the Soviet Union. Its founder, Lee Edwards, was a high-ranking member of the Heritage Foundation, and under his aegis, the group committed itself to carrying the torch into the 21st century to continue fighting a Cold War that, to the foundation’s leaders, never really ended. In 2022, the last year for which financial documentation is available, the group received nearly $4.5 million in government contributions and over the past five years has been awarded grants by USAID, the State Department, and the U.S. Embassy in Havana for efforts to highlight government repression in Cuba and China. In the past, it has also received funding from conservative grantmaking groups as well as from the , a state-funded nonprofit that has been accused of . In addition to its educational programs, the VOC Foundation each year issues the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom to individuals and organizations it considers as major figures in the fight for democracy and human rights. Past recipients of the medal include various dissidents and post-Soviet leaders of former Eastern Bloc nations, as well as , Hungarian strongman Viktor Orbán, and weapons company Lockheed Martin. that H.R. 5349 is nonbinding and provides no funding mechanism for the VOC Foundation’s work, its passage would be a victory for Salazar, the daughter of Cuban exiles who has been trying to get the legislation through since 2021, when she introduced an earlier version of the bill that failed to gain traction. There is already a companion bill in the Senate introduced earlier this year by Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. Congressional insiders told The Intercept it was unlikely that Senate Majority Leader Schumer would move it forward in this session. And the decision by the House GOP majority to advance the bill to a floor vote at this moment at all has left some Democrats scratching their heads. “It’s interesting that this is the choice of what we have to vote on this week,” Houlahan said. “We have so much work to do in what remains of this Congress. We haven’t even funded the government — let’s start with that.”