pompano fish

pompano fish Furious Cucurella changes cleats after slipping twice to concede early goals, then helps Chelsea winWASHINGTON (AP) — Matt Gaetz withdrew Thursday as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general amid continued fallout over a federal sex trafficking investigation that cast doubt on his ability to be confirmed as the nation's chief federal law enforcement officer. The announcement caps a turbulent eight-day period in which Trump sought to capitalize on his decisive election win to force Senate Republicans to accept provocative selections like Gaetz, who had been investigated by the Justice Department before being tapped last week to lead it. The decision could heighten scrutiny on other controversial Trump nominees, including Pentagon pick Pete Hegseth , who faces sexual assault allegations that he denies. “While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition,” Gaetz, a Florida Republican who one day earlier met with senators in an effort to win their support, said in a statement. “There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General. Trump’s DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1," he added. Trump, in a social media post, said: “I greatly appreciate the recent efforts of Matt Gaetz in seeking approval to be Attorney General. 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. Matt has a wonderful future, and I look forward to watching all of the great things he will do!” He did not immediately announce a new selection. Last week, he named personal lawyers Todd Blanche, Emil Bove and D. John Sauer to senior roles in the department. Another possible contender, Matthew Whitaker, was announced Wednesday as the U.S. ambassador to NATO. The withdrawal, just a week after the pick was announced, averts what was shaping up to be a pitched confirmation fight that would have tested how far Senate Republicans were willing to go to support Trump’s Cabinet picks. The selection of the fierce Trump ally over well-regarded veteran lawyers whose names had circulated as possible contenders stirred concern for the Justice Department's independence at a time when Trump has openly threatened to seek retribution against political adversaries. It underscored the premium Trump places on personal loyalty and reflected the president-elect's desire to have a disruptor lead a Justice Department that for years investigated and ultimately indicted him. In the Senate, deeply skeptical lawmakers sought more information about Justice Department and congressional investigations into sex trafficking allegations involving underage girls, which Gaetz has denied. Meanwhile, Justice Department lawyers were taken aback by the pick of a partisan lawmaker with limited legal experience who has echoed Trump's claims of a weaponized criminal justice system. As Gaetz sought to lock down Senate support, concern over the sex trafficking allegations showed no signs of abating. In recent days, an attorney for two women said his clients told House Ethics Committee investigators that Gaetz paid them for sex on multiple occasions beginning in 2017, when Gaetz was a Florida congressman. One of the women testified she saw Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old at a party in Florida in 2017, according to the attorney, Joel Leppard. Leppard has said that his client testified she didn’t think Gaetz knew the girl was underage, stopped their relationship when he found out and did not resume it until after she turned 18. The age of consent in Florida is 18. "They’re grateful for the opportunity to move forward with their lives,” Leppard said Thursday of his clients. “They’re hoping that this brings final closure for all the parties involved.” Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing. The Justice Department’s investigation ended last year with no charges against him. Gaetz’s political future is uncertain. He had abruptly resigned his congressional seat upon being selected as attorney general, a move seen as a way to shut down the ethics investigation into sexual misconduct allegations. He did win reelection in November for the new Congress, which convenes Jan. 3, 2025, but he said in his resignation letter last week that he did not intend to take the oath of office. There are plans for a special election in Florida for his seat. Republicans on the House Ethics Committee declined this week to release the panel's findings, over objections from Democrats in a split vote. But the committee did agree to finish its work and is scheduled to meet again Dec. 5 to discuss the matter. As word of Gaetz's decision spread across the Capitol, Republican senators seemed divided. Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who served with Gaetz in the House, called it a “positive move." Maine Sen. Susan Collins said Gaetz “put country first and I am pleased with his decision.” Others said they had hoped Gaetz could have overhauled the department. Florida Sen. Rick Scott, a close ally of Trump, said he was “disappointed. I like Matt and I think he would have changed the way DOJ is run.” Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said he hopes Trump will pick someone “equally as tenacious and equally as committed to rooting out and eliminating bias and politicization at the DOJ.” Gaetz is not the only Trump pick facing congressional scrutiny over past allegations. A detailed investigative police report made public Wednesday shows that a woman told police that she was sexually assaulted in 2017 by Hegseth, the former Fox News host now tapped to lead the Pentagon, after he took her phone, blocked the door to a California hotel room and refused to let her leave. “The matter was fully investigated and I was completely cleared,” Hegseth told reporters Thursday at the Capitol, where he was meeting with senators to build support for his nomination. Associated Press writers Michelle L. Price, Lisa Mascaro, Mary Clare Jalonick and Adriana Gomez Licon contributed to this report.

Cop shoots snatcher in foot to foil escape bid in Amritsar

Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella changed his cleats just 12 minutes into the game after his slips contributed to both of Tottenham's early goals in the teams' London derby in the Premier League on Sunday. The Spain international ceded possession by slipping on the turf at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the fifth and 11th minutes — and from the ensuing attacks, Spurs scored through Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski. Immediately after Kulusevski's shot hit the net to make it 2-0, Cucurella sprinted to the sideline while shrugging his shoulders and pointed to his cleats. He took them off and threw them away in disgust before putting on new ones. It seemed to work. Within six minutes, he provided the pass that led to Jadon Sancho scoring for Chelsea to make it 2-1. Chelsea went on to win 4-3 — and Cucurella on social media after the match, showing the first cleats he wore nestled in a bin. “It almost slipped away,” Cucurella wrote on Instagram Stories, “but proud of the amazing team effort to turn things around.” AP soccer:

The largest intergenerational wealth transfer in US history is about to take place — though the vast majority of Americans are unlikely to inherit much money at all. About $US105 trillion ($164 trillion) is projected to be passed down from older generations over the next quarter century, according to research firm Cerulli Associates, an amount roughly equal to global gross domestic product in 2023. Rising stock markets and home prices, as well as inflation, have fattened the estates that members of the baby boom generation are expected to leave their heirs. Credit: Glenn Hunt Rising stock markets and home prices, as well as inflation, have fattened the estates that members of the baby boom generation, born between 1946 and 1964, are expected to leave their heirs. The latest inheritance projection by Cerulli is 45 per cent higher than the 25-year forecast the firm made only three years ago. US gifts and inheritances are expected to total $US2.5 trillion next year alone. “About 80 per cent of the wealth held today is going to be in motion,” Chayce Horton, the lead author of the Cerulli report, said in an interview. “The ratio of wealth expected to be changing hands in the next 25 years is significant, and much greater than what we even saw a decade ago.” Yet even as the assets of millions of ageing Americans are passed on, the share of the US population that will benefit from inherited money has remained static, a sign of how accumulating family wealth has become more concentrated among the most affluent households. At the same time, money passed down from one generation to another accounts for a growing share of the overall wealth of heirs, rising relative to income from work or investments. Inherited money represented about a quarter of the net worth of households that received it, a Bloomberg analysis of the Federal Reserve’s 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances found, up from roughly 10 per cent in the late 1990s. Loading “We’re becoming less of an economy that promotes entrepreneurship and production and more of an economy focused on inheritance and dynasty,” said Chuck Collins, Director of the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies. Collins, whose great-grandfather founded the hot dog and lunchmeat maker Oscar Mayer, gave up his inheritance when he was in his twenties. He is now a member of the Patriotic Millionaires, a nonprofit group of affluent Americans that pushes for the wealthy to pay higher tax rates. Receiving any funds from a deceased family member remains the exception in the US, not the rule. Just one in five American households have received a substantial gift, trust or inheritance in recent decades, according to Bloomberg’s analysis. Inherited wealth is expected to become increasingly concentrated among the most affluent, according to Cerulli. The firm estimates that more than half of the wealth transferred between generations through 2048 will come from households with at least $US5 million in investible assets. Only about 2 per cent of US households meet that threshold. The share of the US population that will benefit from inherited money has remained static, a sign of how accumulating family wealth has become more concentrated among the most affluent households. Credit: Bloomberg The figures lend support to an idea that has long had currency among economists but that has been difficult to confirm — that the share of overall wealth derived from inheritance is far higher than it appears. A 2017 paper argued that inherited money had accounted for more than half of total wealth in the US and Europe since the 1990s, and that “self-reported inheritance flows are implausibly low.” “Inheritance is still the most important factor in terms of wealth concentration,” said Kaushik Basu, professor of economics at Cornell University and former chief economist at the World Bank. The trillions of dollars set to be passed on in coming years could create more social mobility for younger generations, even though its greater concentration among the wealthiest Americans is likely to create more obstacles for lower-income households and exacerbate inequality. Loading “Markets may still flourish, and overall economic growth may continue, but the polarisation between the born-poor and born-rich will become more acute,” Basu said. He added that many of the economic advantages of family wealth are conferred indirectly, through access to education and other opportunities. As more members of the massive baby boom generation die, the annual rate at which wealth is being passed on is expected to increase until the end of the decade. Millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, are expected to inherit more than $US45 trillion by 2048, including some $US3.9 trillion that year alone. Generation X, sandwiched between the baby boomers and millennials, will see their annual inheritance levels peak in 2038 at just shy of $US2 trillion, according to Cerulli. ‘Markets may still flourish, and overall economic growth may continue, but the polarisation between the born-poor and born-rich will become more acute.’ Kaushik Basu, professor of economics at Cornell University and former chief economist at the World Bank Wealth isn’t only cascading down to younger generations, it also is moving sideways. Before reaching younger heirs, inheritances are often transferred to surviving spouses and partners. Since women tend to outlive men, they are expected to receive a large share of the fortunes being passed on. “A significant amount of the wealth that is held today is believed to be controlled by men,” said Cerulli’s Horton. As those men die, “we expect that wealth to be much more equitably distributed on a gender basis.” Cerulli estimates that women will inherit nearly half of the total projected value of inheritances over the next 25 years. US tax policy has made it easier for wealthy heirs to hang on to more of the money they inherit. President-elect Donald Trump wants to extend part of his 2017 tax-cut package that doubled the estate-tax exemption from $US5.49 million to $US11.18 million. For many older Americans, money handed down from previous generations has shaped their own planning. Alan Jewett, a 75-year-old retiree in Delaware, and his wife received an inheritance of nearly $US3 million from her childless aunts in 2014, after the couple had already put both their children through college and bought a home. “Having money changes the way you look at things in the sense that it gives you and your family a feeling of security,” Jewett said. He and his wife gave part of the inheritance to their kids and set up an irrevocable trust for their three young grandchildren. Some heirs say they have used inherited money to prepare for their own health and elder-care expenses. Lee Robin Gebhardt, a 63-year-old wine seller living in Putnam County, New York, said she invested a $US150,000 retirement account that she received from her father, who died in 2020, in her long-term care. Gebhardt, who plans to work for at least another two years, has enough money put away to last her until she’s 110. “That will take some pressure off my children,” she said. Other relatively wealthy baby boomers have decided to pass on some of their wealth while they’re still able to see its effects for themselves. Loading “I’ve seen an increasing focus on ‘giving while living,’ where people provide for their family’s needs during their lifetime,” said Jared Jones, senior advisor at Omega Wealth Management. “There’s definitely a big focus on not waiting until one passes away to help and witness the benefits of the wealth from the family.” Bloomberg The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning . Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Inheritance Billionaires Most Viewed in Business LoadingAP Sports SummaryBrief at 6:09 p.m. EST