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Donald Trump has chosen vaccine sceptic Robert F Kennedy Jr as his new health secretary.

The news was announced by Donald Trump Jr on X, before the president-elect confirmed the appointment just moments later.

Former Democrat RFK Jr, the nephew of former president John F Kennedy, had been running as an independent presidential candidate but dropped out of the race and endorsed Mr Trump in August.

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From August: Kennedy family criticises RFK Jr after Trump endorsement

In return for Mr Kennedy’s support during the election, President-elect Trump pledged to give him a “big role” – and RFK Jr’s preference for the health position was widely reported.

The health and human services (HHS) department includes the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Medicare, Medicaid and the National Institutes of Health.

RFK Jr will “restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again,” the president-elect wrote on X.

Donald Trump and Robert F Kennedy Jr in October during the presidential campaign. Pic: Reuters
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Donald Trump and Robert F Kennedy Jr in October during the presidential campaign. Pic: Reuters

Mr Trump added: “For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health.

“The Safety and Health of all Americans is the most important role of any Administration.”

Mr Kennedy is a known vaccine sceptic who has repeated misinformation on multiple occasions, including the discredited theory that childhood immunisations cause autism.

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The RFK Jr-led health department will “play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming Health Crisis in this Country,” the president-elect added.

Earlier, his son Donald Trump Jr was the first to confirm the appointment, writing on X: “Robert F Kennedy Jr will be The Secretary of Health and Human Services! Promises Made Promises Kept.”

Read more:
Who’s in and who’s out of Trump’s top team?
Who is Robert F Kennedy Jr?

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When Trump met Obama and Biden

RFK Jr’s position will need to be confirmed with a Senate vote – but even with the chamber under Republican control, his appointment may face opposition because of his views on health issues.

Before Mr Trump announced his choice, Mr Kennedy had already claimed the new president would push to remove fluoride from drinking water on his first day in office. The addition of the compound has been cited as helping to improve dental health.

The department RKF Jr is hoping to oversee has more than 80,000 employees across the United States.

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Former US president Bill Clinton in hospital with fever

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Former US president Bill Clinton in hospital with fever

Former US president Bill Clinton is in hospital in Washington DC after developing a fever.

Mr Clinton, 78, has been admitted to MedStar Georgetown University Hospital for “testing and observation”.

Angel Ureña, the 42nd president’s deputy chief of staff, told Sky’s US partner network NBC News he is in “good spirits and grateful for the care he is receiving”.

Another source close to Mr Clinton said the situation is “not urgent”.

“The former president will be fine,” the source added. “He developed a fever and wanted to be checked out. He is awake and alert.”

Mr Clinton was active on the campaign trail in support of vice president Kamala Harris this year and has also been promoting his book Citizen.

The former president, who served two terms from January 1993 until January 2001, also addressed the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this summer.

Read more from the US:
Matt Gaetz paid girl, 17, for sex – report
Biden reduces all but three federal death sentences

Since leaving office, Mr Clinton has undergone two heart operations in New York – having a quadruple bypass operation in 2004, and two stents inserted into a coronary artery in 2010.

He was also in hospital for six days in 2021 with a urological infection that spread to his bloodstream.

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Matt Gaetz: Ex-Trump attorney general pick paid women for sex, including with a 17-year-old girl, US House report says

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Matt Gaetz: Ex-Trump attorney general pick paid women for sex, including with a 17-year-old girl, US House report says

Matt Gaetz, who was briefly Donald Trump’s nominee for US attorney general, paid women for sex, including with a 17-year-old girl, and used drugs while he was a member of Congress, a committee has said.

The House Ethics Committee’s report concluded there was “substantial evidence” that the former Florida congressman violated House rules, state and federal laws, and other standards of conduct banning prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, and obstruction of Congress.

And the committee accused the 42-year-old of accepting gifts of luxury travel in excess of permissible limits with a trip to the Bahamas in 2018.

The House of Representatives panel wrote: “From 2017 to 2020, Representative Gaetz made tens of thousands of dollars in payments to women that the Committee determined were likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use.”

The Republican, who denies any wrongdoing, had sought a restraining order against the committee in a bid to halt the release of its report summarising its investigation.

The filing accused the committee of an “unconstitutional” attempt “to exercise jurisdiction over a private citizen through the threatened release of an investigative report containing potentially defamatory allegations, in violation of the committee’s own rules”.

Last month, Trump ally Mr Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration to be the next US attorney general – the country’s top legal official.

Mr Gaetz said his selection was “unfairly becoming a distraction” to the transition of Mr Trump’s administration into the White House.

Donald Trump and Matt Gaetz in Augusts 2023, Pic: Reuters
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Donald Trump and Matt Gaetz in August 2023. Pic: Reuters

The Florida Republican had faced scrutiny over previous sex trafficking allegations which were investigated by the department he had been picked by the president-elect to lead.

Mr Gaetz was re-elected to the House of Representatives in November this year but resigned after Mr Trump nominated him as attorney general.

The 37-page House report said: “From at least 2017 to 2020, Representative Gaetz regularly paid women for engaging in sexual activity with him.

“In 2017, Representative Gaetz engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl. During the period 2017 to 2019, Representative Gaetz used or possessed illegal drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy, on multiple occasions.”

‘Sex with 17-year-old girl’

The ethics panel received testimony that Mr Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old girl, described in the report as Victim A.

It said: “Victim A recalled receiving $400 in cash from Representative Gaetz that evening, which she understood to be payment for sex.

“Victim A said that she did not inform Representative Gaetz that she was under 18 at the time, nor did he ask her age.”

Mr Gaetz was investigated by the Justice Department for three years over sex trafficking allegations. No criminal charges were brought.

The ethics panel said there was not enough evidence that Mr Gaetz violated the federal sex trafficking statute.

All of the women who testified said the sexual encounters with Mr Gaetz were consensual.

‘I feel violated’

However, one woman told the committee that the use of drugs at the parties and events they attended may have “impair[ed their] ability to really know what was going on or fully consent”.

Another woman told the committee: “When I look back on certain moments, I feel violated.”

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Luigi Mangione pleads not guilty to murder and terror charges in healthcare chief’s killing

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Luigi Mangione pleads not guilty to murder and terror charges in healthcare chief's killing

The suspect accused of fatally shooting the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare has pleaded not guilty to 11 murder and terror charges.

Authorities say Luigi Mangione shot dead Brian Thompson as he was walking to an investor conference in midtown Manhattan on the morning of 4 December.

The 26-year-old was formally charged last week by the Manhattan district attorney with multiple counts of murder, including murder as an act of terrorism.

Mangione was detained in a Pennsylvania McDonald’s after a five-day search, carrying a gun that matched the one used in the shooting and a fake ID, police said.

He was extradited from Pennsylvania on Thursday and quickly rushed to New York City.

As well as this state trial, he also faces a federal charges. The two cases will proceed on parallel tracks, prosecutors have said.

Mangione is being held in a Brooklyn federal jail alongside several other high-profile defendants, including Sean “Diddy” Combs and Sam Bankman-Fried.

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