Donald Trump’s second term as president will largely be shaped by the loyal allies who have stood by him during his four years outside of the White House. As the clock ticks down to his inauguration on January 20, all eyes will be on Mar-a-Lago as Republicans jostle for a cabinet spot or a senior role in the West Wing. And those are filling fast. In the past two-plus days, nine potential appointees have emerged for top Cabinet or West Wing roles and a handful of contenders for other vital positions have emerged.

Controversial plans to build a megafarm with up to 870,000 chickens and 14,000 pigs between two villages have attracted nearly 15,000 complaints. Cranswick, the food giant behind the plans, says the two sites will be set 400 yards apart and operate separately to act as a ‘bio-precaution’. But locals fear the giant facility will belch out foul odours including ammonia fumes, attract swarms of flies and result in thousands of lorries driving past homes.

Resurfaced footage showing Kevin Rudd calling Donald Trump a ‘village idiot’ and ‘incoherent’ has reignited calls for his removal as Australia’s ambassador to the United States. The footage, aired by Sky News’ Sharri Markson on Monday night, captured Rudd speaking in a 2021 webinar with Indian politician and former diplomat Dr Shashi Tharoor. ‘The United States, in the past four years, has been run by a village idiot,’ Mr Rudd said.

New Zealand’s deputy prime minister has taken aim at Australia for deporting Kiwi criminals back to his country while Aussies remain locked up in NZ. Winston Peters, who is also foreign minister, urged the Albanese government to ‘show a bit of gratitude’ towards Kiwis. ‘Ned Kelly should show a bit of humility on this matter and don’t come the raw prawn with us, to use an Aussie expression,’ he said.

One of the founders of the world’s oldest breastfeeding support charity has quit in protest at its inclusion of transgender women. Marian Tompson denounced La Leche League International as an ‘organisation that has become a travesty of my original intent’. In a damning resignation letter from the board of directors, the 94-year-old condemned the group’s shift from focusing on mothering to ‘indulging the fantasies of adults’.

An emotional President Joe Biden was guided onstage as he attended a plaque unveiling Monday for his late son Major Beau Biden marking Veterans Day. The president traveled back to Delaware Monday afternoon, with the White House giving no information about why he was making the trek home after spending the weekend away at Rehoboth Beach. On-site he was spotted giving a smooch on the lips to sister Valerie Biden and hugging Beau’s widow Hallie – who famously dated Hunter Biden after Beau’s death from brain cancer in 2015.