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Student Complex, Massey University Turitea Campus, Palmerston North

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Corner Trafalgar and Hardy Street, PO Box 933, Nelson 7010

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Orbit World Travel

Orbit World Travel is the region’s leading provider of business travel services. Locally owned and operated, your local travel experts with global knowledge. We know that when it comes to business travel, you don’t want to be thinking about where you need to be, but rather why you’re there.

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• https://www.orbit.co.nz/

That’s why our dedicated team work hard to form enduring partnerships that provide you with seamless and efficient travel and event management solutions. 

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Sales Department Mon-Sat : 8:00am - 5:00pm Sunday is closed

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From past to future, Blockwood Auto allow us to do more than just visit – they open a word where can learn understand and experience culture and heritage up close and personal.

Blockwood Auto guide us through beach towns,factories,historical attractions and amazing displays of natural beauty. There are tours that impart knowledge and culture,tour that take us down the road less traveled and tours where what you eat and drink is as important as the places you stop.

Whether by land water or air Michigan tours are sure to surprise and delight while showcasing the local heritage and hospitality that welcomes visitors to our state. Discover the hidden gems of and let Blockwood Auto be your guide.

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Orbit World Travel Nelson

House of travel nelson ltd.

Hello and welcome to Orbit World Travel. To find out about our background we need to take a look all the way back to 1994, when our Founding Partner and Director, Lisa Story, took a calculated leap purchasing what was then a Westpac Travel office in Sydney’s Double Bay.

This modest single office was where Orbit World Travel (formerly World Travel Professionals) was established. The business quickly grew with offices opening in Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and the Gold Coast.

So successful was this venture that in 2013 the House of Travel Group saw an opportunity to expand their Orbit Travel corporate brand in Australia and invested in the business. In 2016 Orbit Travel in New Zealand and World Travel Professionals rebranded to form Orbit World Travel, becoming the largest privately owned corporate travel company in Australasia.

Our growth didn’t stop there, in 2019 we joined the Travel Leaders Network, further expanding our global reach… and then the pandemic hit. We’re using the valuable lessons learnt during this time to build an even stronger business for our people, clients, suppliers and shareholders.

We’re bringing together technology, machine learning and human expertise in a proactive approach to the travel management sector. Offering you the most rewarding and least stressful way to travel in today’s new world.

We continue to be led by Lisa Story and Michael Chase-Smith, along with our Leadership Team and supported by the People you’ve come to know over the past three decades.

Our Vision is at the forefront of everything we do… creating a world where travel is seamlessly simple. And our values underpin our decision making, employee recognition and engagement programmes, and make us who we are: Outstanding, Resourceful, Brave, Integrity-filled and Teamwork-driven.

At Orbit World Travel, we believe in better business – together.

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Staff Spotlight Series

Orbit Careers

If you don’t see what you’re after, feel free to send your resume through to our People Team. We’re always on the lookout for new and talented people to join our team.

Orbit Groups & Events are looking for a group travel consultant, specialising in sports.  The successful candidate will work on a variety of sporting codes, both domestic and internationally. The successful applicant will require experience in this specialised sector and have the ability to liaise with our preferred travel providers (airlines, hotel and rental car providers etc.).

You will be dynamic, motivated, and share the company's commitment to delivering outstanding customer service every time.

The portfolio is diverse with a combination of corporate, association and leisure groups.    While fulltime is preferred, part-time applicants will be considered (as will remote candidates).

What we are looking for:

• At least 2-3 years group travel experience
• A flexible work approach
• Ability to prioritise and meet deadlines as required
• Excellent communication and organisational skills
• Exceptional time management and attention to detail are essential
• High level of administration and computer skills
• Proven GDS Experience – Amadeus preferred
• Previous experience with Tramada an asset

Our people are our greatest asset and our goal is to be an employer of choice. In return for your valuable contribution, we offer a fun and people focused culture, competitive remuneration, career progression and a supportive working environment where your expertise and ideas will be highly valued.

If this sounds like you, and you are looking for a new and exciting challenge, please apply by sending a covering letter and CV through to [email protected]

The Orbit Australian Team is proudly Australia’s largest privately owned Travel Management Company. Our dedicated team are passionate and have an absolute focus on ensuring our clients succeed.

We offer a hybrid work environment with office hubs for days to collaborate, meet clients, attend 1 on 1s and meetings.

We are looking for motivated individuals who are passionate about travel, have a can-do attitude, and pride themselves on going the extra mile for clients, by providing them with excellent customer service.

You will have:

• A minimum of 2 years’ experience providing travel solutions to corporate clients
• Enthusiasm to provide outstanding customer service
• Knowledge of travel products and a proven sales record
• A high level of attention to detail and time management skills
• Ability to work well under pressure and keep your cool during peak periods
• A positive outlook and passion to achieve great results, and will be a strong team player

In return we can provide:

• A competitive remuneration package where we recognise hard work.
• A supportive team environment where we work hard but have fun!
• In-house training, providing you with support and loads of opportunity to develop your skill set.
• Hybrid working model.

We often have roles available and encourage interested candidates to express interest by emailing; [email protected] .

• A minimum of 5 years’ experience providing travel solutions to leisure clients
• Ideally knowledge of travel products and a proven sales record

Want to do better business, together?

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Launch your career with Orbit World Travel

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Watch your career take off with Orbit

Want a career that's going places?

We're known for hiring the best, and we are now dusting off after two years of a global pandemic and excited as the border opens allowing us to get back to what we do best.

As a member of our market-leading team you can expect amazing travel benefits, a creative staff culture and diverse and challenging daily work and fantastic clients.

Our Core Values

Act with Integrity

Operate as One

Customer First

As a member of our highly professional market-leading team, you’ll enjoy:

• Fantastic travel benefits and incentives
• A fun and creative staff culture
• Opportunities for career development
• Continuous training, support and mentoring
• Variety and challenge in your daily work.

About Orbit World Travel

Our vision is to be the travel management company of choice for business, through building partnerships and delivering effective travel and event management solutions that are creative, innovative and future-focused. Orbit World Travel began in 2001, and is now New Zealand’s largest travel management company. With nine New Zealand offices, six in Australia, and consultants dotted around the world, Orbit has you covered no matter where you are travelling. Orbit is an industry leader with annual sales of over $500 million and over 1,000 clients spanning across a large range of sectors and industries.

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David Ignatius’s ‘Phantom Orbit’ is a twisty, believable spy novel

The latest novel by the Washington Post writer draws back the curtain and shows how the deliberatively murky world of intelligence and espionage really works.

“Phantom Orbit,” the latest spy thriller from Washington Post foreign affairs columnist David Ignatius, has all the trademarks of his beloved books. There’s lots of inside baseball (no doubt supplied by the senior officials in the defense and intelligence worlds he thanks in the acknowledgments) and topics ripped from today’s headlines: threats to the GPS system and satellites; a renewal of the “Great Powers” struggle with Russia and China; allegations of widespread sexual harassment at the CIA; and, of course, covid. As with all Ignatius’s novels, “Phantom Orbit” draws back the curtain and shows how the deliberatively murky world of intelligence and espionage really works.

The novel opens with a tantalizing prologue in which Russian scientist Ivan Volkov tries to pass a dangerous secret about U.S. satellite systems to the CIA. The agency, suspicious of his intentions, seems to ignore him and so, in desperation, he contacts an American woman he once knew and suspected of being a spy, in the hope that she can make the powers-that-be listen.

We then learn what happened in the preceding decades. Volkov has the bad luck to come of age in Russia in the years surrounding the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He’s a brilliant math nerd who wants to pursue a PhD at a time when everything is in flux: The Soviet system is in tatters, and the new rules are still being written. When he can no longer afford Moscow State University, he accepts a scholarship from Tsinghua University in Beijing, where he is quickly noticed by professor and Party power player, Cao Lin. Volkov is steered toward a career in aerospace, specifically satellite operations. He knows he’s being groomed to be useful to the Chinese physicist, but as a Russian, is used to being manipulated. At the same time, he’s being watched by a Russian intelligence officer, who wants Volkov in his pocket for his own purposes.

Ignatius fleshes out other characters, adding depth to the narrative. Cao Lin, for instance, has over the years become a shadowy figure in the Chinese government, heading a “special committee” for the powerful Central Military Commission. He furthers the government’s capabilities through any means possible, recruiting useful foreigners along the way. And then there’s Edith Ryan, the young American CIA officer with whom Volkov fell in love in his youth. After they part ways, we see her early career at the agency, her transition out of clandestine service to analysis and, eventually, to the Directorate of Science and Technology, where she becomes a specialist in satellites. After she retires from the government, she makes a sideways move to private industry in support of the intelligence community. And it’s at this point that we understand what the threat is, the nefarious plot that Volkov and Ryan must work together to overcome.

The story is entertaining and informative — but is it, as billed, a thriller? Thriller readers have come to expect breathless, page-a-minute writing that propels them through a dizzying, multilayered plot. Of course, in real life stories don’t unfold that way, and, as someone who has worked in U.S. intelligence, I know that spy stories certainly do not. Events unfold in more of a slow burn. To be sure, Ignatius has written an interesting novel, peopled it with rich, believable characters and built a wholly realistic plot. He’s chosen to tell the story chronologically, which well serves the content — different storylines, lots of moving pieces, technical subject matter, backstory that enriches readers’ grasp of the stakes — but sacrifices tension. And that’s a luxury today’s thriller writers generally aren’t allowed.

Then throw in the accessible explanations of math and science necessary for readers to understand the vulnerabilities inherent in satellites, and well, you can see what an ambitious novel it is. It’s one well worth reading. Still, though it may seem like a small thing, I wish they’d take the word “thriller” off the cover and replace it with “novel.”

Alma Katsu worked for more than 30 years in government intelligence. She is the author of the spy thrillers “Red Widow” and “Red London,” and her serialized story, “The Spy Who Vanished,” will be published in July.

Phantom Orbit

By David Ignatius

W.W. Norton. 384 pp. $29.99

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

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Author Interviews

'washington post' columnist david ignatius releases 12th novel: 'phantom orbit'.

NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with journalist and novelist David Ignatius, whose latest novel is a thriller about an invisible enemy that could disrupt the satellite signals central to our daily lives.

Copyright © 2024 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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"Extreme" G5 geomagnetic storm reaches Earth, NOAA says, following "unusual" solar event

By Li Cohen

Updated on: May 11, 2024 / 8:32 PM EDT / CBS News

An "extreme" G5 geomagnetic storm reached Earth on Friday, NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center said , after issuing a watch earlier in the day warning of the potential for a severe impact. 

The watch followed days of solar activity that sent several explosions of plasma and magnetic fields toward Earth. 

G5 is the strongest level of geomagnetic storm , on a scale from G1 to G5. 

"Widespread voltage control problems and protective system problems can occur," NOAA warns. "Some grid systems may experience complete collapse or blackouts. Transformers may experience damage." 

Radio transmissions and satellite navigation may also be disrupted.

The last G5 geomagnetic storm, in October 2003, caused power outages in Sweden and damaged transformers in South Africa.

A geomagnetic storm also means aurora borealis , otherwise known as the northern lights , could be seen as far south as Alabama and in Northern California. 

Earlier, NOAA had issued its first watch for a potential G4-level geomagnetic storm in almost 20 years. "If geomagnetic storms were hurricanes, 'severe' would be category 4," SpaceWeather.com says. 

In a press release on Thursday, NOAA said the most recent series of solar events started on May 8, when a large cluster of sunspots produced "several moderate to strong solar flares." Solar flares are bursts of radiation known to be the solar system's largest explosive events, according to NASA. The area where the flares are occurring is 16 times the diameter of Earth, the NOAA said, and more solar activity is expected. 

That sunspot is so big you may be able to see it with your own eyes  — with your solar eclipse glasses. The spot is known as AR3664 , and it was responsible for most of the geomagnetic activity Friday, the NOAA reported. According to Space.com, it measures about 124,000 miles across and is one of the "largest and most active sunspots seen this solar cycle." 

The NOAA reported that a strong solar flare was observed peaking from AR3664 at 9:23 p.m. Eastern Time Friday. 

"Flares of this magnitude are not frequent," the prediction center said . 

Still have your solar eclipse glasses? There's currently a sunspot so large you will be able to "spot" it while wearing them 15x wider than the earth! pic.twitter.com/XpQJEd4Qk0 — Eric Fisher (@ericfisher) May 9, 2024

There has also been a series of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are explosions of plasma  and magnetic fields that come out of the sun's corona, the outermost part of the sun's atmosphere. At least five CMEs appear directed toward Earth and could arrive as early as midday on Friday and persist through Sunday, the agency said. 

"This is an unusual event," NOAA said.

In a call with reporters on Friday, Shawn Dahl, service coordinator at the Space Weather Prediction Center, said that some CMEs "are catching up with other ones." He said officials are expecting a "big shock arrival" when they hit Earth. Dahl said at the time that while officials weren't predicting a G5 storm — the strongest of geomagnetic storms — they couldn't discount a "low-end G5 event."

"We're really buckling down here," Brent Gordon, chief of the space weather services branch, also said on the call.

G4 conditions were detected by Friday afternoon, marking a "major disturbance in Earth's magnetic field," NOAA said, adding that "the public should stay properly informed of storm progression."  

In a forecast discussion at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center said that solar activity is expected to continue at "high to very high levels" through the weekend, with additional solar flares expected, including X-class flares , the most powerful class of solar flares.

As of Friday afternoon, NOAA said it had observed a moderate solar radiation storm that could expose people in high-flying aircraft to "elevated radiation risk" and cause infrequent issues with satellite operations. 

Radio blackouts have also been detected with an R3 designation, meaning that the blackouts were "strong" on a scale from R1 (minor) to R5 (extreme). At this level, wide blackouts of HF radio communication is expected, as well as loss of radio contact, for about an hour on the sunlit side of Earth, as low-frequency navigation signals decline for roughly an hour. 

"Geomagnetic storms can impact infrastructure in near-Earth orbit and on Earth's surface, potentially disrupting communications, the electric power grid, navigation, radio and satellite operations," NOAA said. "[The Space Weather Prediction Center] has notified the operators of these systems so they can take protective action."

Dahl agreed Friday that the event is "pretty extraordinary" and said that it could impact infrastructure, including high-voltage transmission lines of the power grid. Dahl said that infrastructure operators have been notified to adequately prepare. 

This is the first time a storm watch has been issued for a G4 since January 2005. There is an average of 100 severe geomagnetic storms every solar cycle, but so far, there have only been three observed in the most recent cycle that began in December 2019. The most recent occurred on March 23. 

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Li Cohen is a social media producer and trending content writer for CBS News.

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• In Memoriam ...

On April 23, the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System  CubeSat mission launched successfully aboard an Electron rocket launched by Rocket Lab and carried Ames’ payload from Māhia, New Zealand. The CubeSat was subsequently delivered to a Sun-synchronous orbit around Earth.

Ames has pioneered the use of CubeSats and small satellites to run innovative, cost-effective missions and test technologies in space, providing leadership in cost-effective spaceflight missions for NASA.

Under the auspices of STMD’s Small Spacecraft Technology Program, the  Advanced Composite Solar Sail System  mission demonstrates next-generation solar sail technology for small interplanetary spacecraft. It will test a new way of navigating our solar system when the mission’s CubeSat hoists its sail into space – not to catch the wind, but the propulsive power of sunlight. This technology could advance future space travel and expand our understanding of our Sun and solar system. 

Recently, NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) established a research transition team to guide the development of wildland fire technology. 

Wildland fires are occurring more frequently and at a larger scale than in past decades, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Emergency responders will need a broader set of technologies to prevent, monitor, and fight these growing fires more effectively. Under this Wildland Fire Airspace Operations research transition team, NASA and the FAA will develop concepts and test new technologies to improve airspace integration. 

Current aerial firefighting operations are limited to times when aircraft have clear visibility – otherwise pilots run the risk of flying into terrain or colliding with other aircraft. Drones could overcome this limitation by enabling responders to remotely monitor and suppress these fires during nighttime and low visibility conditions, such as periods of heavy smoke. However, advanced airspace management technologies are needed to enable these uncrewed aircraft to stay safely separated and allow aircraft operators to maintain situational awareness during wildland fire management response operations. 

Over the next four years, NASA’s Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations ( ACERO ) project, in collaboration with the FAA, will work to develop new airspace access and traffic management concepts and technologies to support wildland fire operations. These advancements will help inform a concept of operations for the future of wildland fire management under development by NASA and other government agencies. The team will test and validate uncrewed aircraft technologies for use by commercial industry and government agencies, paving the way for integrating them into future wildland fire operations.  

ACERO is led out of NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley under the agency’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. 

“Every time I help with visualizing [ocean] simulation data, I learn about an entirely new area of ocean or climate research, and I’m reminded of how vast and rich this area of research is. And…the real magic happens at the intersection and interaction of simulated and observed data.

It is a great honor – and a thrill – to collaborate with devoted, world-class scientists doing such important, cutting-edge research and sometimes to even help them learn something new about their science.”

— Dr. Nina McCurdy , a data visualization scientist with the  NASA Advanced Supercomputing division  at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley

by Abigail Tabor

The challenges of working on the surface of the Moon are at the center of a facility at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. The  Lunar Lab and Regolith Testbeds  help scientists and engineers – from NASA and industry alike – study how well science instruments, robots, and people might be able to safely work, manipulate, navigate, and traverse the tough lunar terrain. On March 7, three visitors from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg – Deputy Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, Minister of the Economy Lex Delles, and Ambassador to the United States Nicole Bintner – learned more about the work happening here. 

During the visit, lunar rock and crater features crafted from lunar soil, or regolith, simulant were lit by harsh, low-angle illumination to  simulate sunlight conditions  at the Moon’s poles. Members of the  VIPER  mission (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) discussed their work testing optical sensors at the lab for NASA’s water-hunting Moon rover. Engineering versions of VIPER’s hazard-avoidance cameras and  lighting system , tested in the facility, were also on display. The lab is managed by NASA’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute ( SSERVI ). 

The Regolith Testbeds enable research applicable to places beyond our Moon as well, including Mercury, asteroids, and regolith-covered moons like Mars’ Phobos. 

Luxembourg was one of the first nations to sign the  Artemis Accords  and has taken steps to enable commercial space exploration. At Ames, the visitors learned about the center’s support of NASA’s  Artemis  exploration goals, including with VIPER, agency supercomputing resources, and the development of advanced tools for lunar operations. 

Choosing a major can be intimidating, so finding Liberal Studies was perfect for community-centered Maria Lopez, deputy operations manager for the NASA Ames Exchange.  Maria was interviewed by the Puente Project, a mission to increase the number of educationally underrepresented students who enroll in four-year colleges and universities, as part of the “Puente Major 2 Career Video Series.” The Major 2 Career video series, which is on YouTube, focuses on different majors. The project highlights various professionals’ journey from college to their career.  The premise is to feature two professionals who earned the same bachelor’s degrees but following different professions to show the range and opportunities to first-generation college bound students currently at the middle school, high school, and community college levels.

Maria highlighted how she landed on Liberal Studies after trying a few majors, the challenges she faced along the way, and her unexpected and exciting career with NASA.  She started out in STEM education and has supported the NASA mission in different roles with the technical publications office, international office, protocol office, and the office of diversity and equal opportunity.  Maria shares an array of mission enabling positions with NASA and how NASA fuels her passion for celebrating culture and community outreach.  In the video, she demonstrates by example that NASA is within reach and inspires students to pursue their dreams.

Watch and learn more about Maria’s journey!

Ames Office of Communications (OComm) supported a NASA exhibits booth at the California Academy of Sciences Nightlife festivities on the evening of Feb. 29, in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. About a third of the 2,000 plus attendees interacted with the NASA booth and presenters, experiencing many high-quality interactions with many of the attendees. The QUESST (NASA’s mission to demonstrate how the X-59 can fly supersonic without generating loud sonic booms), VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover), Artemis, Orion missions were discussed and many attendees were asked if they’d like to send their names with VIPER on its upcoming launch. Hillary Smith of OComm is seen below interacting with visitors at the event.

On April 13 and 14, the Office of Communications team members facilitated VIPER’s (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) subject matter experts Vandana Jay and Hans Thomas who interacted with audiences at LEGOLand Bay Area in Miliptas, California. The experts worked alongside “master builders” supplied by LEGOLand to help younger engineers design and test moon rovers of their own creation, creating a fun engineering challenge. During the day, the team interacted with about 80 families and close to 500 individual attendees. See below for photos from the event.

In Memoriam …

Dr. Anna McHargue (Colonel, USAF, Ret.) passed away peacefully on March 26, 2024, at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Palo Alto, California. Hospital staff honored her with a brief ceremony for passing veterans, which her close friends attended. 

Dr. McHargue began her higher education at Murray State University in Kentucky, graduating in 1956 and eventually being selected as Distinguished Alumna. She pursued her medical degree at the University of Louisville School of Medicine in Kentucky, at a time when women were not very welcome in the field. She persevered and finished at the top of her class in 1962. She chose not to specialize in obstetrics and gynecology until later at the Stanford University Hospital, where she was a faculty member from 1974-1980. She practiced in the specialty for several years in Oakland and in Redwood City, California, and became a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.  

She served in the United States Air Force (USAF), joining in 1966, was promoted to colonel, and was trained as an aviation medical examiner qualified to perform Federal Aviation Administration flight physicals. She enjoyed flying all over the world with transport aircraft crews on military and humanitarian missions. In the USAF Reserves, she was named the 1999 and 2000 Flight Surgeon of the Year by the 312th Airlift Squadron. She retired in 2001 after 25 years of service.  

From 1989-2020, she served as a part-time physician at the Health Unit at NASA’s Ames Research Center. Ultimately, she dedicated herself to the field of medicine for 58 years. Dr. McHargue was actively involved in the Church of the Advent as a deacon and on the Board of Trustees of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.  

Her funeral service and internment are planned at her hometown in Kentucky. Friends can donate and send condolences online to:

Dignity Memorial . 

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The 54 Celebrities, Executives and Allies on Trump’s ‘Close Contacts’ List

The list included the media tycoon Rupert Murdoch and other Fox News figures, along with sports stars like Tom Brady and Serena Williams.

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By Maggie Haberman ,  Claire Fahy and Wesley Parnell

Reporting from inside the courthouse

• Published May 10, 2024 Updated May 14, 2024, 12:05 p.m. ET

Follow our live coverage of Trump’s hush-money trial in Manhattan.

Bret Baier. Jeanine Pirro. Tom Brady. And Michael D. Cohen.

Those were among the dozens of names — celebrities, politicians, media personalities, relatives and more — that emerged at Donald J. Trump’s trial, when prosecutors displayed a list of the former president’s “close contacts” prepared by his former gatekeeper.

Included on the list were people whom Mr. Trump spoke to often or might have wanted to speak to around the time he took office following the 2016 election, a former White House staffer testified.

The list offered a clear look at the kind of celebrity-filled orbit Mr. Trump was interested in maintaining, one comprising people Mr. Trump had in many cases known for decades, some of whom looked at him differently after the election.

It was not clear how often any of the particular contacts were in touch with Mr. Trump, whose longtime assistant prepared the partial list and sent it to the White House gatekeeper, Madeleine Westerhout, after he became president in 2017.

But in questioning Ms. Westerhout last week, prosecutors focused on two names on the list, both of them people who have testified that they were instrumental in helping to orchestrate the hush-money payment that is at the center of the trial: David Pecker, the former publisher of The National Enquirer; and Michael Cohen, Mr. Trump’s former fixer and the prosecution’s star witness.

Fox News’s chief political anchor and Mr. Trump have had an up-and-down relationship, but Mr. Trump relied on the network throughout his presidency for positive coverage.

Thomas J. Barrack Jr.

A private equity investor and close ally of Mr. Trump, Mr. Barrack also served as his adviser .

Maryanne Trump Barry

Mr. Trump’s older sister, who died last year , was a federal judge in New Jersey until the Trump family’s tax practices came under scrutiny in 2019 and she was pressured into an early retirement.

Bill Belichick

The president once read a note of congratulations from Mr. Belichick , the longtime New England Patriots coach, aloud at one of his rallies.

Tom Bennison

An executive at a company that owns private golf clubs, Mr. Bennison told The Dallas Morning News in 2016 that he had played more than 100 rounds of golf with Mr. Trump.

Pete Bevacqua

The chief executive of the P.G.A. tour held tour events at Mr. Trump’s golf courses.

The former Florida attorney general and White House adviser was long an ally of Mr. Trump. The president, through his nonprofit foundation, donated in 2013 to Ms. Bondi’s re-election campaign for attorney general .

The now-retired quarterback displayed a Make America Great Again hat in his locker when he was a star for the New England Patriots.

Skip Bronson

A businessman and real estate developer, Mr. Bronson wrote the book “The War at the Shore: Donald Trump, Steve Wynn, and the Epic Battle to Save Atlantic City.”

Mika Brzezinski

The MSNBC host and the former president had a “ roller-coaster relationship ” throughout his rise in politics, which culminated in June 2017 when then-President Trump attacked Ms. Brzezinski in a series of early-morning tweets.

Mark Burnett

The television producer is responsible for shaping Mr. Trump’s public image as a strategic businessman by developing the Trump-led competition show “The Apprentice.”

Matt Calamari

A senior executive at the Trump Organization, Mr. Calamari rose through the ranks at the Trump family company, starting out as a bodyguard before eventually becoming the chief operating officer.

Michael Cohen

As Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer, Mr. Cohen paid hush money to Stormy Daniels , the porn star at the heart of the falsified business records case against Mr. Trump.

Sheri Dillon

As a lawyer for the Trump Organization, Ms. Dillon oversaw the transfer of Mr. Trump’s assets into a trust when he won the White House — a move that left questions about whether the president would still personally profit from the organization during his time in office.

Ari Emanuel

The brother of Chicago’s former mayor Rahm Emanuel, Mr. Emanuel is a well-known talent agent who was close to David Pecker , the publisher of The National Enquirer and a close friend of Mr. Trump.

David Friedman

A bankruptcy lawyer-turned-Israel-ambassador during the Trump administration, he left his post in 2021 after entirely overhauling White House policy toward the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Jerry Falwell Jr.

He led the influential evangelical Liberty University during President Trump’s first term before being caught up in a sex scandal in 2020 .

Mike Fascitelli

A former partner at Goldman Sachs and chief executive at Vornado Realty who was also an investor in the start-up founded by Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner .

Alan Garten

Another lawyer for the Trump Organization who defended Mr. Trump during an investigation into his taxes.

Larry Glick

An executive vice president of the Trump Organization.

Rhona Graff

The former personal assistant to Mr. Trump for almost three decades, Ms. Graff saw her role expanded to include many high profile positions : media liaison, scheduler, spokeswoman, fund-raiser, co-star on “The Apprentice” and Miss Teen USA judge.

Sean Hannity

The Fox News host was an occasional confidant and sounding board for Mr. Trump during his presidency.

Steve Hilbert

An insurance industry executive from Indiana who helped connect Mr. Trump with his eventual vice president , Mike Pence.

A billionaire investor who served as a special adviser to President Trump before he quit in 2017 after an investigation revealed his conflicts of interest .

Marc Kasowitz

A longtime lawyer for Mr. Trump who served as his outside counsel while he was in the White House.

A conservative news anchor and co-host of the financial morning news program “Squawk Box” on CNBC.

Charles Kushner

The father of Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and close adviser, Jared Kushner, was pardoned by the president in January 2021 . Mr. Kushner served two years in prison for tax evasion and other charges.

Richard LeFrak

A New York real estate titan and longtime friend of Mr. Trump.

Harvey Levin

The founder of the gossip news site TMZ, who once interviewed Mr. Trump for a Fox News special and was then granted an Oval Office meeting shortly after he took office.

Randy Levine

The president of the New York Yankees baseball team and a longtime associate of the former president.

Howard Lorber

An investor and the chief executive of the holding company Vector Group who was an early supporter of Mr. Trump’s run for the presidency and worked as an economic adviser to the campaign .

Shawn McCabe

The general manager of Trump Florida Properties.

John Meyers

The contact list describes Mr. Meyers as the chairman of “AG Asset Mgmt.” It is not clear what relationship he has with Mr. Trump.

Lorne Michaels

The creator and producer of N.B.C.’s “Saturday Night Live,” a frequent thorn in Mr. Trump’s side .

Amanda Miller

A spokeswoman for the Trump Organization.

Steven Mnuchin

A financier and Hollywood executive whom President Trump named his Treasury secretary , despite his lack of government experience.

Rupert Murdoch

The media tycoon’s decades-long, up-and-down relationship with Mr. Trump improved ahead of the 2016 election. After Mr. Trump took office, Mr. Murdoch called the White House at least once a week.

Jack Nicklaus

A golf champion who publicly supported Mr. Trump during his run for the White House.

John Nieporte

The head golf professional at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Bill O’Reilly

The conservative commentator, who was a mainstay on Fox News until a sexual misconduct scandal forced him to resign in 2017, was a loyal friend of Mr. Trump’s throughout his ascension to the presidency. Mr. Trump regularly appeared on Mr. O’Reilly’s prime time show.

David Pecker

The former publisher of the National Enquirer, he testified at the beginning of Mr. Trump’s trial that he paid for Karen McDougal’s story of a tryst with Mr. Trump in order to bury it.

Nelson Peltz

The billionaire investor and businessman was a key Republican donor who raised millions for Mr. Trump. Mr. Peltz stopped supporting Mr. Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, but recently told The Financial Times that he would vote for him in 2024 .

Isaac Perlmutter

The former chairman of Marvel Entertainment is a Mar-a-Lago member and Trump donor.

Jeanine Pirro

A Fox News host and former district attorney in Westchester County, her ex-husband, Al Pirro, had been a lobbyist for Mr. Trump’s business interests decades earlier. She has attended some sessions of Mr. Trump’s trial.

Lou Rinaldi

The contact list describes Mr. Rinaldi only as a “politician,” though it is not clear what office he might have held. A man by the same name appears to have won golf tournaments at Mr. Trump’s country club in Westchester.

Phil Ruffin

The casino magnate and a big-time donor to Mr. Trump’s campaigns is an owner of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas .

Joe Scarborough

The co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and a former Republican congressman who was close to Donald Trump before a public falling-out in 2017.

George Sorial

The managing director of the Trump Organization and a lawyer for Mr. Trump who wrote “The Real Deal: My Decade Fighting Battles and Winning Wars With Trump.”

Robert Trump

The president’s younger brother, who died in 2020, was described by Mr. Trump as his “best friend.” They were estranged for years before Mr. Trump made his run for the White House.

Tiffany Trump

Mr. Trump’s youngest daughter, and only child with his ex-wife Marla Maples, was a student at Georgetown Law School during her father’s presidency.

The longtime president of the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council , whose members worked in Trump-associated hotels.

Allen Weisselberg

A longtime executive at Mr. Trump’s family business, he pleaded guilty to perjury in another case involving Mr. Trump, and is currently serving a five-month prison sentence .

Serena Williams

The tennis star who once faced off against Mr. Trump on the court for the opening of a tennis facility at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va. During testimony in Mr. Trump’s trial, a former aide claimed the two “ frequently spoke. ”

A billionaire former casino mogul and former business rival of Mr. Trump who stepped down from his casino empire and his position as finance chairman of the Republican National Committee after he was revealed to have a long history of sexual assault and harassment .

Who Are Key Players in the Trump Manhattan Criminal Trial?

The first criminal trial of former President Donald J. Trump is underway. Take a closer look at central figures related to the case.

An earlier version of this article misstated who was paid by David Pecker, the former publisher of The National Enquirer, to bury her story. It was Karen McDougal, not Stormy Daniels.

How we handle corrections

Maggie Haberman is a senior political correspondent reporting on the 2024 presidential campaign, down ballot races across the country and the investigations into former President Donald J. Trump. More about Maggie Haberman

Claire Fahy reports on New York City and the surrounding area for The Times. She can be reached at [email protected]. More about Claire Fahy

Our Coverage of the Trump Hush-Money Trial

News and Analysis

On the first day of his testimony , Michael Cohen, the one-time fixer for Donald Trump and the star witness at his trial , discussed how Trump urged him to buy the silence of Stormy Daniels  late in the 2016 campaign.

With no cameras recording Trump’s trial, cable news anchors and producers are improvising to animate dramatic moments  like Cohen’s testimony.

Senator J.D. Vance, an Ohio Republican who is in the mix to be Trump’s running mate, joined the former president’s entourage in court  as Cohen took the stand.

More on Trump’s Legal Troubles

Key Inquiries: Trump faces several investigations  at both the state and the federal levels, into matters related to his business and political careers.

Case Tracker:  Keep track of the developments in the criminal cases  involving the former president.

What if Trump Is Convicted?: Could he go to prison ? And will any of the proceedings hinder Trump’s presidential campaign? Here is what we know , and what we don’t know .

Trump on Trial Newsletter: Sign up here  to get the latest news and analysis  on the cases in New York, Florida, Georgia and Washington, D.C.

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UArizona places among top 0.5% of world universities in CWUR rankings

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British Columbia ‘extremely concerned’ as wildfire threatens to destroy town

Out-of-control Parker Lake fire, which has already forced thousands to evacuate, bears down on Fort Nelson

Officials in western Canada were bracing for “volatile wildfire activity” on Monday as an out-of-control blaze, which has already forced the evacuation of thousands, threatened to destroy a northern British Columbia town.

The province’s wildfire service said the blaze was burning just 2km (1.2 miles) north-west of Fort Nelson, which has already seen about 3,500 people evacuated from there after an order to leave was issued on Friday.

“We are facing some extremely challenging conditions up in the north,” BC’s emergency management minister, Bowinn Ma, told reporters on Monday.

In a video posted on social media late on Sunday, the fire behavior specialist Ben Boghean with the wildfire service said the extreme fire behavior – made worse by years of drought and a below-normal snowpack this past winter – could end up threatening the crews that have been fighting the Parker Lake wildfire.

In 2023, Canada witnessed a record number of wildfires that also caused choking smoke in parts of the US and forced more than 250,000 Canadians to evacuate their communities. There were no civilian casualties, but at least four firefighters died while battling the fires.

Ma said the next 48 hours will be critical for Fort Nelson, forecasted strong westerly winds and tinder-dry fuel in the forest area.

“Let’s just say we are extremely concerned,” said Ma.

Located in the far north-eastern corner of British Columbia, about 1,600km (995 miles) from the city of Vancouver, Fort Nelson and the Fort Nelson Indian Reserve have a combined population of about 3,400 people.

Rob Fraser, mayor of the Northern Rockies regional municipality, based in Fort Nelson, said fire crews and emergency workers were preparing for a “last stand” if the fire, which has grown to over 5,280 hectares, advances into the town itself.

Cliff Chapman of the BC wildfire service encouraged about 100 or 150 people left in the community to leave.

Fraser urged anyone who had previously defied the order to leave immediately, warning that local resources such as water pressure and electricity may diminish or stop outright for public use since much of the supply will be directed to support firefighters trying to suppress the wildfire.

Ma, said on Sunday night the province was setting up an additional space with 200 rooms in Sunset Prairie, a community 440km south of Fort Nelson (273 miles), to supplement limited accommodations for evacuees.

The blaze is one of several out-of-control wildfires in western Canada threatening nearby communities in provinces such as Alberta and Manitoba.

“The wind is going to be sustained and it is going to push the fire towards the community,” Chapman, BC wildfire’s director of operations, warned in Sunday night’s update video about the fire threatening Fort Nelson.

“Escape routes may be compromised and visibility will be poor as the fire continues to grow,” he said.

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Fires are also burning near Fort McMurray and Grande Prairie in Alberta, while officials in Manitoba have evacuated about 500 people from the community of Cranberry Portage, some 700km (434 miles) north-west of Winnipeg.

The regional municipality of Wood Buffalo in north-eastern Alberta has maintained an alert for Fort McMurray residents to be ready to evacuate on short notice, as the fire located about 16km (10 miles) to the south-west has reached 55 sq km (22 miles) in size.

Smoke from the fires have prompted air-quality alerts spanning from BC to Manitoba.

Despite the warnings for people in Fort McMurray to be ready to flee at a moment’s notice, schools there were still open on Monday.

Both the public and Catholic school divisions in Fort McMurray said they continued to monitor the situation, and that they understood some parents may not want to send their kids to school right now.

Both school divisions said that provincial achievement tests scheduled for this week were being postponed.

Blazes in western Manitoba have forced residents near the communities of Flin Flon and The Pas to evacuate. Western fires have also prompted air quality warningS in the Alberta and Saskatchewan.

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