Trump chaos
Living and dying by the sword Archaeologists discover ‘guardian’ at Angkor Wat
than his predecessor, Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and son-inlaw and senior adviser Jared Kushner — both of whom advocated for Kelly to be hired — have expressed their willingness to support any structural changes Kelly might make, according to a White House official. Sanders confirmed that they, too, will report to Kelly, as will all other officials.
A Kelly-led senior staff meeting was well received, said people close to the White House who described aides as feeling optimistic that he might create stability in the West Wing.
“He’s an adult and a disciplinarian,” said Barry Bennett, who was a Trump campaign adviser. “He walks in with respect. I don’t think people will go to war with him.”
But Kelly is planning to bring at least one senior adviser from Homeland Security with him to the White House. There are signs that these new hires may be met with a chilly reception, two people familiar with the matter said, raising questions about who will hold influence in a White House overloaded with aides competing for influence. The White House has for months been dominated by warring factions.
Trump was eager to move beyond the criticism that his six months in office have been marked by tumult and dysfunction.
As the dust settled on the latest staff turnover, he tweeted: “A great day at the White House!” Anthony Scaramucci’s spell as White House communications director was the shortest and perhaps the most tumultuous in history.
In an ultimate example of living by the sword and dying by it, Scaramucci rose to stratospheric prominence before being summarily dispatched by his boss, President Donald Trump, with utter ruthlessness after just 11 days.
White House insiders said Trump had lost confidence and been “concerned” after Scaramucci launched a foul-mouthed tirade to a journalist in which he lambasted other senior administration figures. Trump was also said to have been annoyed by Scaramucci’s seemingly unstoppable rise to celebrity, achieving an international media profile that in recent days had rivalled the President’s own. One person close to the Administration said: “There is only one star in the White House”.
Nicknamed “The Mooch” by friends and “Gucci Scaramucci” by former President George W. Bush, the multi-millionaire former hedge fund boss was plastered across US tabloids in recent days. Revelations included that he was in the midst of a divorce from his second wife who was reported to have filed divorce papers while pregnant with their child, who was born last week.
Scaramucci’s road to the White House had been a long one after he was initially slated for a role in January. He was blackballed then by Reince Priebus, Trump’s first chief of staff. But this month Priebus’s star waned. His friend Sean Spicer was pushed out of being press secretary, and Scaramucci was brought in as communications director.
Recent revelations about Scaramucci’s self-promotion included that he paid a reported US$100,000 for a small part in Wall
He was in two scenes totalling 15 seconds. Archaeologists excavating a site at Cambodia's sprawling Angkor Wat temple complex have unearthed a massive statue thought to be the symbolic ‘guardian' of an ancient hospital.
The team, including experts from Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, discovered the 1.9m-tall, 58cm-wide statue on Sunday, according the Apsara Authority, the government agency that oversees the project.
Experts estimate the ancient hospital site dates back to a period between eight and nine centuries ago, and the remarkable artifact is now said to be one of the largest statues from the era to be unearthed in recent years.
The large statue was discovered by accident by a team studying the relationship between the canal and the ancient hospital, according to Apsara Authority.
It’s missing both of its feet, with the right leg ending just before the ankle, while the left leg ends near the bottom of the thigh.
And both arms are missing just below the shoulders.
The statue was found buried 40cm under the ground, and will be put on public exhibition in the museum in the northwestern province of Siem Reap, where Angkor is located.
The agency said the statue, believed to be from the 12th or 13 century, is thought to have been a symbolic guardian of the entrance of a hospital built during the reign of Jayavarman VII.
In late 2011, archaeologists at the temple complex unearthed the two largest Buddhist statues found there in eight decades.
Angkor was the capital of the Khmer Empire, which flourished from approximately the 9th to 15th centuries.
Large numbers of architectural and religious artifacts have been looted from there and sold overseas, while others were buried for safekeeping during a civil war in the 1970s.
Researchers have turned to more advanced techniques to study the collapsing monuments of Angkor Wat. Using radar and satellite imagery, researchers can see how changes in groundwater are causing the widespread decay of
these unique monuments.