LONDON: The southern portion of British Antarctic Territory has been named Queen Elizabeth Land in honor of the monarch’s 60 years on the throne, London announced yesterday. The announcement was made as Queen Elizabeth II attended her final diamond jubilee event with a visit to the Foreign Office, which handles Britain’s overseas territories.
The previously unnamed area now called Queen Elizabeth Land is around 437,000 square kilometers. It makes up just under a third of the British Antarctic Territory land mass and is an area almost twice the size of Britain.
“As a mark of this country’s gratitude to the Queen for her service, we are naming a part of the British Antarctic Territory in her honor as Queen Elizabeth Land,” Foreign Secretary William Hague said.
“This is a fitting tribute at the end of Her Majesty’s diamond jubilee year. “To be able to recognize the UK’s commitment to Antarctica with a permanent association with Her Majesty is a great honor.” The new name will be used on all British maps and other countries may follow suit.
The Foreign Office said the area’s boundaries were the Ronne and Filchner ice shelves to the north; Coats Land to the northeast; Dronning Maud Land to the east and to the west, a line between the South Pole and the Rutford Ice Stream, east of Constellation Inlet.
“From today, in your honor, it will be forever known as Queen Elizabeth Land,” Hague said.
British Antarctic Territory stretches from a longitude of 20 degrees to 80 degrees west. It was the first official claim in Antarctica, made in 1908. It was designated a separate overseas territory in 1962.
Argentina and Chile made later overlapping claims to the area in the 1940s, though all claims are held in abeyance under the 1959 Antarctic Treaty. Britain operates three research stations there.
It is not the first time that a patch of the icy continent has been named after Queen Elizabeth, now 86.
A sector of Australian Antarctic Territory was named Princess Elizabeth Land upon its discovery in 1931, when her grandfather King George V was on the throne.
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Britain names Antarctica section Queen Elizabeth Land
Britain names Antarctica section Queen Elizabeth Land
Trump administration says it is creating new DOJ division to tackle fraud
- Trump administration has said it is freezing funds for some states over fraud allegations
- Critics say Trump has used fraud probes to go after immigrants and political opponents
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration said on Thursday it was creating a new division at the US Department of Justice to combat what the White House called “rampant” fraud across the country.
Rights advocates and critics have said the Trump administration has used fraud allegations as an excuse to target immigrants and political opponents. They have also dismissed Trump’s ability to tackle fraud, citing pardons from Trump to those who have faced fraud convictions in the past.
“To combat the rampant and pervasive problem of fraud in the United States, the DOJ’s new division for national fraud enforcement will enforce the federal criminal and civil laws against fraud targeting federal government programs, federally funded benefits, businesses, nonprofits and private citizens nationwide,” the White House said in a statement.
In recent weeks, the Trump administration has singled out Minnesota, alleging rampant fraud is being committed by immigrants in the welfare system and social-service programs.
Trump administration officials have frequently and sharply attacked the state’s Somali community, the largest in the country. Rights and immigration advocates say Trump has exaggerated isolated examples and used those to engage in what they called federal overreach.
The assistant attorney general for the new Justice Department division will be responsible for leading the department’s efforts to investigate, prosecute and remedy fraud affecting the federal government, federally funded programs and private citizens, the White House said.
The White House said the official will advise the US attorney general and deputy attorney general “on issues involving significant, high-impact fraud investigations and prosecutions and related policy matters.”
Earlier this week, the Trump administration said it would freeze more than $10 billion in federal childcare and family assistance funds to California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York, citing what the administration called fraud concerns. The states later sued the Trump administration.
The administration has threatened federal funding cuts to organizations and states over a number of issues ranging from alleged fraud in programs in states governed by Democrats to diversity initiatives and pro-Palestinian university protests against US ally Israel’s assault on Gaza.
Rights advocates and critics have said the Trump administration has used fraud allegations as an excuse to target immigrants and political opponents. They have also dismissed Trump’s ability to tackle fraud, citing pardons from Trump to those who have faced fraud convictions in the past.
“To combat the rampant and pervasive problem of fraud in the United States, the DOJ’s new division for national fraud enforcement will enforce the federal criminal and civil laws against fraud targeting federal government programs, federally funded benefits, businesses, nonprofits and private citizens nationwide,” the White House said in a statement.
In recent weeks, the Trump administration has singled out Minnesota, alleging rampant fraud is being committed by immigrants in the welfare system and social-service programs.
Trump administration officials have frequently and sharply attacked the state’s Somali community, the largest in the country. Rights and immigration advocates say Trump has exaggerated isolated examples and used those to engage in what they called federal overreach.
The assistant attorney general for the new Justice Department division will be responsible for leading the department’s efforts to investigate, prosecute and remedy fraud affecting the federal government, federally funded programs and private citizens, the White House said.
The White House said the official will advise the US attorney general and deputy attorney general “on issues involving significant, high-impact fraud investigations and prosecutions and related policy matters.”
Earlier this week, the Trump administration said it would freeze more than $10 billion in federal childcare and family assistance funds to California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York, citing what the administration called fraud concerns. The states later sued the Trump administration.
The administration has threatened federal funding cuts to organizations and states over a number of issues ranging from alleged fraud in programs in states governed by Democrats to diversity initiatives and pro-Palestinian university protests against US ally Israel’s assault on Gaza.
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