Trump taps military strategist as national security adviser ADVERTISING Trump taps military strategist as national security adviser PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump tapped Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster as his new national security adviser, replacing the ousted
Trump taps military strategist as national security adviser
PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump tapped Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster as his new national security adviser, replacing the ousted Michael Flynn.
Trump announced the pick Monday at his Palm Beach club and said McMaster is “a man of tremendous talent and tremendous experience.”
The president, who has no military experience, has shown a preference for generals in the top security roles. McMaster, who wore his uniform for the announcement, joins Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, both retired generals.
Trump says retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg who had been his acting adviser, will now serve as the National Security Council chief of staff. He also said he would be asking John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, to work with them in a “somewhat different capacity.”
Trump made the announcement from a luxurious living room, sitting on a couch between McMaster and Kellogg. The president told reporters as he exited the room that Vice President Mike Pence had been involved in the process.
Teen suicide attempts fell as same-sex marriage became legal
CHICAGO (AP) — Teen suicide attempts in the U.S. declined after same-sex marriage became legal and the biggest impact was among gay, lesbian and bisexual kids, a study found.
The research found declines in states that passed laws allowing gays to marry before the Supreme Court made it legal nationwide. The results don’t prove there’s a connection, but researchers said policymakers should be aware of the measures’ potential benefits for youth mental health.
Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for all U.S. teens. Suicidal behavior is much more common among gay, lesbian and bisexual kids and adults; about 29 percent of these teens in the study reported attempting suicide, compared with just 6 percent of straight teens.
Laws that have the greatest impact on gay adults may make gay kids feel “more hopeful for the future,” said lead author Julia Raifman, a researcher at Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The measures also could create more tolerance and less bullying, making these teens feel less stigmatized. Those effects could also benefit straight teens but more research is needed to determine how the laws might influence teen behavior, Raifman said.
Iraqi troops advance on western Mosul as Mattis holds talks
SOUTH OF MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi forces advanced Monday into the southern outskirts of Mosul on the second day of a push to drive Islamic State militants from the city’s western half, as the visiting U.S. defense secretary met with officials to discuss the fight against the extremists.
With aerial support from the U.S.-led coalition, Iraqi police and army troops launched the offensive Sunday, part of a 100-day-old campaign that has already driven the militants from the eastern half of the city.
Iraqi helicopters fired rockets at the village of Abu Saif early Monday, targeting a hill that overlooks the city’s airport. By noon, the forces entered the village and gained control over much of the strategic hill as fighting was still raging.
Separately, militarized police in armored vehicles were moving toward the sprawling Ghazlani military base on the southwestern outskirts of the city.
A U.S.-led coalition has been providing close air support throughout the campaign to retake Iraq’s second-largest city. U.S. special operations forces are embedded with some Iraqi units and thousands of U.S. troops are in Iraq providing logistical and other support.
Russia’s ambassador to United Nations falls ill, dies at 64
NEW YORK (AP) — Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, a veteran diplomat known as a potent, savvy yet personable voice for his country’s interests who could both spar and get along with his Western counterparts, fell ill and died suddenly Monday in his office at Russia’s U.N. mission.
Vitaly Churkin was taken to a hospital, where he died a day before his 65th birthday, said Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Vladimir Safronkov. The cause of his death was unknown.
As Russia’s envoy at the United Nations since 2006 and a diplomat for decades, Churkin was considered Moscow’s great champion at the U.N., where he was the longest-serving ambassador on the powerful Security Council.
Russian President Vladimir Putin esteemed Churkin’s “professionalism and diplomatic talents,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the state news agency TASS. Diplomatic colleagues from around the world mourned Churkin as a master in their field: a passionate and effective advocate for his country; an intellectual with a doctorate in history who was also a onetime child actor with an acute wit; a formidable adversary who could remain a friend.
“We did not always see things the same way, but he unquestionably advocated his country’s positions with great skill,” U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said in a statement.
US Defense Secretary Mattis: US will stay in Iraq a while
BAGHDAD (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Monday he believes U.S. forces will be in Iraq and in the fight against Islamic State militants for a while, despite some rocky times between the two nations.
Speaking at the end of a day of meetings in Baghdad with military commanders and Iraqi political leaders, Mattis said he is open to any request from his military commanders to aid the battle to retake Mosul and launch a major battle to oust IS from the base of its so-called caliphate in Raqqa, Syria. He would not provide details.
Despite President Donald Trump’s past threats to take Iraq’s oil and his attempt to impose a travel ban that includes Iraqi citizens, Mattis said his meetings with Iraqi leaders underscored the partnership the U.S. has with the Iraqis.
He said there’s no doubt that “the Iraqi people, the Iraqi military and the Iraqi political leadership recognize what they’re up against and the value of the coalition and the partnership, in particular with the United States.”
His optimistic words come on the heels of his earlier declaration that the U.S. does not intend to seize Iraqi oil, distancing himself from comments made by President Donald Trump that has rattled Iraq’s leaders.
N. Korean envoy blasts Malaysians, calls for joint probe
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — North Korea’s ambassador to Malaysia on Monday denounced the country’s investigation into the death of the exiled half brother of North Korea’s ruler, calling it politically motivated and demanding a joint probe amid increasingly bitter exchanges between the once-friendly nations.
Malaysia responded with its own accusations, with a foreign ministry statement saying the ambassador’s comments were “culled from delusions, lies and half-truths.” Earlier Monday, Malaysia said it was recalling its ambassador to Pyongyang.
The diplomatic spat comes in the wake of the death last week of Kim Jong Nam, who died after apparently being poisoned in the Kuala Lumpur airport.
The attack spiraled into diplomatic fury when Malaysia refused to hand over Kim’s corpse to North Korean diplomats and proceeded with at least one autopsy over the diplomats’ objections.
“The investigation by the Malaysian police is not for the clarification of the cause of the death and search for the suspect, but it is out of the political aim,” North Korean Ambassador Kang Chol told reporters Monday, saying Malaysia was in collusion with South Korea, as Seoul tries to deflect attention from its own months-long political crisis.
