Trump Names Army Strategist as National Security Adviser

WASHINGTON — 

U.S. President Donald Trump named a new national security adviser Monday, picking Army Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster, a military strategist who has spent his entire career in the U.S. armed forces.

Trump called the 54-year-old McMaster "a man of tremendous talent and tremendous experience."

The president, making the announcement from his Florida retreat Mar-a-Lago along the Atlantic Ocean, said that retired Army Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, who had been his acting adviser, will now serve as chief of staff of the National Security Council.

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US Homeland Security Chief Promises 'Streamlined' Travel Ban

WASHINGTON — 

President Donald Trump will soon release a "more streamlined version" of a presidential order banning immigrants from seven Muslim-majority nations, but it will be better implemented and avoid the chaos that resulted from an earlier attempt to restrict foreign travelers arriving in the U.S., Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said Saturday.

Speaking at the annual Munich Security Conference in Germany, during a panel discussion on combating terrorism, Kelly said the new version of the travel order will not prevent foreign nationals with either work visas or "green card" permanent residency permits from re-entering the United States. Nor will it affect foreign travelers already flying to U.S. ports of entry when the order takes effect, he added.

Trump will "make sure that there's no one caught in the system of moving from overseas to our airports" during the travel ban, Kelly said.

The new immigration order could come as early as Tuesday, U.S. news reports suggested, and Trump himself has confirmed it will be issued during the coming week.

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UN condemns attacks in Borno

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) has condemned the attacks on Maiduguri by suspected female suicide bombers on Thursday night and Friday in which at least eight persons reportedly lost their lives.
The Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, Mr Farhan Haq, said the UN OCHA “is alarmed by the reported terrorist attacks on vulnerable displaced people in two locations in Maiduguri in north-eastern Nigeria that took place on Thursday.
“While the number of dead and injured among civilians is not yet clear, Boko Haram reportedly launched a major attack using guns and explosives targeting the Custom House site that hosts more than 9,000 internally displaced people and the Muna Garage Park area where displaced people have gathered to return to their homes.
“These are not the first attacks affecting the most vulnerable people in the area.
“The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reminds all parties to the conflict in Nigeria to ensure the safety and security of all civilian populations as required under international humanitarian law and international human rights law”.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said eight suspected female suicide bombers were involved in the attack on Maiduguri-Gamboru road, according to NEMA spokesman Sani Datti.
Datti said that the suspected Boko Haram members, who came through Mafa- Dikwa road along Muna community on Thursday at around 11.00 p.m, attempted to attack Maiduguri.
He said the suicide bombers came in a Volkswagen Golf car, carrying eight suicide bombers most of whom were female teenagers.
According to him, a few bombers detonated their explosives around Muna Dalti community, injuring seven local vigilantes, known as ‘Civilian Joint Task Force’.
Datti further said that some of the suicide bombers found their way to a place where people gathered with their trucks loaded with goods for onward movement to Mafa, Dikwa and Ngala local government areas of the state.
He said that no fewer than 14 trucks were burnt by the bombers, adding that the injured had been taken to University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital for treatment.
He said that only the suicide bombers were killed in the attacks.

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USA TODAY... GENERAL FLYNN'S LETTER

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Trump Defends National Security Adviser He Ousted

WASHINGTON —

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday staunchly defended the national security adviser he ousted earlier this week, saying Michael Flynn was the victim of illegal leaks from the country's intelligence community detailing his conversations with Russia's ambassador to Washington and had been “treated very, very unfairly by the media.”

Trump, speaking at a White House news conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, made no mention of why he forced Flynn's resignation after just 24 days on the job, for what the White House described Tuesday as the president's “eroding trust” in the former Army general.

“I think it's really a sad thing he was treated so badly," Trump said. "I think, in addition to that, from intelligence — papers are being leaked, things are being leaked. It's criminal action, criminal act. And it's been going on for a long time, before me. But now it's really going on.”

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