Headline News 14/03/2018

Headlines

• Tillerson is Trump’s Latest Victim

• State Terrorism in UK

• Saudi Concert

Details

Tillerson is Trump’s Latest Victim

President Donald Trump ousted US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, ending a rocky tenure in an abrupt move that stunned the former Exxon Mobil CEO and set in motion a shakeup of the administration's foreign policy team.

Trump announced Tillerson's ouster in a tweet shortly before 9 am after weeks of staff turmoil, saying he would nominate CIA Director Mike Pompeo as secretary of state. But it was several hours before Trump discussed his decision with Tillerson, who said he'll hand over all responsibilities to Deputy Secretary John Sullivan at midnight Tuesday.

CIA Director Mike Pompeo will replace Tillerson and to replace Pompeo, Trump has chosen Gina Haspel, the CIA's current deputy director. Speaking with reporters, Trump said the decision was motivated by differences of opinion with Tillerson on substantive issues such as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), better known as the Iran nuclear deal. As talks with North Korea and a review of the JCPOA rapidly approach, Trump is preparing through a Cabinet reshuffling. By replacing Tillerson, Trump has removed a voice that often disagreed with him — sometimes publicly. Trump's new appointments will place voices more agreeable to his plans in positions of power.

State Terrorism in UK

Britain has gone into a tailspin as another incident of state terrorism has taken place on British soil.

On the afternoon of March 4, a man and a young woman were found slumped on a bench in what appeared to be another case of opioid overdose. But as police arrived at the scene and identified the victims, it soon became clear that this was not an accidental narcotics overdose. The man, 66-year-old Sergei Skripal, was a former colonel in Russia's military intelligence service and had been recruited by Britain's foreign intelligence service (MI6) in the 1990s. He had come to the United Kingdom in 2010 as part of a high-profile spy swap. As police officers began to collapse after coming into contact with the pair, it quickly became evident that this was yet another case in which a former Russian intelligence officer was poisoned in the United Kingdom. This attack under President Vladimir Putin is letting the intelligence world know that betrayal can make you and your family a target, even if you're no longer in the game.

Saudi Concert

In line with his reform program for Saudi Arabia the regulations for the March 30 concert by Tamer Hosny, a popular Egyptian singer whose lyrics sometimes contain sexual innuendo, were issued by the kingdom’s entertainment authority. But in what can only be described as a massive contradiction the conditions include: “Dancing is strictly prohibited during the concert,” the tickets stated in fine print. Also banned: “Swaying”. Many in Saudi are deeply uncomfortable with Prince Mohammed’s reforms, although they have mostly kept quiet, fearing arrest. Many of the online posts about Mr. Hosny’s concert condemned the concert, not the rules governing it. The monarchy has been forced to adapt due to driving the Saudi economy into the ground. The westernisation, is just the beginning.