officials step down
AFP, Washington
US President Donald Trump has accepted the resignations of several senior State Department officials, the department said Thursday, clearing space for a new diplomatic team.
As a matter of tradition, incoming US presidents request and receive the resignation of the most senior officials hired by the outgoing administration of a different party.
New Pentagon Chief to visit Japan, S Korea
AFP, Washington
US Defense Secretary James Mattis plans to travel to Japan and South Korea next month on his first trip as the Pentagon’s new chief, a spokesman said Wednesday.. He is set to depart on February 1 for South Korea before traveling to Tokyo on February 3.
“The trip will underscore the commitment of the United States to our enduring alliances to Japan and the Republic of Korea, and further strengthen US/Japan/Republic of Korea security cooperation,” Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said.
Turkish fire kills 10 civilians in Syria
AFP, Beirut
Ten civilians, including a child, have been killed in Turkish air strikes and shelling in and around a Syrian town held by the Islamic State group, a monitor said Friday.
The bombardment hit the northern town of Al-Bab and the nearby area of Tadif, both held by IS, on Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Al-Bab has come under heavy assault in recent weeks, with Turkish, Russian and Syrian warplanes carrying out strikes in or around the town.
Texas executes man convicted of killing 2
Reuters, Austin
A Texas inmate was executed on Thursday for killing two sandwich shop employees during a robbery in 2002 after the Supreme Court denied appeals that argued he was not the trigger man and his case was tainted by prosecutorial misconduct.
Terry Edwards, 43, died of lethal injection at 10:17 p.m. at the state’s death chamber in Huntsville, said Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jason Clark in a statement.
