Connect with us

World

Trump ousts Waltz as national security adviser ; nominates him for UN post

Published

on

US President Donald Trump has removed Mike Waltz from his post as national security adviser, and will nominate him as ambassador to the United Nations.

In a post on social media, Trump thanked Waltz for his work and said he would be temporarily replaced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who will continue as America’s top diplomat.

Waltz had faced criticism for mistakenly adding a journalist to a chat group where sensitive military plans were discussed – a political embarrassment likely to feature during confirmation hearings for the UN post.

The former Florida congressman is the first senior member of the administration to leave the White House in Trump’s second term.

“From his time in uniform on the battlefield, in Congress and, as my National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our Nation’s Interests first,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

“I know he will do the same in his new role.”

Waltz posted a short statement on X, alongside a screenshot of the announcement by the president.

“I’m deeply honoured to continue my service to President Trump and our great nation,” he wrote.

According to the BBC’s US partner CBS News, Trump decided to nominate Waltz as UN ambassador just hours before the announcement on Thursday.

Multiple sources told the network he was ousted because of the Signal situation and a perception in the White House that he did not properly vet National Security Council staff, among other reasons.

But the sources said Trump respects Waltz so he was given a soft landing and a high-profile new post.

However, the BBC spoke to several US officials – who wished to remain anonymous – and they suggested the Trump administration believed Waltz might struggle to be confirmed by the Senate, allowing the president to get rid of him completely without having to fire him.

Waltz has been under scrutiny since he acknowledged in March mistakenly adding the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic magazine, Jeffrey Goldberg, to a group chat on Signal with top US security officials.

Confidential plans for a military strike on Yemen’s Houthis were discussed on the message chain, whose members included Waltz, Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.

There was uncertainty on Thursday over the fate of Waltz’s deputy, Alex Wong, a seasoned foreign policy hand from Trump’s first term who was also on the Signal chat.

Wong was asked about the leak during an interview with the BBC’s Newsnight programme on Wednesday. He said the administration had been “very successful” in taking on Yemen’s Houthis and “the president led on that”.

In March, lawmakers questioned some of the other Signal chat participants at hearings, including the director of national intelligence and the director of the CIA.

The UN ambassador position remains unfilled. Trump withdrew the nomination of his first pick, New York congresswoman Elise Stefanik, amid Republican concerns about preserving their slender majority in the House of Representatives.

Minnesota Governor and former Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz made light of the national security adviser’s exit on Thursday.

He posted on X: “Mike Waltz has left the chat.”

Waltz has continued to use Signal, according to an image captured by a Reuters photographer at a White House cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

The zoomed-in picture showed Waltz checking his phone and a chat ongoing with a contact saved under the name of JD Vance, who is US vice-president.

The message from the Vance contact read in part: “I have confirmation from my counterpart it’s turned off. He is going to be here.”

In an interview with Fox News aired on Thursday evening, Vance rejected any suggestion that Waltz had been fired, saying he was actually being promoted.

“I like Mike,” said Vance. “I think he’s a great guy. He’s got the trust of both me and the president.

“But we also thought that he’d make a better UN ambassador as we get beyond this stage.”

Trump’s announcement, meanwhile, of the latest role for Rubio appeared to catch state department officials off guard.

Rubio will now be the first official to serve both as secretary of state and national security adviser since Henry Kissinger half a century ago.

Rubio is also acting head of both the gutted United States Agency for International Development and the National Archives.

Some reports suggest Steve Witkoff, a real estate developer and personal friend of Trump who is currently a US Special Envoy to the Middle East, could ultimately replace Waltz.

Another name being touted as a potential candidate by some in Washington is also one of Trump’s special envoys, Ric Grenell, who has a longer diplomatic track record.

Trump went through four national security advisers in his first term. The first, Michael Flynn, served for just three weeks.

Another, John Bolton, later wrote an unflattering book about Trump.

Bolton told the BBC on Thursday that Waltz’s removal was reminiscent of the “chaos” from Trump’s first term.

(BBC News)

World

‘Shrinking Nemo’: Smaller clownfish sound alarm on ocean heat

Published

on

By

Fish similar to those made famous by the movie Finding Nemo are shrinking to cope with marine heatwaves, a study has found.

The research recorded clownfish living on coral reefs slimmed down drastically when ocean temperatures rocketed in 2023.

Scientists say the discovery was a big surprise and could help explain the rapidly declining size of other fish in the world’s oceans.

A growing body of evidence suggests animals are shape shifting to cope with climate change, including birds, lizards and insects.

“Nemos can shrink, and they do it to survive these heat stress events,” said Dr Theresa Rueger, senior lecturer in Tropical Marine Sciences at Newcastle University.

The researchers studied pairs of clownfish living in reefs off Kimbe Bay in Papua New Guinea, a hot spot of marine biodiversity

The wild clownfish are almost identical to the ones depicted in the movie Finding Nemo, in which a timid clownfish living off the Great Barrier Reef goes in search of his son.

The scientific study took place in the summer of 2023, when temperatures shot up in the oceans, leading to large swathes of coral turning white.

The scientists took multiple measurements of individual clownfish coping with the heat.

They found the tiny fish didn’t just lose weight but got shorter by several millimetres. And it wasn’t a one-off – 75% of fish shrunk at least once during the heatwave.

Dr Rueger explained: “It’s not just them going on a diet and losing lots of weight, but they’re actively changing their size and making themselves into a smaller individual that needs less food and is more efficient with oxygen.”

The fish may be absorbing fat and bone, as has been seen in other animals, such as marine iguanas, although this needs to be confirmed through laboratory studies.

Dr Rueger joked that a little bit of movie rewriting might be necessary, with a new chapter ahead for Nemo.

“The movie told a really good story, but the next chapter of the story surely is, how does Nemo deal with ongoing environmental change?” she told BBC News.

Global warming is a big challenge for warm-blooded animals, which must maintain a constant body temperature to prevent their bodies from overheating.

Animals are responding in various ways: moving to cooler areas or higher ground, changing the timing of key life events such as breeding and migration, or switching their body size.

The research is published in the journal, Science Advances.

(BBC News)

Continue Reading

News

World-first gonorrhoea vaccine launched by NHS England

Published

on

By

England will be the first country in the world to start vaccinating people against the sexually transmitted infection gonorrhoea.

It will not be available for everyone. The focus will mainly be on gay and bisexual men with a history of multiple sexual partners or an STI.

The vaccine is 30-40% effective, but NHS England hopes it will reverse soaring numbers of infections.

There were more than 85,000 cases in 2023 – the highest since records began in 1918.

Gonorrhoea does not always have symptoms, but they can include pain, unusual discharge, inflammation of the genitals and infertility.

How many people will choose to be immunised is uncertain.

But projections by Imperial College London show that if the jab proves popular then it could prevent 100,000 cases and save the NHS nearly £8m over the next decade.

Max, a sexual health campaigner, told BBC Newsbeat he would “100%” take the vaccine after being diagnosed with gonorrhoea twice within a year.

“I think this is great that it’s been announced”, he says, adding: “It’s going to take the pressure off the clinics, it’s just a big win all round.”

Vaccination will start in August and will be offered through sexual health services.

Public Health Scotland said it was also working on plans to launch its own programme for high-risk individuals.

BBC Newsbeat has asked health bodies in Wales and Northern Ireland whether they intend to do the same.

Is it effective enough?

This vaccine wasn’t designed for gonorrhoea. It’s the meningitis B vaccine currently given to babies.

But the bacteria that cause the two diseases are so closely related that the MenB jab appears to cut gonorrhoea cases by around a third.

That will require a delicate conversation in sexual health clinics as the vaccine will not eliminate the risk of catching gonorrhoea. It is normally caught while having sex without a condom.

But Prof Andrew Pollard, the chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which recommended the vaccine, said despite it only being 30% effective, it was “worth having” and could have “a huge impact” overall.

The decision is not just about the record numbers of cases. Gonorrhoea is becoming increasingly difficult to treat.

Most cases are treated with a single dose of antibiotics, but there is an 80-year history of the bacterium which causes gonorrhoea repeatedly evolving resistance to our antibiotics.

It’s happening to the current treatments too and is why some doctors are concerned gonorrhoea could one-day become untreatable.

The best way to deal with a drug-resistant infection is to never catch it in the first place.

Dr Amanda Doyle, from NHS England, said: “The launch of a world-first routine vaccination for gonorrhoea is a huge step forward for sexual health and will be crucial in protecting individuals, helping to prevent the spread of infection and reduce the rising rates of antibiotic resistant strains of the bacteria.”

The people most affected by gonorrhoea in the UK are those aged 16-to-25, gay and bisexual men, and those of black and Caribbean ancestry.

The vaccine – which costs around £8 per dose – is value for money when primarily offered to gay and bisexual men, rather than all teenagers.

However, clinicians do have the freedom to use their own judgement and offer the vaccine to people using sexual health services they think are of equally high risk.

People will be offered mpox (formerly known as monkeypox), HPV and hepatitis vaccines at the same time.

Prof Matt Phillips, president of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, said: “This is excellent news and a landmark moment for sexual health in England.

“Gonorrhoea diagnoses are at their highest since records began and this has the potential to help us to turn that around.”

It is not known how long the protection provided by the vaccine will last or how often booster jabs might be required.

The decision comes almost a year and a half after a vaccination programme was recommended by the UK’s JCVI.

Sexual health campaigners had criticised that long wait, but have welcomed this decision.

Katie Clark, head of policy and advocacy at the Terrance Higgins Trust, called it a “huge win”.

(BBC News)

Continue Reading

News

Joe Biden diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer

Published

on

By

Former US President Joe Biden, 82, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer that has spread to his bones, a statement from his office said on Sunday.

Biden, who left office in January, was diagnosed on Friday after he saw a doctor last week for urinary symptoms.

The cancer is a more aggressive form of the disease, characterised by a Gleason score of 9 out of 10. This means his illness is classified as “high-grade” and the cancer cells could spread quickly, according to Cancer Research UK.

Biden and his family are said to be reviewing treatment options. His office added that the cancer was hormone-sensitive, meaning it could likely be managed.

In Sunday’s statement, Biden’s office said: “Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms.

“On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterised by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone.

“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management.”

After news broke of his diagnosis, the former president received support from both sides of the aisle.

President Donald Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that he and First Lady Melania Trump were “saddened to hear about Joe Biden’s recent medical diagnosis”.

“We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family,” he said, referring to former First Lady Jill Biden. “We wish Joe a fast and successful recovery.”

Former Vice-President Kamala Harris, who served under Biden, wrote on X that she and her husband Doug Emhoff are keeping the Biden family in their prayers.

“Joe is a fighter – and I know he will face this challenge with the same strength, resilience, and optimism that have always defined his life and leadership,” Harris said.

In a post on X, Barack Obama – who served as president from 2009 to 2017 with Joe Biden as his deputy – said that he and his wife Michelle were “thinking of the entire Biden family”.

“Nobody has done more to find breakthrough treatments for cancer in all its forms than Joe, and I am certain he will fight this challenge with his trademark resolve and grace. We pray for a fast and full recovery,” Obama said. In 2016, Obama tasked Biden with leading a “cancer moonshot” government-wide research programme.

(BBC News)

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2024 Sri Lanka Mirror. All Rights Reserved