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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David Byrd reporting.
President-elect Donald Trump has named three key members of his cabinet. In a statement released on Friday, Trump said he would nominate Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions to be attorney general. Sessions, a staunch conservative and Trump's supporter, has made tough and sometimes controversial statements on immigration. However, his sentiments mirrored Trump's during the campaign. The president-elect also announced he would nominate Kansas Representative Mike Pompeo to head the Central Intelligence Agency. Retired Army Lieutenant General Mike Flynn was tapped to be the national security adviser. Flynn has championed Trump's promise to take more aggressive stance against terrorism. Former CIA and National Security Agency head General Michael Hayden says that Flynn will be stretched in his new job. "And I think this job is gonna extend him. It's gonna demand that he up his game to be more broadly strategic than just tactical." Unlike Sessions and Pompeo, Flynn will not need confirmation by the U.S. Senate. New York's attorney general says that President-elect Donald Trump has agreed to a $25 million settlement to resolve three lawsuits over Trump University, his former school for real estate investors. The deal announced Friday by Attorney General Eric Schneiderman would settle two class action lawsuits in California and a civil suit that Schneiderman had filed. The suits had alleged that Trump University failed to deliver the quality real estate investing education it promised. Schneiderman says $25 million to be paid by Trump or one of his business entities includes restitution for students and $1 million in penalties to the state. This is VOA news. NATO secretary-general says the United States has a strategic interest in a strong and stable Europe. Speaking in Brussels Friday, Jens Stoltenberg said a strong transatlantic bond is required to face the global challenges of extremism and cyber attacks. "Two World Wars and the Cold War have taught us that the security of Europe relies on the United States, and that the United States has a profound strategic interest in a stable and secure Europe." President-elect Donald Trump spoke with Stoltenberg by phone on Friday. The military alliance says both leaders agreed that progress has been made on making sure member countries are sharing the defense burden, but that there is more to do. During the campaign, President-elect Trump suggested that the U.S. might abandon its NATO treaty commitments or pull out of the alliance altogether if other countries don't contribute more. Outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama heads to Lima, Peru, for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, where he will seek to reassure Asian allies of U.S. commitment to the region. Fears of rising anti-globalization sentiment in the West and China's expanding role in global trade are also expected to be on the summit's agenda. The International Organization for Migration says more than 300 people have disappeared and are presumed dead in the Mediterranean since Tuesday. As Lisa Schlein reports from Geneva, more than 4,600 migrants have died in the Mediterranean this year. The International Organization for Migration reports at least 365 people have disappeared and are presumed dead after at least six incidents in the Mediterranean in the past three days. It says that brings the number of migrant deaths in the Mediterranean this year to a record 4,636. IOM spokesman Leonard Doyle says deaths on the Mediterranean are surging because the migrants are making the dangerous sea crossing in poor weather and rough conditions. Survivors say smugglers are forcing migrants to get on board unsafe rubber dinghies, which take on water and gradually sink. Lisa Schlein, for VOA news, Geneva. Syrian government aircraft and artillery backed by Russia intensified their offensive against rebel-held areas of Aleppo early Friday. Several people including several children were killed. It was the fourth straight day of renewed airstrikes by government warplanes since Moscow declared an end to a month-long humanitarian pause. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports at least 65 civilians have been killed since the offensive resumed. A down day on Wall Street, with all three major indexes lower. European markets were also off. Asian markets finished higher. For more visit our website. I'm David Byrd in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |