WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - White House deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger has resigned, joining a number of officials who are leaving the administration of US President Donald Trump following the storming of Capitol Hill by his supporters. Mr Pottinger, a leading figure in the development of Mr Trump's China policy, resigned on Wednesday (Jan 6) in response to Mr Trump's reaction to a mob of protesters who breached the US Capitol, a senior administration official told Reuters. Bloomberg first reported the resignation. Mr Pottinger's boss, national security adviser Robert O'Brien, has no plans to quit, the official said. "A strong national security team remains in place at the State Department, the Department of Defence, Treasury, the intelligence community and the National Security Council." The official said the team has been making sure there are no foreign threats to the United States before the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden, who will be inaugurated on Jan 20. The team has been coordinating with Mr Biden's transition team for several weeks. The White House had no immediate comment. Mr O'Brien had asked Mr Pottinger to stay on past Election Day to facilitate the transition to Mr Biden's
KANO, Nigeria (AFP) - Militants aligned with the Islamic State militant group have captured a military base in north-east Nigeria's Borno state after overnight clashes with troops, sources told AFP on Saturday (Jan 16). Machine-gun wielding fighters from Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) attacked the base in the town of Marte in the Lake Chad area overnight Friday into Saturday, two sources said. "The priority now is to reclaim the base from the terrorists and an operation is under way," one of the sources said. "We took a hit from ISWAP terrorists. They raided the base in Marte after a fierce battle." The second source said the army "incurred losses" but it was not yet clear how many people had died or the level of destruction inflicted by the insurgents. ISWAP, which split from Boko Haram in 2016, maintains camps on islands in Lake Chad - where Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad meet - and the area is known to be group's bastion. Last week, the militants attacked the Marte base but were repelled, prompting them to mobilise more fighters for the overnight raid, said the sources. The raid
Saturday An amazing day. I awakened to a scorching hot morning here in glorious Beverly Hills. I stumbled out of bed and plunged into my swimming pool. It was warm and welcoming. I swam back and forth for about half an hour or maybe less. Then I showered and got dressed. I had a super-secret 12-step meeting in my den. We talked about subversive acts like turning over our lives and our futures to the Lord God Almighty and no longer thinking that we are terribly important. We stayed at safe social distances. We prayed for peace in our beloved America, prayed the Lord’s Prayer, and then gave safe social-distance goodbyes. Then I lay down on the king-sized bed in my office and thought about how badly the nation has fared in the past few months. A pandemic has shut down many of our businesses and our places of worship. The restaurants are closed and the streets are dark and empty after an early rush hour. Out at our home in Malibu, it’s a ghost town after the sun sets. That’s small change. A major website and app, Parler, has been shut down over completely false allegations that they helped
