WASHINGTON: National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster has tapped Dina Powell to become his deputy, promoting the Cairo-born banker and policymaker to a key White House role.
McMaster appointed Powell as deputy national security adviser with particular responsibility for developing strategy, a senior administration official told AFP.
She is expected to play a broad role in coordinating between military, diplomatic and intelligence agencies and implementing US foreign policy.
The appointment shows McMaster putting his imprimatur on the National Security Council, which had been run by retired general Michael Flynn until weeks ago.
He was forced to resign abruptly amid revelations that he misled the White House about his meetings with the Russian ambassador in Washington.
But many of his allies remain in office, including deputy national security adviser K.T. McFarland, a former Fox News analyst.
She is expected to remain at the National Security Council.
The deputy national security adviser is a vital position for the functioning of US foreign policy.
Almost all big decisions are run through the so-called “deputies committee” — which the official chairs — before framed for “principals,” including the secretaries of state and defense and eventually the president.
Current and former NSC staffers complain that process has not been running smoothly under McFarland and has suffered from interference from Trump’s political advisers.
Powell — a former Goldman Sachs partner and assistant secretary of state who speaks Arabic — had already been advising Trump on economic issues and is well-respected within the administration.
She was one of a handful of US officials who attended a meeting between Trump and Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week.
Cairo-born banker named deputy US national security adviser
Cairo-born banker named deputy US national security adviser
Russia hits Ukraine with drones, missiles, kills at least 10 in Kharkiv
- Zelensky said that Russia launched 480 drones and 29 missiles targeting the energy sector and railway infrastructure
- “There should be a response from partners to these savage strikes against life“
KHARKIV, Ukraine: Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles at Ukraine overnight on Saturday, damaging infrastructure and killing at least 10 people, including two children, in the northeast city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia launched 480 drones and 29 missiles targeting the energy sector and railway infrastructure across the country.
“There should be a response from partners to these savage strikes against life,” Zelensky said on the Telegram app.
“Russia has not abandoned its attempts to destroy Ukraine’s residential and critical infrastructure, and therefore support should continue,” Zelensky said, urging partners to continue air defense and weapons supplies.
Ukrainian air defense units shot down 453 drones and 19 missiles, the air force said. But nine missiles and 26 attack drones hit 22 sites, it said.
BALLISTIC MISSILE SLAMS INTO RESIDENTIAL BUILDING
The city of Kharkiv was targeted by both Russian drones and missiles, and 10 people, including two children, were killed after a Russian ballistic missile slammed into a five-story residential building, Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said.
“When we arrived here 20 minutes after the explosion, I thought I was going to have a stroke. I couldn’t string two words together, and my legs were buckling,” Hanna, a resident of the destroyed building, told Reuters.
“It’s good that I wasn’t there with my child and that my father was with me. It was ordinary people who lived there. What were they targeting?“
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces carried out massive overnight strikes on Ukrainian military-industrial complexes, military airfields and energy facilities, the Interfax news agency reported.
In Kharkiv, 15 people were also wounded, and 19 residential buildings were damaged by the Russian attacks, Syniehubov said.
Commercial and administrative buildings, electricity distribution lines, and cars were also hit, he said.
In Kyiv, three people were injured, and the heating was knocked out in 2,806 residential apartment buildings in four districts across the capital after Russian strikes hit an energy infrastructure facility, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said.
National grid operator Ukrenergo said that emergency power cuts were introduced in seven regions following the Russian attacks.
Ukrainian officials said that Russia also attacked four railway stations and other railway infrastructure in central Ukraine and port infrastructure in the southern Odesa region, setting on fire containers with vegetable oil and damaging a grain warehouse.
